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me all the men of Juda against the third day; and be thou here present.

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

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

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

8 And when they were at the great stone which is in Gabaon, Amasa coming met them. And Joab had on a close coat of equal length with his habit; and over it was girded with a sword hanging down to his flank, in a scabbard,

made in such manner as to come out with the least motion, and strike.

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

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

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he sounded the trumpet: and they departed from the city, every one to their home: and Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

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

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

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

26 And Ira the Jairite was the priest of David. CHAP. XXI.

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

AND there was a famine in the days of David

for three years successively: and David consulted the oracle of the Lord: And the Lord said: It is for Saul, and his bloody house, because he slew the Gabaonites.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

14 And they buried them with the bones of Saul, and of Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin, in the side, in the sepulchre of Cis his father: and they di! all that the king had com manded: and God showed mercy again to the land after these things.

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

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

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

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

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

20 A fourth battle was in Geth; where there was a man of great stature, that had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, four and twenty in all, and he was of the race of Arapha. 21 And he reproached Israel: and Jonathan the son of Samaa the brother of David slew him.

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

vants.

CHAP. XXII.

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

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

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

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

4 I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised: and I shall be saved from my enemies. 5 For the pangs of death have surrounded me: the floods of Belial have made me afraid.

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

15 He shot arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and consumed them.

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

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

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

ears.

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

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

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

11 And he rode upon the Cherubims, and flew; and slid upon the wings of the wind.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

22 Because I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 23 For all his judgments are in my sight: and his precepts I have not removed from me.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

45 The sons of the stranger will resist me: at the hearing of the ear they will obey me. 46 The strangers are melted away, and shall be straitened in their distresses.

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

48 God who givest me revenge, and bringest down people under me:

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

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

name;

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

CHAP. XXIII.

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

TOW these are David's last words. David man was appointed concerning the Christ of the God of Jacob, the excellent psalmist of Israel said: 2 The Spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me, and his word by my tongue.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*As the light, &c. So shall be the kingdom of Christ.

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

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

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

14 And David was then in a hold: and there was a garrison of the Philistines then in Bethle

hem.

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

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

was

gate,

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

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

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

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20 And Banaias the son of Joiada a most valiant man, of great deeds, of Cabseel: he slew the two lions of Moab: and he went down, and slew lion in the midst of a pit, in the time of snow. 21 He also slew an Egyptian, a man worthy to be a sight, having a spear in his hand: but he went down to him with a rod, and forced the spear out of the hand of the Egyptian, and slew him with his own spear.

22 These things did Banaias the son of Joiada. 23 And he was renowned among the three va liant men, who were the most honourable among the thirty: but he attained not to the first three: and David made him of his privy council.

24 Asael the brother of Joab was one of the thirty, Elehanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 Semma of Harodi, Elica of Harodi,

26 Heles of Phalti, Hira the son of Acces of Thecua,

27 Abiezer of Anathoth, Mobonnai of Husati, 28 Selmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,

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

30 Banaia the Pharathonite, Heddai of the torrent Gaas,

31 Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Beromi, 32 Eliaba of Salaboni. The sons of Jassen, Jonathan,

33 Semma of Orori, Aliam the son of Sarar the Arorite,

34 Eliphelet the son of Aasbai the son of Machati, Eliam the son of Achitophel the Gelonite, 35 Hesrai of Carmel, Pharai of Arbi, 36 Igaal the son of Nathan of Soba, Bonni of Gadi,

37 Selec of Ammoni, Naharai the Berothite, armour-bearer of Joab the son of Sarvia,

38 Ira the Jethrite, Gareb also a Jethrite,
39 Urias the Hethite; thirty and seven in all.
CHAP. XXIV.

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

& Dodo. In Latin, Patrui ejus, which is the in- AND the anger of the Lord was again kin

and stirred up David

terpretation of the Hebrew name Dodo. The same occurs in ver. 24.

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

|| Stirred up, &c. This stirring up was not the

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

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

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

5 And when they had passed the Jordan, they came to Arcer to the right side of the city, which

is in the vale of Gad.

6 And by Jazer they passed into Galaad, and to the lower land of Hodsi; and they came into the woodlands of Dan. And going about by Sidon, 7 They passed near the walls of Tyre, and all the land of the Hevite, and the Chanaanite, and they came to the south of Juda into Bersabee:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12 Go, and say to David: Thus saith the Lord: I give thee thy choice of three things: choose one of them which thou wilt, that I may do it to thee. 13 And when Gad was come to David, he told him, saying: Either seven years of famine shall come to thee in thy land: or thou shalt flee three 25 And David built there an altar to the Lord, months before thy adversaries, and they shall and offered holocausts and peace-offerings: and pursue thee: or for three days there shall be a the Lord became merciful to the land; and the pestilence in thy land. Now therefore deliberate, plague was stayed from Israel. and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

* David's heart struck him after the people were numbered. That is, he was touched with a doing of God, but of satan; as it is expressly de- great remorse for the vanity and pride which had clared 1 Chron. xxi. 1. put him upon numbering the people.

THE THIRD
THIRD BOOK OF KINGS.

CHAP. I.

This and the following book are called by the holy fathers the third and fourth book of Kings; but by the Hebrews the first and second. They contain the history of the kingdoms of Israel and Juda, from the beginning of the reign of Solomon, to the captivity. As to the

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

writer of these books, it seems most probable NW king David was old, and advanced in

years: was with clothes, he was not warm.

they were not written by one man, nor at one time: but as there was all along a succession 2 His servants therefore said to him: Let us of prophets in Israel, who recorded, by divine seek for our lord the king a young virgin; and let inspiration, the most remarkable things that her stand before the king, and cherish him, and happened in their days, these books seem to sleep in his bosom, and warm our lord the king. have been written by these prophets. See 2 Paralipomenon, alias 2 Chronicles ix. 29. xii. 15. xiii. 22. xx. 34. xxvi. 22. xxxii. 32.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*

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

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

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

15 So Bethsabee went in to the king into the chamber: now the king was very old; and sag the Sunamitess ministered to him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

21 Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king sleepeth with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders. 44 And hath sent with him Sadoc the priest, 22 As she was yet speaking with the king, Na-and Nathan the prophet, and Banaias the son of than the prophet came. Joiada, and the Cerethi, and Phelethi; and they have set him upon the king's mule.

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

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

45 And Sadoc the priest, and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are gone up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again: this is the noise that you have heard. 46 Moreover Solomon sitteth upon the throne of the kingdom.

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

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

49 Then all the guests of Adonias were afraid:

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