2 Par. XVI. and he dedicated the altar of the Lord, which was before the porch of the Lord. And he gathered together all Juda and Benjamin, and the strangers with them of Ephraim, and Manasses, and Simeon for many were come over to him out of Israel, seeing that the Lord his God was with him. And when they were come to Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa, they sacrificed to the Lord in that day of the spoils and of the prey that they had brought, seven hundred oxen, and seven thousand rams. And he went in to confirm as usual the covenant, that they should seek the Lord the God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul. And if any one, said he, seek not the Lord the God of Israel, let him die, whether little or great, man or woman. And they swore to the Lord with a loud voice with joyful shouting, and with sound of trumpet, and sound of cornets, all that were in Juda, with a curse: for with all their heart they swore, and with all their will they sought Him, and they found Him: and the Lord gave them rest round about. Moreover Maacha the mother of king Asa he deposed from the royal authority, because she had made in a grove an idol of Priapus:* and he entirely destroyed it, and breaking it into pieces, burnt it at the torrent Cedron. But high places† were left in Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. And the things which his father had vowed, and he himself had vowed, he brought into the house of the Lord, gold and silver, and vessels of divers uses. And there was no war unto the five and thirtieth year of the kingdom of Asa. Asa's League with the Syrians.-And in the six and 1-14. thirtieth year of his kingdom, Baasa‡ the king of Israel came up against Juda, and built a wall about Rama, that no one might safely go out or come in of the kingdom of Asa. Then Asa brought out silver and gold, out of the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king's treasures, and sent to * An impure idol. †The high places. There were excelsa or high places of two different kinds. Some were set up, and dedicated to the worship of idols, or strange gods: and these Asa removed, 2 Paralipom. xiv. 2; others were only altars of the true God, but were erected contrary to the law, which allowed of no sacrifices but in the temple; and these were not removed by Asa.-Perfect with the Lord. Asa had his faults, but never forsook the worship of the Lord. DOUAY BIBLE. The six and thirty years are dated from the establishment of Juda as a separate kingdom. Baasa succeeded Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, and utterly destroyed every one of Jeroboam's house. To Baasa succeeded Ela, and to him Zambri, who slew Ela when he was drunk. Zambri only reigned seven days, for the army set up Amri. Amri reigned twelve years. It was he who built Samaria, calling it after the name (Semer) of the former owner of the hill on which it stood. On his death, Achab succeeded him, two or three years before the death of Asa. Benadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying: There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father, wherefore I have sent thee silver and gold, that thou mayst break thy league with Baasa king of Israel, and make him depart from me. And when Benadad heard this, he sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel and they took Ahion, and Dan, and Abelmaim, and all the walled cities of Nephthali. And when Baasa heard of it, he left off the building of Rama, and interrupted his work. Then king Asa took all Juda, and they carried away from Rama the stones and the timber that Baasa had prepared for the building and he built with them Gabaa and Maspha. : : At that time Hanani the prophet came to Asa king of Juda, and said to him: Because thou hast had confidence in the king of Syria, and not in the Lord thy God, therefore hath the army of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans much more numerous in chariots, and horsemen, and an exceeding great multitude: yet because thou trustedst in the Lord, He delivered them into thy hand? For the eyes of the Lord behold all the earth, and give strength to those who with a perfect heart trust in Him. Wherefore thou hast done foolishly, and for this cause from this time wars shall arise against thee. And Asa was angry with the seer, and commanded him to be put in prison: for he was greatly enraged because of this thing: and he put to death many of the people at that time. But the works of Asa the first and last are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. And Asa fell sick in the nine and thirtieth year of his reign, of a most violent pain in his feet, and yet in his illness he did not seek the Lord, but rather trusted in the skill of physicians. And he slept with his fathers: and he died in the one and fortieth year of his reign. And they buried him in his own sepulchre, which he had made for himself in the city of David : and they laid him on his bed full of spices and odoriferous ointments, which were made by the art of the perfumers, and they burnt them over him with very great pomp. SECT. LXXIX. JOSAPHAT'S GOOD REIGN. ACHAB KING OF ISRAEL. ELIAS BEGINS TO PROPHESY. Josaphat. And Josaphat his son reigned in his stead, and 2 Par. grew strong against Israel. And he placed num bers of soldiers in all the fortified cities of Juda. And he put garrisons in the land of Juda, and in the cities of : Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken. And the Lord was with Josaphat because he walked in the first ways of David his father and trusted not in Baalim, but in the God of his father, and walked in His commandments, and not according to the sins of Israel. And the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Juda brought presents to Josaphat, and he acquired immense riches and much glory. And when his heart had taken courage for the ways of the Lord, he took away also the high places and the groves out of Juda. And in the third year of his reign he sent of his princes Benhail, and Abdias, and Zacharias, and Nathanael, and Micheas, to teach in the cities of Juda: and with them the Levites, Semeias, and Nathanias, and Zabadias, and Asael, and Semiramoth, and Jonathan, and Adonias, and Tobias, and Thobadonias, Levites, and with them Elisama and Joram, priests. And they taught the people in Juda, having with them the book of the law of the Lord and they went about all the cities of Juda, and instructed the people. : And the fear of the Lord came upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Juda, and they durst not make war against Josaphat. The Philistines also brought presents to Josaphat, and tribute in silver; and the Arabians brought him cattle, seven thousand seven hundred rams, and as many hegoats. And Josaphat grew, and became exceeding great: and he built in Juda houses like towers, and walled cities. And he prepared many works in the cities of Juda: and he had warriors and valiant men in Jerusalem. 3 Kings Achab.-Now Achab the son of Amri reigned over Israel in XVI. 29-34. the eight and thirtieth year of Asa king of Juda. And Achab the son of Amri reigned over Israel in Samaria two and twenty years. And Achab the son of Amri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. Nor was it enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat: but he also took to wife Jezabel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians. And he went and served Baal, and adored him. And he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria, and he planted a grove: and Achab did more to provoke the Lord the God of Israel than all the kings of Israel that were before him. In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho in Abiram his first-born he laid its foundations, and in his youngest son Segub he set up the gates thereof: according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke in the hand of Josue the son of Nun.* *See Section xlvii. Elias the Prophet.-And Elias the Thesbite of the in- 3 Kings habitants of Galaad said to Achab : As the Lord liveth, the God XVII. 1-24. of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to the words of my mouth.* And the word of the Lord came to him, saying: Get thee hence, and go towards the east, and hide thyself by the torrent of Carith, which is over-against the Jordan. And there thou shalt drink of the torrent: and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went, and did according to the word of the Lord and going, he dwelt by the torrent Carith, which is over-against the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the torrent. But after some time the torrent was dried up, for it had not rained upon the earth. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying: Arise, and go to Sarephta of the Sidonians, and dwell there: for I have commanded a widow woman there to feed thee. He arose, and went to Sarephta. to the gate of the city, he saw the And when he was come sticks, and he called her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And when she was going For thus saith the Lord shall not waste, nor the day wherein the Lord will She went and did accord And it came to pass after this, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and the sickness was very grievous, so that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elias: What have I to do with thee, thou man of God? * This was said after prayer to God. St. James in his Epistle (chap. v.) says: Elias prayed that it might not rain upon the earth, and it rained not for three years and six months. Elias is by others called Elijah. U 3 Kings XVIII. 1-46. art thou come to me that my iniquities should be remembered, and that thou shouldst kill my son? And Elias said to her : Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, and said : O Lord my God, hast Thou afflicted also the widow, with whom I am after a sort maintained, so as to kill her son? And he stretched and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord my God, let the soul of this child, I beseech Thee, return into his body. And the Lord heard the voice of Elias, and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived. And Elias took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber to the house below, and delivered him to his mother, and said to her: Behold thy son liveth. And the woman said to Elias: Now, by this I know that thou art a man of God, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth is true. SECT. LXXX. ELIAS SACRIFICE ON MOUNT CARMEL. HIS DESTRUCTION Elias and Achab.-After many days the word of the Lord came to Elias, in the third year, saying: Go, and show thyself to Achab, that I may give rain upon the face of the earth. And Elias went to show himself to Achab, and there was a grievous famine in Samaria. And Achab called Abdias the governor of his house. (Now Abdias feared the Lord very much. For when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, he took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water.) And Achab said to Abdias: Go into the land unto all fountains of waters, and into all valleys, to see if we can find grass, and save the horses and mules, that the beasts may not utterly perish. And they divided the countries between them, that they might go round about them: Achab went one way, and Abdias another way by himself. And as Abdias was in the way, Elias met him and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said: Art thou my lord Elias? And he answered: I am. Go and tell thy master: Elias is here. And he said: What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver me thy servant into the hand of Achab, that he should kill me? As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when all answered: He is not here, he took an oath of every kingdom and nation, because thou wast not found. And |