RUTH
THE BOOK OF RUTH.
RUTH
1
CHAPTER I.
Elimelech of Bethlehem going with his wife Noemi, and
two sons, into the land of Moab, dieth there.
His sons marry wives of that country, and die without issue. Noemi returneth home with her
daughter-in-law, Ruth, who refuseth to part with her.
1
In the *days of one of the judges, when the judges ruled, there came a famine
in the land. And a certain man of
Bethlehem Juda, went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two
sons.
2
He was named Elimelech, and his wife, Noemi: and his two sons, the one Mahalon,
and the other Chelion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Juda. And entering into the country of Moab, they
abode there.
3
And Elimelech the husband of Noemi died: and she remained with her sons.
4
And they took wives of the women of Moab, of which one was called Orpha, and
the other Ruth. And they dwelt there ten
years,
5
And they both died, to wit, Mahalon and Chelion: and the woman was left alone,
having lost both her sons and her husband.
6
And she arose to go from the land of Moab to her own country, with both her
daughters-in-law: for she had heard that the Lord had looked upon his people,
and had given them food.
7
Wherefore she went forth out of the place of her sojournment, with both her
daughters-in-law: and being now in the way to return into the land of Juda,
8
She said to them: Go ye home to your mothers, the Lord deal mercifully with
you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
9
May he grant you to find rest in the houses of the husbands which you shall
take. And she kissed them. And they lifted up their voice, and began to
weep,
10
And to say: We will go on with thee to thy people.
11
But she answered them: Return, my daughters, why come ye with me? have I any
more sons in my womb, that you may hope for husbands of me?
12
Return again, my daughters, and go your ways: for I am now spent with age, and
not fit for wedlock. Although I might
conceive this night, and bear children,
13
If you would wait till they were grown up, and come to man's estate, you would
be old women before you marry. Do not
so, my daughters, I beseech you: for I am grieved the more for your distress,
and the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.
14
And they lifted up their voice, and began to weep again: Orpha kissed her
mother-in-law and returned: Ruth stuck close to her mother-in-law.
15
And Noemi said to her: Behold thy kinswoman is returned to her people, and to
her gods, go thou with her.
16
She answered: Be not against me, to desire that I should leave thee and depart:
for whithersoever thou shalt go, I will go: and where thou shalt dwell, I also
will dwell. Thy people shall be
my people, and thy God my God.
17
The land that shall receive thee dying, in the same will I die: and there will
I be buried. The Lord do so and so to
me, and add more also, if ought but death part me and thee.
18
Then Noemi, seeing that Ruth was steadfastly determined to go with her, would
not be against it, nor persuade her any more to return to her friends:
19
So they went together, and came to Bethlehem. And when they were come into the city, the
report was quickly spread among all: and the women said: This is that Noemi.
20
But she said to them: Call me not Noemi (that is, beautiful), but call me Mara
(that is, bitter), for the Almighty hath quite filled me with bitterness.
21
I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me back empty. Why then do you call me Noemi, whom the Lord
hath humbled, and the Almighty hath afflicted?
22
So Noemi came with Ruth, the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, from the land of
her sojournment: and returned into Bethlehem, in the beginning of the barley
harvest.
____________________
*
1: A.M. circiter 2706, A.C. 1298.
====================
RUTH
2
CHAPTER II.
Ruth gleaneth in the field of Booz: who sheweth her
favour.
1
Now her husband Elimelech had a kinsman, a powerful man, and very rich, whose
name was Booz.
2
And Ruth, the Moabitess, said to her mother-in-law: If thou wilt, I will go
into the field, and glean the ears of corn that escape the hands of the
reapers, wheresoever I shall find grace with a householder, that will be
favourable to me. And she answered her:
Go, my daughter.
3
She went, therefore, and gleaned the ears of corn after the reapers. And it happened that the owner of that field
was Booz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
4
And behold, he came out of Bethlehem, and said to the reapers: The Lord be with
you. And they answered him: The Lord
bless thee.
5
And Booz said to the young man that was set over the reapers: Whose maid is
this?
6
And he answered him: This is the Moabitess, who came with Noemi, from the land
of Moab,
7
And she desired leave to glean the ears of corn that remain, following the
steps of the reapers: and she hath been in the field from morning till now, and
hath not gone home for one moment.
8
And Booz said to Ruth: Hear me, daughter, do not go to glean in any other
field, and do not depart from this place: but keep with my maids,
9
And follow where they reap. For I have
charged my young men, not to molest thee: and if thou art thirsty, go to the
vessels, and drink of the waters whereof the servants drink.
10
She fell on her face, and worshipping upon the ground, said to him: Whence
cometh this to me, that I should find grace before thy eyes, and that thou
shouldst vouchsafe to take notice of me, a woman of another country?
11
And he answered her: All hath been told me, that thou hast done to thy
mother-in-law after the death of thy husband: and how thou hast left thy
parents, and the land wherein thou wast born, and art come to a people which
thou knewest not heretofore.
12
The Lord render unto thee for thy work, and mayest thou receive a full reward
of the Lord the God of Israel, to whom thou art come, and under whose wings
thou art fled.
13
And she said: I have found grace in thy eyes, my lord, who hast comforted me,
and hast spoken to the heart of thy handmaid, who am not like to one of thy
maids.
14
And Booz said to her: At meal-time come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and
dip thy morsel in the vinegar. So she
sat at the side of the reapers, and she heaped to herself frumenty, and ate and
was filled, and took the leavings.
15
And she arose from thence, to glean the ears of corn as before. And Booz commanded his servants, saying: If
she would even reap with you, hinder her not:
16
And let fall some of your handfuls of purpose, and leave them, that she may
gather them without shame, and let no man rebuke her when she gathereth them.
17
She gleaned therefore in the field till evening: and beating out with a rod,
and threshing what she had gleaned, she found about the measure of an ephi of
barley, that is, three bushels:
18
Which she took up, and returned into the city, and shewed it to her
mother-in-law: moreover, she brought out, and gave her of the remains of her
meat, wherewith she had been filled.
19
And her mother-in-law said to her: Where hast thou gleaned to-day, and where
hast thou wrought? blessed be he that hath had pity on thee. And she told her with whom she had wrought:
and she told the man's name, that he was called Booz.
20
And Noemi answered her: Blessed be he of the Lord: because the same kindness
which he shewed to the living, he hath kept also to the dead. And again she said: The man is our kinsman.
21
And Ruth said: He also charged me, that I should keep close to his reapers,
till all the corn should be reaped.
22
And her mother-in-law said to her: It is better for thee, my daughter, to go
out to reap with his maids, lest in another man's field some one may resist
thee.
23
So she kept close to the maids of Booz: and continued to glean with them, till
all the barley and the wheat were laid up in the barns.
====================
RUTH
3
CHAPTER III.
Ruth, instructed by her mother-in-law, lieth at Booz's
feet, claiming him for her husband by the law of affinity: she receiveth a good
answer, and six measures of barley.
1
After she was returned to her mother-in-law, Noemi said to her: My daughter, I
will seek rest for thee, and will provide that it may be well with thee.
2
This Booz, with whose maids thou wast joined in the field, is our near kinsman,
and behold this night he winnoweth barley in the threshing-floor.
3
Wash thyself therefore and anoint thee, and put on thy best garments, and go
down to the barn-floor: but let not the man see thee, till he shall have done
eating and drinking.
4
And when he shall go to sleep, mark the place wherein he sleepeth: and thou
shalt go in, and lift up the clothes wherewith he is covered towards his feet,
and shalt lay thyself down there: and he will tell thee what thou must do.
5
She answered: Whatsoever thou shalt command, I will do.
6
And she went down to the barn-floor, and did all that her mother-in-law had bid
her.
7
And when Booz had eaten, and drunk, and was merry, he went to sleep by the heap
of sheaves, and she came softly and uncovering his feet, laid herself down.
8
And behold, when it was now midnight the man was afraid, and troubled: seeing a
woman lying at his feet,
9
And he said to her: Who art thou? And
she answered: I am Ruth, thy handmaid: spread thy coverlet over thy servant,
for thou art a near kinsman.
10
And he said: Blessed art thou of the Lord, my daughter, and thy latter kindness
has surpassed the former: because thou hast not followed young men either poor
or rich.
11
Fear not, therefore, but whatsoever thou shalt say to me I will do to
thee. For all the people that dwell
within the gates of my city, know that thou art a virtuous woman.
12
Neither do I deny myself to be near of kin, but there is another nearer than I.
13
Rest thou this night: and when morning is come, if he will take thee by the
right of kindred, all is well: but if he will not, I will undoubtedly take
thee, as the Lord liveth: sleep till the morning.
14
So she slept at his feet till the night was going off. And she arose before men could know one
another, and Booz said: Beware lest any man know that thou camest hither.
15
And again he said: Spread thy mantle, wherewith thou art covered, and hold it
with both hands. And when she spread it
and held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it upon her. And she carried it, and went into the city,
16
And came to her mother-in-law. Who said
to her: What hast thou done, daughter?
And she told her all that the man had done to her.
17
And she said: Behold he hath given me six measures of barley: for he said: I
will not have thee return empty to thy mother-in-law.
18
And Noemi said: Wait, my daughter, till we see what end the thing will
have. For the man will not rest until he
have accomplished what he hath said.
====================
RUTH
4
CHAPTER IV.
Upon the refusal of the nearer kinsman, Booz marrieth
Ruth, who brings forth Obed, the grandfather of David.
1
Then Booz went up to the gate, and sat there.
And when he had seen the kinsman going by, of whom he had spoken before,
he said to him, calling him by his name: Turn aside for a little while, and sit
down here. He turned aside, and sat
down.
2
And Booz, taking ten men of the ancients of the city, said to them: Sit ye down
here.
3
They sat down, and he spoke to the kinsman: Noemi, who is returned from the
country of Moab, will sell a parcel of land that belonged to our brother
Elimelech.
4 I
would have thee to understand this, and would tell thee before all that sit here,
and before the ancients of my people. If
thou wilt take possession of it by the right of kindred: buy it, and possess
it: But if it please thee not, tell me so, that I may know what I have to
do. For there is no near kinsman besides
thee, who art first, and me, who am second.
But he answered: I will buy the field.
5
And Booz said to him: When thou shalt buy the field at the woman's hand, thou must
take also Ruth, the Moabitess, who was the wife of the deceased: to raise up
the name of thy kinsman in his inheritance.
6
He answered: I yield up my right of next akin: for I must not cut off the
posterity of my own family. Do thou make
use of my privilege, which I profess I do willingly forego.
7
*Now this in former times was the manner in Israel between kinsmen, that if at
any time one yielded his right to another: that the grant might be sure, the
man put off his shoe, and gave it to his neighhour; this was a testimony of
cession of right in Israel.
8
So Booz said to his kinsman: Put off thy shoe.
And immediately he took it off from his foot.
9
And he said to the ancients, and to all the people: You are witnesses this day,
that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and Chelion's, and Mahalon's, of
the hand of Noemi:
10
And have taken to wife Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of Mahalon, to raise up
the name of the deceased in his inheritance, lest his name be cut off, from
among his family and his brethren, and his people. You, I say, are witnesses of this thing.
11
Then all the people that were in the gate, and the ancients answered: We are
witnesses: The Lord make this woman who cometh into thy house, like Rachel, and
Lia, who built up the house of Israel: that she may be an example of virtue in
Ephrata, and may have a famous name in Bethlehem:
12
And that the house may be, as the house of Phares, *whom Thamar bore unto Juda,
of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman.
13
Booz therefore took Ruth, and married her: and went in unto her, and the Lord
gave her to conceive, and to bear a son.
14
And the women said to Noemi: Blessed be the Lord, who hath not suffered thy
family to want a successor: that his name should be preserved in Israel.
15
And thou shouldst have one to comfort thy soul, and cherish thy old age. For he is born of thy daughter-in-law: who
loveth thee: and is much better to thee, than if thou hadst seven sons.
16
And Noemi taking the child, laid it in her bosom, and she carried it, and was a
nurse unto it.
17
And the women, her neighbours, congratulating with her, and saying: There is a
son born to Noemi, called his name Obed: he is the father of Isai, the father
of David.
18
These are the generations of Phares: *Phares begot Esron,
19
Esron begot Aram, Aram begot Aminadab,
20
Aminadab begot Nahasson, Nahasson begot Salmon,
21
Salmon begot Booz, Booz begot Obed,
22
Obed begot Isai, Isai begot David.
____________________
*
7: Deut. xxv. 7.
12: Gen. xxxviii. 29.
18: 1 Par. ii. 5. and xi. 15.; Mat. i. 3.
====================
====================
1
KINGS
THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL;
otherwise called,
THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS.
1
KINGS 1
CHAPTER I.
Anna, the wife of Elcana, being barren, by vow and
prayer obtaineth a son: whom she called Samuel: and presenteth him to the
service of Gdo in Silo, according to her vow.
1
There was a man of Ramathaimsophim, of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elcana,
the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliu, the son of Thohu, the son of Suph, an
Ephraimite:
2
And he had two wives, the name of one was Anna, and the name of the other
Phenenna. Phenenna had children: but
Anna had no children.
3
And this man went up out of his city upon the appointed days, to adore and to
offer sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Silo.
And the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were there priests of the
Lord.
4
Now the day came, and Elcana offered sacrifice, and gave to Phenenna, his wife,
and to all her sons and daughters, portions:
5
But to Anna he gave one portion with sorrow, because he loved Anna. And the Lord had shut up her womb.
6
Her rival also afflicted her, and troubled her exceedingly, insomuch that she
upbraided her, that the Lord had shut up her womb:
7
And thus she did every year, when the time returned, that they went up to the
temple of the Lord: and thus she provoked her: but Anna wept, and did not eat.
8
Then Elcana, her husband, said to her: Anna, why weepest thou? and why dost
thou not eat? and why dost thou afflict thy heart? Am not I better to thee than ten children?
9
So Anna arose after she had eaten and drunk in Silo: *And Heli, the priest,
sitting upon a stool before the door of the temple of the Lord;
10
As Anna had her heart full of grief, she prayed to the Lord, shedding many
tears,
11
And she made a vow, saying: O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt look down, and wilt
be mindful of me, and not forget thy handmaid, and wilt give to thy servant a
man-child: I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor
shall come upon his head.
12
And it came to pass, as she multiplied prayers before the Lord, that Heli
observed her mouth.
13
Now Anna spoke in her heart, and only her lips moved, but her voice was not
heard at all. Heli therefore thought her
to be drunk,
14
And said to her: How long wilt thou be drunk? digest a little the wine, of
which thou hast taken too much.
15
Anna answering, said: Not so, my lord: for I am an exceeding unhappy woman, and
have drunk neither wine nor any strong drink, but I have poured out my soul
before the Lord.
16
Count not thy handmaid for one of the daughters of Belial: for out of the
abundance of my sorrow and grief have I spoken till now.
17
Then Heli said to her: Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy
petition, which thou hast asked of him.
18
And she said: Would to God thy handmaid may find grace in thy eyes. So the woman went on her way, and ate, and
her countenance was no more changed.
19
And they rose in the morning, and worshipped before the Lord: and they
returned, and came into their house at Ramatha.
And Elcana knew Anna his wife: and the Lord remembered her.
20
And it came to pass when the time was come about, Anna conceived and bore a
son, *and called his name Samuel: because she had asked him of the Lord.
21
And Elcana, her husband, went up, and all his house, to offer to the Lord the
solemn sacrifice, and his vow.
22
But Anna went not up: for she said to her husband: I will not go till the child
be weaned, and till I may carry him, that he may appear before the Lord, and
may abide always there.
23
And Elcana, her husband, said to her: Do what seemeth good to thee, and stay
till thou wean him: and I pray that the Lord may fulfil his word. So the woman staid at home, and gave her son
suck, till she weaned him.
24
And after she had weaned him, she carried him with her, with three calves, and
three bushels of flour, and a bottle of wine, and she brought him to the house
of the Lord in Silo. Now the child was
as yet very young:
25
And they immolated a calf, and offered the child to Heli.
26
And Anna said: I beseech thee, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord: I am that
woman, who stood before thee here praying to the Lord.
27
For this child did I pray, and the Lord hath granted me my petition, which I
asked of him.
28
Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord all the days of his life, he shall
be lent to the Lord. And they adored the
Lord there. And Anna prayed, and said:
____________________
*
9: A.M. 2848, A.C. 1156.
20: A.M. 2849, A.C. 1155.
====================
1
KINGS 2
CHAPTER II.
The canticle of Anna.
The wickedness of the sons of Heli: for which they are not duly
corrected by their father. A prophecy
against the house of Heli.
1
My heart hath rejoiced in the Lord, and my horn is exalted in my God: my mouth
is enlarged over my enemies: because I have joyed in thy salvation.
2
There is none holy as the Lord is: for there is no other beside thee, and there
is none strong like our God.
3
Do not multiply to speak lofty things, boasting: let old matters depart from
your mouth: for the Lord is a God of all knowledge, and to him are thoughts
prepared.
4
The bow of the mighty is overcome, and the weak are girt with strength.
5
They that were full before, have hired out themselves for bread: and the hungry
are filled, so that the barren hath borne many: and she that had many children
is weakened.
6
*The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to hell, and bringeth back
again.
7
The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, he humbleth and he exalteth:
8
He raiseth up the needy from the dust, and lifteth up the poor from the
dunghill: that he may sit with princes, and hold the throne of glory. For the poles of the earth are the Lord's,
and upon them he hath set the world.
9
He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in
darkness; because no man shall prevail by his own strength.
10
The adversaries of the Lord shall fear him: and upon them shall he thunder in
the heavens: The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give
empire to his king, and shall exalt the horn of his Christ.
11
And Elcana went to Ramatha, to his house: but the child ministered in the sight
of the Lord before the face of Heli the priest.
12
Now the sons of Heli were children of Belial, not knowing the Lord,
13
Nor the office of the priests to the people: but whosoever had offered a
sacrifice, the servant of the priest came, while the flesh was in boiling, with
a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand,
14
And thrust it into the kettle, or into the cauldron, or into the pot, or into
the pan: and all that the fleshhook brought up, the priest took to
himself. Thus did they to all Israel
that came to Silo.
15
Also before they burnt the fat, the servant of the priest came, and said to the
man that sacrificed: Give me flesh to boil for the priest: for I will not take
of thee sodden flesh, but raw.
16
And he that sacrificed said to him: Let the fat first be burnt to-day,
according to the custom, and then take to thee as much as thy soul
desireth. But he answered, and said to
him: Not so: but thou shalt give it me now, or else I will take it by force.
17
Wherefore the sin of the young men was exceeding great before the Lord: because
they withdrew men from the sacrifice of the Lord.
18
But Samuel ministered before the face of the Lord: being a child girded with a
linen ephod.
19
And his mother made him a little coat, which she brought to him on the
appointed days, when she went up with her husband, to offer the solemn
sacrifice.
20
And Heli blessed Elcana and his wife: and he said to him: The Lord give thee
seed of this woman, for the loan thou hast lent to the Lord. And they went to their own home.
21
And the Lord visited Anna, and she conceived, and bore three sons, and two daughters:
and the child Samuel became great before the Lord.
22
Now Heli was very old, and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel: and
how they lay with the women that waited at the door of the tabernacle:
23
And he said to them: Why do ye these kinds of things, which I hear, very wicked
things, from all the people?
24
Do not so, my sons: for it is no good report that I hear, that you make the
people of the Lord to transgress.
25
If one man shall sin against another, God may be appeased in his behalf: but if
a man shall sin against the Lord, who shall pray for him? And they hearkened not to the voice of their
father, because the Lord would slay them.
26
But the child Samuel advanced, and grew on, and pleased both the Lord and men.
27
And there came a man of God to Heli, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Did
I not plainly appear to thy father's house, when they were in Egypt in the
house of Pharao?
28
And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my
sitar, and burn incense to me, and to wear the ephod before me: and I gave to
thy father's house of all the sacrifices of the children of Israel.
29
Why have you kicked away my victims, and my gifts which I commanded to be
offered in the temple: and thou hast rather honoured thy sons than me, to eat
the first-fruits of every sacrifice of my people Israel?
30
Wherefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: *I said indeed that thy house,
and the house of thy father, should minister in my sight, for ever. But now saith the Lord: Far be this from me:
but whosoever shall glorify me, him will I glorify: but they that despise me,
shall be despised.
31
Behold the days come: and I will cut off thy arm, and the arm of thy father's
house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house.
32
And thou shalt see thy rival in the temple, in all the prosperity of Israel,
and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever.
33
However, I will not altogether take away a man of thee from my altar: but that
thy eyes may faint, and thy soul be spent: and a great part of thy house shall
die, when they come to man's estate.
34
And this shall be a sign to thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, Ophni and
Phinees: in one day they shall both of them die.
35
And I will raise me up a faithful priest, who shall do according to my heart,
and my soul: and I will build him a faithful house, and he shall walk all days
before my anointed.
36
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall remain in thy house, shall come
that he may be prayed for, and shall offer a piece of silver, and a roll of
bread, and shall say: Put me, I beseech thee, to somewhat of the priestly
office, that I may eat a morsel of bread.
____________________
*
6: Deut. xxxii. 39.; Tobias xiii. 2.; Wisd. xvi.
13.
30: 3 Kings ii. 27.
====================
1
KINGS 3
CHAPTER III.
Samuel is four times called by the Lord: who revealeth
to him the evil that shall fall on Heli and his house.
1
Now *the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Heli, and the word of the
Lord was precious in those days, there was no manifest vision.
2
And it came to pass one day when Heli lay in his place, and his eyes were grown
dim, that he could not see:
3 Before
the lamp of God went out, Samuel slept in the temple of the Lord, where the ark
of God was.
4
And the Lord called Samuel. And he
answered: Here am I.
5
And he ran to Heli, and said: Here am I: for thou didst call me. He said: I did not call: go back and
sleep. And he went and slept.
6
And the Lord called Samuel again. And
Samuel arose and went to Heli, and said: Here am I: for thou calledst me. He answered: I did not call thee, my son:
return and sleep.
7
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither had the word of the Lord been
revealed to him.
8
And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose up and went to Heli.
9
And said: Here am I: for thou didst call me.
Then Heli understood that the Lord called the child, and he said to Samuel:
Go, and sleep: and if he shall call thee any more, thou shalt say: Speak, Lord,
for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went,
and slept in his place.
10
And the Lord came, and stood, and he called, as he had called the other times,
Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel said: Speak,
Lord, for thy servant heareth.
11
And the Lord said to Samuel: Behold I do a thing in Israel: and whosoever shall
hear it, both his ears shall tingle.
12
In that day I will raise up against Heli all the things I have spoken
concerning his house: I will begin, and I will make an end.
13
For I have foretold unto him, that I will judge his house for ever, for
iniquity, because he knew that his sons did wickedly, and did not chastise
them.
14
Therefore have I sworn to the house of Heli, that the iniquity of his house
shall not be expiated with victims nor offerings for ever.
15
And Samuel slept till morning, and opened the doors of the house of the
Lord. And Samuel feared to tell the
vision to Heli.
16
Then Heli called Samuel, and said: Samuel, my son. And he answered: Here am I.
17
And he asked him: What is the word that the Lord hath spoken to thee? I beseech thee hide it not from me. May God do so and so to thee, and add so and
so, if thou hide from me one word of all that were said to thee.
18
So Samuel told him all the words, and did not hide them from him. And he answered: It is the Lord: let him do
what is good in his sight.
19
And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and not one of his words fell to
the ground.
20
And all Israel, from Dan to Bersabee, knew that Samuel was a faithful prophet
of the Lord.
21
And the Lord again appeared in Silo, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in
Silo, according to the word of the Lord.
And the word of Samuel came to pass to all Israel.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2861, A.C. 1143.
====================
1
KINGS 4
CHAPTER IV.
The Israelites being overcome by the Philistines, send
for the ark of God: but they are beaten again: the sons of Heli are killed, and
the ark taken: upon the hearing of the news Heli falleth backward and dieth.
1
And it came to pass in those days, *that the Philistines gathered themselves
together to fight: and Israel went out to war against the Philistines, and
camped by the Stone of help. And the
Philistines came to Aphec,
2
And put their army in array against Israel.
And when they had joined battle, Israel turned their backs to the
Philistines, and there was slain in that fight, here and there in the fields,
about four thousand men.
3
And the people returned to the camp: and the ancients of Israel said: Why hath
the Lord defeated us to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch unto us the ark of the covenant
of the Lord from Silo, and let it come in the midst of us, that it may save us
from the hand of our enemies.
4
So the people sent to Silo, and they brought from thence the ark of the
covenant of the Lord of hosts, sitting upon the cherubims: and the two sons of
Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were with the ark of the covenant of God.
5
And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord was come into the camp, all Israel
shouted with a great shout, and the earth rang again.
6
And the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, and they said: What is this
noise of a great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord
was come into the camp.
7
And the Philistines were afraid, saying: God is come into the camp. And sighing, they said:
8
Woe to us: for there was no such great joy yesterday, and the day before: Woe
to us. Who shall deliver us from the
hand of these high Gods? these are the Gods that struck Egypt with all the
plagues in the desert.
9
Take courage, and behave like men, ye Philistines: lest you come to be servants
to the Hebrews, as they have served you: take courage and fight.
10
So the Philistines fought, and Israel was overthrown, and every man fled to his
own dwelling: and there was an exceeding great slaughter; for there fell of
Israel thirty thousand footmen.
11
And the ark of God was taken: and the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were
slain.
12
And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Silo the same day,
with his clothes rent, and his head strewed with dust.
13
And when he was come, Heli sat upon a stool over-against the way,
watching. For his heart was fearful for
the ark of God. And when the man was
come into the city, he told it: and all the city cried out.
14
And Heli heard the noise of the cry, and he said: What meaneth the noise of
this uproar? But he made haste, and
came, and told Heli.
15
Now Heli was ninety and eight years old, and his eyes were dim, and he could
not see.
16
And he said to Heli: I am he that came from the battle, and have fled out of
the field this day. And he said to him:
What is there done, my son?
17
And he that brought the news answered, and said: Israel is fled before the
Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter of the people: moreover thy
two sons, Ophni and Phinees, are dead: and the ark of God is taken.
18
And when he had named the ark of God, he fell from his stool backwards by the
door, and broke his neck and died. For
he was an old man, and far advanced in years: and he judged Israel forty years.
19
And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinees, was big with child, and near her
time: and hearing the news that the ark of God was taken, and her
father-in-law, and her husband, were dead, she bowed herself and fell in
labour: for her pains came upon her on a sudden.
20
And when she was upon the point of death, they that stood about her said to
her: Fear not, for thou hast borne a son.
She answered them not, nor gave heed to them.
21
And she called the child Ichabod, saying: The glory is gone from Israel,
because the ark of God was taken, and for her father-in-law, and her husband:
22
And she said: The glory is departed from Israel, because the ark of God was
taken.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2888, A.C. 1116.
====================
1
KINGS 5
CHAPTER V.
Dagon twice falleth down before the ark. The Philistines are grievously afflicted,
wherever the ark cometh.
1
And* the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried it from the Stone of help
into Azotus.
2
And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the temple of
Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3
And when the Azotians arose early the next day, behold Dagon lay upon his face
on the ground before the ark of the Lord: and they took Dagon, and set him
again in his place.
4
And the next day again, when they rose in the morning, they found Dagon lying
upon his face on the earth before the ark of the Lord: and the head of Dagon,
and both the palms of his hands, were cut off upon the threshold:
5
And only the stump of Dagon remained in its place. For this cause neither the priests of Dagon,
nor any that go into the temple, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Azotus unto
this day.
6
And the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Azotians, and he destroyed them,*
and afflicted Azotus and the coasts thereof with emerods. And in the villages and fields in the midst
of that country, there came forth a multitude of mice, and there was the
confusion of a great mortality in the city.
7
And the men of Azotus seeing this kind of plague, said: The ark of the God of
Israel shall not stay with us: for his hand is heavy upon us, and upon Dagon,
our god.
8
And sending, they gathered together all the lords of the Philistines to them,
and said: What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And the Gethrites answered: Let the ark of
the God of Israel be carried about. And
they carried the ark of the God of Israel about.
9
And while they were carrying it about, the hand of the Lord came upon every city
with an exceeding great slaughter: and he smote the men of every city, both
small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. And the Gethrites consulted together, and
made themselves seats of skins.
10
Therefore they sent the ark of God into Accaron. And when the ark of God was come into
Accaron, the Accaronites cried out, saying: They have brought the ark of the
God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.
11
They sent therefore, and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines: and
they said: Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return into its
own place, and not kill us and our people.
12
For there was the fear of death in every city, and the hand of God was
exceeding heavy. The men also that did
not die, were afflicted with the emerods: and the cry of every city went up to
heaven.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2888.
6: Psal. lxxvii. 66.
====================
1
KINGS 6
CHAPTER VI.
The ark is sent back to Bethsames: where many are
slain for looking through curiosity into it.
1
Now *the ark of God was in the land of the Philistines seven months.
2
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying: What shall
we do with the ark of the Lord? tell us how we are to send it back to its
place? And they said:
3
If you send back the ark of the God of Israel, send it not away empty, but
render unto him what you owe for sin, and then you shall be healed: and you
shall know why his hand departeth not from you.
4
They answered: What is it we ought to render unto him for sin? and they
answered:
5
According to the number of the provinces of the Philistines you shall make five
golden emerods, and five golden mice: for the same plague hath been upon you
all, and upon your lords. And you shall
make the likeness of your emerods, and the likeness of the mice, that have
destroyed the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel: to see if he
will take off his hand from you, and from your gods, and from your land.
6
Why do you harden your hearts, as Egypt and Pharao hardened their hearts? *did
not he, after he was struck, then let them go, and they departed?
7
Now, therefore, take and make a new cart: and two kine that have calved, on
which there hath come no yoke, tie to the cart, and shut up their calves at
home.
8
And you shall take the ark of the Lord, and lay it on the cart, and the vessels
of gold, which you have paid him for sin, you shall put into a little box at
the side thereof: and send it away, that it may go.
9
And you shall look: and if it go up by the way of his own coasts towards
Bethsames, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, we shall know that
it is not his hand hath touched us, but it hath happened by chance.
10
They did therefore in this manner: and taking two kine, that had suckling
calves, they yoked them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.
11
And they laid the ark of God upon the cart, and the little box that had in it
the golden mice, and the likeness of the emerods.
12
And the kine took the straight way that leadeth to Bethsames, and they went
along the way, lowing as they went: and turned not aside neither to the right
hand nor to the left: and the lords of the Philistines followed them as far as
the borders of Bethsames.
13
Now the Bethsamites were reaping wheat in the valley: and lifting up their
eyes, they saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
14
And the cart came into the field of Josue, a Bethsamite, and stood there. And there was a great stone, and they cut in
pieces the wood of the cart, and laid the kine upon it a holocaust to the Lord.
15
And the Levites took down the ark of God, and the little box that was at the
side of it, wherein were the vessels of gold, and they put them upon the great
stone. The men also of Bethsames offered
holocausts, and sacrificed victims that day to the Lord.
16
And the five princes of the Philistines saw, and they returned to Accaron the
same day.
17
And these are the golden emerods, which the Philistines returned for sin to the
Lord: For Azotus one, for Gaza one, for Ascalon one, for Geth one, for Accaron
one:
18
And the golden mice, according to the number of the cities of the Philistines,
of the five provinces, from the fenced city to the village that was without
wall, and to the great Abel (the stone) whereon they set down the ark of
the Lord, which was till that day in the field of Josue the Bethsamite.
19
But he slew of the men of Bethsames, because they had seen the ark of the Lord,
and he slew of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand of the common
people. And the people lamented, because
the Lord had smitten the people with a great slaughter.
20
And the men of Bethsames said: Who shall be able to stand before the Lord this
holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us?
21
And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Cariathiarim, saying: The
Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord, come ye down and fetch it up
to you.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2888.
6: Exod. xii. 31.
====================
1
KINGS 7
CHAPTER VII.
The ark is brought to Cariathiarim. By Samuel's exhortation the people cast away
their idols and serve God alone. The
Lord defeateth the Philistines, while Samuel offereth sacrifice.
1
And *the men of Cariathiarim came, and fetched up the ark of the Lord, and
carried it into the house of Abinadab, in Gabaa: and they sanctified Eleazar,
his son, to keep the ark of the Lord.
2
And it came to pass, that from the day the ark of the Lord abode in
Cariathiarim, days were multiplied, (for it was now the twentieth year) and all
the house of Israel rested, following the Lord.
3
And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying:* If you turn to the Lord
with all your heart, put away the strange gods from among you, Baalim and
Astaroth: and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and he
will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
4
Then the children of Israel put away Baalim and Astaroth, and served the Lord
only.
5
And Samuel said: Gather all Israel to Masphath, that I may pray to the Lord for
you.
6
And they gathered together to Masphath, and they drew water, and poured it out
before the Lord, and they fasted on that day, and they said there: We have
sinned against the Lord. And Samuel
judged the children of Israel in Masphath.
7
And the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to
Masphath, and the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard this,
they were afraid of the Philistines.
8
And they said to Samuel: Cease not to cry to the Lord our God for us, that he
may save us out of the hand of the Philistines.
9
And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it whole for a holocaust to the
Lord: and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him.
10
And it came to pass, when Samuel was offering the holocaust, the Philistines
began the battle against Israel: *but the Lord thundered with a great thunder
on that day upon the Philistines, and terrified them, and they were overthrown
before the face of Israel.
11
And the men of Israel going out of Masphath, pursued after the Philistines, and
made slaughter of them till they came under Bethchar.
12
And Samuel took a stone, and laid it between Masphath and Sen: and he called
the place The stone of help. And he
said: Thus far the Lord hath helped us.
13
And the Philistines were humbled, and they did not come any more into the
borders of Israel. And the hand of the
Lord was against the Philistines, all the days of Samuel.
14
And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel, were restored to
Israel, from Accaron to Geth, and their borders: and he delivered Israel from
the hand of the Philistines, and there was peace between Israel and the
Amorrhites.
15
And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life:
16
And he went every year about to Bethel and to Galgal and to Masphath, and he
judged Israel in the aforesaid places.
17
And he returned to Ramatha: for there was his house, and there he judged
Israel: he built also there an altar to the Lord.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2888.
3: Deut. vi. 13.; Mat. iv. 10.
10: Eccli. xlvi. 21.
====================
1
KINGS 8
CHAPTER VIII.
Samuel growing old, and his sons not walking in his
ways, the people desire a king.
1
And* it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he appointed his sons to be
judges over Israel.
2
Now the name of his first-born son was Joel: and the name of the second was
Abia, judges in Bersabee.
3
And his sons walked not in his ways: but they turned aside after lucre, and
took bribes, and perverted judgment.
4
Then all the ancients of Israel being assembled, came to Samuel to Ramatha.
5
And they said to him: Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways:
*make us a king, to judge us, as all nations have.
6
And the word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel, that they should say: Give
us a king, to judge us. And Samuel
prayed to the Lord.
7
And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to the voice of the people in all that
they say to thee. For they have not
rejected thee, but me, that I should not reign over them.
8
According to all their works, they have done from the day that I brought them
out of Egypt until this day: as they have forsaken me, and served strange gods,
so do they also unto thee.
9
Now, therefore, hearken to their voice: but yet testify to them, and foretell
them the right of the king, that shall reign over them.
10
Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people that had desired a
king of him,
11
And said: This will be the right of the king that shall reign over you: He will
take your sons, and put them in his chariots, and will make them his horsemen,
and his running footmen, to run before his chariots,
12
And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and centurions, and to plough
his fields, and to reap his corn, and to make him arms and chariots.
13
Your daughters also he will take to make him ointments, and to be his cooks,
and bakers.
14
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best oliveyards, and
give them to his servants.
15
Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn, and of the revenues of your
vineyards, to give to his eunuchs and servants.
16
Your servants also, and handmaids, and your goodliest young men, and your
asses, he will take away, and put them to his work.
17
Your flocks also he will tithe, and you shall be his servants.
18
And you shall cry out in that day from the face of the king, whom you have
chosen to yourselves. and the Lord will not hear you in that day, because you
desired unto yourselves a king.
19
But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and they said: Nay: but
there shall be a king over us,
20
And we also will be like all nations: and our king shall judge us, and go out
before us, and fight our battles for us.
21
And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and rehearsed them in the ears of
the Lord.
22
And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel: Let
every man go to his city.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2908, A.C. 1096.
5: Osee xiii. 10.; Acts xiii. 21.
====================
1
KINGS 9
CHAPTER IX.
Saul, seeking his father's asses, cometh to Samuel, by
whom he is entertained.
1
Now* there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Cis, the son of Abiel, the son
of Seror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphia, the son of a man of Jemini,
valiant and strong.
2
And he had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and goodly man, and there was
not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders
and upward he appeared above all the people.
3
And the asses of Cis, Sauls father, were lost: and Cis said to his son Saul:
Take one of the servants with thee, and arise, go, and seek the asses. And when they had passed through Mount
Ephraim,
4
And through the land of Salisa, and had not found them, they passed also
through the land of Salim, and they were not there: and through the land of
Jemini, and found them not.
5
And when they were come to the land of Suph, Saul said to the servant that was
with him: Come, let us return, lest perhaps my father forget the asses, and be
concerned for us.
6
And he said to him: Behold there is a man of God in this city, a famous man:
all that he saith, cometh certainly to pass.
Now, therefore, let us go thither, perhaps he may tell us of our way,
for which we are come.
7
And Saul said to his servant: Behold we will go: but what shall we carry
to the man of God? the bread is spent in our bags: and we have no present to
make to the man of God, nor any thing at all.
8
The servant answered Saul again, and said: Behold there is found in my hand the
fourth part of a sicle of silver, let us give it to the man of God, that he may
tell us our way.
9
Now in time past in Israel, when a man went to consult God, he spoke thus: Come,
let us go to the seer. For he that is
now called a prophet, in time past was called a seer.
10
And Saul said to his servant: Thy word is very good, come, let us go. And they went into the city, where the man of
God was.
11
And when they went up the ascent to the city, they found maids coming out to
draw water, and they said to them: Is the seer here?
12
They answered and said to them: He is: behold he is before you, make haste now:
for he came to-day into the city, for there is a sacrifice of the people to-day
in the high place.
13
As soon as you come into the city, you shall immediately find him, before he go
up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat till he come; because
he blesseth the victim, and afterwards they eat that are invited. Now, therefore, go up, for to-day you shall
find him.
14
And they went up into the city. And when
they were walking in the midst of the city, behold Samuel was coming out
over-against them, to go up to the high place.
15
*Now the Lord had revealed to the ear of Samuel the day before Saul came,
saying:
16
To-morrow about this same hour I will send thee a man of the land of Benjamin,
and thou shalt anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel: and he shall save
my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked down upon my
people, because their cry is come to me.
17
And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him: Behold the man, of whom I spoke
to thee, this man shall reign over my people.
18
And Saul came to Samuel in the midst of the gate, and said: Tell me, I pray
thee, where is the house of the seer?
19
And Samuel answered Saul, saying: I am the seer; go up before me to the high
place, that you may eat with me to-day, and I will let thee go in the morning:
and tell thee all that is in thy heart.
20
And as for the asses, which were lost three days ago, be not solicitous,
because they are found. And for whom
shall be all the best things of Israel?
Shall they not be for thee and for all thy father's house?
21
And Saul answering, said: Am not I a son of Jemini of the least tribe of
Israel, and my kindred the last among all the families of the tribe of
Benjamin? Why then hast thou spoken this
word to me?
22
Then Samuel taking Saul, and his servant, brought them into the parlour, and
gave them a place at the head of them that were invited. For there were about thirty men.
23
And Samuel said to the cook: Bring the portion, which I gave thee, and
commanded thee to set it apart by thee.
24
And the cook took up the shoulder, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said: Behold what is left, set it
before thee, and eat; because it was kept of purpose for thee, when I invited
the people. And Saul ate with Samuel
that day.
25
And they went down from the high place into the town, and he spoke with Saul upon
the top of the house: and he prepared a bed for Saul on the top of the house,
and he slept.
26
And when they were risen in the morning, and it began now to be light, Samuel
called Saul on the top of the house, saying: Arise, that I may let thee
go. And Saul arose: and they went out
both of them: to wit, he and Samuel.
27
And as they were going down in the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul: Speak
to the servant to go before us, and pass on: but stand thou still a while, that
I may tell thee the word of the Lord.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2909, A.C. 1095.
15: Acts xiii. 21.
====================
1
KINGS 10
CHAPTER X.
Saul is anointed.
He prophesieth, and is changed into another man. Samuel calleth the people together, to make a
king: the lot falleth on Saul.
1
And *Samuel took a little vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed
him, and said: Behold, the Lord hath anointed thee to be prince over his
inheritance, and thou shalt deliver his people out of the hands of their
enemies, that are round about them. And
this shall be a sign unto thee, that God hath anointed thee to be prince.
2
When thou shalt depart from me this day, thou shalt find two men by the
sepulchre of Rachel in the borders of Benjamin to the south, and they shall say
to thee: The asses are found which thou wentest to seek: and thy father
thinking, no more of the asses, is concerned for you, and saith: What shall I
do for my son?
3
And when thou shalt depart from thence, and go farther on, and shalt come to
the oak of Thabor, there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel,
one carrying three kids, and another three loaves of bread, and another
carrying a bottle of wine.
4
And they will salute thee, and will give thee two loaves, and thou shalt take
them at their hand.
5
After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the
Philistines is: and when thou shalt be come there into the city, thou shalt
meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place, with a psaltery,
and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp before them, and they shall be
prophesying.
6
And the Spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with
them, and shalt be changed into another man.
7
When therefore these signs shall happen to thee, do whatsoever thy hand shall
find, for the Lord is with thee.
8
And thou shalt go down before me to Galgal, (for I will come down to thee), that
thou mayest offer an oblation, and sacrifice victims of peace: seven days shalt
thou wait, *till I come to thee, and I will shew thee what thou art to do.
9
So when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave unto him another
heart, and all these things came to pass that day.
10
And they came to the foresaid hill, and behold a company of prophets met him:
and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he prophesied in the midst of
them.
11
And all that had known him yesterday and the day before, seeing that he was
with the prophets, and prophesied, said to each other: What is this that hath
happened to the son of Cis? is Saul also among the prophets?
12
And one answered another, saying: And who is their father? therefore it became
a proverb: *Is Saul also among the prophets?
13
And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.
14
And Saul's uncle said to him, and to his servant: Whither went you? They answered: To seek the asses: and not
finding them we went to Samuel.
15
And his uncle said to him: Tell me what Samuel said to thee.
16
And Saul said to his uncle: He told us that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom of which
Samuel had spoken to him, he told him not.
17
And Samuel called together the people to the Lord in Maspha:
18
And he said to the children of Israel: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I
brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the
Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kings who afflicted you.
19
But you this day have rejected your God, who only hath saved you out of all
your evils and your tribulations: and you have said: *Nay: but set a king over
us. Now therefore stand before the Lord
by your tribes, and by your families.
20
And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel, and the lot fell on the
tribe of Benjamin.
21
And he brought the tribe of Benjamin and the kindreds thereof, and the lot fell
Upon the kindred of Metri, and it came to Saul, the son of Cis. They sought him therefore, and he was not
found.
22
And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold he is hidden at
home.
23
And they ran and fetched him thence: and he stood in the midst of the people,
and he was higher than any of the people from the shoulders and upward.
24
And Samuel said to all the people: Surely you see him whom the Lord hath
chosen, that there is none like him among all the people. And all the people cried and said: God save
the king.
25
And Samuel told the people the law of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and
laid it up before the Lord: and Samuel sent away all the people, every one to
his own house.
26
Saul also departed to his own house in Gabaa: and there went with him a part of
the army, whose hearts God had touched.
27
But the children of Belial said: Shall this fellow be able to save us? And they despised him, and brought him no
presents; but he dissembled as though he heard not.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2909, Acts xiii. 21.
8: Infra xiii. 8.
12: Infra xix. 24.
19: Supra viii. 19.
====================
1
KINGS 11
CHAPTER XI.
Saul defeateth the Ammonites, and delivereth Jabes
Galaad.
1
And *it came to pass about a month after this, that Naas, the Ammonite, came
up, and began to fight against Jabes Galaad.
And all the men of Jabes said to Naas: Make a covenant with us, and we
will serve thee.
2
And Naas, the Ammonite, answered them: On this condition will I make a covenant
with you, that I may pluck out all your right eyes, and make you a reproach in
all Israel.
3
And the ancients of Jabes said to him: Allow us seven days, that we may send
messengers to all the coasts of Israel: and if there be no one to defend us, we
will come out to thee.
4
The messengers therefore came to Gabaa of Saul: and they spoke these words in
the hearing of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.
5
And behold Saul came, following oxen out of the field, and he said: What aileth
the people that they weep? And they told
him the words of the men of Jabes.
6
And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, when he had heard these words, and
his anger was exceedingly kindled.
7
And taking both the oxen, he cut them in pieces, and sent them into all the
coasts of Israel, by messengers, saying: Whosoever shall not come forth, and
follow Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell upon the
people, and they went out as one man.
8
And he numbered them in Bezec: and there were of the children of Israel three
hundred thousand: and of the men of Juda thirty thousand.
9
And they said to the messengers that came: Thus shall you say to the men of
Jabes Galaad: To-morrow, when the sun shall be hot, you shall have relief. The messengers therefore came, and told the
men of Jabes: and they were glad.
10
And they said: In the morning we will come out to you: and you shall do what
you please with us.
11
And it came to pass, when the morrow was come that Saul put the people in three
companies: and he came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and he
slew the Ammonites until the day grew hot, and the rest were scattered, so that
two of them were not left together.
12
And the people said to Samuel: *Who is he that said: Shall Saul reign over
us? Bring the men, and we will kill
them.
13
And Saul said: No man shall be killed this day: because the Lord this day hath
wrought salvation in Israel:
14
And Samuel said to the people: Come, and let us go to Galgal, and let us renew
the kingdom there.
15
And all the people went to Galgal, and there they made Saul king, before the
Lord in Galgal, and they sacrificed there victims of peace before the
Lord. And there Saul and all the men of
Israel rejoiced exceedingly
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2909.
12: Wisd. x. 27.
====================
1
KINGS 12
CHAPTER XII.
Samuel's integrity is acknowledged. God sheweth, by a sign from heaven, that they
had done ill in asking for a king.
1
*And Samuel said to all Israel: Behold I have hearkened to your voice in all
that you said to me, and have made a king over you.
2
And now the king goeth before you: but I am old and grey-headed: and my sons
are with you: having then conversed with you from my youth until this day,
behold here I am.
3
*Speak of me before the Lord, and before his anointed, whether I have taken any
man's ox, or ass: if I have wronged any man, if I have oppressed any man, if I
have taken a bribe at any man's hand: and I will despise it this day, and will
restore it to you.
4
And they said: Thou hast not wronged us, nor oppressed us, nor taken ought at
any man's hand.
5
And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is
witness this day, that you have not found any thing in my hand. And they said: He is witness.
6
And Samuel said to the people: It is the Lord, who made Moses and Aaron,
and brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt.
7
Now, therefore, stand up, that I may plead in judgment against you before the
Lord, concerning all the kindness of the Lord, which he hath shewn to you, and
to your fathers:
8
*How Jacob went into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the Lord: and the Lord
sent Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers out of Egypt: and made them dwell
in this place.
9
And they forgot the Lord their God, *and he delivered them into the hands of
Sisara, captain of the army of Hasor, and into the hands of the Philistines,
and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.
10
But afterwards they cried to the Lord, and said: We have sinned, because we
have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Astaroth: but now deliver us
from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
11
*And the Lord sent Jerobaal, and Badan, and Jephte, and Samuel, and delivered
you from the hand of your enemies round about, and you dwelt securely.
12
But seeing that Naas, king of the children of Ammon, was come against you, you
said to me: *Nay, but a king shall reign over us: whereas the Lord your God was
your king.
13
Now, therefore, your king is here, whom you have chosen and desired: Behold the
Lord hath given you a king.
14
If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and hearken to his voice, and not
provoke the mouth of the Lord: then shall both you, and the king who reigneth
over you, be followers of the Lord your God.
15
But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but will rebel against
his words, the hand of the Lord shall be upon you, and upon your fathers.
16
Now then stand, and see this great thing which the Lord will do in your sight.
17
Is it not wheat-harvest to-day? I will
call upon the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain: and you shall know, and
see that you yourselves have done a great evil in the sight of the Lord, in
desiring a king over you.
18
And Samuel cried unto the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day.
19
And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel: Pray for
thy servants to the Lord thy God, that we may not die, for we have added to all
our sins this evil, to ask for a king.
20
And Samuel said to the people: Fear not, you have done all this evil: but yet
depart not from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
21
And turn not aside after vain things, which shall never profit you, nor deliver
you, because they are vain.
22
And the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because the
Lord hath sworn to make you his people.
23
And far from me be this sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for
you: and I will teach you the good and right way.
24
Therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in truth, and with your whole heart, for
you have seen the great works which he hath done among you.
25
But if you will still do wickedly: both you and your king shall perish
together.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2909.
3: Eccli. xlvi. 22.
8: Gen. xlvi. 5.
9: Judges iv. 2.
11: Judges vi. 14.
12: Supra viii. 19. and x. 19.
====================
1
KINGS 13
CHAPTER XIII.
The war between Saul and the Philistines. The distress of the Israelites. Saul offereth sacrifice before the coming of
Samuel: for which he is reproved.
1
Saul *was a child of one year when he began to reign, and he reigned two years
over Israel.
2
And Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel: and two thousand were with
Saul in Machmas, and in Mount Bethel: and a thousand with Jonathan in Gabaa of
Benjamin, and the rest of the people he sent back every man to their dwellings.
3
And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines which was in Gabaa. And when the Philistines had heard of it,
Saul sounded the trumpet over all the land, saying: Let the Hebrews hear.
4
And all Israel heard this report: Saul hath smitten the garrison of the
Philistines: and Israel took courage against the Philistines. And the people were called together after
Saul to Galgal.
5
The Philistines also were assembled to fight against Israel, thirty thousand
chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and a multitude of people besides, like
the sand on the sea-shore for number.
And going up they camped in Machmas, at the east of Bethaven.
6
And when the men of Israel saw that they were straitened (for the people were
distressed), they hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and
in dens, and in pits.
7
And some of the Hebrews passed over the Jordan into the land of Gad and
Galaad. And when Saul was yet in Galgal,
all the people that followed him were greatly afraid.
8
And he waited seven days, according to the appointment of Samuel, *and Samuel
came not to Galgal, and the people slipt away from him.
9
Then Saul said: Bring me the holocaust, and the peace-offerings. And he offered the holocaust.
10
And when he had made an end of offering the holocaust, behold Samuel came: and
Saul went forth to meet him and salute him.
11
And Samuel said to him: What hast thou done?
Saul answered: Because I saw that the people slipt from me, and thou
wast not come according to the days appointed, and the Philistines were
gathered together in Machmas,
12
I said: Now will the Philistines come down upon me to Galgal, and I have not
appeased the face of the Lord. Forced by
necessity, I offered the holocaust.
13
And Samuel said to Saul: Thou hast done foolishly, and hast not kept the
commandments of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee. And if thou hadst not done thus, the Lord
would now have established thy kingdom over Israel for ever:
14
But thy kingdom shall not continue. *The
Lord hath sought him a man according to his own heart: and him hath the Lord
commanded to be prince over his people, because thou hast not observed that
which the Lord commanded.
15
And Samuel arose and went up from Galgal to Gabaa of Benjamin. And the rest of the people went up after
Saul, to meet the people who fought against them, going from Galgal to Gabaa,
in the hill of Benjamin. And Saul
numbered the people, that were found with him, about six hundred men.
16
And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them,
were in Gabaa of Benjamin: But the Philistines encamped in Machmas.
17
And there went out of the camp of the Philistines three companies to
plunder. One company went towards the
way of Ephra to the land of Sual.
18
And another went by the way of Bethoron, and the third turned to the way of the
border, above the valley of Seboim towards the desert.
19
Now there was no smith to be found in all the land of Israel, for the
Philistines had taken this precaution, lest the Hebrews should make them swords
or spears.
20
So all Israel went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his
ploughshare, and his spade, and his axe, and his rake.
21
So that their shares, and their spades, and their forks, and their axes were
blunt, even to the goad, which was to be mended.
22
And when the day of battle was come, there was neither sword nor spear found in
the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan, except Saul and
Jonathan his son.
23
And the army of the Philistines went out in order to advance further in
Machmas.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2911, A.C. 1093.
8: Supra x. 8.
14: Acts xiii. 22.
====================
1
KINGS 14
CHAPTER XIV.
Jonathan attacketh the Philistines. A miraculous victory. Saul's unadvised oath, by which Jonathan is
put in danger of his life, but is delivered by the people.
1
Now it came to pass one day that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young
man that bore his armour: Come, and let us go over to the garrison of the
Philistines, which is on the other side of yonder place. But he told not this to his father.
2
And Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gabaa under the pomegranate-tree, which
was in Magron: and the people with him were about six hundred men.
3
And Achias, the son of Achitob, brother to Ichabod, the son of Phinees, *the
son of Heli, the priest of the Lord in Silo, wore the ephod. And the people knew not whither Jonathan was
gone.
4
Now there were between the ascents, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the
garrison of the Philistines, rocks standing up on both sides, and steep cliffs
like teeth on the one side, and on the other, the name of the one was Boses,
and the name of the other was Sene:
5
One rock stood out toward, the north over-against Machmas, and the other to the
south, over-against Gabaa.
6
And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armour: Come, let us go over
to the garrison of these uncircumcised, it may be the Lord will do for us:
because it is easy for the Lord to save either by many, or by few.
7
And his armour-bearer said to him: Do all that pleaseth thy mind: go whither
thou wilt, and I will be with thee wheresoever thou hast a mind.
8
And Jonathan said: Behold we will go over to these men. And when we shall be seen by them,
9
If they shall speak thus to us: Stay till we come to you: let us stand still in
our place, and not go up to them.
10
But if they shall say: Come up to us: let us go up, because the Lord hath delivered
them into our hands, this shall be a sign unto us.
11
So both of them discovered themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and
the Philistines said: Behold the Hebrews come forth out of the holes wherein
they were hid.
12
And the men of the garrison spoke to Jonathan, and to his armour-bearer, and
said: Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said to his armour-bearer: Let
us go up, follow me: *for the Lord hath delivered them into the hands of
Israel.
13
And Jonathan went up creeping on his hands and feet, and his armour-bearer
after him. And some fell before
Jonathan, others his armour-bearer slew as he followed him.
14
And the first slaughter which Jonathan and his armour-bearer made, was of about
twenty men, within half an acre of land, which a yoke of oxen is wont to plough
in a day.
15
And there was a miracle in the camp, in the fields: and all the people of their
garrison, who had gone out to plunder, were amazed, and the earth trembled: and
it happened as a miracle from God.
16
And the watchmen of Saul, who were in Gabaa of Benjamin looked, and behold a
multitude overthrown, and fleeing this way and that.
17
And Saul said to the people that were with him: Look, and see who is gone from
us. And when they had sought, it was
found that Jonathan and his armour-bearer were not there.
18
And Saul said to Achias: Bring the ark of the Lord. (For the ark of God was there that day with
the children of Israel.)
19
And while Saul spoke to the priest, there arose a great uproar in the camp of
the Philistines: and it increased by degrees, and was heard more clearly. And Saul said to the priest: Draw in thy
hand.
20
Then Saul, and all the people that were with him, shouted together, and they
came to the place of the fight: and behold every man's sword was turned upon
his neighbour, and there was a very great slaughter.
21
Moreover, the Hebrews that had been with the Philistines yesterday and the day
before, and went up with them into the camp, returned to be with the
Israelites, who were with Saul and Jonathan.
22
And all the Israelites that had hid themselves in Mount Ephraim, hearing that
the Philistines fled, joined themselves with their countrymen in the
fight. And there were with Saul about
ten thousand men.
23
And the Lord saved Israel that day. And
the fight went on as far as Bethaven.
24
And the men of Israel were joined together that day: and Saul adjured the
people, saying: Cursed be the man that shall eat food till evening, till I be
revenged of my enemies. So none of the
people tasted any food.
25
And all the common people came into a forest, in which there was honey upon the
ground.
26
And when the people came into the forest, behold the honey dropped, but no man
put his hand to his mouth. For the
people feared the oath.
27
But Jonathan had not heard when his father adjured the people: and he put forth
the end of the rod, which he had in his hand, and dipt it in a honey-comb: and
he carried his hand to his mouth, and his eyes were enlightened.
28
And one of the people answering, said: Thy father hath bound the people with an
oath, saying: Cursed be the man that shall eat any food this day. (And the people were faint.)
29
And Jonathan said: My father hath troubled the land: you have seen yourselves
that my eyes are enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey:
30
How much more if the people had eaten of the prey of their enemies, which they
found? had there not been made a greater slaughter among the Philistines?
31
So they smote that day the Philistines from Machmas to Aialon. And the people were wearied exceedingly.
32
And falling upon the spoils, they took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew
them on the ground: and the people ate them with the blood.
33
And they told Saul that the people had sinned against the Lord, eating with the
blood. And he said: You have
transgressed: roll here to me now a great stone.
34
And Saul said: Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them to bring me
every man his ox and his ram, and slay them upon this stone, and eat, and you
shall not sin against the Lord, in eating with the blood. So all the people brought every man his ox
with him till the night: and slew them there.
35
And Saul built an altar to the Lord: and he then first began to build an altar
to the Lord.
36
And Saul said: Let us fall upon the Philistines by night, and destroy them till
the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And the people said: Do all that seemeth good
in thy eyes. And the priest said: Let us
draw near hither unto God.
37
And Saul consulted the Lord: Shall I pursue after the Philistines? wilt thou
deliver them into the hands of Israel?
And he answered him not that day.
38
And Saul said: Bring hither all the corners of the people: and know, and see by
whom this sin hath happened to-day.
39
As the Lord liveth, who is the Sviour of Israel, if it was done by Jonathan, my
son, he shall surely die. In this none
of the people gainsayed him.
40
And he said to all Israel: Be you on one side and I, with Jonathan, my son,
will be on the other side. And the
people answered Saul: Do what seemeth good in thy eyes.
41
And Saul said to the Lord: O Lord God of Israel, give a sign, by which we
may know, what the meaning is, that thou answerest not thy servant to-day:
If this iniquity be in me, or in my son Jonathan, give a proof: or if this
iniquity be in thy people, give holiness.
And Jonathan and Saul were taken, and the people escaped.
42
And Saul said: Cast lots between me, and Jonathan, my son. And Jonathan was taken.
43
And Saul said to Jonathan: Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said: I did but
taste a little honey with the end of the rod, which was in my hand, and behold
I must die.
44
And Saul said: May God do so and so to me, and add still more: for dying thou
shalt die, O Jonathan.
45
And the people said to Saul: Shall Jonathan then die, who hath wrought this
great salvation in Israel? this must not be: As the Lord liveth, there shall
not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he hath wrought with God this
day. So the people delivered Jonathan,
that he should not die.
46
And Saul went back, and did not pursue after the Philistines: and the
Philistines went to their own places.
47
And Saul having his kingdom established over Israel, fought against all his
enemies round about, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and Edom,
and the kings of Soba, and the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned
himself, he overcame.
48 And
gathering together an army, he defeated Amalec, and delivered Israel from the
hand of them that spoiled them.
49
And the sons of Saul, were Jonathan, and Jessui, and Melchisua: and the names
of his two daughters, the name of the first-born was Merob, and the name
of the younger Michol.
50
And the name of Saul's wife, was Achinoam, the daughter of Achimaas; and the
name of the captain of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, the cousin-german of
Saul.
51
For Cis was the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, was son of Abiel.
52
And there was a great war against the Philistines all the days of Saul. For whomsoever Saul saw to be a valiant man,
and fit for war, he took him to himself.
____________________
*
3: Supra iv. 21.
12: 1 Mac. iv. 30.
====================
1
KINGS 15
CHAPTER XV.
Saul is sent to destroy Amalec: he spareth their king
and the best of their cattle: for which disobedience he is cast off by the
Lord.
1
And Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint thee king over his people
Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the Lord:
2
Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have reckoned up all that Amalec hath done to
Israel: *how he opposed them in the way when they came up out of Egypt.
3
Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly destroy all that he hath: spare
him not, nor covet any thing that is his: but slay both man and woman, child
and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
4
So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as lambs: two hundred thousand
footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda.
5
And when Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid ambushes in the torrent.
6
And Saul said to the Cinite: Go, depart, and get ye down from Amalec: lest I
destroy thee with him. For thou hast
shewn kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of
Egypt. And the Cinite departed from the
midst of Amalec.
7
And Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur, which is over-against
Egypt.
8
And he took Agag, the king of Amalec, alive: but all the common people he slew
with the edge of the sword.
9
And Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the flocks of sheep, and of
the herds, and the garments and the rams, and all that was beautiful, and would
not destroy them: but every thing that was vile, and good for nothing, that
they destroyed.
10
And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying:
11
It repenteth me that I have made Saul king: for he hath forsaken me, and hath
not executed my commandments. And Samuel
was grieved, and he cried unto the Lord all night.
12
And when Samuel rose early, to go to Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, that
Saul was come to Carmel, and had erected for himself a triumphant arch, and
returning had passed on, and gone down to Galgal. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul was
offering a holocaust to the Lord out of the choicest of the spoils which he had
brought from Amalec.
13
And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said to him: Blessed be thou of the
Lord, I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.
14
And Samuel said: What meaneth then this bleating of the flocks, which soundeth
in my ears, and the lowing of the herds, which I hear?
15
And Saul said: They have brought them from Amalec: for the people spared the
best of the sheep and of the herds, that they might be sacrificed to the Lord
thy God, but the rest we have slain.
16
And Samuel said to Saul: Suffer me, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath
said to me this night. And he said to
him: Speak.
17
And Samuel said: When thou wast a little one in thy own eyes, wast thou not
made the head of the tribes of Israel?
And the Lord anointed thee to be king over Israel.
18
And the Lord sent thee on the way, and said: Go, and kill the sinners of
Amalec, and thou shalt fight against them until thou hast utterly destroyed
them.
19
Why then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the Lord: but hast turned to
the prey, and hast done evil in the eyes of the Lord?
20
And Saul said to Samuel: Yea, I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and
have walked in the way by which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag, the
king of Amalec, and Amalec I have slain.
21
But the people took of the spoils, sheep and oxen, as the first-fruits
of those things that were slain, to offer sacrifice to the Lord their God in
Galgal.
22
And Samuel said: *Doth the Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather
that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed?
For obedience is better than sacrifices: and to hearken rather than to
offer the fat of rams.
23
Because it is like the sin of witchcraft, to rebel: and like the crime of
idolatry, to refuse to obey. For as
much, therefore, as thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord hath also
rejected thee from being king.
24
And Saul said to Samuel: I have sinned, because I have transgressed the
commandment of the Lord, and thy words, fearing the people, and obeying their
voice.
25
But now bear, I beseech thee, my sin, and return with me, that I may adore the
Lord.
26
And Samuel said to Saul: I will not return with thee, because thou hast
rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king
over Israel.
27
And Samuel turned about to go away: but he laid hold upon the skirt of his
mantle, and it rent.
28
And Samuel said to him: *The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee
this day, and hath given it to thy neighbour who is better than thee.
29
But the Triumpher in Israel will not spare, and will not be moved to
repentance: for he is not a man that he should repent.
30
Then he said: I have sinned: yet honour me now before the ancients of my
people, and before Israel, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord thy
God.
31
So Samuel turned again after Saul: and Saul adored the Lord.
32
And Samuel said: Bring hitherto me Agag, the king of Amalec. And Agag was presented to him very fat, and
trembling. And Agag said: Doth bitter
death separate in this manner?
33
And Samuel said: As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be
childless among women. And Samuel hewed
him in pieces before the Lord in Galgal.
34
And Samuel departed to Ramatha: but Saul went up to his house in Gabaa.
35
And Samuel saw Saul no more till the day of his death: nevertheless, Samuel
mourned for Saul, because the Lord repented that he had made him king over
Israel.
____________________
*
2: Exod. xvii. 8.
22: Eccle. iv. 17.; Osee vi. 6.; Mat. ix. 13. and
xii. 7.
28: Infra xxviii. 17.
====================
1
KINGS 16
CHAPTER XVI.
Samuel is sent to Bethlehem, where he anointeth David:
who is taken into Saul's family.
1
And *the Lord said to Samuel: How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, whom I have
rejected from reigning over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and come, that I
may send thee to Isai, the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among
his sons.
2
And Samuel said: How shall I go? for Saul will hear of it, and he will kill
me. And the Lord said: Thou shalt take
with thee a calf of the herd, and thou shalt say: I am come to sacrifice to the
Lord.
3
And thou shalt call Isai to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou art
to do, and thou shalt anoint him whom I shall shew to thee.
4
Then Samuel did as the Lord had said to him.
And he came to Bethlehem, and the ancients of the city wondered, and
meeting him, they said: Is thy coming hither peaceable?
5
And he said: It is peaceable: I am come to offer sacrifice to the Lord,
be ye sanctified, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Isai and his sons, and
called them to the sacrifice.
6
And when they were come in, he saw Eliab, and said: Is the Lord's anointed
before him?
7
And the Lord said to Samuel: Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of
his stature: because I have rejected him, nor do I judge according to the look
of man: for man seeth those things that appear, *but the Lord beholdeth the
heart.
8
And Isai called Abinadab, and brought him before Samuel. And he said: Neither hath the Lord chosen
this.
9
And Isai brought Samma, and he said of him: Neither hath the Lord chosen this.
10
Isai therefore brought his seven sons before Samuel: and Samuel said to Isai:
The Lord hath not chosen any one of these.
11
And Samuel said to Isai: Are here all thy sons?
He answered: There remaineth yet a young one, who keepeth the
sheep. And Samuel said to Isai: Send,
and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.
12
He sent therefore and brought him. Now
he was ruddy and beautiful to behold, and of a comely face. And the Lord said: Arise, and anoint him, for
this is he.
13
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, *and anointed him in the midst of his
brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward: and
Samuel rose up, and went to Ramatha.
14
But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord
troubled him.
15
And the servants of Saul said to him: Behold now an evil spirit from God
troubleth thee.
16
Let our lord give orders, and thy servants who are before thee, will seek out a
man skilful in playing on the harp, that when the evil spirit from the Lord is
upon thee, he may play with his hand, and thou mayest bear it more easily.
17
And Saul said to his servants: Provide me then some man that can play well, and
bring him to me.
18
And one of the servants answering, said: Behold I have seen a son of Isai, the
Bethlehemite, a skilful player, and one of great strength, and a man fit for
war, and prudent in his words, and a comely person: and the Lord is with him.
19
Then Saul sent messengers to Isai, saying: Send me David, thy son, who is in
the pastures.
20
And Isai took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid of the
flock, and sent them by the hand of David, his son, to Saul.
21
And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him exceedingly, and
made him his armour-bearer.
22
And Saul sent to Isai, saying: Let David stand before me: for he hath found
favour in my sight.
23
So whensoever the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, David took his harp,
and played with his hand, and Saul was refreshed, and was better, for the evil
spirit departed from him.
____________________
*
1: A.M. circiter 2934, A.C. 1070.
7: Psal. vii. 10.
13: 2 Kings vii. 8.; Psal. lxxvii. 70. and
lxxxviii. 21.; Acts vii. 46. and xiii. 22.
====================
1
KINGS 17
CHAPTER XVII.
War with the Philistines. Goliath challengeth Israel. He is slain by David.
1
Now *the Philistines gathering together their troops to battle, assembled at
Socho of Juda: and camped between Socho and Azeca, in the borders of Dommim.
2
And Saul and the children of Israel being gathered together, came to the valley
of Terebinth, and they set the army in array to fight against the Philistines.
3
And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a
mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
4
And there went out a man base-born from the camp of the Philistines, named
Goliath, of Geth, whose height was six cubits and a span:
5
And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was clothed with a coat of
mail with scales, and the weight of his coat of mail was five thousand sicles
of brass:
6
And he had greaves of brass on his legs, and a buckler of brass covered his
shoulders.
7
And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the head of his spear
weighed six hundred sicles of iron: and his armour-bearer went before him.
8
And standing, he cried out to the bands of Israel, and said to them: Why are
you come out prepared to fight? am not I a Philistine, and you the servants of
Saul? Choose out a man of you, and let
him come down and fight hand to hand.
9
If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, we will be servants to you: but if
I prevail against him, and kill him, you shall be servants, and shall serve us.
10
And the Philistine said: I have defied the bands of Israel this day: give me a
man, and let him fight with me hand to hand.
11
And Saul and all the Israelites hearing these words of the Philistine, were
dismayed, and greatly afraid.
12
Now David was the son of that Ephrathite, of Bethlehem Juda, before mentioned,
*whose name was Isai, who had eight sons, and was an old man in the days of
Saul, and of great age among men.
13
And his three eldest sons followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his
three sons that went to the battle, were Eliab, the first-born, and the second,
Abinadab, and the third, Samma:
14
But David was the youngest. So the three
eldest having followed Saul,
15
David went, and returned from Saul, to feed his father's flock at Bethlehem.
16
Now the Philistine came out morning and evening, and presented himself forty
days.
17
And Isai said to David, his son: Take for thy brethren an ephi of frumenty, and
these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren,
18
And carry these ten little cheeses to the tribune: and go see thy brethren, if
they are well: and learn with whom they are placed.
19
But Saul, and they, and all the children of Israel, were in the valley of
Terebinth, fighting against the Philistines.
20
David, therefore, arose in the morning, and gave the charge of the flock to the
keeper: and went away loaded, as Isai had commanded him. And he came to the place of Magala, and to
the army, which was going out to fight, and shouted for the battle.
21
For Israel had put themselves in array, and the Philistines who stood against
them were prepared.
22
And David leaving the vessels which he had brought, under the care of the
keeper of the baggage, ran to the place of the battle, and asked if all things
went well with his brethren.
23
And as he talked with them, that base-born man, whose name was Goliath, the
Philistine, of Geth, shewed himself coming up from the camp of the Philistines:
and he spoke according to the same words, and David heard them.
24
And all the Israelites, when they saw the man, fled from his face, fearing him
exceedingly.
25
And some one of Israel said: Have you seen this man that is come up, for he is
come up to defy Israel. And the man that
shall slay him, the king will enrich with great riches, and will give him his
daughter, and will make his father's house free from tribute in Israel.
26
And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying: What shall be given to
the man that shall kill this Philistine, and shall take away the reproach from
Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the
armies of the living God?
27
And the people answered him the same words saying: These things shall be given
to the man that shall slay him.
28
Now when Eliab, his eldest brother, heard this, when he was speaking with
others, he was angry with David, and said: Why camest thou hither? and why
didst thou leave those few sheep in the desert?
I know thy pride, and the wickedness of thy heart: that thou art come
down to see the battle.
29
And David said: What have I done? is there not cause to speak?
30
And he turned a little aside from him to another: and said the same word. And the people answered him as before.
31
And the words which David spoke were heard, and were rehearsed before Saul.
32
And when he was brought to Saul, he said to him: Let not any man's heart
be dismayed in him: I thy servant will go, and will fight against the
Philistine.
33
And Saul said to David: Thou art not able to withstand this Philistine, nor to
fight against him: for thou art but a boy, but he is a warrior from his
youth.
34
And David said to Saul: *Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a
lion, **or a bear, and took a ram out of the midst of the flock:
35
And I pursued after them, and struck them, and delivered it out of their mouth:
and they rose up against me, and I caught them by the throat, and I strangled,
and killed them.
36
For I thy servant have killed both a lion and a bear: and this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be also as one of them.
I will go now, and take away the reproach of the people: for who is this
uncircumcised Philistine, who hath dared to curse the army of the living God?
37
And David said: The Lord who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out
of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this
Philistine. And Saul said to David: Go,
and the Lord be with thee.
38
And Saul clothed David with his garments, and put a helmet of brass upon his
head, and armed him with a coat of mail.
39
And David having girded his sword upon his armour, began to try if he could
walk in armour: for he was not accustomed to it. And David said to Saul: I cannot go thus, for
I am not used to it. And he laid them
off,
40
And he took his staff, which he had always in his hands: and chose him five
smooth stones out of the brook, and put them into the shepherd's scrip, which
he had with him, and he took a sling in his hand, and went forth against the
Philistine.
41
And the Philistine came on, and drew nigh against David, and his armour-bearer
before him.
42
And when the Philistine looked, and beheld David, he despised him. For he was a young man, ruddy, and of a
comely countenance.
43
And the Philistine said to David: Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with a
staff? And the Philistine cursed David
by his gods.
44
And he said to David: Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the birds of the
air, and to the beasts of the earth.
45
And David said to the Philistine: Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear,
and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God
of the armies of Israel, which thou hast defied.
46
This day, and the Lord will deliver thee into my hand, and I will slay thee,
and take away thy head from thee: and I will give the carcasses of the army of
the Philistines this day to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the
earth: that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
47
And all this assembly shall know, that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear:
for it is his battle, and he will deliver you into our hands.
48
And when the Philistine arose, and was coming, and drew nigh to meet David,
David made haste, and ran to the fight to meet the Philistine.
49
And he put his hand into his scrip, and took a stone, and cast it with the
sling, and fetching it about struck the Philistine in the forehead: and the
stone was fixed in his forehead, and he fell on his face upon the earth.
50
*And David prevailed over the Philistine, with a sling and a stone, and he
struck, and slew the Philistine. And as
David had no sword in his hand,
51
He ran, and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of
the sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head.
And the Philistines seeing that their champion was dead, fled away.
52
And the men of Israel and Juda rising up shouted, and pursued after the
Philistines till they came to the valley and to the gates of Accaron, and there
fell many wounded of the Philistines in the way of Saraim, and as far as
Geth, and as far as Accaron.
53
And the children of Israel returning, after they had pursued the Philistines,
fell upon their camp.
54
And David taking the head of the Philistine, brought it to Jerusalem: but his
armour he put in his tent.
55
Now at the time that Saul saw David going out against the Philistines, he said
to Abner, the captain of the army: Of what family is this young man descended,
Abner? And Abner said: As thy soul
liveth, O king, I know not.
56
And the king said: Inquire thou, whose son this young man is.
57
And when David was returned, after the Philistine was slain, Abner took him,
and brought him in before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
58
And Saul said to him: Young man, of what family art thou? And David said: I am the son of thy servant
Isai, the Bethlehemite.
____________________
*
1: A.M. circiter 2942, A.C. 1062.
12: Supra xvi. 1.
34: Eccli. xlvii. 3. --- ** or, for and.
50: Eccli. xlvii. 4.; 1 Mac. iv. 30.
====================
1
KINGS 18
CHAPTER XVIII.
The friendship of Jonathan and David. The envy of Saul, and his design upon David's
life. He marries him to his daughter
Michol.
1
And* it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking to Saul, the soul of
Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own
soul.
2
And Saul took him that day, and would not let him return to his father's house.
3
And David and Jonathan made a covenant, for he loved him as his own soul.
4
And Jonathan stripped himself of the coat with which he was clothed, and gave
it to David, and the rest of his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow,
and to his girdle.
5
And David went out to whatsoever business Saul sent him, and he behaved himself
prudently: and Saul set him over the soldiers, and he was acceptable in the
eyes of all the people, and especially in the eyes of Saul's servants.
6
Now when David returned, after be slew the Philistine, the women came out of
all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with timbrels
of joy, and cornets.
7
And the women sung as they played, and they said: *Saul slew his thousands, and
David his ten thousands.
8
And Saul was exceeding angry, and this word was displeasing in his eyes, and he
said: They have given David ten thousands, and to me they have given but a
thousand, what can he have more but the kingdom?
9
And Saul did not look on David with a good eye from that day and forward.
10
And the day after, the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied
in the midst of his house. And David
played with his hand as at other times.
And Saul held a spear in his hand,
11
And threw it, thinking to nail David to the wall: and David stept aside out of
his presence twice.
12
And Saul feared David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul
himself.
13
Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him a captain over a thousand
men, and he went out and came in before the people.
14
And David behaved wisely in all his ways, *and the Lord was with him.
15
And Saul saw that he was exceeding prudent, and began to beware of him.
16
But all Israel and Juda loved David, for he came in and went out before them.
17
And Saul said to David: Behold my elder daughter Merob, her will I give thee to
wife: only be a valiant man, *and fight the battles of the Lord. Now Saul said within himself: Let not my hand
be upon him, but let the hands of the Philistines be upon him.
18
And David said to Saul: Who am I, or what is my life, or my father's family in
Israel, that I should be son-in-law of the king?
19
And it came to pass at the time when Merob, the daughter of Saul, should have
been given to David, that she was given to Hadriel, the Molathite, to wife.
20
But Michol, the other daughter of Saul, loved David. And it was told Saul, and it pleased him.
21
And Saul said: I will give her to him, that she may be a stumbling-block to
him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be upon him. And Saul said to David: In two things thou
shalt be my son-in-law this day.
22
And Saul commanded his servants to speak to David privately, saying: Behold,
thou pleasest the king, and all his servants love thee. Now, therefore, be the king's son-in-law.
23
And the servants of Saul spoke all these words in the ears of David. And David said: Doth it seem to you a small
matter to be the king's son-in-law? But
I am a poor man, and of small ability.
24
And the servants of Saul told him, saying: Such words as these hath David
spoken.
25
And Saul said: Speak thus to David: The king desireth not any dowry, but only a
hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. Now Saul thought to deliver David into the
hands of the Philistines.
26
And when his servants had told David the words that Saul had said, the word was
pleasing in the eyes of David to be the king's son-in-law.
27
And after a few days David rose up, and went with the men that were under him,
and he slew of the Philistines two hundred men, and brought their foreskins and
numbered them out to the king, that he might be his son-in-law. Saul therefore gave him Michol, his daughter,
to wife.
28
And Saul saw, and understood that the Lord was with David. And Michol, the daughter of Saul, loved him.
29
And Saul began to fear David more: and Saul became David's enemy continually.
30
And the princes of the Philistines went forth: and from the beginning of their
going forth, David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul,
and his name became very famous.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2942.
7: Infra xxi. 11.; Eccli. xlvii. 7.
14: Supra xvi. 13.
17: Infra xxv. 28.
====================
1
KINGS 19
CHAPTER XIX.
Other attempts of Saul upon David's life. He cometh to Samuel. Saul's messengers, and Saul himself,
prophesy.
1
And Saul spoke to Jonathan, his son, and to all his servants, that they should
kill David. But Jonathan, the son of
Saul, loved David exceedingly.
2
And Jonathan told David, saying: Saul, my father, seeketh to kill thee:
wherefore look to thyself, I beseech thee, in the morning, and thou shalt abide
in a secret place, and shalt be hid.
3
And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art: and I
will speak of thee to my father, and whatsoever I shall see, I will tell thee.
4
And Jonathan spoke good things of David to Saul, his father: and said to him:
Sin not, O king, against thy servant, David, because he hath not sinned against
thee, and his works are very good towards thee.
5 And
he put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought
great salvation for all Israel. Thou
sawest it and didst rejoice. Why
therefore wilt thou sin against innocent blood, by killing David, who is
without fault?
6
And when Saul heard this, he was appeased with the words of Jonathan, and
swore: As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain.
7
Then Jonathan called David, and told him all these words: and Jonathan brought
in David to Saul, and he was before him, as he had been yesterday and the day
before.
8
*And the war began again, and David went out, and fought against the
Philistines, and defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled from his
face.
9
And the evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul; and he sat in his house, and
held a spear in his hand: and David played with his hand.
10
And Saul endeavoured to nail David to the wall with his spear. And David slipt away out of the presence of
Saul: and the spear missed him, and was fastened in the wall, and David fled,
and escaped that night.
11
Saul therefore sent his guards to David's house to watch him, that he might be
killed in the morning. And when Michol,
David's wife, had told him this, saying: Unless thou save thyself this night,
to-morrow thou wilt die:
12
She let him down through a window. And
he went and fled away, and escaped.
13
And Michol took an image, and laid it on the bed, and put a goat's skin, with
the hair at the head of it, and covered it with clothes.
14
And Saul sent officers to seize David; and it was answered that he was sick.
15
And again Saul sent to see David, saying: Bring him to me in the bed, that he
may be slain.
16
And when the messengers were come in, they found an image upon the bed, and a
goat's skin at his head.
17
And Saul said to Michol: Why hast thou deceived me so, and let my enemy go and
flee away? And Michol answered Saul:
Because he said to me: Let me go, or else I will kill thee.
18
But David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel in Ramatha, and told him all
that Saul had done to him: and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Najoth.
19
And it was told Saul by some, saying: Behold David is in Najoth, in Ramatha.
20
So Saul sent officers to take David: and when they saw a company of prophets
prophesying, and Samuel presiding over them, the Spirit of the Lord came also
upon them, and they likewise began to prophesy.
21
And when this was told Saul, he sent other messengers: but they also
prophesied. And again Saul sent
messengers the third time: and they prophesied also. And Saul being exceeding angry,
22
Went also himself to Ramatha, and came as far as the great cistern, which is in
Socho, and he asked, and said: In what place are Samuel and David? And it was told him: Behold they are in
Najoth, in Ramatha.
23
And he went to Najoth, in Ramatha, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him
also, and he went on, and prophesied till he came to Najoth, in Ramatha.
24
And he stripped himself also of his garments, and prophesied with the rest
before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and night. This gave occasion to a proverb: *What! is
Saul too among the prophets?
____________________
*
8: A.M. 2944.
24: Supra x. 12.
====================
1
KINGS 20
CHAPTER XX.
Saul being obstinately bent upon killing David, he is
sent away by Jonathan.
1
But David *fled from Najoth, which is in Ramatha, and came and said to
Jonathan: What have I done? what is my iniquity, and what is my sin
against thy father, that he seeketh my life?
2
And he said to him: God forbid, thou shalt not die: for my father will do
nothing great or little, without first telling me: hath then my father hid this
word only from me? no, this shall not be.
3
And he swore again to David. And David
said: Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, and he
will say: Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord liveth, and thy soul
liveth, there is but one step (as I may say) between me and death.
4
And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to me, I will do for
thee.
5
And David said to Jonathan: Behold to-morrow is the new moon, and I, according
to custom am wont to sit beside the king to eat: let me go then that I may be
hid in the field till the evening of the third day.
6
If thy father look and inquire for me, thou shalt answer him: David asked me
that he might run to Bethlehem, *his own city: because there are solemn
sacrifices there for all his tribe.
7
If he shall say: It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be
angry, know that his malice is come to its height.
8
Deal mercifully then with thy servant: for thou hast brought me, thy servant,
into a covenant of the Lord with thee.
But if there be any iniquity in me, do thou kill me, and bring me not in
to thy father.
9
And Jonathan said: Far be this from thee: for if I should certainly know that
evil is determined by my father against thee, I could do no otherwise than tell
thee.
10
And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if thy father should
answer thee harshly concerning me?
11
And Jonathan said to David: Come, and let us go out into the field. And when they were both of them gone out into
the field,
12
Jonathan said to David: O Lord God of Israel, if I shall discover my father's
mind, to-morrow, or the day after, and there be any thing good for David, and I
send not immediately to thee, and make it known to thee,
13
May the Lord do so and so to Jonathan, and add still more. But if my father shall continue in malice
against thee, I will discover it to thy ear, and will send thee away, that thou
mayest go in peace, and the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father.
14
And if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of the Lord: but if I die,
15
Thou shalt not take away thy kindness from my house for ever, when the Lord
shall have rooted out the enemies of David, every one of them from the earth,
may he take away Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it at the
hands of David's enemies.
16
Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of David: and the Lord
required it at the hands of David's enemies.
17
And Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved him: for he loved him as
his own soul.
18
And Jonathan said to him: To-morrow is the new moon, and thou wilt be missed:
19
For thy seat will be empty till after to-morrow. So thou shalt go down quickly, and come to
the place where thou must be hid, on the day when it is lawful to work, and
thou shalt remain beside the stone, which is called Ezel.
20
And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot as if I were exercising myself
at a mark.
21
And I will send a boy, saying to him: Go and fetch me the arrows.
22
If I shall say to the boy: Behold the arrows are on this side of thee, take
them up: come thou to me, because, there is peace to thee, and there is no
evil, as the Lord liveth. But if I shall
speak thus to the boy: Behold the arrows are beyond thee: go in peace, for the
Lord hath sent thee away.
23
And concerning the word which I and thou have spoken, the Lord be between thee
and me for ever.
24
So David was hid in the field, and the new moon came, and the king sat down to
eat bread.
25
And when the king sat down upon his chair (according to custom) which was
beside the wall, Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's
place appeared empty.
26
And Saul said nothing that day, for he thought it might have happened to him,
that he was not clean, nor purified.
27
And when the second day after the new moon was come, David's place appeared
empty again. And Saul said to Jonathan,
his son: Why cometh not the son of Isai to meat neither yesterday, nor to-day?
28
And Jonathan answered Saul: He asked leave of me earnestly to go to Bethlehem.
29
And he said: Let me go, for there is a solemn sacrifice in the city, one of my
brethren hath sent for me: and now if I have found favour in thy eyes, I will
go quickly, and see my brethren. For
this cause he came not to the king's table.
30
Then Saul being angry against Jonathan said to him: Thou son of a woman that is
the ravisher of a man, do I not know that thou lovest the son of Isai to thy
own confusion, and to the confusion of thy shameless mother?
31
For as long as the son of Isai liveth upon earth, thou shalt not be
established, nor thy kingdom. Therefore
now presently send, and fetch him to me: for he is the son of death.
32
And Jonathan answering Saul, his father, said: Why shall he die? what hath he
done?
33
And Saul caught up a spear to strike him.
And Jonathan understood that it was determined by his father to kill
David.
34
So Jonathan rose from the table in great anger, and did not eat bread on the
second day after the new moon. For he
was grieved for David, because his father had put him to confusion.
35
And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the field according to the
appointment with David, and a little boy with him.
36
And he said to his boy: Go, and fetch me the arrows which I shoot. And when the boy ran, he shot another arrow
beyond the boy.
37
The boy therefore came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot: and
Jonathan cried after the boy, and said: Behold the arrow is there further
beyond thee.
38
And Jonathan cried again after the boy, saying: Make haste speedily, stand
not. And Jonathan's boy gathered up the
arrows, and brought them to his master:
39
And he knew not at all what was doing: for only Jonathan and David knew the
matter.
40
Jonathan therefore gave his arms to the boy, and said to him: Go, and carry
them into the city.
41
And when the boy was gone, David rose out of his place, which was towards the
south, and falling on his face to the ground, adored thrice: and kissing one
another, they wept together; but David more.
42
And Jonathan said to David: Go in peace: and let all stand that we have sworn
both of us in the name of the Lord, saying: The Lord be between me and thee,
and between my seed and thy seed for ever.
43
And David arose, and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2944, A.C. 1060.
6: Luke ii. 4.
====================
1
KINGS 21
CHAPTER XXI.
David receiveth holy bread of Achimelech, the priest:
and feigneth himself mad before Achis, king of Geth.
1
And* David came to Nobe, to Achimelech, the priest: and Achimelech was
astonished at David's coming. And he
said to him: Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?
2
And David said to Achimelech, the priest: The king hath commanded me a
business, and said: Let no man know the thing for which thou art sent by me,
and what manner of commands I have given thee: and I have appointed my servants
to such and such a place.
3
Now therefore if thou have any thing at hand, though it were but five loaves,
give me, or whatsoever thou canst find.
4
And the priest answered David, saying: I have no common bread at hand, but only
holy bread, if the young men be clean, especially from women?
5
And David answered the priest, and said to him: Truly, as to what concerneth
women, we have refrained ourselves from yesterday and the day before, when we
came out, and the vessels of the young men were holy. Now this way is defiled, but it shall also be
sanctified this day in the vessels.
6
*The priest therefore gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there,
but only the loaves of proposition, which had been taken away from before the
face of the Lord, that hot loaves might be set up.
7
Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, within the
tabernacle of the Lord: and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of
Saul's herdsmen.
8
And David said to Achimelech: Hast thou here at hand a spear, or a sword? for I
brought not my own sword, nor my own weapons with me, for the king's business
required haste.
9
And the priest said: Lo, here is the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom
thou slewest in the valley of Terebinth, wrapped up in a cloth behind the ephod:
if thou wilt take this, take it, for here there is no other but this. And David said: There is none like that, give
it me.
10
And David arose and fled that day from the face of Saul: and came to Achis, the
king of Geth:
11
And the servants of Achis, when they saw David, said to him: Is not this David,
the king of the land? Did they not sing
to him in their dances, saying: *Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his
ten thousands?
12
But David laid up these words in his heart, and was exceedingly afraid at the
face of Achis, the king of Geth.
13
And he changed his countenance before them, and slipt down between their hands:
and he stumbled against the doors of the gate, and his spittle ran down upon
his beard.
14
And Achis said to his servants: You saw the man was mad: why have you
brought him to me?
15
Have we need of mad men, that you have brought in this fellow, to play the
madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2944.
6: Mat. xii. 3. 4.
11: Supra xviii. 7.; Eccli. xlvii. 7.
====================
1
KINGS 22
CHAPTER XXII.
Many resort to David.
Doeg accuseth Achimelech to Saul.
He ordereth him and all the other priests of Nobe to be slain. Abiathar escapeth.
1
David *therefore went from thence, and fled to the cave of Odollam. And when his brethren, and all his father's
house, had heard of it, they went down to him thither.
2
And all that were in distress, and oppressed with debt, and under affliction of
mind, gathered themselves unto him: and he became their prince, and there were
with him about four hundred men.
3
And David departed from thence into Maspha of Moab: and he said to the king of
Moab: Let my father and my mother tarry with you, I beseech thee, till I know
what God will do for me.
4
And he left them under the eyes of the king of Moab, and they abode with him
all the days that David was in the hold.
5
And Gad, the prophet, said to David: Abide not in the hold, depart, and go into
the land of Juda. And David departed,
and came into the forest of Haret.
6
And Saul heard that David was seen, and the men that were with him. Now whilst Saul abode in Gabaa, and was in
the wood, which is by Rama, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants
were standing about him,
7
He said to his servants that stood about him: Hear me now, ye sons of Jemini:
will the son of Isai give every one of you fields, and vineyards, and make you
all tribunes, and centurions:
8
That all of you have conspired against me, and there is no one to inform me,
especially when even my son hath entered into league with the son of Isai? There is not one of you that pitieth my case,
nor that giveth me any information: because my son hath raised up my servant
against me, plotting against me to this day.
9
And Doeg, the Edomite, who stood by, and was the chief among the servants of
Saul, answering, said: I saw the son of Isai, in Nobe, with Achimelech, the son
of Achitob, the priest.
10
And he consulted the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the
sword of Goliath, the Philistine.
11
Then the king sent to call for Achimelech, the priest, the son of Achitob, and
all his father's house, the priests that were in Nobe, and they came all of
them to the king.
12
And Saul said to Achimelech: Hear, thou son of Achitob. He answered: Here I am, my lord.
13
And Saul said to him: Why have you conspired against me, thou, and the son of
Isai, and thou hast given him bread and a sword, and hast consulted the Lord
for him, that he should rise up against me, continuing a traitor to this day.
14
And Achimelech answering the king, said: And who amongst all thy servants is so
faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and goeth forth at thy
bidding, and is honourable in thy house?
15
Did I begin to-day to consult the Lord for him? far be this from me: let not
the king suspect such a thing against his servant, or any one in all my
father's house: for thy servant knew nothing of this matter, either little or
great.
16
And the king said: Dying thou shalt die, Achimelech, thou and all thy father's
house.
17
And the king said to the messengers that stood about him: Turn, and kill the
priests of the Lord, for their hand is with David, because they knew that he
was fled, and they told it not to me. And
the king's servants would not put forth their hands against the priests of the
Lord.
18
And the king said to Doeg: Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg, the Edomite, turned, and fell upon
the priests, and slew in that day eighty-five men that wore the linen ephod.
19
And Nobe, the city of the priests, he smote with the edge of his sword, both
men and women, children, and sucklings, and ox and ass, and sheep, with the
edge of the sword.
20
But one of the sons of Achimelech, the son of Achitob, whose name was Abiathar,
escaped, and fled to David,
21
And told him that Saul had slain the priests of the Lord.
22
And David said to Abiathar: I knew that day when Doeg, the Edomite, was there,
that without doubt he would tell Saul: I have been the occasion of the death of
all the souls of thy father's house.
23
Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life, seeketh thy life
also, and with me thou shalt be saved.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2944.
====================
1
KINGS 23
CHAPTER XXIII.
David relieveth Ceila, besieged by Philistines. He fleeth into the desert of Ziph. Jonathan and he confirm their former
covenant. The Ziphites discover him to
Saul, who pursuing close after him, is called away by an invasion from the Philistines.
1
And *they told David, saying: Behold the Philistines fight against Ceila, and
they rob the barns.
2
Therefore David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go and smite these
Philistines? And the Lord said to David:
Go, and thou shalt smite the Philistines, and shalt save Ceila.
3
And the men that were with David, said to him: Behold we are in fear here in
Judea, how much more if we go to Ceila against the bands of the Philistines?
4
Therefore David consulted the Lord again.
And he answered and said to him: Arise, and go to Ceila: for I will
deliver the Philistines into thy hand.
5
David, therefore, and his men, went to Ceila, and fought against the
Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and made a great slaughter of them:
and David saved the inhabitants of Ceila.
6
Now at that time, when Abiathar, the son of Achimelech, fled to David, to
Ceila, he came down, having an ephod with him.
7
And it was told Saul that David was come to Ceila: and Saul said: The Lord hath
delivered him into my hands, and he is shut up, being come into a city, that
hath gates and bars.
8
And Saul commanded all the people to go down to fight against Ceila, and to
besiege David, and his men.
9
Now when David understood that Saul secretly prepared evil against him, he said
to Abiathar, the priest: Bring hither the ephod.
10
And David said: O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath heard a report, that
Saul designeth to come to Ceila, to destroy the city for my sake:
11
Will the men of Ceila deliver me into his hands? and will Saul come down, as
thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of
Israel, tell thy servant. And the Lord
said: He will come down.
12
And David said: Will the men of Ceila deliver me and my men into the hands of
Saul? And the Lord said: They will
deliver thee up.
13
Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose, and departing from
Ceila, wandered up and down, uncertain where they should stay: and it was told
Saul that David was fled from Ceila, and had escaped: wherefore he forbore to
go out.
14
But David abode in the desert in strong holds, and he remained in a mountain of
the desert of Ziph, in a woody hill. And
Saul sought him always: but the Lord delivered him not into his hands.
15
And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life. And David was in the desert of Ziph, in a
wood.
16
And Jonathan, the son of Saul, arose, and went to David, into the wood, and
strengthened his hands in God: and he said to him:
17
Fear not: for the hand of my father, Saul, shall not find thee, and thou shalt
reign over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; yea, and my father knoweth
this.
18
And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood: but
Jonathan returned to his house.
19
*And the Ziphites went up to Saul, in Gabaa, saying: Lo, doth not David lie hid
with us in the strong holds of the wood, in Mount Hachila, which is on the
right hand of the desert.
20
Now therefore come down, as thy soul hath desired to come down: and it shall be
our business to deliver him into the king's hands.
21
And Saul said: Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have pitied my case.
22
Go, therefore, I pray you, and use all diligence, and curiously inquire, and
consider the place where his foot is, and who hath seen him there: for he
thinketh of me, that I lie craftily in wait for him.
23
Consider, and see all his lurking holes, wherein he is hid, and return to me
with the certainty of the thing, that I may go with you. And if he should even go down into the earth
to hide himself, I will search him out in all the thousands of Juda.
24
And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: and David and his men were in the
desert of Maon, in the plain at the right hand of Jesimon.
25
Then Saul and his men went to seek him: and it was told David, and forthwith he
went down to the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon: and when Saul had
heard of it, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.
26
And Saul went on this side of the mountain: and David and his men were on the
other side of the mountain: and David despaired of being able to escape from
the face of Saul: and Saul and his men encompassed David and his men round
about, to take them.
27
And a messenger came to Saul, saying: Make haste to come, for the Philistines
have poured in themselves upon the land.
28
Wherefore Saul returned, leaving the pursuit of David, and went to meet the
Philistines. For this cause, they called
that place the rock of division.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2945, A.C. 1059.
19: Infra xxvi. 1.
====================
1
KINGS 24
CHAPTER XXIV.
Saul seeketh David in the wilderness of Engaddi: he
goeth into a cave, where David hath him in his power.
1
Then *David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds of Engaddi.
2
And when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, they told him,
saying: Behold, David is in the desert of Engaddi.
3
Saul, therefore, took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went out
to seek after David, and his men, even upon the most craggy rocks, which are
accessible only to wild goats.
4
And he came to the sheep-cotes which were in his way. And there was a cave, into which Saul went,
to ease nature: now David and his men lay hid in the inner part of the cave.
5
And the servants of David said to him: Behold the day, of which the Lord said
to thee: I will deliver thy enemy unto thee, that thou mayest do to him as it
shall seem good in thy eyes. Then David
arose, and secretly cut off the hem of Saul's robe.
6
After which David's heart struck him, because he had cut off the hem of Saul's
robe.
7
And he said to his men: The Lord be merciful unto me, that I may do no such
thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, as to lay my hand upon him, because he
is the Lord's anointed.
8
And David stopped his men with his words, and suffered them not to rise against
Saul: but Saul, rising up out of the cave, went on his way.
9
And David also rose up after him: and going out of the cave, cried after Saul,
saying: My lord the king. And Saul
looked behind him: and David bowing himself down to the ground, worshipped,
10
And said to Saul: Why dost thou hear the words of men that say: David seeketh
thy hurt?
11
Behold this day thy eyes have seen, that the Lord hath delivered thee into my
hand, in the cave, and I had a thought to kill thee, but my eye hath spared
thee. For I said: I will not put out my
hand against my lord, because he is the Lord's anointed.
12
Moreover, see and know, O my father, the hem of thy robe in my hand, that when
I cut off the hem of thy robe, I would not put out my hand against thee. Reflect, and see, that there is no evil in my
hand, nor iniquity, neither have I sinned against thee: but thou liest in wait
for my life, to take it away.
13
The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord revenge me of thee: but my
hand shall not be upon thee.
14
As also it is said in the old proverb: From the wicked shall wickedness come
forth: therefore my hand shall not be upon thee. After whom dost thou come out, O king of
Israel?
15
After whom dost thou pursue? After a
dead dog, after a flea.
16
Be the Lord judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and judge my cause,
and deliver me out of thy hand.
17
And when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, Saul said: Is
this thy voice, my son David? And Saul
lifted up his voice, and wept:
18
And he said to David: Thou art more just than I: for thou hast done good to me,
and I have rewarded thee with evil.
19
And thou hast shewed this day what good things thou hast done to me: how the
Lord delivered me into thy hand, and thou hast not killed me.
20
For who when he hath found his enemy, will let him go well away? But the Lord reward thee for this good turn,
for what thou hast done to me this day.
21
And now as I know that thou shalt surely be king, and have the kingdom of
Israel in thy hand:
22
Swear to me by the Lord, that thou wilt not destroy my seed after me, nor take
away my name from the house of my father.
23
And David swore to Saul. So Saul went
home: and David and his men went up into safer places.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2946, A.C. 1058.
====================
1
KINGS 25
CHAPTER XXV.
The death of Samuel.
David, provoked by Nabal, threateneth to destroy him: but is appeased by
Abigail.
1
And *Samuel died, and all Israel was gathered together, and they mourned for
him, and buried him in his house in Ramatha.
And David rose, and went down into the wilderness of Pharan.
2
Now there was a certain man in the wilderness of Maon, and his possessions were
in Carmel, and the man was very great: and he had three thousand sheep, and a
thousand goats: and it happened that he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3
Now the name of the man was Nabal: and the name of his wife was Abigail. And she was a prudent and very comely woman,
but her husband was churlish, and very bad and ill natured: and he was of the
house of Caleb.
4
And when David heard in the wilderness, that Nabal was shearing his sheep,
5
He sent ten young men, and said to them: Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and
salute him in my name with peace.
6
And you shall say: Peace be to my brethren, and to thee, and peace to thy
house, and peace to all that thou hast.
7 I
have heard that thy shepherds that were with us in the desert were shearing: we
never molested them, neither was there ought missing to them of the flock at
any time, all the while they were with us in Carmel.
8
Ask thy servants, and they will tell thee.
Now therefore let thy servants find favour in thy eyes: for we are come
in a good day, whatsoever thy hand shall find give to thy servants, and to thy
son David.
9
And when David's servants came, they spoke to Nabal all these words in David's
name, and then held their peace.
10
But Nabal answering the servants of David, said: Who is David? and what is the
son of Isai? servants are multiplied now a days who flee from their masters.
11
Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and the flesh of my cattle, which I
have killed for my shearers, and give to men whom I know not whence they are?
12
So the servants of David went back their way, and returning came and told him
all the words that he said.
13
Then David said to his young men: Let every man gird on his sword. And they girded on every man his sword. And David also girded on his sword: and there
followed David about four hundred men, and two hundred remained with the
baggage.
14
But one of the servants told Abigail, the wife of Nabal, saying: Behold, David
sent messengers out of the wilderness, to salute our master: and he rejected
them.
15
These men were very good to us, and gave us no trouble: neither did we ever
lose any thing all the time that we conversed with them in the desert.
16
They were a wall unto us, both by night and day, all the while we were with
them keeping the sheep.
17
Wherefore consider, and think what thou hast to do: for evil is determined
against thy husband, and against thy house, and he is a son of Belial, so that
no man can speak to him.
18
Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine,
and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred
clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dry figs, and laid them upon
asses:
19
And she said to her servants: Go before me: behold I will follow after you: but
she told not her husband, Nabal.
20
And when she had gotten upon an ass, and was coming down to the foot of the
mountain, David and his men came down over against her, and she met them.
21
And David said: Truly in vain have I kept all that belonged to this fellow in
the wilderness, and nothing was lost of all that pertained unto him: and he
hath returned me evil for good.
22
May God do so and so, and add more to the foes of David, if I leave of all that
belong to him till the morning, any that pisseth against the wall.
23
And when Abigail saw David, she made haste and lighted off the ass, and fell
before David, on her face, and adored upon the ground.
24
And she fell at his feet, and said: Upon me let this iniquity be, my lord: let
thy handmaid speak, I beseech thee, in thy ears: and hear the words of thy
servant.
25
Let not my lord the king, I pray thee, regard this naughty man, Nabal: for
according to his name, he is a fool, and folly is with him: but I, thy
handmaid, did not see thy servants, my lord, whom thou sentest.
26
Now therefore, my lord, the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, who hath
withholden thee from coming to blood, and hath saved thy hand to thee: and now
let thy enemies be as Nabal, and all they that seek evil to my lord.
27
Wherefore receive this blessing, which thy handmaid hath brought to thee, my
lord: and give it to the young men that follow thee, my lord.
28
Forgive the iniquity of thy handmaid: for the Lord will surely make for my lord
a faithful house, *because thou, my lord, fightest the battles of the Lord: let
not evil therefore be found in thee all the days of thy life.
29
For if a man at any time shall rise, and persecute thee, and seek thy life, the
soul of my lord shall be kept, as in the bundle of the living, with the Lord
thy God: but the souls of thy enemies shall be whirled, as with the violence
and whirling of a sling.
30
And when the Lord shall have done to thee, my lord, all the good that he hath
spoken concerning thee, and shall have made thee prince over Israel,
31
This shall not be an occasion of grief to thee, and a scruple of heart to my
lord, that thou hast shed innocent blood, or hast revenged thyself: and when
the Lord shall have done well by my lord, thou shalt remember thy handmaid.
32
And David said to Abigail: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who sent thee
this day to meet me, and blessed be thy speech:
33
And blessed be thou, who hast kept me to-day from coming to blood, and
revenging me with my own hand.
34
Otherwise, as the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, who hath withholden me
from doing thee any evil, if thou hadst not quickly come to meet me, there had
not been left to Nabal by the morning light, any that pisseth against the wall.
35
And David received at her hand all that she had brought him, and said to her:
Go in peace into thy house, behold I have heard thy voice, and have honoured
thy face.
36
And Abigail came to Nabal: and behold he had a feast in his house, like the
feast of a king: and Nabal's heart was merry, for he was very drunk: and she
told him nothing less or more until morning.
37
But early in the morning, when Nabal had digested his wine, his wife told him
these words, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
38
And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
39
And when David had heard that Nabal was dead, he said: Blessed be the Lord, who
hath judged the cause of my reproach, at the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his
servant from evil, and the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his
head. Then David sent and treated with
Abigail, that he might take her to himself for a wife.
40
And David's servants came to Abigail, to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying:
David hath sent us to thee, to take thee to himself for a wife.
41
And she arose, and bowed herself down with her face to the earth, and said:
Behold, let thy servant be a handmaid, to wash the feet of the servants of my
lord.
42
And Abigail arose, and made haste, and got upon an ass, and five damsels went
with her, her waiting maids, and she followed the messengers of David, and
became his wife.
43
Moreover David took also Achinoam of Jezrahel: and they were both of them his
wives.
44
But Saul gave Michol, his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti, the son of Lais,
who was of Gallim.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2947, A.C. 1057.; Infra xxviii. 3.;
Eccli. xlvi. 23.
28: Supra xvi. 18. and xvii. 40.
====================
1
KINGS 26
CHAPTER XXVI.
Saul goeth out again after David, who cometh by night
where Saul and his men are asleep, but suffereth him not to be touched. Saul again confesseth his fault, and
promiseth peace.
1
And *the men of Ziph came to Saul in Gabaa, saying: Behold David is hid in the
hill of Hachila, which is over-against the wilderness.
2
And Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having with him three
thousand chosen men of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.
3
And Saul encamped in Gabaa Hachila, which was over-against the wilderness in
the way: and David abode in the wilderness.
And seeing that Saul was come after him into the wilderness,
4
He sent spies, and learned that he was most certainly come thither.
5
And David arose secretly, and came to the place where Saul was: and when he had
beheld the place, wherein Saul slept, and Abner, the son of Ner, the captain of
his army, and Saul sleeping in a tent, and the rest of the multitude round
about him,
6
David spoke to Achimelech, the Hethite, and Abisai, the son of Sarvia, the
brother of Joab, saying: Who will go down with me to Saul into the camp? And Abisai said: I will go with thee.
7
So David and Abisai came to the people by night, and found Saul lying and
sleeping in the tent, and his spear fixed in the ground at his head: and Abner
and the people sleeping round about him.
8
And Abisai said to David: God hath shut up thy enemy this day into thy hands:
now then I will run him through with my spear, even to the earth at once, and
there shall be no need of a second time.
9
And David said to Abisai: Kill him not: for who shall put forth his hand
against the Lord's anointed, and shall be guiltless?
10
And David said: As the Lord liveth, unless the Lord shall strike him, or his
day shall come to die, or he shall go down to battle, and perish:
11
The Lord be merciful unto me, and keep me that I never put forth my hand
against the Lord's anointed. But now
take the spear which is at his head, and the cup of water, and let us go.
12
So David took the spear, and the cup of water which was at Saul's head, and
they went away: and no man saw it, or knew it, or awaked, but they were all
asleep, for a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them.
13
And when David was gone over to the other side, and stood on the top of the
hill afar off, and a good space was between them,
14
David cried to the people, and to Abner, the son of Ner, saying: Wilt thou not
answer, Abner? And Abner answering,
said: Who art thou, that criest, and disturbest the king?
15
And David said to Abner: Art not thou a man? and who is like thee in Israel?
why then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people
in to kill the king thy lord.
16
This thing is not good, that thou hast done: as the Lord liveth, you are the
sons of death, who have not kept your master, the Lord's anointed. And now where is the king's spear, and the
cup of water, which was at his head?
17
And Saul knew David's voice, and said: Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said: It is my voice, my lord the
king.
18
And he said: Wherefore doth my lord persecute his servant? What have I done? or what evil is there in my
hand?
19
Now therefore hear, I pray thee, my lord the king, the words of thy servant: If
the Lord stir thee up against me, let him accept of sacrifice: but if the sons
of men, they are cursed in the sight of the Lord, who have cast me out this
day, that I should not dwell in the inheritance of the Lord, saying: Go, serve
strange gods.
20
And now let not my blood be shed upon the earth before the Lord: for the king
of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as the partridge is hunted in the mountains.
21
And Saul said: I have sinned; return, my son David, for I will no more do thee
harm, because my life hath been precious in thy eyes this day: for it appeareth
that I have done foolishly, and have been ignorant in very many things.
22
And David answering, said: Behold the king's spear: let one of the king's
servants come over and fetch it.
23
And the Lord will reward every one according to his justice, and his
faithfulness: for the Lord hath delivered thee this day into my hand, and I
would not put forth my hand against the Lord's anointed.
24
And as thy life hath been much set by this day in my eyes, so let my life be
much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me from all distress.
25
Then Saul said to David: Blessed art thou, my son David: and truly doing thou
shalt do, and prevailing thou shalt prevail.
And David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2947.; Supra xxiii. 19.
====================
1
KINGS 27
CHAPTER XXVII.
David goeth again to Achis, king of Geth, and
obtaineth of him the city of Siceleg.
1
And *David said in his heart: I shall one day or other fall into the hands of
Saul: is it not better for me to flee, and to be saved in the land of the
Philistines, that Saul may despair of me, and cease to seek me in all the
coasts of Israel? I will flee then out
of his hands.
2
And David arose, and went away, both he and the six hundred men that were with
him, to Achis, the son of Maoch, king of Geth.
3
And David dwelt with Achis at Geth, he and his men; every man with his
household, and David with his two wives, Achinoam, the Jezrahelitess, and
Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.
4
And it was told Saul that David was fled to Geth, and he sought no more after
him.
5 And
David said to Achis: If I have found favour in thy sight, let a place be given
me in one of the cities of this country, that I may dwell there: for why should
thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?
6
Then Achis gave him Siceleg that day: for which reason Siceleg belongeth to the
kings of Juda unto this day.
7
And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines, was four
months.
8
And David and his men went up, and pillaged Gessuri, and Gerzi, and the
Amalecites: for these were of old the inhabitants of the countries, as men go
to Sur, even to the land of Egypt.
9
And David wasted all the land, and left neither man nor woman alive: and took
away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel,
and returned and came to Achis.
10
And Achis said to him: Whom hast thou gone against to-day? David answered: Against the south of Juda,
and against the south of Jerameel, and against the south of Ceni.
11
And David saved neither man nor woman, neither brought he any of them to Geth,
saying: Lest they should speak against us.
So did David, and such was his proceeding all the days that he dwelt in
the country of the Philistines.
12
And Achis believed David, saying: He hath done much harm to his people Israel:
Therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2947.
====================
1
KINGS 28
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Philistines go out to war against Israel. Saul being forsaken by God, hath recourse to
a witch. Samuel appeareth to him.
1
And *it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered together
their armies, to be prepared for war against Israel: and Achis said to David:
Know thou now assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to the war, thou, and
thy men.
2
And David said to Achis: Now thou shalt know what thy servant will do. And Achis said to David: And I will appoint
thee to guard my life for ever.
3
*Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel mourned for him, and buried him in
Ramatha, his city. And Saul had put away
all the magicians and soothsayers out of the land.
4
And the Philistines were gathered together, and came and camped in Sunam: and
Saul also gathered together all Israel, and came to Gelboe.
5
And Saul saw the army of the Plilistines, and was afraid, and his heart was
very much dismayed.
6
And he consulted the Lord, and he answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by
priests, nor by prophets.
7
And Saul said to his servants: Seek me a woman that hath a *divining spirit,
and I will go to her, and enquire by her. And his servants said to him: There is a woman
that hath a divining spirit at Endor.
8
Then he disguised himself: and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men
with him, and they came to the woman by night, and he said to her: Divine to me
by thy divining spirit, and bring me up him whom I shall tell thee.
9
And the woman said to him: Behold thou knowest all that Saul hath done, and how
he hath rooted out the magicians and soothsayers from the land: why then dost
thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to be put to death?
10
And Saul swore unto her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord liveth, there shall no
evil happen to thee for this thing.
11
And the woman said to him: Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
12
And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and said to
Saul: Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.
13
And the king said to her: Fear not: what hast thou seen? and the woman said to
Saul: I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
14
And he said to her: What form is he of? And she said: An old man cometh up, and
he is covered with a mantle. And Saul
understood that it was Samuel, and he bowed himself with his face to the
ground, and adored.
15
And Samuel said to Saul: *Why hast thou disturbed my rest, that I should be
brought up? And Saul said: I am in great
distress: for the Philistines fight against me, and God is departed from me,
and would not hear me, neither by the hand of prophets, nor by dreams: therefore
I have called thee, that thou mayest shew me what I shall do.
16
And Samuel said: Why askest thou me, seeing the Lord has departed from thee,
and is gone over to thy rival?
17
For the Lord will do to thee as he spoke by me, and he will rend thy kingdom
out of thy hand, and will give it to thy neighbour David:
18
Because thou didst not obey the voice of the Lord, neither didst thou execute
the wrath of his indignation upon Amalec.
Therefore hath the Lord done to thee what thou sufferest this day.
19
And the Lord also will deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the
Philistines: and to-morrow thou and thy sons shall be with me: and the Lord
will also deliver the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.
20
And forthwith Saul fell all along on the ground; for he was frightened with the
words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread
all that day.
21
And the woman came to Saul, (for he was very much troubled) and said to him:
Behold thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand:
and I hearkened unto the words which thou spokest to me.
22
Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also the voice of thy handmaid, and
let me set before thee a morsel of bread, that thou mayest eat and recover
strength, and be able to go on thy journey.
23 But
he refused, and said: I will not eat.
But his servants and the woman forced him, and at length hearkening to
their voice, he arose from the ground, and sat upon the bed.
24
Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she made haste and killed it:
and taking meal, kneaded it, and baked some unleavened bread,
25
And set it before Saul, and before his servants. And when they had eaten they rose up, and
walked all that night.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2949, A.C. 1055.
3: Supra xxv. 1.; Eccli. xlvi. 23.
7: Lev. xx. 27.; Deut. xviii. 11.; Acts xvi. 16.
15: Eccli. xlvi. 23.
====================
1
KINGS 29
CHAPTER XXIX.
David going with the Philistines, is sent back by
their princes.
1
Now *all the troops of the Philistines were gathered together to Aphec: and
Israel also camped by the fountain, which is in Jezrahel.
2
And the lords of the Philistines marched with their hundreds and their
thousands: but David and his men were in the rear with Achis.
3
And the princes of the Philistines said to Achis: What mean these Hebrews? And Achis said to the princes of the
Philistines: Do you not know David, who was the servant of Saul, the king of
Israel, and hath been with me many days, or years, and I have found no fault in
him, since the day that he fled over to me until this day?
4
*But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him, and they said to him:
Let this man return, and abide in his place, which thou hast appointed him, and
let him not go down with us to battle, lest he be an adversary to us, when we
shall begin to fight: for how can he otherwise appease his master, but with our
heads?
5
Is not this David, to whom they sung in their dances, saying: Saul slew his
thousands, and David his ten thousands?
6
Then Achis called David, and said to him: As the Lord liveth, thou art upright
and good in my sight: and so is thy going out, and thy coming in with me in the
army: and I have not found any evil in thee, since the day that thou camest to
me unto this day: but thou pleasest not the lords.
7
Return therefore, and go in peace, and offend not the eyes of the princes of
the Philistines.
8
And David said to Achis: But what have I done, and what hast thou found in me
thy servant, from the day that I have been in thy sight until this day, that I
may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
9
And Achis answering said to David: I know that thou art good in my sight, *as
an angel of God: but the princes of the Philistines have said: He shall not go
up with us to the battle.
10
Therefore arise in the morning, thou, and the servants of thy lord, who came
with thee: and when you are up before day, and it shall begin to be light, go
on your way.
11
So David and his men arose in the night, that they might set forward in the
morning, and returned to the land of the Philistines: and the Philistines went
up to Jezrahel.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2947.
4: Supra xxvii. 8.; 1 Par. xii. 19.
9: 2 Kings xiv. 17. and 20.; Item xix. 27.
====================
1
KINGS 30
CHAPTER XXX.
The Amalecites burn Siceleg, and carry off the prey:
David pursueth after them, and recovereth all out of their hands.
1
Now *when David and his men were come to Siceleg on the third day, the
Amalecites had made an invasion on the south side upon Siceleg, and had smitten
Siceleg, and burnt it with fire,
2
And had taken the women captives that were in it, both little and great: and
they had not killed any person, but had carried them with them, and went on
their way.
3
So when David and his men came to the city, and found it burnt with fire, and
that their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives,
4
David and the people that were with him, lifted up their voices, and wept till
they had no more tears.
5
For the two wives also of David were taken captives, Achinoam, the
Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.
6
And David was greatly afflicted: for the people had a mind to stone him, for
the soul of every man was bitterly grieved for his sons and daughters: but
David took courage in the Lord his God.
7
And he said to Abiathar, the priest, the son of Achimelech: Bring me hither the
ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod to
David.
8
And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I pursue after these robbers, and
shall I overtake them, or not? And the
Lord said to him: Pursue after them: for thou shalt surely overtake them and
recover the prey.
9
So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to
the torrent Besor: and some, being weary, stayed there.
10
But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred stayed, who, being
weary could not go over the torrent Besor.
11
And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David: and they
gave him bread to eat, and water to drink,
12
As also a piece of a cake of figs, and two bunches of raisins. And when he had eaten them, his spirit
returned, and he was refreshed: for he had not eaten bread, nor drunk water
three days and three nights.
13
And David said to him: To whom dost thou belong; or whence dost thou come? and
whither art thou going? He said: I am a
young man of Egypt, the servant of an Amalecite, and my master left me, because
I began to be sick three days ago.
14
For we made an invasion on the south side of Cerethi, and upon Juda, and upon
the south of Caleb, and we burnt Siceleg with fire.
15
And David said to him: Canst thou bring me to this company? And he said: Swear
to me by God, that thou wilt not kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my
master, and I will bring thee to this company.
And David swore to him.
16
And when he had brought him, behold they were lying spread upon all the ground,
eating and drinking, and as it were keeping a festival day, for all the prey,
and the spoils which they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out
of the land of Juda.
17
And David slew them from the evening unto the evening of the next day, and
there escaped not a man of them, but four hundred young men, who had gotten
upon camels, and fled.
18
So David recovered all that the Amalecites had taken, and he rescued his two
wives.
19
And there was nothing missing small or great, neither of their sons or their
daughters, nor of the spoils, and whatsoever they had taken, David recovered
all.
20
And he took all the flocks and the herds, and made them go before him: and they
said: This is the prey of David.
21
And David came to the two hundred men, who, being weary, had stayed, and were
not able to follow David, and he had ordered them to abide at the torrent
Besor: and they came out to meet David, and the people that were with him. And David coming to the people, saluted them
peaceably.
22
Then all the wicked and unjust men, that had gone with David, answering, said:
Because they came not with us, we will not give them any thing of the prey
which we have recovered: but let every man take his wife, and his children, and
be contented with them, and go his way.
23
But David said: You shall not do so, my brethren, with these things, which the
Lord hath given us, who hath kept us, and hath delivered the robbers that
invaded us into our hands:
24
And no man shall hearken to you in this matter.
But equal shall be the portion of him that went down to battle, and of
him that abode at the baggage, and they shall divide alike.
25
And this hath been done from that day forward, and since was made a statute and
an ordinance, and as a law in Israel.
26
Then David came to Siceleg, and sent presents of the prey to the ancients of
Juda, his neighbours, saying: Receive a blessing of the prey of the enemies of
the Lord.
27
To them that were in Bethel, and that were in Ramoth to the south, and to them
that were in Jether,
28
And to them that were in Aroer, and that were in Sephamoth, and that were in
Esthamo,
29
And that were in Rachal, and that were in the cities of Jerameel, and that were
in the cities of Ceni,
30
And that were in Arama, and that were in the lake Asan, and that were in
Athach,
31
And that were in Hebron, and to the rest that were in those places, in which
David had abode with his men.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2949.; 1 Par. xii. 20.
====================
1
KINGS 31
CHAPTER XXXI.
Israel is defeated by the Philistines: Saul and his
sons are slain.
1
And *the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from
before the Philistines, and fell down slain in Mount Gelboe.
2
*And the Philistines fell upon Saul, and upon his sons, and they slew Jonathan,
and Abinadab, and Melchisua, the sons of Saul.
3
And the whole weight of the battle was turned upon Saul: and the archers
overtook him, and he was grievously wounded by the archers.
4
*Then Saul said to his armour-bearer: Draw thy sword, and kill me: lest these
uncircumcised come, and slay me, and mock at me. And his armour-bearer would not: for he was
struck with exceeding great fear. Then
Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.
5
And when his armour-bearer saw this, to wit, that Saul was dead, he also fell
upon his sword and died with him.
6
So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer, and all his men that
same day together.
7
And the men of Israel, that were beyond the valley, and beyond the Jordan,
seeing that the Israelites were fled, and that Saul was dead, and his sons,
forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came, and dwelt there.
8
And on the morrow the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul
and his three sons lying in Mount Gelboe.
9
And they cut off Saul's head, and stripped him of his armour, and sent into the
land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the temples of their
idols, and among their people.
10
And they put his armour in the temple of Astaroth, but his body they hung on
the wall of Bethsan.
11
*Now when the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad had heard all that the Philistines
had done to Saul,
12
All the most valiant men arose, and walked all the night, and took the body of
Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Bethsan: and they came to
Jabes Galaad, and burnt them there:
13
And they took their bones, and buried them in the wood of Jabes: and fasted
seven days.
____________________
*
1: A.M. 2949.
2: 1 Par. x. 2. and 3.
4: 1 Par. x. 4.
11: 2 Kings ii. 4.
====================
====================
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This blog is for serious exhortation to faith in this time of the Great Apostasy.