according to the word of the man of God, which he spoke to the king, when he said: Two bushels of barley shall be for a stater, and a bushel of fine flour for a stater, at this very time to-morrow in the gate of Samaria. When that lord answered the man of God, and said: Although the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, could this come to pass which thou sayest? And he said to him: Thou shalt see with thy eyes, and shalt not eat thereof. And so it fell out to him as it was foretold, and the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died. 4 Kings Eliseus and Hazael.-Eliseus also came to Damascus, and VIII. 7-22. Benadad king of Syria was sick and they told him, saying: The man of God is come hither. And the king said to Hazael : Take with thee presents, and go to meet the man of God, and consult the Lord by him, saying: Can I recover of this my illness? And Hazael went to meet him, taking with him presents, and all the good things of Damascus, the burdens of forty camels. And when he stood before him, he said: Thy son Benadad the king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying: Can I recover of this my illness? And Eliseus said to him: Go tell him: Thou shalt recover: but the Lord hath shown me that he shall surely die.* And he stood with him, and was troubled so far as to blush: and the man of God wept. And Hazael said to him: Why doth my lord weep? And he said: Because I know the evil that thou wilt do to the children of Israel. Their strong cities thou wilt burn with fire, and their young men thou wilt kill with the sword, and thou wilt dash their children, and rip up their pregnant women. And Hazael said: But what, am I thy servant a dog, that I should do this great thing? And Eliseus said: The Lord hath shown me that thou shalt be king of Syria. And when he was departed from Eliseus, he came to his master, who said to him: What saith Eliseus to thee? And he answered: He told me: Thou shalt recover. And on the next day he took a blanket, and poured water on it, and spread it upon his face and he died, and Hazael reigned in his stead. In the fifth year of Joram† son of Achab king of Israel, and of Josaphat king of Juda, reigned Joram son of Josaphat king of Juda. He was two and thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked * The prophet signified that he would recover of his disease, but would die in another way. That is, Josaphat being yet alive; who some time before his death made his son Joram king, as David had done before by his son Solomon. in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Achab had walked for the daughter of Achab was his wife :* and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. But the Lord would not destroy Juda, for David His servant's sake, as He had promised him, to give him a light, and to his children always. In his days Edom revolted from being under Juda, and made themselves a king. And Joram came to Seira, and all the chariots with him: and he arose in the night, and defeated the Edomites that had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots, but the people fled into their tents. So Edom revolted from being under Juda unto this day. Then Lobna also revolted at the same time. And the Lord stirred up against Joram the spirit of the 2 Par. XXI. Philistines, and of the Arabians who border on the Ethiopians. 16-20. And they came up into the land of Juda, and wasted it, and they carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, his sons also, and his wives: so that there was no son left him but Joachaz,† who was the youngest. And besides all this, the Lord struck him with an incurable disease in his bowels. And as day came after day, and time rolled on, two whole years passed: then after being wasted with a long consumption, so as to void his very bowels, his disease ended with his life. And he died of a most wretched illness, and the people did not make a funeral for him according to the manner of burning, as they had done for his ancestors. He was two and thirty years old when he began his reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked not rightly, and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings. Kings But the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the VIII. 23-24. kings of Juda? And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, and Ochozias his son reigned in his stead. SECT. LXXXVII. REIGN OF OCHOZIAS. JEHU DESTROYS THE HOUSE OF АСНАВ. : XXII. 1-6. Ochozias. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ocho- 2 Par. zias his youngest son king in his place for the B.C. 885. rovers of the Arabians, who had broke in upon the camp, had killed all that were his elder brothers. So Ochozias † Also called Ochozias. * Athalia. He had been forewarned of this punishment by the prophet Elias in a letter which he wrote to him before he was taken up to heaven, and while Joram reigned with his father Josaphat. the son of Joram king of Juda reigned. Ochozias was forty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: and the name of his mother was Athalia the daughter of Amri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Achab: for his mother pushed him on to do wickedly. So he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Achab did: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father, to his destruction. And he walked after their counsels. And he went with Joram the son of Achab king of Israel, to fight against Hazael king of Syria, at Ramoth Galaad: and the Syrians wounded Joram. And he returned to be healed in Jezrahel, for he received many wounds in the battle. And Ochozias the son of Joram king of Juda went down to visit Joram the son of Achab in Jezrahel where he lay sick. 4 Kings Jehu is made King. And Eliseus the prophet called one Ix. 1-37. of the sons of the prophets, and said to him: Gird up thy loins, and take this little bottle of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth Galaad. And when thou art come thither, thou shalt see Jehu the son of Josaphat the son of Namsi: and going in thou shalt make him rise up from amongst his brethren, and carry him into an inner chamber. Then taking the little bottle of oil, thou shalt pour it on his head, and shalt say: Thus saith the Lord I have anointed thee king over Israel. And thou shalt open the door and flee, and shalt not stay there. : So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went away to Ramoth Galaad, and went in thither: and behold the captains of the army were sitting; and he said: I have a word to thee, O prince. And Jehu said: Unto whom of us all? And he said: To thee, O prince. And he arose and went into the chamber: and he poured the oil upon his head, and said: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: I have anointed thee king over Israel, the people of the Lord. And thou shalt cut off the house of Achab thy master, and I will revenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord at the hand of Jezabel. And I will destroy all the house of Achab, and I will cut off from Achab every dog, and him that is shut up, and the meanest in Israel. And I will make the house of Achab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahias. And the dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezrahel, and there shall be no one to bury her. And he opened the door and fled. Then Jehu went forth to the servants of his lord and they said to him: Are all things well? why came this mad man to us. thee? And he said to them: You know the man, and what he said. But they answered: It is false, but rather do thou tell And he said to them: Thus and thus did he speak to me : and he said: Thus saith the Lord: I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then they made haste, and taking every man his garment laid it under his feet, after the manner of a judgmentseat, and they sounded the trumpet, and said: Jehu is king. So Jehu the son of Josaphat the son of Namsi conspired against Joram. Now Joram had besieged Ramoth Galaad, he and all Israel fighting with Hazael king of Syria and was returned to be healed in Jezrahel of his wounds, for the Syrians had wounded him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Jehu said: If it please you, let no man go forth or flee out of the city, lest he go, and tell in Jezrahel. And he got up, and went into Jezrahel, for Joram was sick there, and Ochozias king of Juda was come down to visit Joram. The watchman therefore, that stood upon the tower of Jezrahel, saw the troop of Jehu coming, and said: I see a troop. And Joram said: Take a chariot, and send to meet them, and let him that goeth say: Is all well? So there went one in a chariot to meet him, and said: Thus saith the king: Are all things peaceable? And Jehu said: What hast thou to do with peace? go behind, and follow me. And the watchman told, saying: The messenger came to them, but he returneth not. And he sent a second chariot of horses, and he came to them, and said: Thus saith the king: Is there peace? And Jehu said: What hast thou to do with peace? pass, and follow me. And the watchman told, saying: He came even to them, but returneth not: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Namsi, for he drives furiously. And Joram said: Make ready the chariot. And they made ready his chariot, and Joram king of Israel and Ochozias king of Juda went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and met him in the field of Naboth the Jezrahelite. And when Joram saw Jehu, he said: Is there peace, Jehu? And he answered: What peace? so long as the fornications of Jezabel thy mother and her many sorceries are so many. And Joram turned his hand, and fleeing, said to Ochozias: There is treachery, Ochozias. But Jehu bent his bow with his hand, and shot Joram between the shoulders: and the arrow went out through his heart, and immediately he fell in his chariot. And Jehu said to Badacer his captain: Take him, and cast him into the field of Naboth the Jezrahelite: for I remember when I and thou sitting in a chariot followed Achab this man's father, 4 Kings X. that the Lord laid this burden upon him, saying: If I do not requite thee in this field, saith the Lord, for the blood of Naboth, and for the blood of his children, which I saw yesterday, saith the Lord. So now take him, and cast him into the field, according to the word of the Lord. But Ochozias king of Juda seeing this, fled by the way of the garden-house: and Jehu pursued him, and said: Strike him also in his chariot. And they struck him in the going-up to Gaver, which is by Jeblaam: and he fled into Mageddo, and died there. And his servants laid him upon his chariot and carried him to Jerusalem: and they buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Achab, Ochozias reigned over Juda. Death of Jezabel.-And Jehu came into Jezrahel. But Jezabel hearing of his coming in, painted her face, and adorned her head, and looked out of a window at Jehu coming in at the gate, and said: Can there be peace for Zambri, that hath killed his master? And Jehu lifted up his face to the window, and said: Who is this? And two or three eunuchs bowed down to him. And he said to them: Throw her down headlong: and they threw her down, and the wall was sprinkled with her blood, and the hoofs of the horses trod upon her. And when he was come in, to eat and to drink, he said: Go, and see after that cursed woman, and bury her: because she is a king's daughter. And when they went to bury her, they found nothing but the skull, and the feet, and the extremities of her hands. And coming back they told him. And Jehu said: It is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elias the Thesbite, saying: In the field of Jezrahel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezabel, and the flesh of Jezabel shall be as dung upon the face of the earth in the field of Jezrahel, so that they who pass by shall say: Is this that same Jezabel? Destruction of the House of Achab.-And Achab had 1-34. seventy sons in Samaria: so Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the chief men of the city, and to the ancients, and to them that brought up Achab's children, saying: As soon as you receive these letters, ye that have your master's sons, and chariots, and horses, and fenced cities, and armour, choose the best, and him that shall please you most of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for the house of your master. But they were exceedingly afraid, and said: Behold two kings could not stand before him, and how shall we be able to resist? Therefore the overseers of the house, and the |