Contents

The Metatronic Bible ...............................................................................................6

THE OLD TESTAMENT ......................................................................................7
THE BOOK OF GENESIS ...............................................................................7
THE BOOK OF EXODUS ...........................................................................140
THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS ......................................................................248
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS .......................................................................323
THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY ..........................................................430
THE BOOK OF JOSUE ...............................................................................521
THE BOOK OF JUDGES ............................................................................582
THE BOOK OF RUTH ................................................................................647
THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL, OTHERWISE CALLED THE
FIRST BOOK OF KINGS .................................................................................657
THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL, OTHERWISE CALLED THE
SECOND BOOK OF KINGS ............................................................................741
THE THIRD BOOK OF KINGS ................................................................810
THE FOURTH BOOK OF KINGS ............................................................890
THE FIRST BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON .........................................967
THE SECOND BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON .................................1040
THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS ............................................................1125
THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAS, WHICH IS CALLED THE SECOND OF
ESDRAS .............................................................................................................1150
THE BOOK OF TOBIAS ..........................................................................1186
THE BOOK OF JUDITH ..........................................................................1212
THE BOOK OF ESTHER .........................................................................1245
THE BOOK OF JOB ..................................................................................1275
THE BOOK OF PSALMS .........................................................................1353

 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS ...................................................................1559

ECCLESIASTES .........................................................................................1621
SOLOMON’S CANTICLE OF CANTICLES ........................................1642
THE BOOK OF WISDOM .......................................................................1654
ECCLESIASTICUS .....................................................................................1693
THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAS .................................................................1811
THE PROPHECY OF JEREMIAS ..........................................................1939
THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAS ...............................................2080
THE PROPHECY OF BARUCH .............................................................2093
THE PROPHECY OF EZECHIEL ..........................................................2111
THE PROPHECY OF DANIEL ..............................................................2243
THE PROPHECY OF OSEE ....................................................................2299
THE PROPHECY OF JOEL .....................................................................2320
THE PROPHECY OF AMOS ...................................................................2328
THE PROPHECY OF ABDIAS ...............................................................2344
THE PROPHECY OF JONAS ..................................................................2346
THE PROPHECY OF MICHEAS ...........................................................2352
THE PROPHECY OF NAHUM ..............................................................2365
THE PROPHECY OF HABACUC ..........................................................2371
THE PROPHECY OF SOPHONIAS ......................................................2378
THE PROPHECY OF AGGEUS ..............................................................2384
THE PROPHECY OF ZACHARIAS .......................................................2389
THE PROPHECY OF MALACHIAS ......................................................2414
THE FIRST BOOK OF MACHABEES ..................................................2421
THE SECOND BOOK OF MACHABEES ............................................2503
THE NEW TESTAMENT OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS
CHRIST ...................................................................................................................2561

 THE HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO SAINT

MATTHEW ......................................................................................................2561
THE HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO ST. MARK
2651
THE HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE ..
2704
THE HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN ..
2796
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES ...........................................................2865
THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE ROMANS .........
2951
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS ....2991
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS ..........
3029
THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE GALATIANS ........................3052
THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE EPHESIANS ........................3065
THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE PHILIPPIANS ....................3077
THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE COLOSSIANS ......................3086
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE THESSALONIANS .........
3095
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE THESSALONIANS ....
3103
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO TIMOTHY ........................3107
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO TIMOTHY ...................3117
THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO TITUS .............................................3125
THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO PHILEMON ...................................3129
THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE HEBREWS ..........................3131
THE CATHOLIC EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES THE APOSTLE ..........3159

 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. PETER THE APOSTLE ...................3169

THE SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. PETER THE APOSTLE ..............3178
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN THE APOSTLE ......................3185
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN THE APOSTLE .................3197
THE THIRD EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN THE APOSTLE ....................3199
THE CATHOLIC EPISTLE OF ST. JUDE ............................................3201
THE APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN THE APOSTLE ..........................3205
FORBIDDEN BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ...........................3250
THE GOSPEL OF THE BIRTH OF MARY .........................................3250
THE GOSPEL CALLED THE PROTEVANGELION ........................3281
THE FIRST GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY OF JESUS CHRIST .....3339
THE SECOND, OR ST. THOMAS'S GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY OF
JESUS CHRIST. ................................................................................................3446
THE GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS, FORMERLY CALLED THE ACTS
OF PONTIUS PILATE ...................................................................................3461
THE EPISTLES OF JESUS CHRIST & ABGARUS KING OF EDESSA.
3576
THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE LAODICEANS
3581
THE EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE TO SENECA, WITH
SENECA'S TO PAUL ......................................................................................3586
THE ACTS OF ST. PAUL AND THECLA .............................................3608
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS .3660
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS ......
3771
THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF BARNABAS .......................................3793
THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE EPHESIANS .....................3872
THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE MAGNESIANS .................3894

 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE TRALLIANS .....................3908

THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE ROMANS. ..........................3921
IGNATIUS TO THE PHILADELPHIANS ...........................................3934
IGNATIUS TO THE SMYRNEANS .......................................................3947
IGNATIUS TO POLYCARP ......................................................................3962
THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP TO THE PHILIPPIANS. ...............3975
THE FIRST PART OF THE BOOK OF HERMAS CALLED HIS
VISION ..............................................................................................................3994
THE SECOND PART OF THE BOOK OF HERMAS, CALLED HIS
COMMANDS ....................................................................................................4055
THE THIRD PART OF THE BOOK OF HERMAS, CALLED HIS
SIMILITUDES .................................................................................................4118
THE BOOK OF ENOCH ................................................................................4280
Section I – The Fall of the Angels .....................................................4283
Section II - The Parables ......................................................................4306
Section III - The Book of the Heavenly Luminaries The Sun 4342
Section IV - The Dream-Visions .........................................................4357
Section V - Enoch’s Book of Admonition for his Children ......4373

The Metatronic Bible

 THE OLD TESTAMENT

THE BOOK OF GENESIS

This book is so called from its treating of the GENERATION, that is, of
the creation and the beginning of the world. The Hebrews call it
BERESITH, from the Word with which it begins. It contains not only
the history of the Creation of the world; but also an account of its
progress during the space of 2369 years, that is, until the death of
JOSEPH.
Genesis Chapter 1

God createth Heaven and Earth, and all things therein, in six days.
1:1. In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.
1:2. And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the
face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.
1:3. And God said: Be light made. And light was made.
1:4. And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light
from the darkness.
1:5. And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there
was evening and morning one day.
1:6. And God said: Let there be a irmament made amidst the
waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters.
A irmament.... By this name is here understood the whole space between the
earth, and the highest stars. The lower part of which divideth the waters that are
upon the earth, from those that are above in the clouds.
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 1:7. And God made a irmament, and divided the waters that were
under the irmament, from those that were above the irmament, and
it was so.
1:8. And God called the irmament, Heaven; and the evening and
morning were the second day.
1:9. God also said; Let the waters that are under the heaven, be
gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it
was so done.
1:10. And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together
of the waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
1:11. And he said: let the earth bring forth green herb, and such as
may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may
have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done.
1:12. And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as
yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit,
having seed each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was
good.
1:13. And the evening and the morning were the third day.
1:14. And God said: Let there be lights made in the irmament of
heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and
for seasons, and for days and years:
1:15. To shine in the irmament of heaven, and to give light upon the
earth, and it was so done.
1:16. And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day;
and a lesser light to rule the night: and the stars.
Two great lights.... God created on the irst day, light, which being moved from
east to west, by its rising and setting, made morning and evening. But on the
fourth day he ordered and distributed this light, and made the sun, moon, and
stars. The moon, though much less than the stars, is here called a great light,
from its giving a far greater light to the earth than any of them.
1:17. And he set them in the irmament of heaven to shine upon the
earth.

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 1:18. And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and
the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
1:19. And the evening and morning were the fourth day.
1:20. God also said: let the waters bring forth the creeping creature
having life, and the fowl that may ly over the earth under the
irmament of heaven.
1:21. And God created the great whales, and every living and
moving creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their
kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it
was good.
1:22. And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and ill the
waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.
1:23. And the evening and morning were the ifth day.
1:24. And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in
its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according
to their kinds. And it was so done.
1:25. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds,
and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind.
And God saw that it was good.
1:26. And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and
let him have dominion over the ishes of the sea, and the fowls of the
air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature
that moveth upon the earth.
Let us make man to our image.... This image of God in man, is not in the body, but
in the soul; which is a spiritual substance, endued with understanding and free
will. God speaketh here in the plural number, to insinuate the plurality of
persons in the Deity.
1:27. And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he
created him: male and female he created them.
1:28. And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and ill
the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the ishes of the sea, and the
fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.
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 Increase and multiply.... This is not a precept, as some Protestant controvertists
would have it, but a blessing, rendering them fruitful; for God had said the same
words to the ishes, and birds, (ver. 22) who were incapable of receiving a
precept.
1:29. And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed
upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own
kind, to be your meat:
1:30. And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and
to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they
may have to feed upon. And it was so done.
1:31. And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were
very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.
Genesis Chapter 2

God resteth on the seventh day and blesseth it. The earthly paradise, in
which God placeth man. He commandeth him not to eat of the tree of
knowledge. And formeth a woman of his rib.
2:1. So the heavens and the earth were inished, and all the furniture
of them.
2:2. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made:
and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
He rested, etc.... That is, he ceased to make or create any new kinds of things.
Though, as our Lord tells us, John 5.17, “He still worketh”, viz., by conserving and
governing all things, and creating souls.
2:3. And he blessed the seventh day, and sancti ied it: because in it
he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
2:4. These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when
they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and
the earth:
2:5. And every plant of the ield before it sprung up in the earth, and
every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not
rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.

 2:6. But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of
the earth.
2:7. And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and
breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
2:8. And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the
beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed.
2:9. And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of
trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the
midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
The tree of life.... So called because it had that quality, that by eating of the fruit
of it, man would have been preserved in a constant state of health, vigour, and
strength, and would not have died at all. The tree of knowledge.... To which the
deceitful serpent falsely attributed the power of imparting a superior kind of
knowledge, beyond that which God was pleased to give.
2:10. And a river went out of the place of pleasure to water
paradise, which from thence is divided into four heads.
2:11. The name of the one is Phison: that is it which compasseth all
the land of Hevilath, where gold groweth.
2:12. And the gold of that land is very good: there is found bdellium,
and the onyx stone.
2:13. And the name of the second river is Gehon: the same is it that
compasseth all the land of Ethiopia.
2:14. And the name of the third river is Tigris: the same passeth
along by the Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
2:15. And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of
pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.
2:16. And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou
shalt eat:
2:17. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the
death.

 2:18. And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us
make him a help like unto himself.
2:19. And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the
beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam
to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living
creature the same is its name.
2:20. And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the
fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the ield: but for Adam there was
not found a helper like himself.
2:21. Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he
was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and illed up lesh for it.
2:22. And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a
woman: and brought her to Adam.
2:23. And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and lesh of my
lesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.
2:24. Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall
cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one lesh.
2:25. And they were both naked: to wit, Adam and his wife: and
were not ashamed.
Genesis Chapter 3

The serpent’s craft. The fall of our irst parents. Their punishment. The
promise of a Redeemer.
3:1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the
earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why
hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of
paradise?
3:2. And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees
that are in paradise we do eat:
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 3:3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God
hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not
touch it, lest perhaps we die.
3:4. And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the
death.
3:5. For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat
thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing
good and evil.
3:6. And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to
the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and
did eat, and gave to her husband, who did eat.
3:7. And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they
perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together ig leaves, and
made themselves aprons.
And the eyes, etc.... Not that they were blind before, (for the woman saw that the
tree was fair to the eyes, ver. 6.) nor yet that their eyes were opened to any more
perfect knowledge of good; but only to the unhappy experience of having lost the
good of original grace and innocence, and incurred the dreadful evil of sin. From
whence followed a shame of their being naked; which they minded not before;
because being now stript of original grace, they quickly began to be subject to
the shameful rebellions of the lesh.
3:8. And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in
paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from
the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise.
3:9. And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art
thou?
3:10. And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid,
because I was naked, and I hid myself.
3:11. And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast
naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee
that thou shouldst not eat?

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 3:12. And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my
companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
3:13. And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this?
And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.
3:14. And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done
this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth:
upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of
thy life.
3:15. I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed
and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for
her heel.
She shall crush.... Ipsa, the woman; so divers of the fathers read this place,
conformably to the Latin: others read it ipsum, viz., the seed. The sense is the
same: for it is by her seed, Jesus Christ, that the woman crushes the serpent’s
head.
3:16. To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy
conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt
be under thy husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over thee.
3:17. And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the
voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded
thee, that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work: with
labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life.
3:18. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt
eat the herbs of the earth.
3:19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to
the earth out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into
dust thou shalt return.
3:20. And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the
mother of all the living.
3:21. And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of
skins, and clothed them.

 3:22. And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing

good and evil: now therefore lest perhaps he put forth his hand and
take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.
Behold Adam, etc.... This was spoken by way of reproaching him with his pride, in
affecting a knowledge that might make him like to God.
3:23. And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to
till the earth from which he was taken.
3:24. And he cast out Adam: and placed before the paradise of
pleasure Cherubims, and a laming sword, turning every way, to keep
the way of the tree of life.
Genesis Chapter 4

The history of Cain and Abel.

4:1. And Adam knew Eve his wife; who conceived and brought forth
Cain, saying: I have gotten a man through God.
4:2. And again she brought forth his brother Abel. And Abel was a
shepherd, and Cain a husbandman.
4:3. And it came to pass after many days, that Cain offered, of the
fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord.
4:4. Abel also offered of the irstlings of his lock, and of their fat:
and the Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings.
Had respect.... That is, shewed his acceptance of his sacri ice (as coming from a
heart full of devotion): and that, as we may suppose, by some visible token, such
as sending ire from heaven upon his offerings.
4:5. But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was
exceeding angry, and his countenance fell.
4:6. And the Lord said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is thy
countenance fallen?
4:7. If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin
forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under
thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.
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 4:8. And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us go forth abroad. And
when they were in the ield, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and
slew him.
4:9. And the Lord said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And he
answered: I know not: am I my brother’s keeper?
4:10. And he said to him: What hast thou done? the voice of thy
brother’s blood crieth to me from the earth.
4:11. Now therefore cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath
opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand.
4:12. When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield to thee its fruit: a
fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.
4:13. And Cain said to the Lord: My iniquity is greater than that I
may deserve pardon.
4:14. Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the
earth, and from thy face I shall be hid, and I shall be a vagabond and a
fugitive on the earth: every one therefore that indeth me, shall kill me.
Every one that indeth me shall kill me.... His guilty conscience made him fear his
own brothers and nephews; of whom, by this time, there might be a good
number upon the earth; which had now endured near 130 years; as may be
gathered from Gen. 5.3, compared with chap. 4.25, though in the compendious
account given in the scriptures, only Cain and Abel are mentioned.
4:15. And the Lord said to him: No, it shall not so be: but whosoever
shall kill Cain, shall be punished sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark
upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him.
Set a mark, etc.... The more common opinion of the interpreters of holy writ
supposes this mark to have been a trembling of the body; or a horror and
consternation in his countenance.
4:16. And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a
fugitive on the earth at the east side of Eden.
4:17. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and brought forth
Henoch: and he built a city, and called the name thereof by the name
of his son Henoch.

 His wife.... She was a daughter of Adam, and Cain’s own sister; God dispensing
with such marriages in the beginning of the world, as mankind could not
otherwise be propagated. He built a city, viz.... In process of time, when his race
was multiplied, so as to be numerous enough to people it. For in the many
hundred years he lived, his race might be multiplied even to millions.
4:18. And Henoch begot Irad, and Irad begot Maviael, and Maviael
begot Mathusael, and Mathusael begot Lamech,
4:19. Who took two wives: the name of the one was Ada, and the
name of the other Sella.
4:20. And Ada brought forth Jabel: who was the father of such as
dwell in tents, and of herdsmen.
4:21. And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of them
that play upon the harp and the organs.
4:22. Sella also brought forth Tubalcain, who was a hammerer and
arti icer in every work of brass and iron. And the sister of Tubalcain
was Noema.
4:23. And Lamech said to his wives Ada and Sella: Hear my voice, ye
wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech: for I have slain a man to the
wounding of myself, and a stripling to my own bruising.
I have slain a man, etc.... It is the tradition of the Hebrews, that Lamech in
hunting slew Cain, mistaking him for a wild beast; and that having discovered
what he had done, he beat so unmercifully the youth, by whom he was led into
that mistake, that he died of the blows.
4:24. Sevenfold vengeance shall be taken for Cain: but for Lamech
seventy times sevenfold.
4:25. Adam also knew his wife again: and she brought forth a son,
and called his name Seth, saying: God hath given me another seed for
Abel, whom Cain slew.
4:26. But to Seth also was born a son, whom he called Enos: this
man began to call upon the name of the Lord.
Began to call upon, etc.... Not that Adam and Seth had not called upon God,
before the birth of Enos; but that Enos used more solemnity in the worship and
invocation of God.
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 Genesis Chapter 5

The genealogy, age, and death of the Patriarchs, from Adam to Noe.
The translation of Henoch.
5:1. This is the book of the generation of Adam. In the day that God
created man, he made him to the likeness of God.
5:2. He created them male and female; and blessed them: and called
their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
5:3. And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son to
his own image and likeness, and called his name Seth.
5:4. And the days of Adam, after he begot Seth, were eight hundred
years: and he begot sons and daughters.
5:5. And all the time that Adam lived, came to nine hundred and
thirty years, and he died.
5:6. Seth also lived a hundred and ive years, and begot Enos.
5:7. And Seth lived after he begot Enos, eight hundred and seven
years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:8. And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years,
and he died.
5:9. And Enos lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.
5:10. After whose birth he lived eight hundred and ifteen years, and
begot sons and daughters.
5:11. And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and ive years, and
he died.
5:12. And Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Malaleel.
5:13. And Cainan lived after he begot Malaleel, eight hundred and
forty years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:14. And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years,
and he died.
5:15. And Malaleel lived sixty- ive years and begot Jared.

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 5:16. And Malaleel lived after he begot Jared, eight hundred and
thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:17. And all the days of Malaleel were eight hundred and ninety-
ive years, and he died.
5:18. And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and begot
Henoch.
5:19. And Jared lived after he begot Henoch, eight hundred years,
and begot sons and daughters.
5:20. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two
years, and he died.
5:21. And Henoch lived sixty- ive years, and begot Mathusala.
5:22. And Henoch walked with God: and lived after he begot
Mathusala, three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:23. And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty- ive
years.
5:24. And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God
took him.
5:25. And Mathusala lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and
begot Lamech.
5:26. And Mathlusala lived after he begot Lamech, seven hundred
and eighty-two years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:27. And all the days of Mathusala were nine hundred and sixty-
nine years, and he died.
5:28. And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and begot
a son.
5:29. And he called his name Noe, saying: This same shall comfort us
from the works and labours of our hands on the earth, which the Lord
hath cursed.
5:30. And Lamech lived after he begot Noe, ive hundred and ninety-
ive years, and begot sons and daughters.
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 5:31. And all the days of Lamech came to seven hundred and
seventy-seven years, and he died. And Noe, when he was ive hundred
years old, begot Sem, Cham, and Japheth.
Genesis Chapter 6

Man’s sin is the cause of the deluge. Noe is commanded to build the
ark.
6:1. And after that men began to be multiplied upon the earth, and
daughters were born to them,
6:2. The sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were
fair, took to themselves wives of all which they chose.
The sons of God.... The descendants of Seth and Enos are here called sons of God
from their religion and piety: whereas the ungodly race of Cain, who by their
carnal affections lay grovelling upon the earth, are called the children of men.
The unhappy consequence of the former marrying with the latter, ought to be a
warning to Christians to be very circumspect in their marriages; and not to
suffer themselves to be determined in their choice by their carnal passion, to the
prejudice of virtue or religion.
6:3. And God said: My spirit shall not remain in man for ever,
because he is lesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.
His days shall be, etc.... The meaning is, that man’s days, which before the lood
were usually 900 years, should now be reduced to 120 years. Or rather, that God
would allow men this term of 120 years, for their repentance and conversion,
before he would send the deluge.
6:4. Now giants were upon the earth in those days. For after the
sons of God went in to the daughters of men, and they brought forth
children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown.
Giants.... It is likely the generality of men before the lood were of a gigantic
stature in comparison with what men now are. But these here spoken of are
called giants, as being not only tall in stature, but violent and savage in their
dispositions, and mere monsters of cruelty and lust.

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 6:5. And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the
earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all
times,
6:6. It repented him that he had made man on the earth. And being
touched inwardly with sorrow of heart,
It repented him, etc.... God, who is unchangeable, is not capable of repentance,
grief, or any other passion. But these expressions are used to declare the
enormity of the sins of men, which was so provoking as to determine their
Creator to destroy these his creatures, whom before he had so much favoured.
6:7. He said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face
of the earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to
the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.
6:8. But Noe found grace before the Lord.
6:9. These are the generations of Noe: Noe was a just and perfect
man in his generations, he walked with God.
6:10. And he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth.
6:11. And the earth was corrupted before God, and was illed with
iniquity.
6:12. And when God had seen that the earth was corrupted (for all
lesh had corrupted its way upon the earth),
6:13. He said to Noe: The end of all lesh is come before me, the
earth is illed with iniquity through them, and I will destroy them with
the earth.
6:14. Make thee an ark of timber planks: thou shalt make little
rooms in the ark, and thou shalt pitch it within and without.
6:15. And thus shalt thou make it. The length of the ark shall be
three hundred cubits: the breadth of it ifty cubits, and the height of it
thirty cubits.
Three hundred cubits, etc.... The ark, according to the dimensions here set down,
contained four hundred and ifty thousand square cubits; which was more than
enough to contain all the kinds of living creatures, with all necessary provisions:
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 even supposing the cubits here spoken of to have been only a foot and a half
each, which was the least kind of cubits.
6:16. Thou shalt make a window in the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou
inish the top of it: and the door of the ark thou shalt set in the side:
with lower, middle chambers, and third stories shalt thou make it.
6:17. Behold, I will bring the waters of a great lood upon the earth,
to destroy all lesh, wherein is the breath of life under heaven. All
things that are in the earth shall be consumed.
6:18. And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt
enter into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy
sons with thee.
6:19. And of every living creature of all lesh, thou shalt bring two of
a sort into the ark, that they may live with thee: of the male sex, and
the female.
6:20. Of fowls according to their kind, and of beasts in their kind,
and of every thing that creepeth on the earth according to its kind:
two of every sort shall go in with thee, that they may live.
6:21. Thou shalt take unto thee of all food that may be eaten, and
thou shalt lay it up with thee: and it shall be food for thee and them.
6:22. And Noe did all things which God commanded him.
Genesis Chapter 7

Noe with his family go into the ark. The deluge over lows the earth.
7:1. And the Lord said to him: Go in, thou and all thy house, into the
ark: for thee I have seen just before me in this generation.
7:2. Of all clean beasts take seven and seven, the male and the
female.
Of all clean.... The distinction of clean and unclean beasts appears to have been
made before the law of Moses, which was not promulgated till the year of the
world 2514.
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 7:3. But of the beasts that are unclean two and two, the male and
the female. Of the fowls also of the air seven and seven, the male and
the female: that seed may be saved upon the face of the whole earth.
7:4. For yet a while, and after seven days, I will rain upon the earth
forty days and forty nights: and I will destroy every substance that I
have made, from the face of the earth.
7:5. And Noe did all things which the Lord had commanded him.
7:6. And he was six hundred years old, when the waters of the lood
over lowed the earth.
7:7. And Noe went in and his sons, his wife and the wives of his sons
with him into the ark, because of the waters of the lood.
7:8. And of beasts clean and unclean, and of fowls, and of every
thing that moveth upon the earth,
7:9. Two and two went in to Noe into the ark, male and female, as
the Lord had commanded Noe.
7:10. And after the seven days were passed, the waters of the lood
over lowed the earth.
7:11. In the six hundredth year of the life of Noe, in the second
month, in the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the
great deep were broken up, and the loodgates of heaven were opened:
7:12. And the rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
7:13. In the selfsame day Noe, and Sem, and Cham, and Japheth, his
sons: his wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the
ark.
7:14. They and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle in
their kind, and every thing that moveth upon the earth, according to
its kind, and every fowl according to its kind, all birds, and all that ly,
7:15. Went in to Noe into the ark, two and two of all lesh, wherein
was the breath of life.
7:16. And they that went in, went in male and female of all lesh, as
God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in on the outside.

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 7:17. And the lood was forty days upon the earth: and the waters
increased, and lifted up the ark on high from the earth.
7:18. For they over lowed exceedingly: and illed all on the face of
the earth: and the ark was carried upon the waters.
7:19. And the waters prevailed beyond measure upon the earth: and
all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.
7:20. The water was ifteen cubits higher than the mountains which
it covered.
7:21. And all lesh was destroyed that moved upon the earth, both of
fowl and of cattle, and of beasts, and of all creeping things that creep
upon the earth: and all men.
7:22. And all things wherein there is the breath of life on the earth,
died.
7:23. And he destroyed all the substance that was upon the earth,
from man even to beast, and the creeping things and fowls of the air:
and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noe only remained, and
they that were with him in the ark.
7:24. And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and ifty
days.
Genesis Chapter 8

The deluge ceaseth. Noe goeth out of the ark, and offereth a sacri ice.
God’s covenant to him.
8:1. And God remembered Noe, and all the living creatures, and all
the cattle which were with him in the ark, and brought a wind upon
the earth, and the waters were abated:
8:2. The fountains also of the deep, and the loodgates of heaven,
were shut up, and the rain from heaven was restrained.
8:3. And the waters returned from off the earth going and coming:
and they began to be abated after a hundred and ifty days.

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 8:4. And the ark rested in the seventh month, the seven and
twentieth day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia.
8:5. And the waters were going and decreasing until the tenth
month: for in the tenth month, the irst day of the month, the tops of
the mountains appeared.
8:6. And after that forty days were passed, Noe opening the window
of the ark, which he had made, sent forth a raven:
8:7. Which went forth and did not return, till the waters were dried
up upon the earth.
Did not return.... The raven did not return into the ark; but (as it may be
gathered from the Hebrew) went to and fro; sometimes going to the mountains,
where it found carcasses to feed on: and other times returning, to rest upon the
top of the ark.
8:8. He sent forth also a dove after him, to see if the waters had now
ceased upon the face of the earth.
8:9. But she not inding where her foot might rest, returned to him
into the ark: for the waters were upon the whole earth: and he put
forth his hand, and caught her, and brought her into the ark.
8:10. And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth
the dove out of the ark.
8:11. And she came to him in the evening carrying a bough of an
olive tree, with green leaves, in her mouth. Noe therefore understood
that the waters were ceased upon the earth.
8:12. And he stayed yet other seven days: and he sent forth the dove,
which returned not any more unto him.
8:13. Therefore in the six hundredth and irst year, the irst month,
the irst day of the month, the waters were lessened upon the earth,
and Noe opening the covering of the ark, looked, and saw that the face
of the earth was dried.
8:14. In the second month, the seven and twentieth day of the
month, the earth was dried.
8:15. And God spoke to Noe, saying:
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 8:16. Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons and the wives of
thy sons with thee.
8:17. All living things that are with thee of all lesh, as well in fowls
as in beasts, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, bring
out with thee, and go ye upon the earth: increase and multiply upon it.
8:18. So Noe went out, he and his sons: his wife, and the wives of his
sons with him.
8:19. And all living things, and cattle, and creeping things that creep
upon the earth, according to their kinds went out of the ark.
8:20. And Noe built an altar unto the Lord: and taking of all cattle
and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon the altar.
Holocausts, ... or whole burnt offerings. In which the whole victim was consumed
by ire upon God’s altar, and no part was reserved for the use of priest or people.
8:21. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: I will no more
curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought
of man’s heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no
more destroy every living soul as I have done.
Smelled, etc.... A igurative expression, denoting that God was well pleased with
the sacri ices which his servant offered.
8:22. All the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, night and day, shall not cease.
Genesis Chapter 9

God blesseth Noe: forbiddeth blood, and promiseth never more to

destroy the world by water. The blessing of Sem and Japheth.
9:1. And God blessed Noe and his sons. And he said to them:
Increase, and multiply, and ill the earth.
9:2. And let the fear and dread of you be upon all the beasts of the
earth, and upon all the fowls of the air, and all that move upon the
earth: all the ishes of the sea are delivered into your hand.
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 9:3. And every thing that moveth, and liveth shall be meat for you:
even as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you:
9:4. Saving that lesh with blood you shall not eat.
9:5. For I will require the blood of your lives at the hand of every
beast, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man, and of his
brother, will I require the life of man.
9:6. Whosoever shall shed man’s blood, his blood shall be shed: for
man was made to the image of God.
9:7. But increase you and multiply, and go upon the earth and ill it.
9:8. Thus also said God to Noe, and to his sons with him:
9:9. Behold I will establish my covenant with you, and with your
seed after you:
9:10. And with every living soul that is with you, as well in all birds,
as in cattle and beasts of the earth, that are come forth out of the ark,
and in all the beasts of the earth.
9:11. I will establish my covenant with you, and all lesh shall be no
more destroyed with the waters of a lood, neither shall there be from
henceforth a lood to waste the earth.
9:12. And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I give
between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for
perpetual generations.
9:13. I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a
covenant between me and between the earth.
9:14. And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall
appear in the clouds:
9:15. And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every
living soul that beareth lesh: and there shall no more be waters of a
lood to destroy all lesh.
9:16. And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall
remember the everlasting covenant, that was made between God and
every living soul of all lesh which is upon the earth.
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 9:17. And God said to Noe: This shall be the sign of the covenant,
which I have established, between me and all lesh upon the earth.
9:18. And the sons of Noe, who came out of the ark, were Sem, Cham,
and Japheth: and Cham is the father of Chanaan.
9:19. These three are the sons of Noe: and from these was all
mankind spread over the whole earth.
9:20. And Noe a husbandman began to till the ground, and planted
a vineyard.
9:21. And drinking of the wine was made drunk, and was uncovered
in his tent.
Drunk.... Noe by the judgment of the fathers was not guilty of sin, in being
overcome by wine: because he knew not the strength of it.
9:22. Which when Cham the father of Chanaan had seen, to wit, that
his father’s nakedness was uncovered, he told it to his two brethren
without.
9:23. But Sem and Japheth put a cloak upon their shoulders, and
going backward, covered the nakedness of their father: and their faces
were turned away, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.
Covered the nakedness.... Thus, as St. Gregory takes notice L. 35; Moral. c. 22, we
ought to cover the nakedness, that is, the sins, of our spiritual parents and
superiors.
9:24. And Noe awaking from the wine, when he had learned what
his younger son had done to him,
9:25. He said: Cursed be Chanaan, a servant of servants shall he be
unto his brethren.
Cursed be Chanaan.... The curses, as well as the blessings, of the patriarchs, were
prophetical: And this in particular is here recorded by Moses, for the children of
Israel, who were to possess the land of Chanaan. But why should Chanaan be
cursed for his father’s faults? The Hebrews answer, that he being then a boy, was
the irst that saw his grandfather’s nakedness, and told his father Cham of it; and
joined with him in laughing at it: which drew upon him, rather than upon the
rest of the children of Cham, this prophetical curse.
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 9:26. And he said: Blessed be the Lord God of Sem, be Chanaan his
servant.
9:27. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of
Sem, and Chanaan be his servant.
9:28. And Noe lived after the lood three hundred and ifty years.
9:29. And all his days were in the whole nine hundred and ifty
years: and he died.
Genesis Chapter 10

The genealogy of the children of Noe, by whom the world was peopled
after the lood.
10:1. These are the generations of the sons of Noe: Sem, Cham, and
Japheth: and unto them sons were born after the lood.
10:2. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan,
and Thubal, and Mosoch, and Thiras.
10:3. And the sons of Gomer: Ascenez and Riphath and Thogorma.
10:4. And the sons of Javan: Elisa and Tharsis, Cetthim and
Dodanim.
10:5. By these were divided the islands of the Gentiles in their lands,
every one according to his tongue and their families in their nations.
The islands.... So the Hebrews called all the remote countries, to which they went
by ships from Judea, to Greece, Italy, Spain, etc.
10:6. And the Sons of Cham: Chus, and Mesram, and Phuth, and
Chanaan.
10:7. And the sons of Chus: Saba, and Hevila, and Sabatha, and
Regma, and Sabatacha. The sons of Regma: Saba, and Dadan.
10:8. Now Chus begot Nemrod: he began to be mighty on the earth.
10:9. And he was a stout hunter before the Lord. Hence came a
proverb: Even as Nemrod the stout hunter before the Lord.

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 A stout hunter.... Not of beasts but of men: whom by violence and tyranny he
brought under his dominion. And such he was, not only in the opinion of men, but
before the Lord, that is, in his sight who cannot be deceived.
10:10. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Arach,
and Achad, and Chalanne in the land of Sennaar.
10:11. Out of that land came forth Assur, and built Ninive, and the
streets of the city, and Chale.
10:12. Resen also between Ninive and Chale: this is the great city.
10:13. And Mesraim begot Ludim, and Anamim and Laabim,
Nephthuim.
10:14. And Phetrusim, and Chasluim; of whom came forth the
Philistines, and the Capthorim.
10:15. And Chanaan begot Sidon his irstborn, the Hethite,
10:16. And the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite, and the Gergesite.
10:17. The Hevite and Aracite: the Sinite,
10:18. And the Aradian, the Samarite, and the Hamathite: and
afterwards the families of the Chanaanites were spread abroad.
10:19. And the limits of Chanaan were from Sidon as one comes to
Gerara even to Gaza, until thou enter Sodom and Gomorrha, and
Adama, and Seboim even to Lesa.
10:20. These are the children of Cham in their kindreds and tongues,
and generations, and lands, and nations.
10:21. Of Sem also the father of all the children of Heber, the elder
brother of Japheth, sons were born.
10:22. The sons of Sem: Elam and Assur, and Arphaxad, and Lud,
and Aram.
10:23. The sons of Aram: Us, and Hull, and Gether; and Mes.
10:24. But Arphaxad begot Sale, of whom was born Heber.
10:25. And to Heber were born two sons: the name of the one was
Phaleg, because in his days was the earth divided: and his brother’s
name Jectan.

 10:26. Which Jectan begot Elmodad, and Saleph, and Asarmoth,

Jare,
10:27. And Aduram, and Uzal, and Decla,
10:28. And Ebal, and Abimael, Saba,
10:29. And Ophir, and Hevila, and Jobab. All these were the sons of
Jectan.
10:30. And their dwelling was from Messa as we go on as far as
Sephar, a mountain in the east.
10:31. These are the children of Sem according to their kindreds and
tongues, and countries in their nations.
10:32. These are the families of Noe, according to their people and
nations. By these were the nations divided on the earth after the lood.
Genesis Chapter 11

The tower of Babel. The confusion of tongues. The genealogy of Sem

down to Abram.
11:1. And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech.
11:2. And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in
the land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it.
11:3. And each one said to his neighbour: Come let us make brick,
and bake them with ire. And they had brick instead of stones, and
slime instead of mortar:
11:4. And they said: Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top
whereof may reach to heaven; and let us make our name famous
before we be scattered abroad into all lands.
11:5. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which
the children of Adam were building.
11:6. And he said: Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue:
and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their
designs, till they accomplish them in deed.

 11:7. Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there confound their
tongue, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
11:8. And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands,
and they ceased to build the city.
11:9. And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, because
there the language of the whole earth was confounded: and from
thence the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries.
Babel.... That is, confusion.
11:10. These are the generations of Sem: Sem was a hundred years
old when he begot Arphaxad, two years after the lood.
11:11. And Sem lived after he begot Arphaxad, ive hundred years,
and begot sons and daughters.
11:12. And Arphaxad lived thirty- ive years, and begot Sale.
11:13. And Arphaxad lived after he begot Sale, three hundred and
three years, and begot sons and daughters.
11:14. Sale also lived thirty years, and begot Heber.
11:15. And Sale lived after he begot Heber, four hundred and three
years: and begot sons and daughters.
11:16. And Heber lived thirty-four years, and begot Phaleg.
11:17. And Heber lived after he begot Phaleg, four hundred and
thirty years: and begot sons and daughters.
11:18. Phaleg also lived thirty years, and begot Reu.
11:19. And Phaleg lived after he begot Reu, two hundred and nine
years, and begot sons and daughters.
11:20. And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Sarug.
11:21. And Reu lived after he begot Sarug, two hundred and seven
years, and begot sons and daughters.
11:22. And Sarug lived thirty years, and begot Nachor.
11:23. And Sarug lived after he begot Nachor, two hundred years,
and begot sons and daughters.

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 11:24. And Nachor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Thare.
11:25. And Nachor lived after he begot Thare, a hundred and
nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.
11:26. And Thare lived seventy years, and begot Abram, and Nachor,
and Aran.
11:27. And these are the generations of Thare: Thare begot Abram,
Nachor, and Aran. And Aran begot Lot.
11:28. And Aran died before Thare his father, in the land of his
nativity in Ur of the Chaldees.
11:29. And Abram and Nachor married wives: the name of Abram’s
wife was Sarai: and the name of Nachor’s wife, Melcha, the daughter
of Aran, father of Melcha and father of Jescha.
11:30. And Sarai was barren, and had no children.
11:31. And Thare took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Aran, his
son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, the wife of Abram his son, and
brought them out of Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of
Chanaan: and they came as far as Haran, and dwelt there.
11:32. And the days of Thare were two hundred and ive years, and
he died in Haran.
Genesis Chapter 12

The call of Abram, and the promise made to him. He sojourneth in

Chanaan, and then by occasion of a famine, goeth down to Egypt.
12:1. And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and
from thy kindred, and out of thy father’s house, and come into the land
which I shall shew thee.
12:2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee,
and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.
12:3. I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse
thee, and IN THEE shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

 12:4. So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot
went with him: Abram was seventy- ive years old when he went forth
from Haran.
12:5. And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all
the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had
gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan.
And when they were come into it,
12:6. Abram passed through the country unto the place of Sichem,
as far as the noble vale: now the Chanaanite was at that time in the
land.
12:7. And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed
will I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had
appeared to him.
12:8. And passing on from thence to a mountain, that was on the
east side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west,
and Hai on the east: he built there also an altar to the Lord, and called
upon his name.
12:9. And Abram went forward, going and proceeding on to the
south.
12:10. And there came a famine in the country: and Abram went
down into Egypt, to sojourn there: for the famine was very grievous in
the land.
12:11. And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai
his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman:
12:12. And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She
is his wife: and they will kill me, and keep thee.
12:13. Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may
be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.
My sister.... This was no lie; because she was his niece, being daughter to his
brother Aran, and therefore, in the style of the Hebrews, she might truly be called
his sister, as Lot is called Abram’s brother, Gen. 14.14. See Gen. 20.12.

 12:14. And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the
woman that she was very beautiful.
12:15. And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him: and
the woman was taken into the house of Pharao.
12:16. And they used Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep and
oxen and he asses, and men servants, and maid servants, and she asses,
and camels.
12:17. But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most
grievous stripes for Sarai, Abram’s wife.
12:18. And Pharao called Abram, and said to him: What is this that
thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy
wife?
12:19. For what cause didst thou say, she was thy sister, that I might
take her to my wife? Now therefore there is thy wife, take her, and go
thy way.
12:20. And Pharao gave his men orders concerning Abram: and they
led him away and his wife, and all that he had.
Genesis Chapter 13

Abram and Lot part from each other. God’s promise to Abram.
13:1. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that
he had, and Lot with him into the south.
13:2. And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver.
13:3. And he returned by the way, that he came, from the south to
Bethel, to the place where before he had pitched his tent between
Bethel and Hai,
13:4. In the place of the altar which he had made before, and there
he called upon the name of the Lord.
13:5. But Lot also, who was with Abram, had locks of sheep, and
herds of beasts, and tents.

 13:6. Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell
together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell
together.
13:7. Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of
Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite
dwelled in that country.
13:8. Abram therefore said to Lot: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech
thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy
herdsmen: for we are brethren.
13:9. Behold the whole land is before thee: depart from me, I pray
thee: if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: if thou choose
the right hand, I will pass to the left.
13:10. And Lot lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the
Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as
one comes to Segor.
13:11. And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and
he departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from
the other.
13:12. Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan: and Lot abode in the
towns, that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.
13:13. And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before
the face of the Lord beyond measure.
13:14. And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from
him: Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to
the north and to the south, to the east and to the west.
13:15. All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy
seed for ever.
13:16. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man
be able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number thy
seed also.

 13:17. Arise and walk through the land in the length, and the
breadth thereof: for I will give it to thee.
13:18. So Abram removing his tent, came, and dwelt by the vale of
Mambre, which is in Hebron: and he built there an altar to the Lord.
Genesis Chapter 14

The expedition of the four kings; the victory of Abram; he is blessed by

Melchisedech.
14:1. And it came to pass at that time, that Amraphel, king of
Sennaar, and Arioch, king of Pontus, and Chodorlahomor, king of the
Elamites, and Thadal, king of nations,
14:2. Made war against Bara, king of Sodom, and against Bersa,
king of Gomorrha, and against Sennaab, king of Adama, and against
Semeber, king of Seboim, and against the king of Bala, which is Segor.
14:3. All these came together into the woodland vale, which now is
the salt sea.
14:4. For they had served Chodorlahomor twelve years, and in the
thirteenth year they revolted from him.
14:5. And in the fourteenth year came Chodorlahomor, and the
kings that were with him: and they smote the Raphaim in
Astarothcarnaim, and the Zuzim with them, and the Emim in Save of
Cariathaim.
14:6. And the Chorreans in the mountains of Seir, even to the plains
of Pharan, which is in the wilderness.
14:7. And they returned, and came to the fountain of Misphat, the
same is Cades: and they smote all the country of the Amalecites, and
the Amorrhean that dwelt in Asasonthamar.
14:8. And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha, and the
king of Adama, and the king of Seboim, and the king of Bala, which is
Segor, went out: and they set themselves against them in battle array,
in the woodland vale:

 14:9. To wit, against Chodorlahomor king of the Elamites, and

Thadal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Sennaar, and Arioch
king of Pontus: four kings against ive.
14:10. Now the woodland vale had many pits of slime. And the king
of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha turned their backs, and were
overthrown there: and they that remained, led to the mountain.
Of slime. Bituminis.... This was a kind of pitch, which served for mortar in the
building of Babel, Gen. 11.3, and was used by Noe in pitching the ark.
14:11. And they took all the substance of the Sodomites, and
Gomorrhites, and all their victuals, and went their way:
14:12. And Lot also, the son of Abram’s brother, who dwelt in
Sodom, and his substance.
14:13. And behold one, that had escaped, told Abram the Hebrew,
who dwelt in the vale of Mambre the Amorrhite, the brother of Escol,
and the brother of Aner: for these had made a league with Abram.
14:14. Which when Abram had heard, to wit, that his brother Lot
was taken, he numbered of the servants born in his house, three
hundred and eighteen, well appointed: and pursued them to Dan.
14:15. And dividing his company, he rushed upon them in the night,
and defeated them: and pursued them as far as Hoba, which is on the
left hand of Damascus.
14:16. And he brought back all the substance, and Lot his brother,
with his substance, the women also, and the people.
14:17. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he
returned from the slaughter of Chodorlahomor, and of the kings that
were with him in the vale of Save, which is the king’s vale.
14:18. But Melchisedech, the king of Salem, bringing forth bread
and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God,
14:19. Blessed him, and said: Blessed be Abram by the most high
God, who created heaven and earth.

 14:20. And blessed be the most high God, by whose protection, the
enemies are in thy hands. And he gave him the tithes of all.
14:21. And the king of Sodom said to Abram: Give me the persons,
and the rest take to thyself.
14:22. And he answered him: I lift up my hand to the Lord God the
most high, the possessor of heaven and earth,
14:23. That from the very woof thread unto the shoe latchet, I will
not take of any things that are thine, lest thou say: I have enriched
Abram.
14:24. Except such things as the young men have eaten, and the
shares of the men that came with me, Aner, Escol, and Mambre: these
shall take their shares.
Genesis Chapter 15

God promiseth seed to Abram. His faith, sacri ice and vision.
15:1. Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came
to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and
thy reward exceeding great.
15:2. And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go
without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this
Damascus Eliezer.
15:3. And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo
my servant born in my house, shall be my heir.
15:4. And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He
shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him
shalt thou have for thy heir.
15:5. And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to
heaven and number the stars if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall
thy seed be.
15:6. Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.

 15:7. And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from
Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest
possess it.
15:8. But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess
it?
15:9. And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years
old, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle
also, and a pigeon.
15:10. And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid
the two pieces of each one against the other: but the birds he divided
not.
15:11. And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram
drove them away.
15:12. And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram,
and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.
15:13. And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy
seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring
them under bondage, and af lict them four hundred years.
15:14. But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after
this they shall come out with great substance.
15:15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a
good old age.
15:16. But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as
yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present
time.
15:17. And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there
appeared a smoking furnace, and a lamp of ire passing between those
divisions.
15:18. That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy
seed will I give this land, from the river to Egypt even to the great river
Euphrates.

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 15:19. The Cineans, and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,

15:20. And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,
15:21. And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites,
and the Jebusites.
Genesis Chapter 16

Abram marrieth Agar, who bringeth forth Ismael.

16:1. Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had brought forth no children:
but having a handmaid, an Egyptian, named Agar,
16:2. She said to her husband: Behold, the Lord hath restrained me
from bearing: go in unto my handmaid, it may be I may have children
of her at least. And when he agreed to her request,
16:3. She took Agar the Egyptian her handmaid, ten years after they
irst dwelt in the land of Chanaan, and gave her to her husband to
wife.
To wife.... Plurality of wives, though contrary to the primitive institution of
marriage, Gen. 2.24, was by divine dispensation allowed to the patriarchs: which
allowance seems to have continued during the time of the law of Moses. But
Christ our Lord reduced marriage to its primitive institution. Matt. 19.
16:4. And he went in to her. But she perceiving that she was with
child, despised her mistress.
16:5. And Sarai said to Abram: Thou dost unjustly with me: I gave
my handmaid into thy bosom, and she perceiving herself to be with
child, despiseth me. The Lord judge between me and thee.
16:6. And Abram made answer, and said to her: Behold thy
handmaid is in thy own hand, use her as it pleaseth thee. And when
Sarai af licted her, she ran away.
16:7. And the angel of the Lord having found her, by a fountain of
water in the wilderness, which is in the way to Sur in the desert,
16:8. He said to her: Agar, handmaid of Sarai, whence comest thou?
and whither goest thou? And she answered: I lee from the face of
Sarai, my mistress.
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 16:9. And the angel of the Lord said to her: Return to thy mistress,
and humble thyself under her hand.
16:10. And again he said: I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, and it
shall not be numbered for multitude.
16:11. And again: Behold, said he, thou art with child, and thou
shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Ismael, because
the Lord hath heard thy af liction.
16:12. He shall be a wild man: his hand will be against all men, and
all men’s hands against him: and he shall pitch his tents over against
all his brethren.
16:13. And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her:
Thou the God who hast seen me. For she said: Verily, here have I seen
the hinder parts of him that seeth me.
16:14. Therefore she called that well, the well of him that liveth and
seeth me. The same is between Cades and Barad.
16:15. And Agar brought forth a son to Abram: who called his name
Ismael.
16:16. Abram was four score and six years old when Agar brought
him forth Ismael.
Genesis Chapter 17

The Covenant of circumcision.

17:1. And after he began to be ninety and nine years old, the Lord
appeared to him: and said unto him: I am the Almighty God: walk
before me, and be perfect.
17:2. And I will make my covenant between me and thee: and I will
multiply thee exceedingly.
17:3. Abram fell lat on his face.
17:4. And God said to him: I am, and my covenant is with thee, and
thou shalt be a father of many nations.

 17:5. Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram: but thou
shalt be called Abraham: because I have made thee a father of many
nations.
Abram.... in the Hebrew, signi ies a high father: but Abraham, the father of the
multitude; Sarai signi ies my Lady, but Sara absolutely Lady.
17:6. And I will make thee increase exceedingly, and I will make
nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
17:7. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and
between thy seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual
covenant: to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee.
17:8. And I will give to thee, and to thy seed, the land of thy
sojournment, all the land of Chanaan, for a perpetual possession, and I
will be their God.
17:9. Again God said to Abraham: And thou therefore shalt keep my
covenant, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
17:10. This is my covenant which you shall observe between me and
you, and thy seed after thee: All the male-kind of you shall be
circumcised.
17:11. And you shall circumcise the lesh of your foreskin, that it
may be for a sign of the covenant between me and you.
17:12. An infant of eight days old shall be circumcised among you,
every manchild in your generations: he that is born in the house, as
well as the bought servant, shall be circumcised, and whosoever is not
of your stock:
17:13. And my covenant shall be in your lesh for a perpetual
covenant.
17:14. The male whose lesh of his foreskin shall not be circumcised,
that soul shall be destroyed out of his people: because he hath broken
my covenant.
17:15. God said also to Abraham: Sarai thy wife thou shalt not call
Sarai, but Sara.

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 17:16. And I will bless her, and of her I will give thee a son, whom I
will bless, and he shall become nations, and kings of people shall
spring from him.
17:17. Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, saying in his heart:
Shall a son, thinkest thou, be born to him that is a hundred years old?
and shall Sara that is ninety years old bring forth?
17:18. And he said to God: O that Ismael may live before thee.
17:19. And God said to Abraham: Sara thy wife shall bear thee a son,
and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant
with him for a perpetual covenant, and with his seed after him.
17:20. And as for Ismael I have also heard thee. Behold, I will bless
him, and increase, and multiply him exceedingly: he shall beget twelve
chiefs, and I will make him a great nation.
17:21. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sara shall
bring forth to thee at this time in the next year.
17:22. And when he had left off speaking with him, God went up
from Abraham.
17:23. And Abraham took Ismael his son, and all that were born in
his house: and all whom he had bought, every male among the men of
his house: and he circumcised the lesh of their foreskin forthwith the
very same day, as God had commanded him.
17:24. Abraham was ninety and nine years old, when he circumcised
the lesh of his foreskin.
17:25. And Ismael his son was full thirteen years old at the time of
his circumcision.
17:26. The self-same day was Abraham circumcised and Ismael his
son.
17:27. And all the men of his house, as well they that were born in
his house, as the bought servants and strangers, were circumcised
with him.
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 Genesis Chapter 18

Angels are entertained by Abraham. They foretell the birth of Isaac.

Abraham’s prayer for the men of Sodom.
18:1. And the Lord appeared to him in the vale of Mambre as he was
sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day.
18:2. And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him
three men standing near to him: and as soon as he saw them, he ran to
meet them from the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground.
18:3. And he said: Lord, if I have found favour in thy sight, pass not
away from thy servant.
18:4. But I will fetch a little water, and wash ye your feet, and rest ye
under the tree.
18:5. And I will set a morsel of bread, and strengthen ye your heart,
afterwards you shall pass on: for therefore are you come aside to your
servant. And they said: Do as thou hast spoken.
18:6. Abraham made haste into the tent to Sara, and said to her:
Make haste, temper together three measures of lour, and make cakes
upon the hearth.
18:7. And he himself ran to the herd, and took from thence a calf,
very tender and very good, and gave it to a young man, who made
haste and boiled it.
18:8. He took also butter and milk, and the calf which he had boiled,
and set before them: but he stood by them under the tree.
18:9. And when they had eaten, they said to him: Where is Sara thy
wife? He answered: Lo she is in the tent.
18:10. And he said to him: I will return and come to thee at this
time, life accompanying, and Sara, thy wife, shall have a son. Which
when Sara heard, she laughed behind the door of the tent.
18:11. Now they were both old, and far advanced in years, and it
had ceased to be with Sara after the manner of women.

 18:12. And she laughed secretly, saying: After I am grown old, and
my lord is an old man, shall I give myself to pleasure?
18:13. And the Lord said to Abraham: Why did Sara laugh, saying:
Shall I, who am an old woman, bear a child indeed?
18:14. Is there any thing hard to God? According to appointment I
will return to thee at this same time, life accompanying, and Sara shall
have a son.
18:15. Sara denied, saying: I did not laugh: for she was afraid. But
the Lord said: Nay; but thou didst laugh.
18:16. And when the men rose up from thence, they turned their
eyes towards Sodom: and Abraham walked with them, bringing them
on the way.
18:17. And the Lord said: Can I hide from Abraham what I am about
to do:
18:18. Seeing he shall become a great and mighty nation, and in
him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed?
18:19. For I know that he will command his children, and his
household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, and do judgment and
justice: that for Abraham’s sake, the Lord may bring to effect all the
things he hath spoken unto him.
18:20. And the Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is
multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievous.
18:21. I will go down and see whether they have done according to
the cry that is come to me; or whether it be not so, that I may know.
I will go down, etc.... The Lord here accommodates his discourse to the way of
speaking and acting amongst men; for he knoweth all things, and needeth not to
go anywhere for information. Note here, that two of the three angels went away
immediately for Sodom; whilst the third, who represented the Lord, remained
with Abraham.
18:22. And they turned themselves from thence, and went their way
to Sodom: but Abraham as yet stood before the Lord.

 18:23. And drawing nigh, he said: Wilt thou destroy the just with the
wicked?
18:24. If there be ifty just men in the city, shall they perish withal?
and wilt thou not spare that place for the sake of the ifty just, if they
be therein?
18:25. Far be it from thee to do this thing, and to slay the just with
the wicked, and for the just to be in like case as the wicked; this is not
beseeming thee: thou who judgest all the earth, wilt not make this
judgment.
18:26. And the Lord said to him: If I ind in Sodom ifty just within
the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.
18:27. And Abraham answered, and said: Seeing I have once begun,
I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes.
18:28. What if there be ive less than ifty just persons? wilt thou for
ive and forty destroy the whole city: And he said: I will not destroy it,
if I ind ive and forty.
18:29. And again he said to him: But if forty be found there, what
wilt thou do? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of forty.
18:30. Lord, saith he, be not angry, I beseech thee, if I speak: What if
thirty shall be found there? He answered: I will not do it, if I ind thirty
there.
18:31. Seeing, saith he, I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord:
What if twenty be found there? He said: I will not destroy it for the
sake of twenty.
18:32. I beseech thee, saith he, be not angry, Lord, if I speak yet once
more: What if ten shall be found there? And he said: I will not destroy
it for the sake of ten.
18:33. And the Lord departed, after he had left speaking to
Abraham: and Abraham returned to his place.
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 Genesis Chapter 19

Lot, entertaining Angels in his house, is delivered from Sodom, which is

destroyed: his wife for looking back is turned into a statue of salt.
19:1. And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was
sitting in the gate of the city. And seeing them, he rose up and went to
meet them: and worshipped prostrate to the ground.
19:2. And said: I beseech you, my lords, turn in to the house of your
servant, and lodge there: wash your feet, and in the morning you shall
go on your way. And they said: No, but we will abide in the street.
19:3. He pressed them very much to turn in unto him: and when they
were come into his house, he made them a feast, and baked
unleavened bread, and they ate:
19:4. But before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the
house, both young and old, all the people together.
19:5. And they called Lot, and said to him: Where are the men that
came in to thee at night? bring them out hither, that we may know
them:
19:6. Lot went out to them, and shut the door after him, and said:
19:7. Do not so, I beseech you, my brethren, do not commit this evil.
19:8. I have two daughters who, as yet, have not known man; I will
bring them out to you, and abuse you them as it shall please you, so
that you do no evil to these men, because they are come in under the
shadow of my roof.
19:9. But they said: Get thee back thither. And again: Thou camest
in, said they, as a stranger, was it to be a judge? therefore we will
af lict thee more than them. And they pressed very violently upon Lot:
and they were even at the point of breaking open the doors.
19:10. And behold the men put out their hand, and drew in Lot unto
them, and shut the door.
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 19:11. And them, that were without, they struck with blindness from
the least to the greatest, so that they could not ind the door.
19:12. And they said to Lot: Hast thou here any of thine? son in law,
or sons, or daughters, all that are thine bring them out of this city:
19:13. For we will destroy this place, because their cry is grown loud
before the Lord, who hath sent us to destroy them.
19:14. So Lot went out, and spoke to his sons in law that were to
have his daughters, and said: Arise: get you out of this place, because
the Lord will destroy this city. And he seemed to them to speak as it
were in jest.
19:15. And when it was morning, the angels pressed him, saying:
Arise, take thy wife, and the two daughters that thou hast: lest thou
also perish in the wickedness of the city.
19:16. And as he lingered, they took his hand, and the hand of his
wife, and of his two daughters, because the Lord spared him.
19:17. And they brought him forth, and set him without the city: and
there they spoke to him, saying: Save thy life: look not back, neither
stay thou in all the country about: but save thy self in the mountain,
lest thou be also consumed.
19:18. And Lot said to them: I beseech thee, my Lord,
19:19. Because thy servant hath found grace before thee, and thou
hast magni ied thy mercy, which thou hast shewn to me, in saving my
life, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil seize me, and I
die.
19:20. There is this city here at hand, to which I may lee, it is a little
one, and I shall be saved in it: is it not a little one, and my soul shall
live?
19:21. And he said to him: Behold also in this, I have heard thy
prayers, not to destroy the city for which thou hast spoken.
19:22. Make haste, and be saved there: because I cannot do any
thing till thou go in thither. Therefore the name of that city was called
Segor.

 Segor.... That is, a little one.

19:23. The sun was risen upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segor.
19:24. And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone
and ire from the Lord out of heaven.
19:25. And he destroyed these cities, and all the country about, all
the inhabitants of the cities, and all things that spring from the earth.
19:26. And his wife looking behind her, was turned into a statue of
salt.
And his wife.... As a standing memorial to the servants of God to proceed in
virtue, and not to look back to vice or its allurements.
19:27. And Abraham got up early in the morning, and in the place
where he had stood before with the Lord:
19:28. He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha, and the whole land
of that country: and he saw the ashes rise up from the earth as the
smoke of a furnace.
19:29. Now when God destroyed the cities of that country,
remembering Abraham, he delivered Lot out of the destruction of the
cities wherein he had dwelt.
19:30. And Lot went up out of Segor, and abode in the mountain,
and his two daughters with him (for he was afraid to stay in Segor)
and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.
19:31. And the elder said to the younger: Our father is old, and there
is no man left on the earth, to come in unto us after the manner of the
whole earth.
19:32. Come, let us make him drunk with wine, and let us lie with
him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
19:33. And they made their father drink wine that night: and the
elder went in, and lay with her father: but he perceived not, neither
when his daughter lay down, nor when she rose up.

 19:34. And the next day the elder said to the younger: Behold I lay
last night with my father, let us make him drink wine also to night, and
thou shalt lie with him, that we may save seed of our father.
19:35. They made their father drink wine that night also, and the
younger daughter went in, and lay with him: and neither then did he
perceive when she lay down, nor when she rose up.
19:36. So the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
19:37. And the elder bore a son, and she called his name Moab: he is
the father of the Moabites unto this day.
19:38. The younger also bore a son, and she called his name
Ammon; that is, the son of my people: he is the father of the
Ammonites unto this day.
Genesis Chapter 20

Abraham sojourned in Gerara: Sara is taken into king Abimelech’s

house, but by God’s commandment is restored untouched.
20:1. Abraham removed from thence to the south country, and dwelt
between Cades and Sur, and sojourned in Gerara.
20:2. And he said of Sara his wife: She is my sister. So Abimelech the
king of Gerara sent, and took her.
20:3. And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and he said
to him: Lo thou shalt die for the woman that thou hast taken: for she
hath a husband.
20:4. Now Abimelech had not touched her, and he said: Lord, wilt
thou slay a nation that is ignorant and just?
20:5. Did not he say to me: She is my sister: and she say, He is my
brother? in the simplicity of my heart, and cleanness of my hands have
I done this.
20:6. And God said to him: And I know that thou didst it with a
sincere heart: and therefore I withheld thee from sinning against me,
and I suffered thee not to touch her.

 20:7. Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet:
and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: but if thou wilt not
restore her, know that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are
thine.
20:8. And Abimelech forthwith rising up in the night, called all his
servants: and spoke all these words in their hearing, and all the men
were exceedingly afraid.
20:9. And Abimelech called also for Abraham, and said to him: What
hast thou done to us? what have we offended thee in, that thou hast
brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done to
us what thou oughtest not to do.
20:10. And again he expostulated with him, and said: What sawest
thou, that thou hast done this?
20:11. Abraham answered: I thought with myself, saying: Perhaps
there is not the fear of God in this place: and they will kill me for the
sake of my wife:
20:12. Howbeit, otherwise also she is truly my sister, the daughter of
my father, and not the daughter of my mother, and I took her to wife.
20:13. And after God brought me out of my father’s house, I said to
her: Thou shalt do me this kindness: In every place, to which we shall
come, thou shalt say that I am thy brother.
20:14. And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and servants and
handmaids, and gave to Abraham: and restored to him Sara his wife,
20:15. And said: The land is before you, dwell wheresoever it shall
please thee.
20:16. And to Sara he said: Behold I have given thy brother a
thousand pieces of silver, this shall serve thee for a covering of thy eyes
to all that are with thee, and whithersoever thou shalt go: and
remember thou wast taken.
20:17. And when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech and his
wife, and his handmaids, and they bore children:

 20:18. For the Lord had closed up every womb of the house of
Abimelech, on account of Sara, Abraham’s wife.
Genesis Chapter 21

Isaac is born. Agar and Ismael are cast forth.

21:1. And the Lord visited Sara, as he had promised: and ful illed
what he had spoken.
21:2. And she conceived and bore a son in her old age, at the time
that God had foretold her.
21:3. And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sara bore him,
Isaac.
Isaac.... This word signi ies laughter.
21:4. And he circumcised him the eighth day, as God had
commanded him,
21:5. When he was a hundred years old: for at this age of his father,
was Isaac born.
21:6. And Sara said: God hath made a laughter for me: whosoever
shall hear of it will laugh with me.
21:7. And again she said: Who would believe that Abraham should
hear that Sara gave suck to a son, whom she bore to him in his old
age?
21:8. And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a
great feast on the day of his weaning.
21:9. And when Sara had seen the son of Agar, the Egyptian, playing
with Isaac, her son, she said to Abraham:
21:10. Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of the
bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.
21:11. Abraham took this grievously for his son.
21:12. And God said to him: Let it not seem grievous to thee for the
boy, and for thy bondwoman: in all that Sara hath said to thee,
hearken to her voice: for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

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 21:13. But I will make the son also of the bondwoman a great
nation, because he is thy seed.
21:14. So Abraham rose up in the morning, and taking bread and a
bottle of water, put it upon her shoulder, and delivered the boy, and
sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of
Bersabee.
21:15. And when the water in the bottle was spent, she cast the boy
under one of the trees that were there.
21:16. And she went her way, and sat over against him a great way
off, as far as a bow can carry, for she said: I will not see the boy die:
and sitting over against, she lifted up her voice and wept.
21:17. And God heard the voice of the boy: and an angel of God
called to Agar from heaven, saying: What art thou doing, Agar? fear
not; for God hath heard the voice of the boy, from the place wherein he
is.
21:18. Arise, take up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will
make him a great nation.
21:19. And God opened her eyes: and she saw a well of water, and
went and illed the bottle, and gave the boy to drink.
21:20. And God was with him: and he grew, and dwelt in the
wilderness, and became a young man, an archer.
21:21. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Pharan, and his mother
took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.
21:22. At the same time Abimelech, and Phicol the general of his
army, said to Abraham: God is with thee in all that thou dost.
21:23. Swear therefore by God, that thou wilt not hurt me, nor my
posterity, nor my stock: but according to the kindness that I have done
to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land wherein thou hast lived a
stranger.
21:24. And Abraham said: I will swear.

 21:25. And he reproved Abimelech for a well of water, which his

servants had taken away by force.
21:26. And Abimelech answered: I knew not who did this thing: and
thou didst not tell me, and I heard not of it till today.
21:27. Then Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to
Abimelech: and both of them made a league.
21:28. And Abraham set apart seven ewelambs of the lock.
21:29. And Abimelech said to him: What mean these seven
ewelambs which thou hast set apart?
21:30. But he said: Thou shalt take seven ewelambs at my hand:
that they may be a testimony for me, that I dug this well.
21:31. Therefore that place was called Bersabee; because there both
of them did swear.
Bersabee.... That is, the well of oath.
21:32. And they made a league for the well of oath.
21:33. And Abimelech and Phicol, the general of his army, arose and
returned to the land of the Palestines. But Abraham planted a grove in
Bersabee, and there called upon the name of the Lord God eternal.
21:34. And he was a sojourner in the land of the Palestines many
days.
Genesis Chapter 22

The faith and obedience of Abraham is proved in his readiness to

sacri ice his son Isaac. He is stayed from the act by an angel. Former
promises are renewed to him. His brother Nachor’s issue.
22:1. After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him:
Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.
God tempted, etc.... God tempteth no man to evil, James 1.13; but by trial and
experiment maketh known to the world, and to ourselves, what we are, as here
by this trial the singular faith and obedience of Abraham was made manifest.
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 22:2. He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou
lovest, and go into the land of vision; and there thou shalt offer him for
an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will shew thee.
22:3. So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass, and took
with him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut
wood for the holocaust, he went his way to the place which God had
commanded him.
22:4. And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar
off.
22:5. And he said to his young men: Stay you here with the ass; I and
the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have
worshipped, will return to you.
22:6. And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac
his son; and he himself carried in his hands ire and a sword. And as
they two went on together,
22:7. Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt
thou, son? Behold, saith he, ire and wood: where is the victim for the
holocaust?
22:8. And Abraham said: God will provide himself a victim for an
holocaust, my son. So they went on together.
22:9. And they came to the place which God had shewn him, where
he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it; and when he had
bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.
22:10. And he put forth his hand, and took the sword, to sacri ice his
son.
22:11. And behold, an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him,
saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.
22:12. And he said to him: Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do
thou any thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not
spared thy only begotten son for my sake.

 22:13. Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram,
amongst the briers, sticking fast by the horns, which he took and
offered for a holocaust instead of his son.
22:14. And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth.
Whereupon, even to this day, it is said: In the mountain the Lord will
see.
22:15. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time
from heaven, saying:
22:16. By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord: because thou
hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my
sake:
22:17. I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of
heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore; thy seed shall possess
the gates of their enemies.
22:18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,
because thou hast obeyed my voice.
22:19. Abraham returned to his young men, and they went to
Bersabee together, and he dwelt there.
22:20. After these things, it was told Abraham, that Melcha also had
borne children to Nachor his brother.
22:21. Hus, the irstborn, and Buz, his brother, and Camuel the
father of the Syrians,
22:22. And Cased, and Azau, and Pheldas, and Jedlaph,
22:23. And Bathuel, of whom was born Rebecca: these eight did
Melcha bear to Nachor, Abraham’s brother.
22:24. And his concubine, named Roma, bore Tabee, and Gaham,
and Tahas, and Maacha.
Genesis Chapter 23

Sara’s death and burial in the ield bought of Ephron.

23:1. And Sara lived a hundred and twenty-seven years.

 23:2. And she died in the city of Arbee which is Hebron, in the land of
Chanaan: and Abraham came to mourn and weep for her.
23:3. And after he rose up from the funeral obsequies, he spoke to
the children of Heth, saying:
23:4. I am a stranger and sojourner among you: give me the right of
a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead.
23:5. The children of Heth answered, saying:
23:6. My lord, hear us, thou art a prince of God among us: bury thy
dead in our principal sepulchres: and no man shall have power to
hinder thee from burying thy dead in his sepulchre.
23:7. Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land,
to wit, the children of Heth:
Bowed down to the people.... Adoravit, literally adored. But this word here, as
well as in many other places in the Latin scriptures, is used to signify only an
inferior honour and reverence paid to men, expressed by a bowing down of the
body.
23:8. And said to them: If it please your soul that I should bury my
dead, hear me, and intercede for me to Ephron the son of Seor.
23:9. That he may give me the double cave, which he hath in the end
of his ield: For as much money as it is worth he shall give it me before
you, for a possession of a burying place.
23:10. Now Ephron dwelt in the midst of the children of Heth. And
Ephron made answer to Abraham in the hearing of all that went in at
the gate of the city, saying:
23:11. Let it not be so, my lord, but do thou rather hearken to what I
say: The ield I deliver to thee, and the cave that is therein; in the
presence of the children of my people, bury thy dead.
23:12. Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.
23:13. And he spoke to Ephron, in the presence of the people: I
beseech thee to hear me: I will give money for the ield; take it, and so
will I bury my dead in it.
23:14. And Ephron answered:

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 23:15. My lord, hear me. The ground which thou desirest, is worth
four hundred sicles of silver: this is the price between me and thee: but
what is this? bury thy dead.
23:16. And when Abraham had heard this, he weighed out the
money that Ephron had asked, in the hearing of the children of Heth,
four hundred sicles of silver, of common current money.
23:17. And the ield that before was Ephron’s, wherein was the
double cave, looking towards Mambre, both it and the cave, and all the
trees thereof, in all its limits round about,
23:18. Was made sure to Abraham for a possession, in the sight of
the children of Heth, and of all that went in at the gate of his city.
23:19. And so Abraham buried Sara, his wife, in the double cave of
the ield, that looked towards Mambre, this is Hebron in the land of
Chanaan.
23:20. And the ield was made sure to Abraham, and the cave that
was in it, for a possession to bury in, by the children of Heth.
Genesis Chapter 24

Abraham’s servant, sent by him into Mesopotamia, bringeth from

thence Rebecca, who is married to Isaac.
24:1. Now Abraham was old, and advanced in age; and the Lord had
blessed him in all things.
24:2. And he said to the elder servant of his house, who was ruler
over all he had: Put thy hand under my thigh,
24:3. That I may make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven
and earth, that thou take not a wife for my son, of the daughters of the
Chanaanites, among whom I dwell:
24:4. But that thou go to my own country and kindred, and take a
wife from thence for my son Isaac.
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 24:5. The servant answered: If the woman will not come with me
into this land, must I bring thy son back again to the place from
whence thou camest out?
24:6. And Abraham said: Beware thou never bring my son back
again thither.
24:7. The Lord God of heaven, who took me out of my father’s house,
and out of my native country, who spoke to me, and swore to me,
saying: To thy seed will I give this land: he will send his angel before
thee, and thou shalt take from thence a wife for my son.
He will send his angel before thee.... This shows that the Hebrews believed that
God gave them guardian angels for their protection.
24:8. But if the woman will not follow thee, thou shalt not be bound
by the oath: only bring not my son back thither again.
24:9. The servant, therefore, put his hand under the thigh of
Abraham, his lord, and swore to him upon his word.
24:10. And he took ten camels of his master’s herd, and departed,
carrying something of all his goods with him, and he set forward and
went on to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nachor.
24:11. And when he had made the camels lie down without the
town, near a well of water, in the evening, at the time when women are
wont to come out to draw water, he said:
24:12. O Lord, the God of my master, Abraham, meet me today, I
beseech thee, and shew kindness to my master, Abraham.
24:13. Behold, I stand nigh the spring of water, and the daughters of
the inhabitants of this city will come out to draw water:
24:14. Now, therefore, the maid to whom I shall say: Let down thy
pitcher that I may drink: and she shall answer, Drink, and I will give
thy camels drink also: let it be the same whom thou hast provided for
thy servant Isaac: and by this, I shall understand that thou hast shewn
kindness to my master.

 24:15. He had not yet ended these words within himself, and behold
Rebecca came out, the daughter of Bathuel, son of Melcha, wife to
Nachor the brother of Abraham, having a pitcher on her shoulder:
24:16. An exceeding comely maid, and a most beautiful virgin, and
not known to man: and she went down to the spring, and illed her
pitcher, and was coming back.
24:17. And the servant ran to meet her, and said: Give me a little
water to drink of thy pitcher.
24:18. And she answered: Drink, my lord. And quickly she let down
the pitcher upon her arm, and gave him drink.
24:19. And when he had drunk, she said: I will draw water for thy
camels also, till they all drink.
24:20. And pouring out the pitcher into the troughs, she ran back to
the well to draw water; and having drawn, she gave to all the camels.
24:21. But he musing, beheld her with silence, desirous to know
whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
24:22. And after that the camels had drunk, the man took out
golden earrings, weighing two sicles; and as many bracelets, of ten
sicles weight.
24:23. And he said to her: Whose daughter art thou? tell me: is there
any place in thy father’s house to lodge?
24:24. And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of
Melcha, whom she bore to Nachor.
24:25. And she said, moreover, to him: We have good store of both
straw and hay, and a large place to lodge in.
24:26. The man bowed himself down, and adored the Lord,
24:27. Saying: Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who
hath not taken away his mercy and truth from my master, and hath
brought me the straight way into the house of my master’s brother.
24:28. Then the maid ran, and told in her mother’s house all that
she had heard.

 24:29. And Rebecca had a brother, named Laban, who went out in
haste to the man, to the well.
24:30. And when he had seen the earrings and bracelets in his
sister’s hands, and had heard all that she related, saying, Thus and
thus the man spoke to me: he came to the man who stood by the
camels, and near to the spring of water,
24:31. And said to him: Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; why
standest thou without? I have prepared the house, and a place for the
camels.
24:32. And he brought him into his lodging; and he unharnessed the
camels, and gave straw and hay, and water to wash his feet, and the
feet of the men that were come with him.
24:33. And bread was set before him. But he said: I will not eat, till I
tell my message. He answered him: Speak.
24:34. And he said: I am the servant of Abraham:
24:35. And the Lord hath blessed my master wonderfully, and he is
become great: and he hath given him sheep and oxen, silver and gold,
men servants and women servants, camels and asses.
24:36. And Sara, my master’s wife, hath borne my master a son in
her old age, and he hath given him all that he had.
24:37. And my master made me swear, saying: Thou shalt not take a
wife for my son of the Chanaanites, in whose land I dwell:
24:38. But thou shalt go to my father’s house, and shalt take a wife
of my own kindred for my son:
24:39. But I answered my master: What if the woman will not come
with me?
24:40. The Lord, said he, in whose sight I walk, will send his angel
with thee, and will direct thy way: and thou shalt take a wife for my
son of my own kindred, and of my father’s house.
24:41. But thou shalt be clear from my curse, when thou shalt come
to my kindred, if they will not give thee one.

 24:42. And I came today to the well of water, and said: O Lord God of
my master, Abraham, if thou hast prospered my way, wherein I now
walk,
24:43. Behold, I stand by the well of water, and the virgin, that shall
come out to draw water, who shall hear me say: Give me a little water
to drink of thy pitcher:
24:44. And shall say to me: Both drink thou, and I will also draw for
thy camels: let the same be the woman, whom the Lord hath prepared
for my master’s son.
24:45. And whilst I pondered these things secretly with myself,
Rebecca appeared, coming with a pitcher, which she carried on her
shoulder: and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to
her: Give me a little to drink.
24:46. And she speedily let down the pitcher from her shoulder, and
said to me: Both drink thou, and to thy camels I will give drink. I
drank, and she watered the camels.
24:47. And I asked her, and said: Whose daughter art thou? And she
answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Nachor, whom
Melcha bore to him. So I put earrings on her to adorn her face, and I
put bracelets on her hands.
24:48. And falling down, I adored the Lord, blessing the Lord God of
my master, Abraham, who hath brought me the straight way to take
the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.
24:49. Wherefore, if you do according to mercy and truth with my
master, tell me: but if it please you otherwise, tell me that also, that I
may go to the right hand, or to the left.
24:50. And Laban and Bathuel answered: The word hath proceeded
from the Lord: we cannot speak any other thing to thee but his
pleasure.
24:51. Behold, Rebecca is before thee, take her and go thy way, and
let her be the wife of thy master’s son, as the Lord hath spoken.

 24:52. Which when Abraham’s servant heard, falling down to the

ground, he adored the Lord.
24:53. And bringing forth vessels of silver and gold, and garments,
he gave them to Rebecca, for a present. He offered gifts also to her
brothers, and to her mother.
24:54. And a banquet was made, and they ate and drank together,
and lodged there. And in the morning, the servant arose, and said: Let
me depart, that I may go to my master.
24:55. And her brother and mother answered: Let the maid stay, at
least, ten days with us, and afterwards she shall depart.
24:56. Stay me not, said he, because the Lord hath prospered my
way: send me away, that I may go to my master.
24:57. And they said: Let us call the maid, and ask her will.
Let us call the maid, and ask her will.... Not as to her marriage, as she had
already consented, but of her quitting her parents and going to her husband.
24:58. And they called her, and when she was come, they asked: Wilt
thou go with this man? She said: I will go.
24:59. So they sent her away, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant,
and his company.
24:60. Wishing prosperity to their sister, and saying: Thou art our
sister, mayst thou increase to thousands of thousands; and may thy
seed possess the gates of their enemies.
24:61. So Rebecca and her maids, being set upon camels, followed
the man: who with speed returned to his master.
24:62. At the same time, Isaac was walking along the way to the
well which is called Of the living and the seeing: for he dwelt in the
south country:
24:63. And he was gone forth to meditate in the ield, the day being
now well spent: and when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw camels
coming afar off.
24:64. Rebecca also, when she saw Isaac, lighted off the camel,

 24:65. And said to the servant: Who is that man who cometh
towards us along the ield? And he said to her: That man is my master.
But she quickly took her cloak, and covered herself.
24:66. And the servant told Isaac all that he had done.
24:67. Who brought her into the tent of Sara his mother, and took
her to wife: and he loved her so much, that it moderated the sorrow
which was occasioned by his mother’s death.
Genesis Chapter 25

Abraham’s children by Cetura; his death and that of Ismael. Isaac hath
Esau and Jacob twins. Esau selleth his irst birthright to Jacob.
25:1. And Abraham married another wife named Cetura:
25:2. Who bore him Zamram, and Jecsan, and Madan, and Madian,
and Jesboc, and Sue.
25:3. Jecsan also begot Saba, and Dadan. The children of Dadan
were Assurim, and Latusim, and Loomim.
25:4. But of Madian was born Epha, and Opher, and Henoch, and
Abida, and Eldaa: all these were the children of Cetura.
25:5. And Abraham gave all his possessions to Isaac:
25:6. And to the children of the concubines he gave gifts, and
separated them from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, to the east
country.
Concubines.... Agar and Cetura are here called concubines, (though they were
lawful wives, and in other places are so called,) because they were of an inferior
degree, and such in scripture are usually called concubines.
25:7. And the days of Abraham’s life were a hundred and seventy-
ive years.
25:8. And decaying he died in a good old age, and having lived a
long time, and being full of days: and was gathered to his people.
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 25:9. And Isaac and Ismael his sons buried him in the double cave,
which was situated in the ield of Ephron the son of Seor the Hethite,
over against Mambre,
25:10. Which he had bought of the children of Heth: there was he
buried, and Sara his wife.
25:11. And after his death, God blessed Isaac his son, who dwelt by
the well named Of the living and seeing.
25:12. These are the generations of Ismael the son of Abraham,
whom Agar the Egyptian, Sara’s servant, bore unto him:
25:13. And these are the names of his children according to their
calling and generations. The irstborn of Ismael was Nabajoth, then
Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam,
25:14. And Masma, and Duma, and Massa,
25:15. Hadar, and Thema, and Jethur, and Naphis, and Cedma.
25:16. These are the sons of Ismael: and these are their names by
their castles and towns, twelve princes of their tribes.
25:17. And the years of Ismael’s life were a hundred and thirty-
seven, and decaying he died, and was gathered unto his people.
25:18. And he dwelt from Hevila as far as Sur, which looketh
towards Egypt, to them that go towards the Assyrians. He died in the
presence of all his brethren.
25:19. These also are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham:
Abraham begot Isaac:
25:20. Who when he was forty years old, took to wife Rebecca the
daughter of Bathuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia, sister to Laban.
25:21. And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was
barren: and he heard him, and made Rebecca to conceive.
25:22. But the children struggled in her womb, and she said: If it
were to be so with me, what need was there to conceive? And she went
to consult the Lord.

 25:23. And he answering, said: Two nations are in thy womb, and
two peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall
overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.
25:24. And when her time was come to be delivered, behold twins
were found in her womb.
25:25. He that came forth irst was red, and hairy like a skin: and his
name was called Esau. Immediately the other coming forth, held his
brother’s foot in his hand: and therefore he was called Jacob.
25:26. Isaac was threescore years old when the children were born
unto him.
25:27. And when they were grown up, Esau became a skilful hunter,
and a husbandman: but Jacob, a plain man, dwelt in tents.
25:28. Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his hunting: and Rebecca
loved Jacob.
25:29. And Jacob boiled pottage: to whom Esau, coming faint out of
the ield,
25:30. Said: Give me of this red pottage, for I am exceeding faint. For
which reason his name was called Edom.
25:31. And Jacob said to him: Sell me thy irst birthright.
25:32. He answered: Lo I die, what will the irst birthright avail me?
25:33. Jacob said: Swear therefore to me. Esau swore to him, and
sold his irst birthright.
25:34. And so taking bread and the pottage of lentils, he ate, and
drank, and went on his way; making little account of having sold his
irst birthright.
Genesis Chapter 26

Isaac sojourneth in Gerara, where God reneweth to him the promise

made to Abraham. King Abimelech maketh league with him.
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 26:1. And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness
which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech,
king of the Palestines, to Gerara.
26:2. And the Lord appeared to him, and said: Go not down into
Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.
26:3. And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee:
for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to ful il the
oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.
26:4. And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will
give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed.
26:5. Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and
commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.
26:6. So Isaac abode in Gerara.
26:7. And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning
his wife, he answered: She is my sister: for he was afraid to confess
that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him
because of her beauty.
26:8. And when very many days were passed, and he abode there,
Abimelech, king of the Palestines, looking out through a window, saw
him playing with Rebecca, his wife.
26:9. And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why
didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should
die for her sake.
26:10. And Abimelech said: Why hast thou deceived us? Some man
of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought
upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:
26:11. He that shall touch this man’s wife, shall surely be put to
death.
26:12. And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a
hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

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 26:13. And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and
increasing, till he became exceeding great.
26:14. And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very
great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him,
26:15. Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his
father, Abraham, had digged, illing them up with earth:
26:16. Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from
us, for thou art become much mightier than we.
26:17. So he departed, and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell
there:
26:18. And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his
father, Abraham, had digged, and which, after his death, the Philistines
had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names, by
which his father before had called them.
26:19. And they digged in the torrent, and found living water:
Torrent.... That is, a channel where sometimes a torrent or violent stream had
run.
26:20. But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the
herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the
name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.
26:21. And they digged also another; and for that they quarrelled
likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.
26:22. Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which
they contended not; therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude,
saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase
upon the earth.
Latitude.... That is, wideness, or room.
26:23. And he went up from that place to Bersabee,
26:24. Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I
am the God of Abraham thy father, do not fear, for I am with thee: I
will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.

 26:25. And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the
Lord, and pitched his tent; and commanded his servants to dig a well.
26:26. To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and
Phicol chief captain of his soldiers, came from Gerara,
26:27. Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you
hate, and have thrust out from you?
26:28. And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and
therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a
covenant,
26:29. That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched
nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee; but with peace
have sent thee away, increased with the blessing of the Lord.
26:30. And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and
drunk:
26:31. Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac
sent them away peaceably to their own home.
26:32. And behold, the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling
him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.
26:33. Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city
was called Bersabee, even to this day.
26:34. And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith, the
daughter of Beeri, the Hethite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon, of
the same place.
26:35. And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.
Genesis Chapter 27

Jacob, by him mother’s counsel, obtaineth his father’s blessing instead

of Esau. And by her is advised to ly to his uncle Laban.
27:1. Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not
see: and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him: My son? And he
answered: Here I am.

 27:2. And his father said to him, Thou seest that I am old, and know
not the day of my death.
27:3. Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad; and when
thou hast taken something by hunting,
27:4. Make me a savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and
bring it that I may eat: and my soul may bless thee, before I die.
27:5. And when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the
ield to ful il his father’s commandment,
27:6. She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau,
thy brother, and saying to him:
27:7. Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat,
and bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die.
27:8. Now therefore, my son, follow my counsel:
27:9. And go thy way to the lock, bring me two kids of the best, that
I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth.
27:10. Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may
bless thee before he die.
27:11. And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau, my brother, is
a hairy man, and I am smooth:
27:12. If my father should feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will
think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse
instead of a blessing.
27:13. And his mother said to him: Upon me be this curse, my son:
only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.
27:14. He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She
dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked.
27:15. And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she
had at home with her:
27:16. And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and
covered the bare of his neck.
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 27:17. And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread
that she had baked.
27:18. Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he
answered: I hear. Who art thou, my son?
27:19. And Jacob said: I am Esau, thy irstborn: I have done as thou
didst command me: arise, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may
bless me.
I am Esau thy irstborn.... St. Augustine (L. Contra mendacium, c. 10), treating at
large upon this place, excuseth Jacob from a lie, because this whole passage was
mysterious, as relating to the preference which was afterwards to be given to the
Gentiles before the carnal Jews, which Jacob by prophetic light might
understand. So far is certain, that the irst birthright, both by divine election and
by Esau’s free cession belonged to Jacob: so that if there were any lie in the case,
it could be no more than an of icious and venial one.
27:20. And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou ind it so quickly,
my son? He answered: It was the will of God, that what I sought came
quickly in my way:
27:21. And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and
may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or no.
27:22. He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac
said: The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; but the hands, are the
hands of Esau.
27:23. And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like
to the elder. Then blessing him,
27:24. He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am.
27:25. Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that
my soul may bless thee. And when they were brought, and he had
eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,
27:26. He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.
27:27. He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled
the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold, the

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 smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful ield, which the Lord hath
blessed.
27:28. God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the
earth, abundance of corn and wine.
27:29. And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee: be thou
lord of thy brethren, and let thy mother’s children bow down before
thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee: and let him that blesseth thee be
illed with blessings.
27:30. Isaac had scarce ended his words, when, Jacob being now
gone out abroad, Esau came,
27:31. And brought in to his father meats, made of what he had
taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy son’s venison;
that thy soul may bless me.
27:32. And Isaac said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am
thy irstborn son, Esau.
27:33. Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly; and
wondering beyond what can be believed, said: Who is he then that
even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before
thou camest? and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed.
27:34. Esau having heard his father’s words, roared out with a great
cry; and, being in a consternation, said: Bless me also, my father.
27:35. And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy
blessing.
27:36. But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he
hath supplanted me lo this second time: My birthright he took away
before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And
again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing?
Jacob.... That is, a supplanter.
27:37. Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have
made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn
and wine, and after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son?
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 27:38. And Esau said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I
beseech thee bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry,
27:39. Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in
the dew of heaven from above,
27:40. Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword, and shalt
serve thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off
and loose his yoke from thy neck.
27:41. Esau therefore always hated Jacob, for the blessing
wherewith his father had blessed him; and he said in his heart: The
days will come of the mourning for my father, and I will kill my brother
Jacob.
27:42. These things were told to Rebecca: and she sent and called
Jacob, her son, and said to him: Behold Esau, thy brother, threateneth
to kill thee.
27:43. Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, arise and lee to
Laban, my brother, to Haran:
27:44. And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the wrath of thy
brother be assuaged,
27:45. And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast
done to him: afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither.
Why shall I be deprived of both my sons in one day?
27:46. And Rebecca said to Isaac: I am weary of my life, because of
the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I
choose not to live.
Genesis Chapter 28

Jacob’s journey to Mesopotamia: his vision and vow.

28:1. And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him,
saying: Take not a wife of the stock of Chanaan:

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 28:2. But go, and take a journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the
house of Bathuel, thy mother’s father, and take thee a wife thence of
the daughters of Laban, thy uncle.
28:3. And God almighty bless thee, and make thee to increase and
multiply thee: that thou mayst be a multitude of people.
28:4. And give the blessings of Araham to thee, and to thy seed after
thee: that thou mayst possess the land of thy sojournment, which he
promised to thy grandfather.
28:5. And when Isaac had sent him away, he took his journey and
went to Mesopotamia of Syria, to Laban, the son of Bathuel, the Syrian,
brother to Rebecca, his mother.
28:6. And Esau seeing that his father had blessed Jacob, and had
sent him into Mesopotamia of Syria, to marry a wife thence; and that
after the blessing he had charged him, saying: Thou shalt not take a
wife of the daughters of Chanaan:
28:7. And that Jacob obeying his parents, was gone into Syria:
28:8. Experiencing also, that his father was not well pleased with
the daughters of Chanaan:
28:9. He went to Ismael, and took to wife, besides them he had
before, Maheleth, the daughter of Ismael, Abraham’s son, the sister of
Nabajoth.
28:10. But Jacob being departed from Bersabee, went on to Haran.
28:11. And when he was come to a certain place, and would rest in it
after sunset, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting under his
head, slept in the same place.
28:12. And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and
the top thereof touching heaven: the angels also of God ascending and
descending by it.
28:13. And the Lord leaning upon the ladder saying to him: I am the
Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: The land,
wherein thou sleepest, I will give to thee and to thy seed.

 28:14. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth: thou shalt
spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the
south: and IN THEE and thy seed, all the tribes of the earth SHALL BE
BLESSED.
28:15. And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will
bring thee back into this land: neither will I leave thee, till I shall have
accomplished all that I have said.
28:16. And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord
is in this place, and I knew it not.
28:17. And trembling, he said: How terrible is this place? this is no
other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.
28:18. And Jacob arising in the morning, took the stone which he
had laid under his head, and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the
top of it.
28:19. And he called the name of the city Bethel, which before was
called Luza.
Bethel.... This name signi ies the house of God.
28:20. And he made a vow, saying: If God shall be with me, and shall
keep me in the way, by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat,
and raiment to put on,
28:21. And I shall return prosperously to my father’s house: the Lord
shall be my God:
28:22. And this stone, which I have set up for a title, shall be called
the house of God: and of all things that thou shalt give to me, I will
offer tithes to thee.
Genesis Chapter 29

Jacob serveth Laban seven years for Rachel: but is deceived with Lia:
he afterwards marrieth Rachel. Lia bears him four sons.
29:1. Then Jacob went on in his journey, and came into the east
country.

 29:2. And he saw a well in the ield, and three locks of sheep lying
by it: for the beasts were watered out of it, and the mouth thereof was
closed with a great stone.
29:3. And the custom was, when all the sheep were gathered
together, to roll away the stone, and after the sheep were watered, to
put it on the mouth of the well again.
29:4. And he said to the shepherds: Brethren, whence are you? They
answered: Of Haran.
29:5. And he asked them, saying: Know you Laban, the son of
Nachor? They said: We know him.
29:6. He said: Is he in health? He is in health, say they: and behold,
Rachel, his daughter, cometh with his lock.
29:7. And Jacob said: There is yet much day remaining, neither is it
time to bring the locks into the folds again: irst give the sheep drink,
and so lead them back to feed.
29:8. They answered: We cannot, till all the cattle be gathered
together, and we remove the stone from the well’s mouth, that we may
water the locks.
29:9. They were yet speaking, and behold Rachel came with her
father’s sheep; for she fed the lock.
29:10. And when Jacob saw her, and knew her to be his cousin
german, and that they were the sheep of Laban, his uncle: he removed
the stone wherewith the well was closed.
29:11. And having watered the lock, he kissed her: and lifting up his
voice wept.
29:12. And he told her that he was her father’s brother, and the son
of Rebecca: but she went in haste and told her father.
29:13. Who, when he heard that Jacob his sister’s son was come, ran
forth to meet him: and embracing him, and heartily kissing him,
brought him into his house. And when he had heard the causes of his
journey,

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 29:14. He answered: Thou art my bone and my lesh. And after the
days of one month were expired,
29:15. He said to him: Because thou art my brother, shalt thou serve
me without wages? Tell me what wages thou wilt have.
29:16. Now he had two daughters, the name of the elder was Lia;
and the younger was called Rachel.
29:17. But Lia was blear-eyed: Rachel was well favoured, and of a
beautiful countenance.
29:18. And Jacob being in love with her, said: I will serve thee seven
years for Rachel, thy younger daughter.
29:19. Laban answered: It is better that I give her to thee than to
another man; stay with me.
29:20. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel: and they seemed but
a few days, because of the greatness of his love.
29:21. And he said to Laban: Give me my wife; for now the time is
ful illed, that I may go in unto her.
29:22. And he, having invited a great number of his friends to the
feast, made the marriage.
29:23. And at night he brought in Lia, his daughter, to him,
29:24. Giving his daughter a handmaid, named Zelpha. Now when
Jacob had gone in to her according to custom, when morning was
come he saw it was Lia.
29:25. And he said to his father-in-law: What is it that thou didst
mean to do? did not I serve thee for Rachel? why hast thou deceived
me?
29:26. Laban answered: It is not the custom in this place, to give the
younger in marriage irst.
29:27. Make up the week of days of this match: and I will give thee
her also, for the service that thou shalt render me other seven years.
29:28. He yielded to his pleasure: and after the week was past, he
married Rachel:
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 29:29. To whom her father gave Bala, for her servant.

29:30. And having at length obtained the marriage he wished for, he
preferred the love of the latter before the former, and served with him
other seven years.
29:31. And the Lord seeing that he despised Lia, opened her womb,
but her sister remained barren.
29:32. And she conceived and bore a son, and called his name
Ruben, saying: The Lord saw my af liction: now my husband will love
me.
29:33. And again she conceived and bore a son, and said: Because
the Lord heard that I was despised, he hath given this also to me: and
she called his name Simeon.
29:34. And she conceived the third time, and bore another son, and
said: Now also my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne
him three sons: and therefore she called his name Levi.
29:35. The fourth time she conceived and bore a son, and said: Now
will I praise the Lord: and for this she called him Juda. And she left
bearing.
Genesis Chapter 30

Rachel, being barren, delivereth her handmaid to Jacob; she beareth

two sons. Lia ceasing to bear, giveth also her handmaid, and she
beareth two more. Then Lia beareth other two sons and one daughter.
Rachel beareth Joseph. Jacob, desirous to return home, is hired to stay
for a certain part of the lock’s increase, whereby he becometh
exceeding rich.
30:1. And Rachel seeing herself without children, envied her sister,
and said to her husband: Give me children, otherwise I shall die.
30:2. And Jacob being angry with her, answered: Am I as God, who
hath deprived thee of the fruit of thy womb?
30:3. But she said: I have here my servant Bala: go in unto her, that
she may bear upon my knees, and I may have children by her.

 30:4. And she gave him Bala in marriage: who,

30:5. When her husband had gone in unto her, conceived and bore a
son.
30:6. And Rachel said: The Lord hath judged for me, and hath heard
my voice, giving me a son; and therefore she called his name Dan.
30:7. And again Bala conceived, and bore another,
30:8. For whom Rachel said: God hath compared me with my sister,
and I have prevailed: and she called him Nephthali.
30:9. Lia perceiving that she had left of bearing, gave Zelpha, her
handmaid, to her husband.
30:10. And when she had conceived, and brought forth a son,
30:11. She said: Happily. And therefore called his name Gad.
30:12. Zelpha also bore another.
30:13. And Lia said: This is for my happiness: for women will call me
blessed. Therefore she called him Aser.
30:14. And Ruben going out in the time of the wheat harvest into the
ield, found mandrakes: which he brought to his mother Lia. And
Rachel said: Give me part of thy son’s mandrakes.
30:15. She answered: Dost thou think it a small matter, that thou
hast taken my husband from me, unless thou take also my son’s
mandrakes? Rachel said: He shall sleep with thee this night, for thy
son’s mandrakes.
30:16. And when Jacob returned at even from the ield, Lia went out
to meet him, and said: Thou shalt come in unto me, because I have
hired thee for my son’s mandrakes. And he slept with her that night.
30:17. And God heard her prayers; and she conceived: and bore a
ifth son:
30:18. And said: God hath given me a reward, because I gave my
handmaid to my husband. And she called his name Issachar.
30:19. And Lia conceived again, and bore the sixth son,
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 30:20. And said: God hath endowed me with a good dowry; this turn
also my husband will be with me, because I have borne him six sons:
and therefore she called his name Zabulon.
30:21. After whom she bore a daughter, named Dina.
30:22. The Lord also remembering Rachel, heard her, and opened
her womb.
30:23. And she conceived, and bore a son, saying: God hath taken
away my reproach.
30:24. And she called his name Joseph: saying: The Lord give me also
another son.
30:25. And when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his father-in-law:
Send me away, that I may return into my country, and to my land.
30:26. Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served
thee, that I may depart: thou knowest the service that I have rendered
thee.
30:27. Laban said to him: Let me ind favour in thy sight: I have
learned, by experience, that God hath blessed me for thy sake.
30:28. Appoint thy wages which I shall give thee.
30:29. But he answered: Thou knowest how I have served thee, and
how great thy possession hath been in my hands.
30:30. Thou hadst but little before I came to thee, and now thou art
become rich: and the Lord hath blessed thee at my coming. It is
reasonable, therefore, that I should now provide also for my own
house.
30:31. And Laban said: What shall I give thee? But he said: I require
nothing; but if thou wilt do what I demand, I will feed and keep thy
sheep again.
30:32. Go round through all thy locks, and separate all the sheep of
divers colours, and speckled; and all that is brown and spotted, and of
divers colours, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall be
my wages.

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 30:33. And my justice shall answer for me tomorrow before thee,

when the time of the bargain shall come; and all that is not of divers
colours, and spotted, and brown, as well among the sheep as among
the goats, shall accuse me of theft.
30:34. And Laban said: I like well what thou demandest.
30:35. And he separated the same day the she-goats, and the sheep,
and the he-goats, and the rams of divers colours, and spotted; and all
the lock of one colour, that is, of white and black leece, he delivered
into the hands of his sons.
30:36. And he set the space of three days journey betwixt himself
and his son-in-law, who fed the rest of his lock.
30:37. And Jacob took green rods of poplar, and of almond, and of
plane-trees, and pilled them in part: so when the bark was taken off, in
the parts that were pilled, there appeared whiteness: but the parts
that were whole, remained green: and by this means the colour was
divers.
30:38. And he put them in the troughs, where the water was poured
out; that when the locks should come to drink, they might have the
rods before their eyes, and in the sight of them might conceive.
30:39. And it came to pass, that in the very heat of coition, the sheep
beheld the rods, and brought forth spotted, and of divers colours, and
speckled.
30:40. And Jacob separated the lock, and put the rods in the
troughs before the eyes of the rams; and all the white and the black
were Laban’s, and the rest were Jacob’s, when the locks were
separated one from the other.
30:41. So when the ewes went irst to ram, Jacob put the rods in the
troughs of water before the eyes of the rams, and of the ewes, that they
might conceive while they were looking upon them.
30:42. But when the later coming was, and the last conceiving, he
did not put them. And those that were lateward, became Laban’s; and
they of the irst time, Jacob’s.
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 30:43. And the man was enriched exceedingly, and he had many
locks, maid-servants and men-servants, camels and asses.
Genesis Chapter 31

Jacob’s departure: he is pursued and overtaken by Laban. They make a

covenant.
31:1. But after that he had heard the words of the sons of Laban,
saying: Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s, and being
enriched by his substance is become great.
31:2. And perceiving also, that Laban’s countenance was not
towards him as yesterday and the other day.
31:3. Especially the Lord saying to him: Return into the land of thy
fathers and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.
31:4. He sent, and called Rachel and Lia into the ield, where he fed
the locks,
31:5. And said to them: I see your father’s countenance is not
towards me as yesterday and the other day: but the God of my father
hath been with me.
31:6. And you know that I have served your father to the uttermost
of my power.
31:7. Yea your father hath also overreached me, and hath changed
my wages ten times: and yet God hath not suffered him to hurt me.
31:8. If at any time, he said: The speckled shall be thy wages: all the
sheep brought forth speckled: but when he said on the contrary: Thou
shalt take all the white one for thy wages: all the locks brought forth
white ones.
31:9. And God hath taken your father’s substance, and given it to
me.
31:10. For after the time came of the ewes conceiving, I lifted up my
eyes, and saw in my sleep, that the males which leaped upon the
females were of divers colours, and spotted, and speckled.
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 31:11. And the angel of God said to me in my sleep: Jacob. And I

answered: Here I am.
31:12. And he said: Lift up thy eyes, and see that all the males
leaping upon the females, are of divers colours, spotted and speckled.
For I have seen all that Laban hath done to thee.
31:13. I am the God of Bethel, where thou didst anoint the stone,
and make a vow to me. Now therefore arise, and go out of this land,
and return into thy native country.
31:14. And Rachel and Lia answered: Have we any thing left among
the goods and inheritance of our father’s house?
31:15. Hath he not counted us as strangers, and sold us, and eaten
up the price of us?
31:16. But God hath taken our father’s riches, and delivered them to
us, and to our children: wherefore, do all that God hath commanded
thee.
31:17. Then Jacob rose up, and having set his children and wives
upon camels, went his way.
31:18. And he took all his substance, and locks, and whatsoever he
had gotten in Mesopotamia, and went forward to Isaac, his father, to
the land of Chanaan.
31:19. At that time Laban was gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel
stole away her father’s idols.
Her father’s idols.... By this it appears that Laban was an idolater; and some of
the fathers are of opinion that Rachel stole away these idols to withdraw him
from idolatry, removing the occasion of his sin.
31:20. And Jacob would not confess to his father-in-law that he was
lying away.
31:21. And when he was gone, together with all that belonged to
him, and having passed the river, was going on towards mount Galaad,
31:22. It was told Laban on the third day, that Jacob led.
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 31:23. And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him
seven days; and overtook him in the mount of Galaad.
31:24. And he saw in a dream God, saying to him: Take heed thou
speak not any thing harshly against Jacob.
31:25. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain: and when
he, with his brethren, had overtaken him, he pitched his tent in the
same mount of Galaad.
31:26. And he said to Jacob: Why hast thou done thus, to carry away,
without my knowledge, my daughters as captives taken with the
sword?
31:27. Why wouldst thou run away privately, and not acquaint me,
that I might have brought thee on the way with joy, and with songs,
and with timbrels, and with harps?
31:28. Thou hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and daughters;
thou hast done foolishly; and now indeed,
31:29. It is in my power to return thee evil; but the God of your
father said to me yesterday: Take heed thou speak not any thing
harshly against Jacob.
31:30. Suppose thou didst desire to go to thy friends, and hadst a
longing after thy father’s house: why hast thou stolen away my gods?
31:31. Jacob answered: That I departed unknown to thee, it was for
fear lest thou wouldst take away thy daughters by force.
31:32. But, whereas, thou chargest me with theft: with whomsoever
thou shalt ind thy gods, let him be slain before our brethren. Search,
and if thou ind any of thy things with me, take them away. Now when
he said this, he knew not that Rachel had stolen the idols.
31:33. So Laban went into the tent of Jacob, and of Lia, and of both
the handmaids, and found them not. And when he was entered into
Rachel’s tent,
31:34. She, in haste, hid the idols under the camel’s furniture, and
sat upon them: and when he had searched all the tent, and found
nothing,

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 31:35. She said: Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up
before thee, because it has now happened to me according to the
custom of women. So his careful search was in vain.
31:36. And Jacob being angry, said in a chiding manner: For what
fault of mine, and for what offence on my part hast thou so hotly
pursued me,
31:37. And searched all my household stuff? What hast thou found
of all the substance of thy house? lay it here before my brethren, and
thy brethren, and let them judge between me and thee.
31:38. Have I, therefore, been with thee twenty years? thy ewes and
goats were not barren, the rams of thy locks I did not eat:
31:39. Neither did I shew thee that which the beast had torn; I made
good all the damage: whatsoever was lost by theft, thou didst exact it
of me:
31:40. Day and night was I parched with heat, and with frost, and
sleep departed from my eyes.
31:41. And in this manner have I served thee in thy house twenty
years, fourteen for thy daughters, and six for thy locks: thou hast
changed also my wages ten times.
31:42. Unless the God of my father, Abraham, and the fear of Isaac,
had stood by me, peradventure now thou hadst sent me away naked:
God beheld my af liction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee
yesterday.
31:43. Laban answered him: The daughters are mine, and the
children, and thy locks, and all things that thou seest are mine: what
can I do to my children, and grandchildren?
31:44. Come, therefore, let us enter into a league; that it may be for
a testimony between me and thee.
31:45. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a title.
31:46. And he said to his brethren: Bring hither stones. And they,
gathering stones together, made a heap, and they ate upon it.

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 31:47. And Laban called it, The witness heap; and Jacob, The hillock
of testimony: each of them according to the propriety of his language.
31:48. And Laban said: This heap shall be a witness between me and
thee this day, and therefore the name thereof was called Galaad, that
is, The witness heap.
31:49. The Lord behold and judge between us, when we shall be
gone one from the other.
31:50. If thou af lict my daughters, and if thou bring in other wives
over them: none is witness of our speech but God, who is present and
beholdeth.
31:51. And he said again to Jacob: Behold this heap, and the stone
which I have set up between me and thee,
31:52. Shall be a witness: this heap, I say, and the stone, be they for
a testimony, if either I shall pass beyond it going towards thee, or thou
shalt pass beyond it thinking harm to me.
31:53. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nachor, the God of their
father, judge between us. And Jacob swore by the fear of his father
Isaac:
31:54. And after he had offered sacri ices in the mountain, he called
his brethren to eat bread. And when they had eaten, they lodged there:
31:55. But Laban arose in the night, and kissed his sons and
daughters, and blessed them: and returned to his place.
Genesis Chapter 32

Jacob’s vision of angels; his message and presents to Esau; his

wrestling with an angel.
32:1. Jacob also went on the journey he had begun: and the angels
of God met him.
32:2. And when he saw them, he said: These are the camps of God,
and he called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, Camps.

 32:3. And he sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, to the
land of Seir, to the country of Edom:
32:4. And he commanded them, saying: Thus shall ye speak to my
lord Esau: Thus saith thy brother Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban,
and have been with him until this day:
32:5. I have oxen, and asses, and sheep, and menservants, and
womenservants: and now I send a message to my lord, that I may ind
favour in thy sight.
32:6. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came to
Esau, thy brother, and behold he cometh with speed to meet thee with
four hundred men.
32:7. Then Jacob was greatly afraid; and in his fear divided the
people that was with him, and the locks, and the sheep, and the oxen,
and the camels, into two companies,
32:8. Saying: If Esau come to one company, and destroy it, the other
company that is left, shall escape.
32:9. And Jacob said: O God of my father Abraham, and God of my
father Isaac: O Lord who saidst to me, Return to thy land, and to the
place of thy birth, and I will do well for thee.
32:10. I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of thy
truth which thou hast ful illed to thy servant. With my staff I passed
over this Jordan; and now I return with two companies.
32:11. Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am
greatly afraid of him; lest perhaps he come, and kill the mother with
the children.
32:12. Thou didst say, that thou wouldst do well by me, and multiply
my seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for
multitude.
32:13. And when he had slept there that night, he set apart, of the
things which he had, presents for his brother Esau,
32:14. Two hundred she-goats, twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes,
and twenty rams,

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 32:15. Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and twenty
bulls, twenty she-asses, and ten of their foals.
32:16. And he sent them by the hands of his servants, every drove by
itself, and he said to his servants: Go before me, and let there be a
space between drove and drove.
32:17. And he commanded the irst, saying: If thou meet my brother
Esau, and he ask thee: Whose art thou? or whither goest thou? or
whose are these before thee?
32:18. Thou shalt answer: Thy servant Jacob’s: he hath sent them as
a present to my lord Esau; and he cometh after us.
32:19. In like manner he commanded the second, and the third, and
all that followed the droves, saying: Speak ye the same words to Esau,
when ye ind him.
32:20. And ye shall add: Thy servant Jacob himself also followeth
after us; for he said: I will appease him with the presents that go
before, and afterwards I will see him, perhaps he will be gracious to
me.
32:21. So the presents went before him, but himself lodged that
night in the camp.
32:22. And rising early, he took his two wives and his two
handmaids, with his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Jaboc.
32:23. And when all things were brought over that belonged to him,
32:24. He remained alone; and behold, a man wrestled with him till
morning.
A man, etc.... This was an angel in human shape, as we learn from Osee 12.4. He
is called God, ver. 28 and 30, because he represented the person of the Son of
God. This wrestling, in which Jacob, assisted by God, was a match for an angel,
was so ordered (ver. 28,) that he might learn by this experiment of the divine
assistance, that neither Esau, nor any other man, should have power to hurt him.
—It was also spiritual, as appeareth by his earnest prayer, urging and at last
obtaining the angel’s blessing.

 32:25. And when he saw that he could not overcome him, he touched
the sinew of his thigh, and forthwith it shrank.
32:26. And he said to him: Let me go, for it is break of day. He
answered: I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
32:27. And he said: What is thy name? He answered: Jacob.
32:28. But he said: Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel; for
if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shalt thou
prevail against men?
32:29. Jacob asked him: Tell me by what name art thou called? He
answered: Why dost thou ask my name? And he blessed him in the
same place.
32:30. And Jacob called the name of the place Phanuel, saying: I
have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.
Phanuel.... This word signi ies the face of God, or the sight, or seeing of God.
32:31. And immediately the sun rose upon him, after he was past
Phanuel; but he halted on his foot.
32:32. Therefore the children of Israel, unto this day, eat not the
sinew, that shrank in Jacob’s thigh: because he touched the sinew of his
thigh and it shrank.
Genesis Chapter 33

Jacob and Esau meet: Jacob goeth to Salem, where he raiseth an altar.
33:1. And Jacob lifting up his eyes, saw Esau coming, and with him
four hundred men: and he divided the children of Lia and of Rachel,
and of the two handmaids.
33:2. And he put both the handmaids and their children foremost:
and Lia and her children in the second place: and Rachel and Joseph
last.
33:3. And he went forward and bowed down with his face to the
ground seven times, until his brother came near.

 33:4. Then Esau ran to meet his brother, and embraced him: and
clasping him fast about the neck, and kissing him, wept.
33:5. And lifting up his eyes, he saw the women and their children,
and said: What mean these? And do they belong to thee? He answered:
They are the children which God hath given to me, thy servant.
33:6. Then the handmaids and their children came near and bowed
themselves.
33:7. Lia also, with her children, came near and bowed down in like
manner; and last of all, Joseph and Rachel bowed down.
33:8. And Esau said: What are the droves that I met? He answered:
That I might ind favour before my lord.
33:9. But he said: I have plenty, my brother, keep what is thine for
thyself.
33:10. And Jacob said: Do not so I beseech thee, but if I have found
favour in thy eyes, receive a little present at my hands: for I have seen
thy face, as if I should have seen the countenance of God: be gracious
to me,
33:11. And take the blessing which I have brought thee, and which
God hath given me, who giveth all things. He took it with much ado at
his brother’s earnest pressing him,
33:12. And said: Let us go on together, and I will accompany thee in
thy journey.
33:13. And Jacob said: My lord, thou knowest that I have with me
tender children, and sheep, and kine with young: which if I should
cause to be overdriven, in one day all the locks will die.
33:14. May it please my lord to go before his servant: and I will
follow softly after him, as I shall see my children to be able, until I
come to my lord in Seir.
33:15. Esau answered: I beseech thee, that some of the people, at
least, who are with me, may stay to accompany thee in the way. And he
said: There is no necessity: I want nothing else but only to ind favour,
my lord, in thy sight.

 33:16. So Esau returned that day, the way that he came, to Seir.
33:17. And Jacob came to Socoth: where having built a house, and
pitched tents, he called the name of the place Socoth, that is, Tents.
33:18. And he passed over to Salem, a city of the Sichemites, which is
in the land of Chanaan, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria:
and he dwelt by the town.
33:19. And he bought that part of the ield, in which he pitched his
tents, of the children of Hemor, the father of Sichem, for a hundred
lambs.
33:20. And raising an altar there, he invoked upon it the most
mighty God of Israel.
Genesis Chapter 34

Dina is ravished, for which the Sichemites are destroyed.

34:1. And Dina the daughter of Lia went out to see the women of
that country.
34:2. And when Sichem the son of Hemor the Hevite, the prince of
that land, saw her, he was in love with her: and took her away, and lay
with her, ravishing the virgin.
34:3. And his soul was fast knit unto her; and whereas she was sad,
he comforted her with sweet words.
34:4. And going to Hemor his father, he said: Get me this damsel to
wife.
34:5. But when Jacob had heard this, his sons being absent, and
employed in feeding the cattle, he held his peace till they came back.
34:6. And when Hemor the father of Sichem was come out to speak
to Jacob,
34:7. Behold his sons came from the ield: and hearing what had
passed, they were exceeding angry, because he had done a foul thing in
Israel, and committed an unlawful act, in ravishing Jacob’s daughter.

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 34:8. And Hemor spoke to them: The soul of my son Sichem has a
longing for your daughter: give her him to wife:
34:9. And let us contract marriages one with another: give us your
daughters, and take you our daughters.
34:10. And dwell with us: the land is at your command, till, trade,
and possess it.
34:11. Sichem also said to her father and to her brethren: Let me
ind favour in your sight, and whatsoever you shall appoint I will give:
34:12. Raise the dowry, and ask gifts, and I will gladly give what you
shall demand: only give me this damsel to wife.
34:13. The sons of Jacob answered Sichem and his father deceitfully,
being enraged at the de lowering of their sister:
Deceitfully.... The sons of Jacob, on this occasion, were guilty of a grievous sin, as
well by falsely pretending religion, as by excess of revenge: though otherwise
their zeal against so foul a crime was commendable.
34:14. We cannot do what you demand, nor give our sister to one
that is uncircumcised; which with us is unlawful and abominable.
34:15. But in this we may be allied with you, if you will be like us,
and all the male sex among you be circumcised:
34:16. Then will we mutually give and take your daughters, and
ours; and we will dwell with you, and will be one people:
34:17. But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter
and depart.
34:18. Their offer pleased Hemor, and Sichem, his son:
34:19. And the young man made no delay, but forthwith ful illed
what was required: for he loved the damsel exceedingly, and he was
the greatest man in all his father’s house.
34:20. And going into the gate of the city, they spoke to the people:
34:21. These men are peaceable, and are willing to dwell with us: let
them trade in the land, and till it, which being large and wide wanteth
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 men to till it: we shall take their daughters for wives, and we will give
them ours.
34:22. One thing there is for which so great a good is deferred: We
must circumcise every male among us, following the manner of the
nation.
34:23. And their substance, and cattle, and all that they possess,
shall be ours; only in this let us condescend, and by dwelling together,
we shall make one people.
34:24. And they all agreed, and circumcised all the males.
34:25. And behold the third day, when the pain of the wound was
greatest: two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of
Dina, taking their swords, entered boldly into the city and slew all the
men.
34:26. And they killed also Hemor and Sichem, and took away their
sister Dina out of Sichem’s house.
34:27. And when they were gone out, the other sons of Jacob came
upon the slain; and plundered the city in revenge of the rape.
34:28. And they took their sheep, and their herds, and their asses,
wasting all they had in their houses and in their ields.
34:29. And their children and wives they took captive.
34:30. And when they had boldly perpetrated these things, Jacob
said to Simeon and Levi: You have troubled me, and made me hateful
to the Chanaanites and Pherezites, the inhabitants of this land. We are
few: they will gather themselves together and kill me; and both I, and
my house shall be destroyed.
34:31. They answered: Should they abuse our sister as a strumpet?
Genesis Chapter 35

Jacob purgeth his family from idols: goeth by God’s commandment to

Bethel, and there buildeth an altar. God appearing again to Jacob
blesseth him, and changeth his name into Israel. Rachel dieth in
childbirth. Isaac also dieth.

 35:1. In the mean time God said to Jacob: Arise and go up to Bethel,
and dwell there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared to thee
when thou didst lee from Esau, thy brother.
35:2. And Jacob having called together all his household, said: Cast
away the strange gods that are among you, and be cleansed, and
change your garments.
35:3. Arise, and let us go up to Bethel, that we may make there an
altar to God; who heard me in the day of my af liction, and
accompained me in my journey.
35:4. So they gave him all the strange gods they had, and the
earrings which were in their ears: and he buried them under the
turpentine tree, that is behind the city of Sichem.
35:5. And when they were departed, the terror of God fell upon all
the cities round about, and they durst not pursue after them as they
went away.
35:6. And Jacob came to Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan,
surnamed Bethel: he and all the people that were with him.
35:7. And he built there an altar, and called the name of that place,
The house of God: for there God appeared to him when he led from his
brother.
35:8. At the same time Debora, the nurse of Rebecca, died, and was
buried at the foot of Bethel, under an oak, and the name of that place
was called, The oak of weeping.
35:9. And God appeared again to Jacob, after he returned from
Mesopotamia of Syria, and he blessed him,
35:10. Saying: Thou shalt not be called any more Jacob, but Israel
shall be thy name. And he called him Israel.
Israel.... This name signi ieth one that prevaileth with God.
35:11. And said to him: I am God almighty, increase thou and be
multiplied. Nations and peoples of nations shall be from thee, and
kings shall come out of thy loins.

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 35:12. And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give
to thee, and to thy seed after thee.
35:13. And he departed from him.
35:14. But he set up a monument of stone, in the place where God
had spoken to him: pouring drink-offerings upon it, and pouring oil
thereon:
35:15. And calling the name of that place Bethel.
35:16. And going forth from thence, he came in the spring time to
the land which leadeth to Ephrata: wherein when Rachel was in
travail,
35:17. By reason of her hard labour, she began to be in danger, and
the midwife said to her: Fear not, for thou shalt have this son also.
35:18. And when her soul was departing for pain, and death was
now at hand, she called the name of her son Benoni, that is, the son of
my pain: but his father called him Benjamin, that is, the son of the
right hand.
35:19. So Rachel died, and was buried in the highway that leadeth
to Ephrata, this is Bethlehem.
35:20. And Jacob erected a pillar over her sepulchre: this is the pillar
of Rachel’s monument, to this day.
35:21. Departing thence, he pitched his tent beyond the Flock tower.
35:22. And when he dwelt in that country, Ruben went, and slept
with Bala the concubine of his father: which he was not ignorant of.
Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
The concubine.... She was his lawful wife; but, according to the style of the
Hebrews, is called concubine, because of her servile extraction.
35:23. The sons of Lia: Ruben the irst born, and Simeon, and Levi,
and Juda, and Issachar, and Zabulon.
35:24. The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
35:25. The sons of Bala, Rachel’s handmaid: Dan and Nephthali.

 35:26. The sons of Zelpha, Lia’s handmaid: Gad and Aser: these are
the sons of Jacob, that were born to him in Mesopotamia of Syria.
35:27. And he came to Isaac his father in Mambre, the city of Arbee,
this is Hebron: wherein Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
35:28. And the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.
35:29. And being spent with age he died, and was gathered to his
people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried
him.
Genesis Chapter 36

Esau with his wives and children parteth from Jacob. An account of his
descendants, and of the irst kings of Edom.
36:1. And these are the generations of Esau, the same is Edom.
36:2. Esau took wives of the daughters of Chanaan: Ada the
daughter of Elon the Hethite, and Oolibama the daughter of Ana, the
daughter of Sebeon the Hevite:
Ada.... These wives of Esau are called by other names, Gen. 26. But it was very
common amongst the ancients for the same persons to have two names, as Esau
himself was also called Edom.
36:3. And Basemath, the daughter of Ismael, sister of Nabajoth.
36:4. And Ada bore Eliphaz: Basemath bore Rahuel.
36:5. Oolibama bore Jehus, and Ihelon, and Core. These are the sons
of Esau, that were born to him in the land of Chanaan.
36:6. And Esau took his wives, and his sons and daughters, and
every soul of his house, and his substance, and cattle, and all that he
was able to acquire in the land of Chanaan: and went into another
country, and departed from his brother Jacob.
36:7. For they were exceeding rich, and could not dwell together:
neither was the land in which they sojourned able to bear them, for
the multitude of their locks.
36:8. And Esau dwelt in mount Seir: he is Edom.

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 36:9. And these are the generations of Esau, the father of Edom, in
mount Seir.
36:10. And these the names of his sons: Eliphaz the son of Ada, the
wife of Esau: and Rahuel, the son of Basemath, his wife.
36:11. And Eliphaz had sons: Theman, Omar, Sepho, and Gatham
and Cenez.
36:12. And Thamna was the concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau:
and she bore him Amalech. These are the sons of Ada, the wife of Esau.
36:13. And the sons of Rahuel were Nahath and Zara, Samma and
Meza. These were the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.
36:14. And these were the sons of Oolibama, the daughter of Ana,
the daughter of Sebeon, the wife of Esau, whom she bore to him, Jehus,
and Ihelon, and Core.
36:15. These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz, the
irstborn of Esau: duke Theman, duke Omar, duke Sepho, duke Cenez,
36:16. Duke Core, duke Gatham, duke Amalech: these are the sons of
Eliphaz, in the land of Edom, and these the sons of Ada.
36:17. And these were the sons of Rahuel, the son of Esau: duke
Nahath, duke Zara, duke Samma, duke Meza. And these are the dukes
of Rahuel, in the land of Edom: these the sons of Basemath, the wife of
Esau.
36:18. And these the sons of Oolibama, the wife of Esau: duke Jehus,
duke Ihelon, duke Core. These are the dukes of Oolibama, the daughter
of Ana, and wife of Esau.
36:19. These are the sons of Esau, and these the dukes of them: the
same is Edom.
36:20. These are the sons of Seir, the Horrite, the inhabitants of the
land: Lotan, and Sobal, and Sebeon, and Ana,
36:21. And Dison, and Eser, and Disan. These are dukes of the
Horrites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom.
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 36:22. And Lotan had sons: Hori and Heman. And the sister of Lotan
was Thamna.
36:23. And these the sons of Sobal: Alvan, and Manahat, and Ebal,
and Sepho, and Onam.
36:24. And these the sons of Sebeon: Aia and Ana. This is Ana that
found the hot waters in the wilderness, when he fed the asses of
Sebeon, his father:
36:25. And he had a son Dison, and a daughter Oolibama.
36:26. And these were the sons of Dison: Hamdan, and Eseban, and
Jethram, and Charan.
36:27. These also were the sons of Eser: Balaan, and Zavan, and
Acan.
36:28. And Dison had sons: Hus and Aram.
36:29. These were dukes of the Horrites: duke Lotan, duke Sobal,
duke Sebeon, duke Ana,
36:30. Duke Dison, duke Eser, duke Disan: these were dukes of the
Horrites that ruled in the land of Seir.
36:31. And the kings that ruled in the land of Edom, before the
children of Israel had a king, were these:
36:32. Bela the son of Beor, and the name of his city Denaba.
36:33. And Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zara, of Bosra, reigned in
his stead.
36:34. And when Jobab was dead, Husam, of the land of the
Themanites, reigned in his stead.
36:35. And after his death, Adad, the son of Badad, reigned in his
stead, who defeated the Madianites in the country of Moab; and the
name of his city was Avith.
36:36. And when Adad was dead, there reigned in his stead, Semla,
of Masreca.
36:37. And he being dead, Saul, of the river Rohoboth, reigned in his
stead.

 36:38. And when he also was dead, Balanan, the son of Achobor,
succeeded to the kingdom.
36:39. This man also being dead, Adar reigned in his place; and the
name of his city was Phau: and his wife was called Meetabel, the
daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezaab.
36:40. And these are the names of the dukes of Esau in their
kindreds, and places, and callings: duke Thamna, duke Alva, duke
Jetheth,
36:41. Duke Oolibama, duke Ela, duke Phinon,
36:42. Duke Cenez, duke Theman, duke Mabsar,
36:43. Duke Magdiel, duke Hiram: these are the dukes of Edom
dwelling in the land of their government; the same is Esau, the father
of the Edomites.
Genesis Chapter 37

Joseph’s dreams: he is sold by his brethren, and carried into Egypt.

37:1. And Jacob dwelt in the land of Chanaan, wherein his father
sojourned.
37:2. And these are his generations: Joseph, when he was sixteen
years old, was feeding the lock with his brethren, being but a boy: and
he was with the sons of Bala and of Zelpha his father’s wives: and he
accused his brethren to his father of a most wicked crime.
37:3. Now Israel loved Joseph above all his sons, because he had him
in his old age: and he made him a coat of divers colours.
37:4. And his brethren seeing that he was loved by his father, more
than all his sons, hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.
37:5. Now it fell out also that he told his brethren a dream, that he
had dreamed: which occasioned them to hate him the more.
A dream.... These dreams of Joseph were prophetical, and sent from God; as were
also those which he interpreted, Gen. 40. and 41.; otherwise generally speaking,
the observing of dreams is condemned in the Scripture, as superstitious and
sinful. See Deut. 18.10; Eccli. 34.2,3.

 37:6. And he said to them: Hear my dream which I dreamed.

37:7. I thought we were binding sheaves in the ield: and my sheaf
arose as it were, and stood, and your sheaves standing about bowed
down before my sheaf.
37:8. His brethren answered: Shalt thou be our king? or shall we be
subject to thy dominion? Therefore this matter of his dreams and
words ministered nourishment to their envy and hatred.
37:9. He dreamed also another dream, which he told his brethren,
saying: I saw in a dream, as it were the sun, and the moon, and eleven
stars worshipping me.
37:10. And when he had told this to his father, and brethren, his
father rebuked him and said: What meaneth this dream that thou hast
dreamed? shall I and thy mother, and thy brethren worship thee upon
the earth?
Worship.... This word is not used here to signify divine worship, but an inferior
veneration, expressed by the bowing of the body, and that, according to the
manner of the eastern nations, down to the ground.
37:11. His brethren therefore envied him: but his father considered
the thing with himself.
37:12. And when his brethren abode in Sechem, feeding their
father’s locks,
37:13. Israel said to him: Thy brethren feed the sheep in Sichem:
come, I will send thee to them. And when he answered:
37:14. I am ready: he said to him: Go, and see if all things be well
with thy brethren, and the cattle: and bring me word again what is
doing. So being sent from the vale of Hebron, he came to Sichem:
37:15. And a man found him there wandering in the ield, and asked
what he sought.
37:16. But he answered: I seek my brethren, tell me where they feed
the locks.
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 37:17. And the man said to him: They are departed from this place:
for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothain. And Joseph went forward
after his brethren, and found them in Dothain.
37:18. And when they saw him afar off, before he came nigh them,
they thought to kill him:
37:19. And said one to another: Behold the dreamer cometh.
37:20. Come, let us kill him, and cast him into some old pit: and we
will say: Some evil beast hath devoured him: and then it shall appear
what his dreams avail him:
37:21. And Ruben hearing this, endeavoured to deliver him out of
their hands, and said:
37:22. Do not take away his life, nor shed his blood: but cast him
into this pit, that is in the wilderness, and keep your hands harmless:
now he said this, being desirous to deliver him out of their hands and
to restore him to his father.
37:23. And as soon as he came to his brethren, they forthwith stript
him of his outside coat, that was of divers colours:
37:24. And cast him into an old pit where there was not water.
37:25. And sitting down to eat bread, they saw some Ismaelites on
their way coming from Galaad, with their camels, carrying spices, and
balm, and myrrh to Egypt.
37:26. And Juda said to his brethren: What will it pro it us to kill our
brother, and conceal his blood?
37:27. It is better that he be sold to the Ismaelites, and that our
hands be not de iled: for he is our brother and our lesh. His brethren
agreed to his words.
37:28. And when the Madianite merchants passed by, they drew him
out of the pit, and sold him to the Ismaelites, for twenty pieces of
silver: and they led him into Egypt.
37:29. And Ruben returning to the pit, found not the boy:
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 37:30. And rending his garments he went to his brethren, and said:
The boy doth not appear, and whither shall I go?
37:31. And they took his coat, and dipped it in the blood of a kid,
which they had killed:
37:32. Sending some to carry it to their father, and to say: This we
have found: see whether it be thy son’s coat, or not.
37:33. And the father acknowledging it, said: It is my son’s coat, an
evil wild beast hath eaten him, a beast hath devoured Joseph.
37:34. And tearing his garments, he put on sackcloth, mourning for
his son a long time.
37:35. And all his children being gathered together to comfort their
father in his sorrow, he would not receive comfort, but said: I will go
down to my son into hell, mourning. And whilst he continued weeping,
Into hell.... That is, into limbo, the place where the souls of the just were received
before the death of our Redeemer. For allowing that the word hell sometimes is
taken for the grave, it cannot be so taken in this place; since Jacob did not believe
his son to be in the grave, (whom he supposed to be devoured by a wild beast,)
and therefore could not mean to go down to him thither: but certainly meant the
place of rest where he believed his soul to be.
37:36. The Madianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Putiphar, an eunuch
of Pharao, captain of the soldiers.
An eunuch.... This word sometimes signi ies a chamberlain, courtier, or of icer of
the king: and so it is taken in this place.
Genesis Chapter 38

The sons of Juda: the death of Her and Onan: the birth of Phares and
Zara.
38:1. At that time Juda went down from his brethren, and turned in
to a certain Odollamite, named Hiras.
38:2. And he saw there the daughter of a man of Chanaan, called
Sue: and taking her to wife, he went in unto her.
38:3. And she conceived, and bore a son, and called his name Her.

 38:4. And conceiving again, she bore a son, and called him Onan.
38:5. She bore also a third: whom she called Sela. After whose birth,
she ceased to bear any more.
38:6. And Juda took a wife for Her, his irst born, whose name was
Thamar.
38:7. And Her, the irst born of Juda, was wicked in the sight of the
Lord: and was slain by him.
38:8. Juda, therefore, said to Onan his son: Go in to thy brother’s wife
and marry her, that thou mayst raise seed to thy brother.
38:9. He knowing that the children should not be his, when he went
in to his brother’s wife, he spilled his seed upon the ground, lest
children should be born in his brother’s name.
38:10. And therefore the Lord slew him, because he did a detestable
thing:
38:11. Wherefore Juda said to Thamar his daughter-in-law: Remain
a widow in thy father’s house, till Sela my son grow up: for he was
afraid lest he also might die, as his brethren did. She went her way,
and dwelt in her father’s house.
38:12. And after many days were past: the daughter of Sue the wife
of Juda died: and when he had taken comfort after his mourning, he
went up to Thamnas, to the shearers of his sheep, he and Hiras the
Odollamite, the shepherd of his lock.
38:13. And it was told Thamar that her father-in-law was come up
to Thamnas to shear his sheep.
38:14. And she put off the garments of her widowhood, and took a
veil: and changing her dress, sat in the cross way, that leadeth to
Thamnas: because Sela was grown up, and she had not been married
to him.
38:15. When Juda saw her, he thought she was a harlot: for she had
covered her face, lest she should be known.

 38:16. And going to her, he said: Suffer me to lie with thee: for he
knew her not to be his daughter-in-law. And she answered: What wilt
thou give me to enjoy my company?
38:17. He said: I will send thee a kid out of the lock. And when she
said again: I will suffer what thou wilt, if thou give me a pledge, till
thou send what thou promisest.
38:18. Juda said: What wilt thou have for a pledge? She answered:
Thy ring and bracelet, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand.
The woman therefore at one copulation conceived.
38:19. And she arose and went her way: and putting off the apparel
which she had taken, put on the garments of her widowhood.
38:20. And Juda sent a kid by his shepherd, the Odollamite, that he
might receive the pledge again, which he had given to the woman: but
he, not inding her,
38:21. Asked the men of that place: Where is the woman that sat in
the cross way? And when they all made answer: There was no harlot in
this place,
38:22. He returned to Juda, and said to him: I have not found her;
moreover, the men of that place said to me, that there never sat a
harlot there.
38:23. Juda said: Let her take it to herself, surely she cannot charge
us with a lie, I sent the kid which I promised: and thou didst not ind
her.
38:24. And behold, after three months, they told Juda, saying:
Thamar, thy daughter-in-law, hath played the harlot, and she
appeareth to have a big belly. And Juda said: Bring her out that she
may be burnt.
38:25. But when she was led to execution, she sent to her father in
law, saying: By the man, to whom these things belong, I am with child.
See whose ring, and bracelet, and staff this is.

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 38:26. But he acknowledging the gifts, said: She is juster than I:
because I did not give her to Sela, my son. However he knew her no
more.
38:27. And when she was ready to be brought to bed, there
appeared twins in her womb: and in the very delivery of the infants,
one put forth a hand, whereon the midwife tied a scarlet thread,
saying:
38:28. This shall come forth the irst.
38:29. But he drawing back his hand, the other came forth: and the
woman said: Why is the partition divided for thee? and therefore
called his name Phares.
Phares.... That is, a breach or division.
38:30. Afterwards his brother came out, on whose hand was the
scarlet thread: and she called his name Zara.
Genesis Chapter 39

Joseph hath charge of his master’s house: rejecteth his mistress’s

solicitations: is falsely accused by her, and cast into prison, where he
hath the charge of all the prisoners.
39:1. And Joseph was brought into Egypt, and Putiphar, an eunuch
of Pharao, chief captain of the army, an Egyptian, bought him of the
Ismaelites, by whom he was brought.
39:2. And the Lord was with him, and he was a prosperous man in
all things: and he dwelt in his master’s house:
39:3. Who knew very well that the Lord was with him, and made all
that he did to prosper in his hand.
39:4. And Joseph found favour in the sight of his master, and
ministered to him: and being set over all by him, he governed the
house committed to him, and all things that were delivered to him:
39:5. And the Lord blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph’s
sake, and multiplied all his substance, both at home and in the ields.

 39:6. Neither knew he any other thing, but the bread which he ate.
And Joseph was of a beautiful countenance, and comely to behold.
39:7. And after many days, his mistress cast her eyes on Joseph, and
said: Lie with me.
39:8. But he in no wise consenting to that wicked act said to her:
Behold, my master hath delivered all things to me, and knoweth not
what he hath in his own house:
39:9. Neither is there any thing which is not in my power, or that he
hath not delivered to me, but thee, who art his wife; how then can I do
this wicked thing, and sin against my God?
39:10. With such words as these day by day, both the woman was
importunate with the young man, and he refused the adultery.
39:11. Now it happened on a certain day, that Joseph went into the
house, and was doing some business, without any man with him:
39:12. And she catching the skirt of his garment, said: Lie with me.
But he leaving the garment in her hand, led, and went out.
39:13. And when the woman saw the garment in her hands, and
herself disregarded,
39:14. She called to her the men of her house, and said to them: See,
he hath brought in a Hebrew, to abuse us: he came in to me, to lie with
me; and when I cried out,
39:15. And he heard my voice, he left the garment that I held, and
got him out.
39:16. For a proof therefore of her idelity, she kept the garment,
and shewed it to her husband when he returned home:
A proof of her idelity.... or an argument to gain credit, argumentum idei.
39:17. And said: The Hebrew servant, whom thou hast brought,
came to me to abuse me.
39:18. And when he heard me cry, he left the garment which I held,
and led out.
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 39:19. His master hearing these things, and giving too much credit
to his wife’s words, was very angry,
39:20. And cast Joseph into the prison, where the king’s prisoners
were kept, and he was there shut up.
39:21. But the Lord was with Joseph, and having mercy upon him
gave him favour in the sight of the chief keeper of the prison:
39:22. Who delivered into his hand all the prisoners that were kept
in custody: and whatsoever was done, was under him.
39:23. Neither did he himself know any thing, having committed all
things to him: for the Lord was with him, and made all that he did to
prosper.
Genesis Chapter 40

Joseph interpreteth the dreams of two of Pharao’s servants in prison:

the event declareth the interpretations to be true, but Joseph is
forgotten.
40:1. After this, it came to pass, that two eunuchs, the butler and the
baker of the king of Egypt, offended their lord.
40:2. And Pharao being angry with them, (now the one was chief
butler, the other chief baker,)
40:3. He sent them to the prison of the commander of the soldiers, in
which Joseph also was prisoner.
40:4. But the keeper of the prison delivered them to Joseph, and he
served them. Some little time passed, and they were kept in custody.
40:5. And they both dreamed a dream the same night, according to
the interpretation agreeing to themselves:
40:6. And when Joseph was come into them in the morning, and saw
them sad,
40:7. He asked them, saying: Why is your countenance sadder today
than usual?

 40:8. They answered: We have dreamed a dream, and there is

nobody to interpret it to us. And Joseph said to them: Doth not
interpretation belong to God? Tell me what you have dreamed:
Doth not interpretation belong to God?.... When dreams are from God, as these
were, the interpretation of them is a gift of God. But the generality of dreams are
not of this sort; but either proceed from the natural complexions and
dispositions of persons, or the roving of their imaginations in the day on such
objects as they are much affected with, or from their mind being disturbed with
cares and troubles, and oppressed with bodily in irmities: or they are suggested
by evil spirits, to latter, or to terrify weak minds, in order to gain belief, and so
draw them into error or superstition; or at least to trouble them in their sleep,
whom they cannot move when they are awake: so that the general rule, with
regard to dreams, is not to observe them, nor to give any credit to them.
40:9. The chief butler irst told his dream: I saw before me a vine,
40:10. On which were three branches, which by little and little sent
out buds, and after the blossoms brought forth ripe grapes:
40:11. And the cup of Pharao was in my hand: and I took the grapes,
and pressed them into the cup which I held, and I gave the cup to
Pharao.
40:12. Joseph answered: This is the interpretation of the dream: The
three branches, are yet three days:
40:13. After which Pharao will remember thy service, and will
restore thee to thy former place: and thou shalt present him the cup
according to thy of ice, as before thou was wont to do.
40:14. Only remember me when it shall be well with thee, and do me
this kindness: to put Pharao in mind to take me out of this prison:
40:15. For I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and
here without any fault was cast into the dungeon.
40:16. The chief baker seeing that he had wisely interpreted the
dream, said: I also dreamed a dream, That I had three baskets of meal
upon my head:

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 40:17. And that in one basket which was uppermost, I carried all
meats that are made by the art of baking, and that the birds ate out of
it.
40:18. Joseph answered: This is the interpretation of the dream: The
three baskets, are yet three days:
40:19. After which Pharao will take thy head from thee, and hang
thee on a cross, and the birds shall tear thy lesh.
40:20. The third day after this was the birthday of Pharao: and he
made a great feast for his servants, and at the banquet remembered
the chief butler, and the chief baker.
40:21. And he restored the one to his place, to present him the cup:
40:22. The other he hanged on a gibbet, that the truth of the
interpreter might be shewn.
40:23. But the chief butler, when things prospered with him, forgot
his interpreter.
Genesis Chapter 41

Joseph interpreteth the two dreams of Pharao: he is made ruler over

all Egypt.
41:1. After two years Pharao had a dream. He thought he stood by
the river,
41:2. Out of which came up seven kine, very beautiful and fat: and
they fed in marshy places.
41:3. Other seven also came up out of the river, ill-favoured, and
lean leshed: and they fed on the very bank of the river, in green places:
41:4. And they devoured them, whose bodies were very beautiful
and well conditioned. So Pharao awoke.
41:5. He slept again, and dreamed another dream: Seven ears of
corn came up upon one stalk full and fair:
41:6. Then seven other ears sprung up thin and blasted,

 41:7. And devoured all the beauty of the former. Pharao awaked
after his rest:
41:8. And when morning was come, being struck with fear, he sent
to all the interpreters of Egypt, and to all the wise men: and they being
called for, he told them his dream, and there was not any one that
could interpret it.
41:9. Then at length the chief butler remembering, said: I confess
my sin:
41:10. The king being angry with his servants, commanded me and
the chief baker to be cast into the prison of the captain of the soldiers.
41:11. Where in one night both of us dreamed a dream foreboding
things to come.
41:12. There was there a young man a Hebrew, servant to the same
captain of the soldiers: to whom we told our dreams,
41:13. And we heard what afterwards the event of the thing proved
to be so. For I was restored to my of ice: and he was hanged upon a
gibbet.
41:14. Forthwith at the king’s command Joseph was brought out of
the prison, and they shaved him: and changing his apparel brought
him in to him.
41:15. And he said to him: I have dreamed dreams, and there is no
one that can expound them: Now I have heard that thou art very wise
at interpreting them:
41:16. Joseph answered: Without me, God shall give Pharao a
prosperous answer.
41:17. So Pharao told what he had dreamed: Methought I stood
upon the bank of the river,
41:18. And seven kine came up out of the river, exceeding beautiful
and full of lesh: and they grazed on green places in a marshy pasture.
41:19. And behold, there followed these, other seven kine, so very ill-
favoured and lean, that I never saw the like in the land of Egypt:

 41:20. And they devoured and consumed the former,

41:21. And yet gave no mark of their being full: but were as lean and
ill-favoured as before. I awoke, and then fell asleep again,
41:22. And dreamed a dream: Seven ears of corn grew up upon one
stalk, full and very fair.
41:23. Other seven also thin and blasted, sprung of the stalk:
41:24. And they devoured the beauty of the former: I told this dream
to the conjecturers, and there is no man that can expound it.
41:25. Joseph answered: The king’s dream is one: God hath shewn to
Pharao what he is about to do.
41:26. The seven beautiful kine, and the seven full ears, are seven
years of plenty: and both contain the same meaning of the dream.
41:27. And the seven lean and thin kine that came up after them,
and the seven thin ears that were blasted with the burning wind, are
seven years of famine to come:
41:28. Which shall be ful illed in this order.
41:29. Behold, there shall come seven years of great plenty in the
whole land of Egypt:
41:30. After which shall follow other seven years of so great scarcity,
that all the abundance before shall be forgotten: for the famine shall
consume all the land,
41:31. And the greatness of the scarcity shall destroy the greatness
of the plenty.
41:32. And for that thou didst see the second time a dream
pertaining to the same thing: it is a token of the certainty, and that the
word of God cometh to pass, and is ful illed speedily.
41:33. Now therefore let the king provide a wise and industrious
man, and make him ruler over the land of Egypt:
41:34. That he may appoint overseers over all the countries: and
gather into barns the ifth part of the fruits, during the seven fruitful
years,

 41:35. That shall now presently ensue: and let all the corn be laid
up, under Pharao’s hands, and be reserved in the cities.
41:36. And let it be in readiness, against the famine of seven years to
come, which shall oppress Egypt, and the land shall not be consumed
with scarcity.
41:37. The counsel pleased Pharao, and all his servants.
41:38. And he said to them: Can we ind such another man, that is
full of the spirit of God?
41:39. He said therefore to Joseph: Seeing God hath shewn thee all
that thou hast said, can I ind one wiser and one like unto thee?
41:40. Thou shalt be over my house, and at the commandment of thy
mouth all the people shall obey: only in the kingly throne will I be
above thee.
41:41. And again Pharao said to Joseph: Behold, I have appointed
thee over the whole land of Egypt.
41:42. And he took his ring from his own hand, and gave it into his
hand: and he put upon him a robe of silk, and put a chain of gold
about his neck.
41:43. And he made him go up into his second chariot, the crier
proclaiming that all should bow their knee before him, and that they
should know he was made governor over the whole land of Egypt.
41:44. And the king said to Joseph: I am Pharao: without thy
commandment no man shall move hand or foot in all the land of
Egypt.
41:45. And he turned his name, and called him in the Egyptian
tongue the saviour of the world. And he gave him to wife Aseneth, the
daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis. Then Joseph went out to
the land of Egypt.
The saviour of the world.... Zaphnah paaneah.
41:46. (Now he was thirty years old when he stood before king
Pharao), and he went round all the countries of Egypt.

 41:47. And the fruitfulness of the seven years came: and the corn
being bound up into sheaves, was gathered together into the barns of
Egypt.
41:48. And all the abundance of grain was laid up in every city.
41:49. And there was so great abundance of wheat, that it was
equal to the sand of the sea, and the plenty exceeded measure.
41:50. And before the famine came, Joseph had two sons born:
whom Aseneth, the daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis, bore
unto him.
41:51. And he called the name of the irstborn Manasses, saying:
God hath made me to forget all my labours, and my father’s house.
Manasses.... That is, oblivion, or forgetting.
41:52. And he named the second Ephraim, saying: God hath made
me to grow in the land of my poverty.
Ephraim.... That is, fruitful, or growing.
41:53. Now when the seven years of plenty that had been in Egypt
were passed:
41:54. The seven years of scarcity, which Joseph had foretold, began
to come: and the famine prevailed in the whole world, but there was
bread in all the land of Egypt.
41:55. And when there also they began to be famished, the people
cried to Pharao, for food. And he said to them: Go to Joseph: and do all
that he shall say to you.
41:56. And the famine increased daily in all the land: and Joseph
opened all the barns, and sold to the Egyptians: for the famine had
oppressed them also.
41:57. And all provinces came into Egypt, to buy food, and to seek
some relief of their want.

 Genesis Chapter 42

Jacob sendeth his ten sons to buy corn in Egypt. Their treatment by
Joseph.
42:1. And Jacob hearing that food was sold in Egypt, said to his sons:
Why are ye careless?
42:2. I have heard that wheat is sold in Egypt: Go ye down, and buy
us necessaries, that we may live, and not be consumed with want.
42:3. So the ten brethren of Joseph went down, to buy corn in Egypt:
42:4. Whilst Benjamin was kept at home by Jacob, who said to his
brethren: Lest perhaps he take any harm in the journey.
42:5. And they entered into the land of Egypt with others that went
to buy. For the famine was in the land of Chanaan.
42:6. And Joseph was governor in the land of Egypt, and corn was
sold by his direction to the people. And when his brethren had bowed
down to him,
42:7. And he knew them, he spoke as it were to strangers, somewhat
roughly, asking them: Whence came you? They answered: From the
land of Chanaan, to buy necessaries of life.
42:8. And though he knew his brethren, he was not known by them.
42:9. And remembering the dreams, which formerly he had
dreamed, he said to them: You are spies. You are come to view the
weaker parts of the land.
You are spies.... This he said by way of examining them, to see what they would
answer.
42:10. But they said: It is not so, my lord; but thy servants are come
to buy food.
42:11. We are all the sons of one man: we are come as peaceable
men, neither do thy servants go about any evil.
42:12. And he answered them: It is otherwise: you are come to
consider the unfenced parts of this land.

 42:13. But they said: We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons
of one man in the land of Chanaan: the youngest is with our father, the
other is not living.
42:14. He saith, This is it that I said: You are spies.
42:15. I shall now presently try what you are: by the health of
Pharao, you shall not depart hence, until your youngest brother come.
42:16. Send one of you to fetch him: and you shall be in prison, till
what you have said be proved, whether it be true or false: or else by
the health of Pharao you are spies.
Or else by the health of Pharao you are spies.... That is, if these things you say be
proved false, you are to be held for spies for your lying, and shall be treated as
such. Joseph dealt in this manner with his brethren, to bring them by the means
of af liction to a sense of their former sin, and a sincere repentance for it.
42:17. So he put them in prison three days.
42:18. And the third day he brought them out of prison, and said: Do
as I have said, and you shall live: for I fear God.
42:19. If you be peaceable men, let one of your brethren be bound in
prison: and go ye your ways, and carry the corn that you have bought,
unto your houses.
42:20. And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may ind your
words to be true, and you may not die. They did as he had said.
42:21. And they talked one to another: We deserve to suffer these
things, because we have sinned against our brother, seeing the
anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear:
therefore is this af liction come upon us.
42:22. And Ruben, one of them, said: Did not I say to you: Do not sin
against the boy; and you would not hear me? Behold his blood is
required.
42:23. And they knew not that Joseph understood, because he spoke
to them by an interpreter.
42:24. And he turned himself away a little while, and wept: and
returning, he spoke to them.
f

 42:25. And taking Simeon, and binding him in their presence, he

commanded his servants to ill their sacks with wheat, and to put
every man’s money again in their sacks, and to give them besides
provisions for the way: and they did so.
42:26. But they having loaded their asses with the corn went their
way.
42:27. And one of them opening his sack, to give his beast provender
in the inn, saw the money in the sack’s mouth,
42:28. And said to his brethren: My money is given me again; behold
it is in the sack. And they were astonished, and troubled, and said to
one another: What is this that God hath done unto us?
42:29. And they came to Jacob their father in the land of Chanaan,
and they told him all things that had befallen them, saying:
42:30. The lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us to be
spies of the country.
42:31. And we answered him: We are peaceable men, and we mean
no plot.
42:32. We are twelve brethren born of one father: one is not living,
the youngest is with our father in the land of Chanaan.
42:33. And he said to us: Hereby shall I know that you are peaceable
men: Leave one of your brethren with me, and take ye necessary
provision for your houses, and go your ways,
42:34. And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may know you
are not spies: and you may receive this man again, that is kept in
prison: and afterwards may have leave to buy what you will.
42:35. When they had told this, they poured out their corn, and
every man found his money tied in the mouth of his sack: and all being
astonished together,
42:36. Their father Jacob said: You have made me to be without
children: Joseph is not living, Simeon is kept in bonds, and Benjamin
you will take away: all these evils are fallen upon me.

 42:37. And Ruben answered him: Kill my two sons, if I bring him not
again to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will restore him to thee.
42:38. But he said: My son shall not go down with you: his brother is
dead, and he is left alone: if any mischief befall him in the land to
which you go, you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to hell.
To hell.... That is, to that place, where the souls then remained, as above, chapter
37. ver. 35.
Genesis Chapter 43

The sons of Jacob go again into Egypt with Benjamin. They are
entertained by Joseph.
43:1. In the mean time the famine was heavy upon all the land.
43:2. And when they had eaten up all the corn, which they had
brought out of Egypt, Jacob said to his sons: Go again, and buy us a
little food.
43:3. Juda answered: The man declared unto us with the attestation
of an oath, saying: You shall not see my face, unless you bring your
youngest brother with you.
43:4. If therefore thou wilt send him with us, we will set out
together, and will buy necessaries for thee.
43:5. But if thou wilt not, we will not go: for the man, as we have
often said, declared unto us, saying: You shall not see my face without
your youngest brother.
43:6. Israel said to them: You have done this for my misery, in that
you told him you had also another brother.
43:7. But they answered: The man asked us in order concerning our
kindred: if our father lived: if we had a brother: and we answered him
regularly, according to what he demanded: could we know that he
would say: Bring hither your brother with you?
43:8. And Juda said to his father: Send the boy with me, that we may
set forward, and may live: lest both we and our children perish.

 43:9. I take the boy upon me, require him at my hand: unless I bring
him again, and restore him to thee, I will be guilty of sin against thee
for ever.
43:10. If delay had not been made, we had been here again the
second time.
43:11. Then Israel said to them: If it must needs be so, do what you
will: take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down
presents to the man, a little balm, and honey, and storax, myrrh,
turpentine, and almonds.
Balm.... Literally rosin, resinae; but here by that name is meant balm.
43:12. And take with you double money, and carry back what you
found in your sacks, lest perhaps it was done by mistake.
43:13. And take also your brother, and go to the man.
43:14. And may my almighty God make him favourable to you: and
send back with you your brother, whom he keepeth, and this Benjamin:
and as for me I shall be desolate without children.
43:15. So the men took the presents, and double money, and
Benjamin: and went down into Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
43:16. And when he had seen them, and Benjamin with them, he
commanded the steward of his house, saying: Bring in the men into the
house, and kill victims, and prepare a feast: because they shall eat with
me at noon.
43:17. He did as he was commanded, and brought the men into the
house.
43:18. And they being much afraid, said there one to another:
Because of the money, which we carried back the irst time in our
sacks, we are brought in: that he may bring upon us a false accusation,
and by violence make slaves of us and our asses.
43:19. Wherefore, going up to the steward of the house, at the door,
43:20. They said: Sir, we desire thee to hear us. We came down once
before to buy food:

 43:21. And when we had bought, and were come to the inn, we
opened our sacks, and found our money in the mouths of the sacks:
which we have now brought again in the same weight.
43:22. And we have brought other money besides, to buy what we
want: we cannot tell who put it in our bags.
43:23. But he answered: Peace be with you, fear not: your God, and
the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks. For the
money, which you gave me, I have for good. And he brought Simeon
out to them.
43:24. And having brought them into the house, he fetched water,
and they washed their feet, and he gave provender to their asses.
43:25. But they made ready the presents, against Joseph came at
noon: for they had heard that they should eat bread there.
43:26. Then Joseph came in to his house, and they offered him the
presents, holding them in their hands; and they bowed down with their
face to the ground.
43:27. But he courteously saluting them again, asked them, saying:
Is the old man your father in health, of whom you told me? Is he yet
living?
43:28. And they answered: Thy servant our father, is in health; he is
yet living. And bowing themselves, they made obeisance to him.
43:29. And Joseph lifting up his eyes, saw Benjamin, his brother by
the same mother, and said: Is this your young brother, of whom you
told me? And he said: God be gracious to thee, my son.
43:30. And he made haste, because his heart was moved upon his
brother, and tears gushed out: and going into his chamber, he wept.
43:31. And when he had washed his face, coming out again, he
refrained himself, and said: Set bread on the table.
43:32. And when it was set on, for Joseph apart, and for his brethren
apart, for the Egyptians also that ate with him apart, (for it is
unlawful for the Egyptians to eat with the Hebrews, and they think
such a feast profane):

 43:33. They sat before him, the irstborn according to his birthright,
and the youngest according to his age. And they wondered very much;
43:34. Taking the messes which they received of him: and the
greater mess came to Benjamin, so that it exceeded by ive parts. And
they drank, and were merry with him.
Genesis Chapter 44

Joseph’s contrivance to stop his brethren. The humble supplication of

Juda.
44:1. And Joseph commanded the steward of his house, saying: Fill
their sacks with corn, as much as they can hold: and put the money of
every one in the top of his sack.
44:2. And in the mouth of the younger’s sack put my silver cup, and
the price which he gave for the wheat. And it was so done.
44:3. And when the morning arose, they were sent away with their
asses.
44:4. And when they were now departed out of the city, and had
gone forward a little way: Joseph sending for the steward of his house,
said: Arise, and pursue after the men: and when thou hast overtaken
them, say to them: Why have you returned evil for good?
44:5. The cup which you have stolen, is that in which my lord
drinketh, and in which he is wont to divine: you have done a very evil
thing.
44:6. He did as he had commanded him. And having overtaken them,
he spoke to them the same words.
44:7. And they answered: Why doth our lord speak so, as though thy
servants had committed so heinous a fact?
44:8. The money, that we found in the top of our sacks, we brought
back to thee from the land of Chanaan: how then should it be that we
should steal out of thy lord’s house, gold or silver?

 44:9. With whomsoever of thy servants shall be found that which

thou seekest, let him die, and we will be the bondmen of my lord.
44:10. And he said to them: Let it be according to your sentence:
with whomsoever it shall be found, let him be my servant, and you
shall be blameless.
44:11. Then they speedily took down their sacks to the ground, and
every man opened his sack.
44:12. Which when he had searched, beginning at the eldest, and
ending at the youngest, he found the cup in Benjamin’s sack.
44:13. Then they rent their garments, and loading their asses again,
returned into the town.
44:14. And Juda at the head of his brethren went in to Joseph (for he
was not yet gone out of the place) and they all together fell down
before him on the ground.
44:15. And he said to them: Why would you do so? know you not
that there is no one like me in the science of divining.
The science of divining.... He speaks of himself according to what he was
esteemed in that kingdom. And indeed, he being truly a prophet, knew more
without comparison than any of the Egyptian sorcerers.
44:16. And Juda said to him: What shall we answer my lord? or what
shall we say, or be able justly to allege? God hath found out the
iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are all bondmen to my lord, both
we, and he with whom the cup was found.
44:17. Joseph answered: God forbid that I should do so: he that stole
the cup, he shall be my bondman: and go you away free to your father.
44:18. Then Juda coming nearer, said boldly: I beseech thee, my lord,
let thy servant speak a word in thy ears, and be not angry with thy
servant: for after Pharao thou art.
44:19. My lord. Thou didst ask thy servants the irst time: Have you
a father or a brother.
44:20. And we answered thee, my lord: We have a father an old man,
and a young boy, that was born in his old age; whose brother by the

 mother is dead; and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth
him tenderly.
44:21. And thou saidst to thy servants: Bring him hither to me, and I
will set my eyes on him.
44:22. We suggested to my lord: The boy cannot leave his father: for
if he leave him, he will die.
44:23. And thou saidst to thy servants: Except your youngest brother
come with you, you shall see my face no more.
44:24. Therefore when we were gone up to thy servant our father,
we told him all that my lord had said.
44:25. And our father said: Go again, and buy us a little wheat.
44:26. And we said to him: We cannot go: if our youngest brother go
down with us, we will set out together: otherwise, without him we
dare not see the man’s face.
44:27. Whereunto he answered: You know that my wife bore me
two.
44:28. One went out, and you said: A beast devoured him; and
hitherto he appeareth not.
44:29. If you take this also, and any thing befall him in the way, you
will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow unto hell.
44:30. Therefore, if I shall go to thy servant, our father, and the boy
be wanting, (whereas his life dependeth upon the life of him,)
44:31. And he shall see that he is not with us, he will die, and thy
servants shall bring down his grey hairs with sorrow unto hell.
His gray hairs.... That is, his person, now far advanced in years.—With sorrow
unto hell.... The Hebrew word for hell is here sheol, the Greek hades: it is not
taken for the hell of the damned; but for that place of souls below where the
servants of God were kept before the coming of Christ. Which place, both in the
Scripture and in the creed, is named hell.
44:32. Let me be thy proper servant, who took him into my trust,
and promised, saying: If I bring him not again, I will be guilty of sin
against my father for ever.

 44:33. Therefore I, thy servant, will stay instead of the boy in the
service of my lord, and let the boy go up with his brethren.
44:34. For I cannot return to my father without the boy, lest I be a
witness of the calamity that will oppress my father.
Genesis Chapter 45

Joseph maketh himself known to his brethren: and sendeth for his
father.
45:1. Joseph could no longer refrain himself before many that stood
by: whereupon he commanded that all should go out, and no stranger
be present at their knowing one another.
45:2. And he lifted up his voice with weeping, which the Egyptians,
and all the house of Pharao heard.
45:3. And he said to his brethren: I am Joseph: Is my father yet
living? His brethren could not answer him, being struck with exceeding
great fear.
45:4. And he said mildly to them: Come nearer to me. And when they
were come near him, he said: I am Joseph, your brother, whom you
sold into Egypt.
45:5. Be not afraid, and let it not seem to you a hard case that you
sold me into these countries: for God sent me before you into Egypt for
your preservation.
45:6. For it is two years since the famine began to be upon the land,
and ive years more remain, wherein there can be neither ploughing
nor reaping.
45:7. And God sent me before, that you may be preserved upon the
earth, and may have food to live.
45:8. Not by your counsel was I sent hither, but by the will of God:
who hath made me as it were a father to Pharao, and lord of his whole
house, and governor in all the land of Egypt.
f

 45:9. Make haste, and go ye up to my father, and say to him: Thus

saith thy son Joseph: God hath made me lord of the whole land of
Egypt; come down to me, linger not.
45:10. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Gessen: and thou shalt be
near me, thou and thy sons, and thy sons’ sons, thy sheep, and thy
herds, and all things that thou hast.
45:11. And there I will feed thee, (for there are yet ive years of
famine remaining) lest both thou perish, and thy house, and all things
that thou hast.
45:12. Behold, your eyes, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, see
that it is my mouth that speaketh to you.
45:13. You shall tell my father of all my glory, and all things that you
have seen in Egypt: make haste and bring him to me.
45:14. And falling upon the neck of his brother Benjamin, he
embraced him and wept: and Benjamin in like manner wept also on
his neck.
45:15. And Joseph kissed all his brethren, and wept upon every one
of them: after which they were emboldened to speak to him.
45:16. And it was heard, and the fame was spread abroad in the
king’s court: The brethren of Joseph are come; and Pharao with all his
family was glad.
45:17. And he spoke to Joseph that he should give orders to his
brethren, saying: Load your beasts, and go into the land of Chanaan,
45:18. And bring away from thence your father and kindred, and
come to me; and I will give you all the good things of Egypt, that you
may eat the marrow of the land.
45:19. Give orders also that they take wagons out of the land of
Egypt, for the carriage of their children and their wives; and say: Take
up your father, and make haste to come with all speed:
45:20. And leave nothing of your household stuff; for all the riches of
Egypt shall be yours.

 45:21. And the sons of Israel did as they were bid. And Joseph gave
them wagons according to Pharao’s commandment: and provisions for
the way.
45:22. He ordered also to be brought out for every one of them two
robes: but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, with ive
robes of the best:
45:23. Sending to his father as much money and raiment; adding
besides, ten he-asses, to carry off all the riches of Egypt, and as many
she-asses, carrying wheat and bread for the journey.
45:24. So he sent away his brethren, and at their departing said to
them: Be not angry in the way.
45:25. And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of
Chanaan, to their father Jacob.
45:26. And they told him, saying: Joseph, thy son, is living; and he is
ruler in all the land of Egypt. Which when Jacob heard, he awaked as it
were out of a deep sleep, yet did not believe them.
45:27. They, on the other side, told the whole order of the thing. And
when he saw the wagons, and all that he had sent, his spirit revived,
45:28. And he said: It is enough for me if Joseph, my son, be yet
living: I will go and see him before I die.
Genesis Chapter 46

Israel, warranted by a vision from God, goeth down into Egypt with all
his family.
46:1. And Israel taking his journey, with all that he had, came to the
well of the oath, and killing victims there to the God of his father Isaac,
The well of the oath.... Bersabee.
46:2. He heard him, by a vision in the night, calling him, and saying
to him: Jacob, Jacob. And he answered him: Lo, here I am.
46:3. God said to him: I am the most mighty God of thy father; fear
not, go down into Egypt, for I will make a great nation of thee there.

 46:4. I will go down with thee thither, and will bring thee back
again from thence: Joseph also shall put his hands upon thy eyes.
46:5. And Jacob rose up from the well of the oath: and his sons took
him up, with their children and wives in the wagons, which Pharao
had sent to carry the old man,
46:6. And all that he had in the land of Chanaan: and he came into
Egypt with all his seed;
46:7. His sons, and grandsons, daughters, and all his offspring
together.
46:8. And these are the names of the children of Israel, that entered
into Egypt, he and his children. His irstborn Ruben,
46:9. The sons of Ruben: Henoch and Phallu, and Hesron and
Charmi.
46:10. The sons of Simeon: Jamuel and Jamin and Ahod, and Jachin
and Sohar, and Saul, the son of a woman of Chanaan.
46:11. The sons of Levi: Gerson and Caath, and Merari.
46:12. The sons of Juda: Her and Onan, and Sela, and Phares and
Zara. And Her and Onan died in the land of Chanaan. And sons were
born to Phares: Hesron and Hamul.
46:13. The sons of Issachar: Thola and Phua, and Job and Semron.
46:14. The sons of Zabulon: Sared, and Elon, and Jahelel.
46:15. These are the sons of Lia, whom she bore in Mesopotamia of
Syria, with Dina, his daughter. All the souls of her sons and daughters,
thirty-three.
46:16. The sons of Gad: Sephion and Haggi, and Suni and Esebon,
and Heri and Arodi, and Areli.
46:17. The sons of Aser: Jamne and Jesua, and Jessuri and Beria, and
Sara their sister. The sons of Beria: Heber and Melchiel.
46:18. These are the sons of Zelpha, whom Laban gave to Lia, his
daughter. And these she bore to Jacob, sixteen souls.
46:19. The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin.

 46:20. And sons were born to Joseph, in the land of Egypt, whom
Aseneth, the daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis, bore him:
Manasses and Ephraim.
46:21. The sons of Benjamin: Bela and Bechor, and Asbel and Gera,
and Naaman and Echi, and Ross and Mophim, and Ophim and Ared.
46:22. These are the sons of Rachel, whom she bore to Jacob: all the
souls, fourteen.
46:23. The sons of Dan: Husim.
46:24. The sons of Nephthali: Jaziel and Guni, and Jeser and Sallem.
46:25. These are the sons of Bala, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his
daughter: and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls, seven.
46:26. All the souls that went with Jacob into Egypt, and that came
out of his thigh, besides his sons’ wives, sixty-six.
46:27. And the sons of Joseph, that were born to him in the land of
Egypt, two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, that entered into
Egypt, were seventy.
46:28. And he sent Juda before him to Joseph, to tell him; and that he
should meet him in Gessen.
46:29. And when he was come thither, Joseph made ready his
chariot, and went up to meet his father in the same place: and seeing
him, he fell upon his neck, and embracing him, wept.
46:30. And the father said to Joseph: Now shall I die with joy,
because I have seen thy face, and leave thee alive.
46:31. And Joseph said to his brethren, and to all his father’s house: I
will go up, and will tell Pharao, and will say to him: My brethren, and
my father’s house, that were in the land of Chanaan, are come to me:
46:32. And the men are shepherds, and their occupation is to feed
cattle; their locks, and herds, and all they have, they have brought
with them.
46:33. And when he shall call you, and shall say: What is your
occupation?

 46:34. You shall answer: We, thy servants, are shepherds, from our
infancy until now, both we and our fathers. And this you shall say, that
you may dwell in the land of Gessen, because the Egyptians have all
shepherds in abomination.
Genesis Chapter 47

Jacob and his sons are presented before Pharao: he giveth them the
land of Gessen. The famine forceth the Egyptians to sell all their
possessions to the king.
47:1. Then Joseph went in and told Pharao, saying: My father and
brethren, their sheep and their herds, and all that they possess, are
come out of the land of Chanaan: and behold they stay in the land of
Gessen.
47:2. Five men also, the last of his brethren, he presented before the
king:
The last ... xtremos. Some interpret this word of the chiefest, and most rightly:
but Joseph seems rather to have chosen out such as had the meanest
appearance, that Pharao might not think of employing them at court, with
danger of their morals and religion.
47:3. And he asked them: What is your occupation? They answered:
We, thy servants, are shepherds, both we and our fathers.
47:4. We are come to sojourn in thy land, because there is no grass
for the locks of thy servants, the famine being very grievous in the
land of Chanaan: and we pray thee to give orders that we thy servants
may be in the land of Gessen.
47:5. The king therefore said to Joseph: Thy father and thy brethren
are come to thee.
47:6. The land of Egypt is before thee: and make them dwell in the
best place, and give them the land of Gessen. And if thou knowest that
there are industrious men among them, make them rulers over my
cattle.

 47:7. After this Joseph brought in his father to the king, and
presented him before him: and he blessed him.
47:8. And being asked by him: How many are the days of the years of
thy life?
47:9. He answered: The days of my pilgrimage are a hundred and
thirty years, few, and evil, and they are not come up to the days of the
pilgrimage of my fathers.
47:10. And blessing the king, he went out.
47:11. But Joseph gave a possession to his father and his brethren in
Egypt, in the best place of the land, in Ramesses, as Pharao had
commanded.
47:12. And he nourished them, and all his father’s house, allowing
food to every one.
47:13. For in the whole world there was want of bread, and a famine
had oppressed the land, more especially of Egypt and Chanaan;
47:14. Out of which he gathered up all the money for the corn which
they bought, and brought it in to the king’s treasure.
47:15. And when the buyers wanted money, all Egypt came to
Joseph, saying: Give us bread: why should we die in thy presence,
having now no money?
47:16. And he answered them: Bring me your cattle, and for them I
will give you food, if you have no money.
47:17. And when they had brought them, he gave them food in
exchange for their horses, and sheep, and oxen, and asses: and he
maintained them that year for the exchange of their cattle.
47:18. And they came the second year, and said to him: We will not
hide from our lord, how that our money is spent, and our cattle also
are gone: neither art thou ignorant that we have nothing now left but
our bodies and our lands.

 47:19. Why therefore shall we die before thy eyes? we will be thine,
both we and our lands: buy us to be the king’s servants, and give us
seed, lest for want of tillers the land be turned into a wilderness.
47:20. So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt, every man selling his
possessions, because of the greatness of the famine. And he brought it
into Pharao’s hands:
47:21. And all its people from one end of the borders of Egypt, even
to the other end thereof,
47:22. Except the land of the priests, which had been given them by
the king: to whom also a certain allowance of food was given out of
the public stores, and therefore they were not forced to sell their
possessions.
47:23. Then Joseph said to the people: Behold, as you see, both you
and your lands belong to Pharao; take seed and sow the ields,
47:24. That you may have corn. The ifth part you shall give to the
king; the other four you shall have for seed, and for food for your
families and children.
47:25. And they answered: our life is in thy hand; only let my lord
look favourably upon us, and we will gladly serve the king.
47:26. From that time unto this day, in the whole land of Egypt, the
ifth part is paid to the kings, and it is become as a law, except the land
of the priests, which was free from this covenant.
47:27. So Israel dwelt in Egypt, that is, in the land of Gessen, and
possessed it; and grew, and was multiplied exceedingly.
47:28. And he lived in it seventeen years: and all the days of his life
came to a hundred and forty-seven years.
47:29. And when he saw that the day of his death drew nigh, he
called his son Joseph, and said to him: If I have found favour in thy
sight, put thy hand under my thigh; and thou shalt shew me this
kindness and truth, not to bury me in Egypt.
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 47:30. But I will sleep with my fathers, and thou shalt take me away
out of this land, and bury me in the burying place of my ancestors. And
Joseph answered him: I will do what thou hast commanded.
47:31. And he said: Swear then to me. And as he was swearing,
Israel adored God, turning to the bed’s head.
To the bed’s head.... St. Paul, Heb. 11.21, following the Greek translation of the
Septuagint, reads adored the top of his rod. Where note, that the same word in
the Hebrew, according to the different pointing of it, signi ies both a bed and a
rod. And to verify both these sentences, we must understand that Jacob leaning
on Joseph’s rod adored, turning towards the head of his bed: which adoration,
inasmuch as it was referred to God, was an absolute and sovereign worship: but
inasmuch as it was referred to the rod of Joseph, as a igure of the sceptre, that
is, of the royal dignity of Christ, was only an inferior and relative honour.
Genesis Chapter 48

Joseph visiteth his father in his sickness, who adopteth his two sons
Manasses and Ephraim, and blesseth them, preferring the younger
before the elder.
48:1. After these things, it was told Joseph that his father was sick;
and he set out to go to him, taking his two sons Manasses and
Ephraim.
48:2. And it was told the old man: Behold thy son Joseph cometh to
thee. And being strengthened, he sat on his bed.
48:3. And when Joseph was come in to him, he said: God almighty
appeared to me at Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, and he
blessed me,
48:4. And said: I will cause thee to increase and multiply, and I will
make of thee a multitude of people: and I will give this land to thee,
and to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.
48:5. So thy two sons, who were born to thee in the land of Egypt
before I came hither to thee, shall be mine: Ephraim and Manasses
shall be reputed to me as Ruben and Simeon.

 48:6. But the rest whom thou shalt have after them, shall be thine,
and shall be called by the name of their brethren in their possessions.
48:7. For, when I came out of Mesopotamia, Rachel died from me in
the land of Chanaan in the very journey, and it was spring time: and I
was going to Ephrata, and I buried her near the way of Ephrata, which
by another name is called Bethlehem.
48:8. Then seeing his sons, he said to him: Who are these?
48:9. He answered: They are my sons, whom God hath given me in
this place. And he said: Bring them to me, that I may bless them.
48:10. For Israel’s eyes were dim by reason of his great age, and he
could not see clearly. And when they were brought to him, he kissed
and embraced them,
48:11. And said to his son: I am not deprived of seeing thee;
moreover God hath shewn me thy seed.
48:12. And when Joseph had taken them from his father’s lap, he
bowed down with his face to the ground.
48:13. And he set Ephraim on his right hand, that is, towards the left
hand of Israel; but Manasses on his left hand, to wit, towards his
father’s right hand, and brought them near to him.
48:14. But he, stretching forth his right hand, put it upon the head
of Ephraim, the younger brother; and the left upon the head of
Manasses, who was the elder, changing his hands.
48:15. And Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, and said: God, in whose
sight my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, God that feedeth me from
my youth until this day:
48:16. The angel that delivereth me from all evils, bless these boys:
and let my name be called upon them, and the names of my fathers
Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude upon the
earth.
48:17. And Joseph seeing that his father had put his right hand upon
the head of Ephraim, was much displeased: and taking his father’s

 hand, he tried to lift it from Ephraim’s head, and to remove it to the

head of Manasses.
48:18. And he said to his father: It should not be so, my father; for
this is the irstborn, put thy right hand upon his head.
48:19. But he refusing, said: I know, my son, I know: and this also
shall become a people, and shall be multiplied; but his younger brother
shall be greater than he; and his seed shall grow into nations.
48:20. And he blessed them at that time, saying: In thee shall Israel
be blessed, and it shall be said: God do to thee as to Ephraim, and as to
Manasses. And he set Ephraim before Manasses.
48:21. And he said to Joseph, his son: Behold I die, and God will be
with you, and will bring you back into the land of your fathers.
48:22. I give thee a portion above thy brethren, which I took out of
the hand of the Amorrhite with my sword and bow.
Genesis Chapter 49

Jacob’s prophetical blessings of his twelve sons: his death.

49:1. And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves
together, that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last
days.
49:2. Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob,
hearken to Israel, your father:
49:3. Ruben, my irstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning
of my sorrow; excelling in gifts, greater in command.
My strength, etc.... He calls him his strength, as being born whilst his father was
in his full strength and vigour: he calls him the beginning of his sorrow, because
cares and sorrows usually come on with the birth of children. Excelling in gifts,
etc., because the irstborn had a title to a double portion, and to have the
command over his brethren, which Ruben forfeited by his sin; being poured out
as water, that is, spilt and lost.
49:4. Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not; because thou
wentest up to thy father’s bed, and didst de ile his couch.

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 Grow thou not.... This was not meant by way of a curse or imprecation; but by
way of a prophecy foretelling that the tribe of Ruben should not inherit the pre-
eminences usually annexed to the irst birthright, viz., the double portion, the
being prince or lord over the other brethren, and the priesthood: of which the
double portion was given to Joseph, the princely of ice to Juda, and the
priesthood to Levi.
49:5. Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity waging war.
49:6. Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their
assembly: because in their fury they slew a man, and in their self-will
they undermined a wall.
Slew a man, ... viz., Sichem the son of Hemor, with all his people, Gen. 34.;
mystically and prophetically it alludes to Christ, whom their posterity, viz., the
priests and the scribes, put to death.
49:7. Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath,
because it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them
in Israel.
49:8. Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hand shall be on the
necks of thy enemies; the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.
49:9. Juda is a lion’s whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up:
resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse
him?
A lion’s whelp, etc.... This blessing of Juda foretelleth the strength of his tribe, the
fertility of his inheritance; and principally that the sceptre and legislative power
should not be utterly taken away from his race till about the time of the coming
of Christ: as in effect it never was: which is a demonstration against the modern
Jews, that the Messiah is long since come; for the sceptre has long since been
utterly taken away from Juda.
49:10. The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler
from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the
expectation of nations.
49:11. Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, O my son, to the
vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of
the grape.

 49:12. His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter
than milk.
49:13. Zabulon shall dwell on the seashore, and in the road of ships,
reaching as far as Sidon.
49:14. Issachar shall be a strong ass, lying down between the
borders.
49:15. He saw rest that it was good: and the land that it was
excellent: and he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant
under tribute.
49:16. Dan shall judge his people like another tribe in Israel.
Dan shall judge, etc.... This was veri ied in Samson, who was of the tribe of Dan,
and began to deliver Israel. Judges 13.5. But as this deliverance was but temporal
and very imperfect, the holy patriarch (ver. 18) aspires after another kind of
deliverer, saying: I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.
49:17. Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that
biteth the horse’s heels, that his rider may fall backward.
49:18. I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.
49:19. Gad, being girded, shall ight before him: and he himself shall
be girded backward.
Gad being girded, etc.... It seems to allude to the tribe of Gad; when after they
had received for their lot the land of Galaad, they marched in arms before the
rest of the Israelites, to the conquest of the land of Chanaan: from whence they
afterwards returned loaded with spoils. See Jos. 4. and 12.
49:20. Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to
kings.
49:21. Nephthali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.
49:22. Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold:
the daughters run to and fro upon the wall;
Run to and fro, etc.... To behold his beauty; whilst his envious brethren turned
their darts against him, etc.
49:23. But they that held darts, provoked him, and quarrelled with
him, and envied him.

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 49:24. His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms
and his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob:
thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel.
His bow rested upon the strong, etc.... That is, upon God, who was his strength:
who also loosed his bands, and brought him out of prison to be the pastor, that is,
the feeder and ruler of Egypt, and the stone, that is, the rock and support of
Israel.
49:25. The God of thy father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty
shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings
of the deep that lieth beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of
the womb.
49:26. The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the
blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should
come: may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the
Nazarite among his brethren.
The blessings of thy father, etc.... That is, thy father’s blessings are made more
prevalent and effectual in thy regard, by the additional strength they receive
from his inheriting the blessings of his progenitors Abraham and Isaac. The
desire of the everlasting hills, etc.... These blessings all looked forward towards
Christ, called the desire of the everlasting hills, as being longed for, as it were, by
the whole creation. Mystically, the patriarchs and prophets are called the
everlasting hills, by reason of the eminence of their wisdom and holiness. The
Nazarite.... This word signi ies one separated; and agrees to Joseph, as being
separated from, and more eminent than, his brethren. As the ancient Nazarites
were so called from their being set aside for God, and vowed to him.
49:27. Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey,
and in the evening shall divide the spoil.
49:28. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their
father spoke to them, and he blessed every one with their proper
blessings.
49:29. And he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered
to my people: bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in
the ield of Ephron the Hethite,
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 To be gathered to my people.... That is, I am going to die, and so to follow my

ancestors that are gone before me, and to join their company in another world.
49:30. Over against Mambre, in the land of Chanaan, which
Abraham bought together with the ield, of Ephron the Hethite, for a
possession to bury in.
49:31. There they buried him, and Sara his wife: there was Isaac
buried with Rebecca, his wife: there also Lia doth lie buried.
49:32. And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he
instructed his sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died: and he
was gathered to his people.
Genesis Chapter 50

The mourning for Jacob, and his interment. Joseph’s kindness towards
his brethren. His death.
50:1. And when Joseph saw this, he fell upon his father’s face,
weeping and kissing him.
50:2. And he commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his
father.
50:3. And while they were ful illing his commands, there passed
forty days: for this was the manner with bodies that were embalmed,
and Egypt mourned for him seventy days.
50:4. And the time of the mourning being expired, Joseph spoke to
the family of Pharao: If I have found favour in your sight, speak in the
ears of Pharao:
50:5. For my father made me swear to him, saying: Behold I die;
thou shalt bury me in my sepulchre which I have digged for myself in
the land of Chanaan. So I will go up and bury my father, and return.
50:6. And Pharao said to him: Go up and bury thy father according
as he made thee swear.
50:7. So he went up, and there went with him all the ancients of
Pharao’s house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt.

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 50:8. And the house of Joseph with his brethren, except their
children, and their locks and herds, which they left in the land of
Gessen.
50:9. He had also in his train chariots and horsemen: and it was a
great company.
50:10. And they came to the threshing loor of Atad, which is
situated beyond the Jordan: where celebrating the exequies with a
great and vehement lamentation, they spent full seven days.
50:11. And when the inhabitants of Chanaan saw this, they said:
This is a great mourning to the Egyptians. And therefore the name of
that place was called, The mourning of Egypt.
50:12. So the sons of Jacob did as he had commanded them.
50:13. And carrying him into the land of Chanaan, they buried him
in the double cave, which Abraham had bought together with the ield
for a possession of a burying place, of Ephron, the Hethite, over
against Mambre.
50:14. And Joseph returned into Egypt with his brethren, and all
that were in his company, after he had buried his father.
50:15. Now he being dead, his brethren were afraid, and talked one
with another: Lest perhaps he should remember the wrong he
suffered, and requite us all the evil that we did to him.
50:16. And they sent a message to him, saying: Thy father
commanded us before he died,
50:17. That we should say thus much to thee from him: I beseech
thee to forget the wickedness of thy brethren, and the sin and malice
they practised against thee: we also pray thee, to forgive the servants
of the God of thy father this wickedness. And when Joseph heard this,
he wept.
50:18. And his brethren came to him; and worshipping prostrate on
the ground, they said: We are thy servants.
50:19. And he answered them: Fear not: can we resist the will of
God?

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 50:20. You thought evil against me: but God turned it into good, that
he might exalt me, as at present you see, and might save many people.
50:21. Fear not: I will feed you and your children. And he comforted
them, and spoke gently and mildly.
50:22. And he dwelt in Egypt with all his father’s house; and lived a
hundred and ten years. And he saw the children of Ephraim to the
third generation. The children also of Machir, the sons of Manasses,
were born on Joseph’s knees.
50:23. After which he told his brethren: God will visit you after my
death, and will make you go up out of this land, to the land which he
swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
50:24. And he made them swear to him, saying: God will visit you,
carry my bones with you out of this place:
50:25. And he died, being a hundred and ten years old. And being
embalmed, he was laid in a cof in in Egypt.

THE BOOK OF EXODUS

The Second Book of Moses is called EXODUS, from the Greek word
EXODOS, which signi ies going out: because it contains the history of
the going out of the children of Israel out of Egypt. The Hebrews, from
the words with which it begins, call it VEELLE SEMOTH: These are the
names. It contains transactions for 145 years; that is, from the death
of Joseph to the erecting of the tabernacle.
Exodus Chapter 1

The Israelites are multiplied in Egypt. They are oppressed by a new

king, who commandeth all their male children to be killed.

 1:1. These are the names of the children of Israel, that went into
Egypt with Jacob: they went in every man with his household:
1:2. Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Juda,
1:3. Issachar, Zabulon, and Benjamin,
1:4. Dan, and Nephthali, Gad and Aser.
1:5. And all the souls that came out of Jacob’s thigh, were seventy:
but Joseph was in Egypt.
1:6. After he was dead, and all his brethren, and all that generation,
1:7. The children of Israel increased, and sprung up into multitudes,
and growing exceedingly strong they illed the land.
1:8. In the mean time there arose a new king over Egypt, that knew
not Joseph:
1:9. And he said to his people: Behold the people of the children of
Israel are numerous and stronger than we.
1:10. Come let us wisely oppress them, lest they multiply: and if any
war shall rise against us, join with our enemies, and having overcome
us, depart out of the land.
1:11. Therefore he set over them masters of the works, to af lict
them with burdens: and they built for Pharao cities of tabernacles,
Phithom, and Ramesses.
Of tabernacles.... Or, of storehouses.
1:12. But the more they oppressed them, the more they were
multiplied and increased.
1:13. And the Egyptians hated the children of Israel, and af licted
them and mocked them:
1:14. And they made their life bitter with hard works in clay and
brick, and with all manner of service, wherewith they were
overcharged in the works of the earth.
1:15. And the king of Egypt spoke to the midwives of the Hebrews: of
whom one was called Sephora, the other Phua,

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 1:16. Commanding them: When you shall do the of ice of midwives

to the Hebrew women, and the time of delivery is come: if it be a man
child, kill it: if a woman, keep it alive.
1:17. But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of
Egypt had commanded, but saved the men children.
1:18. And the king called for them and said: What is it that you
meant to do, that you would save the men children?
1:19. They answered: The Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian
women: for they themselves are skilful in the of ice of a midwife; and
they are delivered before we come to them.
1:20. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people
multiplied and grew exceedingly strong.
1:21. And because the midwives feared God, he built them houses.
Because the midwives feared God, etc.... The midwives were rewarded, not for
their lie, which was a venial sin; but for their fear of God, and their humanity:
but this reward was only temporal, in building them houses, that is, in
establishing and enriching their families.
1:22. Pharao therefore charged all his people, saying: Whatsoever
shall be born of the male sex, ye shall cast into the river: whatsoever of
the female, ye shall save alive.
Exodus Chapter 2

Moses is born and exposed on the bank of the river; where he is taken
up by the daughter of Pharao, and adopted for her son. He killeth an
Egyptian, and leeth into Madian; where he marrieth a wife.
2:1. After this there went a man of the house of Levi; and took a wife
of his own kindred.
2:2. And she conceived, and bore a son: and seeing him a goodly
child, hid him three months.
2:3. And when she could hide him no longer, she took a basket made
of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and pitch: and put the little
babe therein, and laid him in the sedges by the river’s brink,
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 2:4. His sister standing afar off, and taking notice what would be
done.
2:5. And behold the daughter of Pharao came down to wash herself
in the river: and her maids walked by the river’s brink. And when she
saw the basket in the sedges she sent one of her maids for it: and when
it was brought,
2:6. She opened it, and seeing within it an infant crying, having
compassion on it, she said: This is one of the babes of the Hebrews.
2:7. And the child’s sister said to her: Shall I go, and call to thee a
Hebrew woman, to nurse the babe?
2:8. She answered: Go. The maid went and called her mother.
2:9. And Pharao’s daughter said to her: Take this child, and nurse
him for me: I will give thee thy wages. The woman took and nursed the
child: and when he was grown up, she delivered him to Pharao’s
daughter.
2:10. And she adopted him for a son, and called him Moses, saying:
Because I took him out of the water.
Moses.... Or Moyses, in the Egyptian tongue, signi ies one taken or saved out of
the water.
2:11. In those days, after Moses was grown up, he went out to his
brethren: and saw their af liction, and an Egyptian striking one of the
Hebrews, his brethren.
2:12. And when he had looked about this way and that way, and saw
no one there, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
He slew the Egyptian.... This he did by a particular inspiration of God; as a
prelude to his delivering the people from their oppression and bondage. He
thought, says St. Stephen, Acts 7.25, that his brethren understood that God by his
hand would save them. But such particular and extraordinary examples are not
to be imitated.
2:13. And going out the next day, he saw two Hebrews quarrelling:
and he said to him that did the wrong: Why strikest thou thy
neighbour?

 2:14. But he answered: Who hath appointed thee prince and judge
over us? wilt thou kill me, as thou didst yesterday kill the Egyptian?
Moses feared, and said: How is this come to be known?
2:15. And Pharao heard of this word, and sought to kill Moses: but
he led from his sight, and abode in the land of Madian, and he sat
down by a well.
Madian.... A city and country of Arabia, which took its name from Madian the son
of Abraham, by Cetura, and was peopled by his posterity.
2:16. And the priest of Madian had seven daughters, who came to
draw water: and when the troughs were illed, desired to water their
father’s locks.
2:17. And the shepherds came and drove them away: and Moses
arose, and defending the maids, watered their sheep.
2:18. And when they returned to Raguel their father, he said to
them: Why are ye come sooner than usual?
Raguel.... He had two names, being also called Jethro, as appears from the irst
verse of the following chapter.
2:19. They answered: A man of Egypt delivered us from the hands of
the shepherds: and he drew water also with us, and gave the sheep to
drink.
2:20. But he said: Where is he? why have you let the man go? call
him that he may eat bread.
2:21. And Moses swore that he would dwell with him. And he took
Sephora his daughter to wife:
2:22. And she bore him a son, whom he called Gersam, saying: I have
been a stranger in a foreign country. And she bore another, whom he
called Eliezer, saying: For the God of my father, my helper, hath
delivered me out of the hand of Pharao.
Gersam.... Or Gershom. This name signi ies a stranger there: as Eliezer signi ies
the help of God.
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 2:23. Now after a long time the king of Egypt died: and the children
of Israel groaning, cried out because of the works: and their cry went
up unto God from the works.
2:24. And he heard their groaning, and remembered the covenant
which he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
2:25. And the Lord looked upon the children of Israel, and he knew
them.
Knew them.... That is, he had respect to them, he cast a merciful eye upon them.
Exodus Chapter 3

God appeareth to Moses in a bush, and sendeth him to deliver Israel.

3:1. Now Moses fed the sheep of Jethro, his father in law, the priest of
Madian: and he drove the lock to the inner parts of the desert, and
came to the mountain of God, Horeb.
3:2. And the Lord appeared to him in a lame of ire out of the midst
of a bush: and he saw that the bush was on ire, and was not burnt.
The Lord appeared.... That is, an angel representing God, and speaking in his
name.
3:3. And Moses said: I will go, and see this great sight, why the bush
is not burnt.
3:4. And when the Lord saw that he went forward to see, he called to
him out of the midst of the bush. and said: Moses, Moses. And he
answered: Here I am.
3:5. And he said: Come not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy
feet; for the place, whereon thou standest, is holy ground.
3:6. And he said: I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face: for he durst not
look at God.
3:7. And the Lord said to him: I have seen the af liction of my people
in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of the rigour of them that
are over the works;

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 3:8. And knowing their sorrow, I am come down to deliver them out
of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land into a
good and spacious land, into a land that loweth with milk and honey,
to the places of the Chanaanite, and Hethite, and Amorrhite, and
Pherezite, and Hevite, and Jebusite.
3:9. For the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have
seen their af liction, wherewith they are oppressed by the Egyptians.
3:10. But come, and I will send thee to Pharao, that thou mayst
bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.
3:11. And Moses said to God: Who am I that I should go to Pharao,
and should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
3:12. And he said to him: I will be with thee; and this thou shalt have
for a sign that I have sent thee: When thou shalt have brought my
people out of Egypt, thou shalt offer sacri ice to God upon this
mountain.
3:13. Moses said to God: Lo, I shall go to the children of Israel, and
say to them: The God of your fathers hath sent me to you. If they shall
say to me: What is his name? What shall I say to them?
3:14. God said to Moses: I AM WHO AM. He said: Thus shalt thou say
to the children of Israel: HE WHO IS, hath sent me to you.
I am who am.... That is, I am being itself, eternal, self-existent, independent,
in inite; without beginning, end, or change; and the source of all other beings.
3:15. And God said again to Moses: Thus shalt thou say to the
children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob hath sent me to you; this is my
name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
3:16. Go and gather together the ancients of Israel, and thou shalt
say to them: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared to me, saying:
Visiting I have visited you; and I have seen all that hath befallen you in
Egypt.
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 3:17. And I have said the word to bring you forth out of the af liction
of Egypt, into the land of the Chanaanite, and Hethite, and Amorrhite,
and Pherezite, and Hevite, and Jebusite, to a land that loweth with
milk and honey.
3:18. And they shall hear thy voice; and thou shalt go in, thou and
the ancients of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and thou shalt say to him:
The Lord God of the Hebrews hath called us; we will go three days’
journey into the wilderness, to sacri ice unto the Lord our God.
3:19. But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, but by a
mighty hand.
3:20. For I will stretch forth my hand, and will strike Egypt with all
my wonders which I will do in the midst of them: after these he will let
you go.
3:21. And I will give favour to this people, in the sight of the
Egyptians: and when you go forth, you shall not depart empty:
3:22. But every woman shall ask of her neighbour, and of her that is
in her house, vessels of silver and of gold, and raiment: and you shall
put them on your sons and daughters, and shall spoil Egypt.
Shall spoil, etc.... That is, you shall strip, and take away the goods of the
Egyptians. This was not authorizing theft or injustice; but was a just disposal
made by Him, who is the great lord and master of all things, in order to pay the
children of Israel some part of what was due to them from the Egyptians for
their labours.
Exodus Chapter 4

Moses is empowered to con irm his mission with miracles: his brother
Aaron is appointed to assist him.
4:1. Moses answered, and said: They will not believe me, nor hear
my voice, but they will say: The Lord hath not appeared to thee.
4:2. Then he said to him: What is that thou holdest in thy hand? He
answered: A rod.

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 4:3. And the Lord said: Cast it down upon the ground. He cast it
down, and it was turned into a serpent, so that Moses led from it.
4:4. And the Lord said: Put out thy hand, and take it by the tail. He
put forth his hand, and took hold of it, and it was turned into a rod.
4:5. That they may believe, saith he, that the Lord God of their
fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
hath appeared to thee.
4:6. And the Lord said again: Put thy hand into thy bosom. And
when he had put it into his bosom, he brought it forth leprous as snow.
4:7. And he said: Put back thy hand into thy bosom. He put it back,
and brought it out again, and it was like the other lesh.
4:8. If they will not believe thee, saith he, nor hear the voice of the
former sign, they will believe the word of the latter sign.
4:9. But if they will not even believe these two signs, nor hear thy
voice: take of the river water, and pour it out upon the dry land, and
whatsoever thou drawest out of the river, shall be turned into blood.
4:10. Moses said: I beseech thee, Lord, I am not eloquent from
yesterday and the day before; and since thou hast spoken to thy
servant, I have more impediment and slowness of tongue.
4:11. The Lord said to him: Who made man’s mouth? or who made
the dumb and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? did not I?
4:12. Go therefore, and I will be in thy mouth; and I will teach thee
what thou shalt speak.
4:13. But he said: I beseech thee, Lord, send whom thou wilt send.
4:14. The Lord being angry at Moses, said: Aaron the Levite is thy
brother, I know that he is eloquent: behold he cometh forth to meet
thee, and seeing thee, shall be glad at heart.
4:15. Speak to him, and put my words in his mouth: and I will be in
thy mouth, and in his mouth, and will shew you what you must do.
4:16. He shall speak in thy stead to the people, and shall be thy
mouth: but thou shalt be to him in those things that pertain to God.

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 4:17. And take this rod in thy hand, wherewith thou shalt do the
signs.
4:18. Moses went his way, and returned to Jethro his father in law,
and said to him; I will go and return to my brethren into Egypt, that I
may see if they be yet alive. And Jethro said to him: Go in peace.
4:19. And the Lord said to Moses, in Madian: Go, and return into
Egypt; for they are all dead that sought thy life.
4:20. Moses therefore took his wife, and his sons, and set them upon
an ass; and returned into Egypt, carrying the rod of God in his hand.
4:21. And the Lord said to him as he was returning into Egypt: See
that thou do all the wonders before Pharao, which I have put in thy
hand: I shall harden his heart, and he will not let the people go.
I shall harden, etc.... Not by being the ef icient cause of his sin; but by
withdrawing from him, for his just punishment, the dew of grace that might
have softened his heart; and so suffering him to grow harder and harder.
4:22. And thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Israel is my
son, my irstborn.
4:23. I have said to thee: Let my son go, that he may serve me, and
thou wouldst not let him go: behold I will kill thy son, thy irstborn.
4:24. And when he was in his journey, in the inn, the Lord met him,
and would have killed him.
The Lord met him, and would have killed him.... This was an angel representing
the Lord, who treated Moses in this manner, for having neglected the
circumcision of his younger son; which his wife understanding, circumcised her
child upon the spot, upon which the angel let Moses go.
4:25. Immediately Sephora took a very sharp stone, and circumcised
the foreskin of her son, and touched his feet, and said: A bloody spouse
art thou to me.
4:26. And he let him go after she had said: A bloody spouse art thou
to me, because of the circumcision.
4:27. And the Lord said to Aaron: Go into the desert to meet Moses.
And he went forth to meet him in the mountain of God, and kissed him.

 4:28. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord, by which he
had sent him, and the signs that he had commanded.
4:29. And they came together, and they assembled all the ancients of
the children of Israel.
4:30. And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had said to
Moses: and he wrought the signs before the people.
4:31. And the people believed. And they heard that the Lord had
visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their
af liction: and falling down they adored.
Exodus Chapter 5

Pharao refuseth to let the people go. They are more oppressed.
5:1. After these things, Moses and Aaron went in, and said to
Pharao: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Let my people go, that they
may sacri ice to me in the desert.
5:2. But he answered: Who is the Lord, that I should hear his voice,
and let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.
5:3. And they said: The God of the Hebrews hath called us, to go
three days’ journey into the wilderness, and to sacri ice to the Lord our
God; lest a pestilence or the sword fall upon us.
5:4. The king of Egypt said to them: Why do you Moses and Aaron
draw off the people from their works? Get you gone to your burdens.
5:5. And Pharao said: The people of the land are numerous; you see
that the multitude is increased; how much more if you give them rest
from their works?
5:6. Therefore he commanded the same day the overseers of the
works, and the task-masters of the people, saying:
5:7. You shall give straw no more to the people to make brick, as
before; but let them go and gather straw.
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 5:8. And you shall lay upon them the task of bricks, which they did
before; neither shall you diminish any thing thereof, for they are idle,
and therefore they cry, saying: Let us go and sacri ice to our God.
5:9. Let them be oppressed with works, and let them ful il them; that
they may not regard lying words.
5:10. And the overseers of the works, and the taskmasters, went out
and said to the people: Thus saith Pharao: I allow you no straw;
5:11. Go, and gather it where you can ind it; neither shall any thing
of your work be diminished.
5:12. And the people was scattered through all the land of Egypt to
gather straw.
5:13. And the overseers of the works pressed them, saying: Ful il
your work every day, as before ye were wont to do, when straw was
given you.
5:14. And they that were over the works of the children of Israel,
were scourged by Pharao’s taskmasters, saying: Why have you not
made up the task of bricks, both yesterday and to day, as before?
5:15. And the of icers of the children of Israel came, and cried out to
Pharao, saying: Why dealest thou so with thy servants?
5:16. Straw is not given us, and bricks are required of us as before;
behold we, thy servants, are beaten with whips, and thy people is
unjustly dealt withal.
5:17. And he said: You are idle, and therefore you say: Let us go and
sacri ice to the Lord.
5:18. Go therefore and work: straw shall not be given you, and you
shall deliver the accustomed number of bricks.
5:19. And the of icers of the children of Israel saw that they were in
evil case, because it was said to them: There shall not a whit be
diminished of the bricks for every day.
5:20. And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood over against them
as they came out from Pharao:
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 5:21. And they said to them: The Lord see and judge, because you
have, made our savour to stink before Pharao and his servants, and
you have given him a sword, to kill us.
5:22. And Moses returned to the Lord, and said: Lord, why hast thou
af licted this people? wherefore hast thou sent me?
5:23. For since the time that I went in to Pharao to speak in thy
name, he hath af licted thy people: and thou hast not delivered them.
Exodus Chapter 6

God reneweth his promise. The genealogies of Ruben, Simon and Levi,
down to Moses and Aaron.
6:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Now thou shalt see what I will do to
Pharao: for by a mighty hand shall he let them go, and with a strong
hand shall he cast them out of his land.
6:2. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I am the Lord
6:3. That appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name
of God Almighty: and my name ADONAI I did not shew them.
My name Adonai.... The name, which is in the Hebrew text, is that most proper
name of God, which signi ieth his eternal, self-existent being, Ex. 3.14, which the
Jews out of reverence never pronounce; but, instead of it, whenever it occurs in
the Bible, they read Adonai, which signi ies the Lord; and, therefore, they put the
points or vowels, which belong to the name Adonai, to the four letters of that
other ineffable name Jod, He, Vau, He. Hence some moderns have framed the
name Jehovah, unknown to all the ancients, whether Jews or Christians; for the
true pronunciation of the name, which is in the Hebrew text, by long disuse, is
now quite lost.
6:4. And I made a covenant with them, to give them the land of
Chanaan, the land of their pilgrimage wherein they were strangers.
6:5. I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, wherewith
the Egyptians have oppressed them: and I have remembered my
covenant.
6:6. Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord who will
bring you out from the work-prison of the Egyptians, and will deliver
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 you from bondage: and redeem you with a high arm, and great
judgments.
6:7. And I will take you to myself for my people, I will be your God:
and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out
from the work-prison of the Egyptians:
6:8. And brought you into the land, concerning which I lifted up my
hand to give it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: and I will give it you to
possess: I am the Lord.
6:9. And Moses told all this to the children of Israel: but they did not
hearken to him, for anguish of spirit, and most painful work.
6:10. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
6:11. Go in, and speak to Pharao king of Egypt, that he let the
children of Israel go out of his land.
6:12. Moses answered before the Lord: Behold the children of Israel
do not hearken to me: and how will Pharao hear me, especially as I am
of uncircumcised lips?
Uncircumcised lips.... So he calls the defect he had in his words, or utterance.
6:13. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and he gave them a
charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharao the king of Egypt,
that they should bring forth the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt.
6:14. These are the heads of their houses by their families. The sons
of Ruben the irstborn of Israel: Henoch and Phallu, Hesron and
Charmi.
6:15. These are the kindreds of Ruben. The sons of Simeon, Jamuel
and Jamin, and Ahod, and Jachin, and Soar, and Saul the son of a
Chanaanitess: these are the families of Simeon.
6:16. And these are the names of the sons of Levi by their kindreds:
Gerson, and Caath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were a
hundred and thirty-seven.
6:17. The sons of Gerson: Lobni and Semei, by their kindreds.

 6:18. The sons of Caath: Amram, and Isaar, and Hebron and Oziel.
And the years of Caath’s life, were a hundred and thirty-three.
6:19. The sons of Merari: Moholi and Musi. These are the kindreds of
Levi by their families.
6:20. And Amram took to wife Jochabed his aunt by the father’s side:
and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of Amram’s life,
were a hundred and thirty-seven.
6:21. The sons also of Isaar: Core, and Nepheg, and Zechri.
6:22. The sons also of Oziel: Mizael, and Elizaphan, and Sethri.
6:23. And Aaron took to wife Elizabeth the daughter of Aminadab,
sister of Nahason, who bore him Nadab, and Abiu, and Eleazar, and
Ithamar.
6:24. The sons also of Core: Aser, and Elcana, and Abiasaph. These
are the kindreds of the Corites.
6:25. But Eleazar the son of Aaron took a wife of the daughters of
Phutiel: and she bore him Phinees. These are the heads of the Levitical
families by their kindreds.
6:26. These are Aaron and Moses, whom the Lord commanded to
bring forth the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their
companies.
6:27. These are they that speak to Pharao, king of Egypt, in order to
bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and
Aaron,
6:28. In the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt.
6:29. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I am the Lord; speak thou
to Pharao, king of Egypt, all that I say to thee.
6:30. And Moses said before the Lord: Lo I am of uncircumcised lips,
how will Pharao hear me?

 Exodus Chapter 7

Moses and Aaron go into Pharao: they turn the rod into a serpent; and
the waters of Egypt into blood, which was the irst plague. The
magicians do the like, and Pharao’s heart is hardened.
7:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, I have appointed thee the
god of Pharao; and Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet.
The god of Pharao.... Viz., to be his judge; and to exercise a divine power, as God’s
instrument, over him and his people.
7:2. Thou shalt speak to him all that I command thee; and he shall
speak to Pharao, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
7:3. But I shall harden his heart, and shall multiply my signs and
wonders in the land of Egypt.
I shall harden, etc.... not by being the ef icient cause of his hardness of heart, but
by permitting it; and by withdrawing grace from him, in punishment of his
malice; which alone was the proper cause of his being hardened.
7:4. And he will not hear you: and I will lay my hand upon Egypt,
and will bring forth my army and my people, the children of Israel, out
of the land of Egypt, by very great judgments.
7:5. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, who have
stretched forth my hand upon Egypt, and have brought forth the
children of Israel out of the midst of them.
7:6. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded; so did
they.
7:7. And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when
they spoke to Pharao.
7:8. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:
7:9. When Pharao shall say to you, Shew signs; thou shalt say to
Aaron: Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharao, and it shall be
turned into a serpent.

 7:10. So Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharao, and did as the Lord
had commanded. And Aaron took the rod before Pharao and his
servants, and it was turned into a serpent.
7:11. And Pharao called the wise men and the magicians; and they
also by Egyptian enchantments and certain secrets, did in like manner.
Magicians.... Jannes, and Mambres, or Jambres, 2 Tim. 3.8.
7:12. And they every one cast down their rods, and they were turned
into serpents: but Aaron’s rod devoured their rods.
7:13. And Pharao’s heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to
them, as the Lord had commanded.
7:14. And the Lord said to Moses: Pharao’s heart is hardened, he will
not let the people go.
7:15. Go to him in the morning, behold he will go out to the waters:
and thou shalt stand to meet him on the bank of the river: and thou
shalt take in thy hand the rod that was turned into a serpent.
7:16. And thou shalt say to him: The Lord God of the Hebrews sent
me to thee, saying: Let my people go to sacri ice to me in the desert:
and hitherto thou wouldst not hear.
7:17. Thus therefore saith the Lord: In this thou shalt know that I
am the Lord: behold I will strike with the rod, that is in my hand, the
water of the river, and it shall be turned into blood.
7:18. And the ishes that are in the river, shall die, and the waters
shall be corrupted, and the Egyptians shall be af licted when they
drink the water of the river.
7:19. The Lord also said to Moses: Say to Aaron, Take thy rod; and
stretch forth thy hand upon the waters of Egypt, and upon their rivers,
and streams and pools, and all the ponds of waters, that they may be
turned into blood: and let blood be in all the land of Egypt, both in
vessels of wood and of stone.
7:20. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded: and
lifting up the rod, he struck the water of the river before Pharao and
his servants: and it was turned into blood.
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 7:21. And the ishes that were in the river died; and the river
corrupted, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river,
and there was blood in all the land of Egypt.
7:22. And the magicians of the Egyptians with their enchantments
did in like manner; and Pharao’s heart was hardened, neither did he
hear them, as the Lord had commanded.
7:23. And he turned himself away, and went into his house, neither
did he set his heart to it this time also.
7:24. And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to
drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.
7:25. And seven days were fully ended, after that the Lord struck the
river.
Exodus Chapter 8

The second plague is of frogs: Pharao promiseth to let the Israelites go,
but breaketh his promise. The third plague is of sciniphs. The fourth is
of lies. Pharao again promiseth to dismiss the people, but doth it not.
8:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Go in to Pharao, and thou shalt say
to him: Thus saith the Lord: Let my people go to sacri ice to me.
8:2. But if thou wilt not let them go, behold I will strike all thy coasts
with frogs.
8:3. And the river shall bring forth an abundance of frogs; which
shall come up and enter into thy house, and thy bedchamber, and upon
thy bed, and into the houses of thy servants, and to thy people, and into
thy ovens, and into the remains of thy meats:
8:4. And the frogs shall come in to thee, and to thy people, and to all
thy servants.
8:5. And the Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Stretch forth thy hand
upon the streams, and upon the rivers and the pools, and bring forth
frogs upon the land of Egypt.
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 8:6. And Aaron stretched forth his hand upon the waters of Egypt,
and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.
8:7. And the magicians also, by their enchantments, did in like
manner, and they brought forth frogs upon the land of Egypt.
8:8. But Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: Pray ye
to the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I
will let the people go to sacri ice to the Lord.
Pray ye to the Lord, etc.... By this it appears, that though the magicians, by the
help of the devil, could bring frogs, yet they could not take them away: God being
pleased to abridge in this the power of Satan. So we see they could not
afterwards produce the lesser insects; and in this restraint of the power of the
devil, were forced to acknowledge the inger of God.
8:9. And Moses said to Pharao: Set me a time when I shall pray for
thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs may be
driven away from thee and from thy house, and from thy servants, and
from thy people; and may remain only in the river.
8:10. And he answered: To morrow. But he said: I will do according
to thy word; that thou mayest know that there is none like to the Lord
our God.
8:11. And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy house, and
from thy servants, and from thy people; and shall remain only in the
river.
8:12. And Moses and Aaron went forth from Pharao: and Moses
cried to the Lord for the promise, which he had made to Pharao
concerning the frogs.
8:13. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses: and the frogs
died out of the houses, and out of the villages, and out of the ields:
8:14. And they gathered them together into immense heaps, and the
land was corrupted.
8:15. And Pharao seeing that rest was given, hardened his own
heart, and did not hear them, as the Lord had commanded.

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 Pharao hardened his own heart.... By this we see that Pharao was himself the
ef icient cause of his heart being hardened, and not God.—See the same repeated
in ver. 32. Pharao hardened his heart at this time also: likewise chap. 9.7, 35, and
chap. 13.15.
8:16. And the Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Stretch forth thy
rod, and strike the dust of the earth; and may there be sciniphs in all
the land of Egypt.
Sciniphs.... Or Cinifs, Hebrew Chinnim, small lying insects, very troublesome both
to men and beast.
8:17. And they did so. And Aaron stretched forth his hand, holding
the rod; and he struck the dust of the earth, and there came sciniphs
on men and on beasts: all the dust of the earth was turned into
sciniphs through all the land of Egypt.
8:18. And the magicians with their enchantments practised in like
manner, to bring forth sciniphs, and they could not: and there were
sciniphs as well on men as on beasts.
8:19. And the magicians said to Pharao: This is the inger of God.
And Pharao’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them, as
the Lord had commanded.
8:20. The Lord also said to Moses: Arise early, and stand before
Pharao; for he will go forth to the waters: and thou shalt say to him:
Thus saith the Lord: Let my people go to sacri ice to me.
8:21. But if thou wilt not let them go, behold I will send in upon thee,
and upon thy servants, and upon thy houses, all kind of lies: and the
houses of the Egyptians shall be illed with lies of divers kinds, and the
whole land wherein they shall be.
8:22. And I will make the land of Gessen wherein my people is,
wonderful in that day, so that lies shall not be there: and thou shalt
know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.
8:23. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to
morrow shall this sign be.
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 8:24. And the Lord did so. And there came a very grievous swarm of
lies into the houses of Pharao and of his servants, and into all the land
of Egypt: and the land was corrupted by this kind of lies.
8:25. And Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: Go and
sacri ice to your God in this land.
8:26. And Moses said: It cannot be so: for we shall sacri ice the
abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: now if we kill
those things which the Egyptians worship, in their presence, they will
stone us.
The abominations, etc.... That is, the things they worship for Gods: oxen, rams,
etc. It is the usual style of the scriptures to call all idols and false gods,
abominations, to signify how much the people of God ought to detest and abhor
them.
8:27. We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness; and we will
sacri ice to the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.
8:28. And Pharao said: I will let you go to sacri ice to the Lord your
God in the wilderness, but go no farther: pray for me.
8:29. And Moses said: I will go out from thee, and will pray to the
Lord: and the lies shall depart from Pharao, and from his servants,
and from his people to morrow: but do not deceive any more, in not
letting the people go to sacri ice to the Lord.
8:30. So Moses went out from Pharao, and prayed to the Lord.
8:31. And he did according to his word: and he took away the lies
from Pharao, and from his servants, and from his people: there was
not left so much as one.
8:32. And Pharao’s heart was hardened, so that neither this time
would he let the people go.
Exodus Chapter 9

The ifth plague is a murrain among the cattle. The sixth, of boils in
men and beasts. The seventh, of hail. Pharao promiseth again to let the
people go, and breaketh his word.
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 9:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Go in to Pharao, and speak to him:
Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews: Let my people go to sacri ice
to me.
9:2. But if thou refuse, and withhold them still:
9:3. Behold my hand shall be upon thy ields; and a very grievous
murrain upon thy horses, and asses, and camels, and oxen, and sheep.
9:4. And the Lord will make a wonderful difference between the
possessions of Israel and the possessions of the Egyptians, that nothing
at all shall die of those things that belong to the children of Israel.
9:5. And the Lord appointed a time, saying: To morrow will the Lord
do this thing in the land.
9:6. The Lord therefore did this thing the next day: and all the beasts
of the Egyptians died, but of the beasts of the children of Israel there
died not one.
All the beasts.... That is, many of all kinds.
9:7. And Pharao sent to see; and there was not any thing dead of
that which Israel possessed. And Pharao’s heart was hardened, and he
did not let the people go.
9:8. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Take to you handfuls of
ashes out of the chimney, and let Moses sprinkle it in the air in the
presence of Pharao.
9:9. And be there dust upon all the land of Egypt: for there shall be
boils and swelling blains both in men and beasts, in the whole land of
Egypt.
9:10. And they took ashes out of the chimney, and stood before
Pharao, and Moses sprinkled it in the air; and there came boils with
swelling blains in men and beasts.
9:11. Neither could the magicians stand before Moses, for the boils
that were upon them, and in all the land of Egypt.
9:12. And the Lord hardened Pharao’s heart, and he hearkened not
unto them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

 Hardened, etc.... See the annotations above, chap. 4.21, chap. 7.3, and chap. 8.15.
9:13. And the Lord said to Moses: Arise in the morning, and stand
before Pharao, and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord, the God
of the Hebrews: Let my people go to sacri ice to me.
9:14. For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and
upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayst know that
there is none like me in all the earth.
9:15. For now I will stretch out my hand to strike thee, and thy
people, with pestilence, and thou shalt perish from the earth.
9:16. And therefore have I raised thee, that I may shew my power in
thee, and my name may be spoken of throughout all the earth.
9:17. Dost thou yet hold back my people; and wilt thou not let them
go?
9:18. Behold I will cause it to rain to morrow at this same hour, an
exceeding great hail; such as hath not been in Egypt from the day that
it was founded, until this present time.
9:19. Send therefore now presently, and gather together thy cattle,
and all that thou hast in the ield; for men and beasts, and all things
that shall be found abroad, and not gathered together out of the ields
which the hail shall fall upon, shall die.
9:20. He that feared the word of the Lord among Pharao’s servants,
made his servants and his cattle lee into houses:
9:21. But he that regarded not the word of the Lord, left his
servants, and his cattle in the ields.
9:22. And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth thy hand towards
heaven, that there may be hail in the whole land of Egypt upon men,
and upon beasts, and upon every herb of the ield in the land of Egypt.
9:23. And Moses stretched forth his rod towards heaven, and the
Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightnings running along the ground:
and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

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 9:24. And the hail and ire mixt with it drove on together: and it was
of so great bigness, as never before was seen in the whole land of
Egypt since that nation was founded.
9:25. And the hail destroyed through all the land of Egypt all things
that were in the ields, both man and beast: and the hail smote every
herb of the ield, and it broke every tree of the country.
9:26. Only in the land of Gessen, where the children of Israel were,
the hail fell not.
9:27. And Pharao sent and called Moses and Aaron, saying to them: I
have sinned this time also, the Lord is just: I and my people, are
wicked.
9:28. Pray ye to the Lord that the thunderings of God and the hail
may cease: that I may let you go, and that ye may stay here no longer.
9:29. Moses said: As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will stretch
forth my hands to the Lord, and the thunders shall cease, and the hail
shall be no more: that thou mayst know that the earth is the Lord’s:
9:30. But I know that neither thou, nor thy servants do yet fear the
Lord God.
9:31. The lax therefore, and the barley were hurt, because the
barley was green, and the lax was now bolled;
9:32. But the wheat, and other winter corn were not hurt, because
they were lateward.
9:33. And when Moses was gone from Pharao out of the city, he
stretched forth his hands to the Lord: and the thunders and the hail
ceased, neither did there drop any more rain upon the earth.
9:34. And Pharao seeing that the rain, and the hail, and the
thunders were ceased, increased his sin:
9:35. And his heart was hardened, and the heart of his servants, and
it was made exceeding hard: neither did he let the children of Israel go,
as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.

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 Exodus Chapter 10

The eighth plague of the locusts. The ninth, of darkness: Pharao is still
hardened.
10:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Go in to Pharao; for I have
hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants: that I may work
these my signs in him,
10:2. And thou mayst tell in the ears of thy sons, and of thy
grandsons, how often I have plagued the Egyptians, and wrought my
signs amongst them: and you may know that I am the Lord.
10:3. Therefore Moses and Aaron went in to Pharao, and said to
him: Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews: How long refusest thou
to submit to me? let my people go, to sacri ice to me.
10:4. But if thou resist, and wilt not let them go, behold I will bring
in to-morrow the locusts into thy coasts;
10:5. To cover the face of the earth, that nothing thereof may
appear, but that which the hail hath left may be eaten: for they shall
feed upon all the trees that spring in the ields.
10:6. And they shall ill thy houses, and the houses of thy servants,
and of all the Egyptians: such a number as thy fathers have not seen,
nor thy grandfathers, from the time they were irst upon the earth,
until this present day. And he turned himself away, and went forth
from Pharao.
10:7. And Pharao’s servants said to him: How long shall we endure
this scandal? Iet the men go to sacri ice to the Lord their God. Dost
thou not see that Egypt is undone?
10:8. And they called back Moses, and Aaron, to Pharao; and he said
to them: Go, sacri ice to the Lord your God: who are they that shall go?
10:9. Moses said: We will go with our young and old, with our sons
and daughters, with our sheep and herds: for it is the solemnity of the
Lord our God.

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 10:10. And Pharao answered: So be the Lord with you, as I shall let
you and your children go: who can doubt but that you intend some
great evil?
10:11. It shall not be so, but go ye men only, and sacri ice to the
Lord: for this yourselves also desired. And immediately they were cast
out from Pharao’s presence.
10:12. And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth thy hand upon the
land of Egypt unto the locust, that it come upon it, and devour every
herb that is left after the hail.
10:13. And Moses stretched forth his rod upon the land of Egypt:
and the Lord brought a burning wind all that day, and night; and
when it was morning, the burning wind raised the locusts.
10:14. And they came up over the whole land of Egypt; and rested in
all the coasts of the Egyptians, innumerable, the like as had not been
before that time, nor shall be hereafter.
10:15. And they covered the whole face of the earth, wasting all
things. And the grass of the earth was devoured, and what fruits
soever were on the trees, which the hail had left; and there remained
not any thing that was green on the trees, or in the herbs of the earth,
in all Egypt.
10:16. Wherefore Pharao in haste called Moses and Aaron, and said
to them: I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.
10:17. But now forgive me my sin this time also, and pray to the
Lord your God, that he take away from me this death.
10:18. And Moses going forth from the presence of Pharao, prayed
to the Lord:
10:19. And he made a very strong wind to blow from the west, and it
took the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea: there remained not so
much as one in all the coasts of Egypt.
10:20. And the Lord hardened Pharao’s heart, neither did he let the
children of Israel go.

 10:21. And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch out thy hand towards
heaven: and may there be darkness upon the land of Egypt so thick
that it may be felt.
Darkness upon the land of Egypt, so thick that it may be felt.... By means of the
gross exhalations, which were to cause and accompany the darkness.
10:22. And Moses stretched forth his hand towards heaven: and
there came horrible darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.
10:23. No man saw his brother, nor moved himself out of the place
where he was: but wheresoever the children of Israel dwelt, there was
light.
10:24. And Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: Go,
sacri ice to the Lord: let your sheep only, and herds remain, let your
children go with you.
10:25. Moses said: Thou shalt give us also sacri ices and burnt-
offerings, to the Lord our God.
10:26. All the locks shall go with us; there shall not a hoof remain of
them: for they are necessary for the service of the Lord our God:
especially as we know not what must be offered, till we come to the
very place.
10:27. And the Lord hardened Pharao’s heart, and he would not let
them go.
10:28. And Pharao said to Moses: Get thee from me, and beware
thou see not my face any more: in what day soever thou shalt come in
my sight, thou shalt die.
10:29. Moses answered: So shall it be as thou hast spoken, I will not
see thy face anymore.
Exodus Chapter 11

Pharao and his people are threatened with the death of their irstborn.
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 11:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Yet one plague more will I bring
upon Pharao and Egypt, and after that he shall let you go, and thrust
you out.
11:2. Therefore thou shalt tell all the people, that every man ask of
his friend, and every woman of her neighbour, vessels of silver and of
gold.
11:3. And the Lord will give favour to his people in the sight of the
Egyptians. And Moses was a very great man in the land of Egypt, in the
sight of Pharao’s servants, and of all the people.
11:4. And he said: Thus saith the Lord: At midnight I will enter into
Egypt:
11:5. And every irstborn in the land of the Egyptians shall die, from
the irstborn of Pharao who sitteth on his throne, even to the irstborn
of the handmaid that is at the mill, and all the irstborn of beasts.
11:6. And there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as
neither hath been before, nor shall be hereafter.
11:7. But with all the children of Israel there shall not a dog make
the least noise, from man even to beast; that you may know how
wonderful a difference the Lord maketh between the Egyptians and
Israel.
11:8. And all these thy servants shall come down to me, and shall
worship me, saying: Go forth thou, and all the people that is under
thee: after that we will go out.
11:9. And he went out from Pharao exceeding angry. But the Lord
said to Moses: Pharao will not hear you, that many signs may be done
in the land of Egypt.
11:10. And Moses and Aaron did all the wonders that are written,
before Pharao. And the Lord hardened Pharao’s heart, neither did he
let the children of Israel go out of his land.
The Lord hardened, etc.... See the annotations above, chap. 4.21, and chap. 7.3.
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 Exodus Chapter 12

The manner of preparing, and eating the paschal lamb: the irstborn
of Egypt are all slain: the Israelites depart.
12:1. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
12:2. This month shall be to you the beginning of months; it shall be
the irst in the months of the year.
12:3. Speak ye to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and
say to them: On the tenth day of this month let every man take a lamb
by their families and houses.
12:4. But if the number be less than may suf ice to eat the lamb, he
shall take unto him his neighbour that joineth to his house, according
to the number of souls which may be enough to eat the lamb.
12:5. And it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year;
according to which rite also you shall take a kid.
A kid.... The phase might be performed, either with a lamb or with a kid: and all
the same rites and ceremonies were to be used with the one as with the other.
12:6. And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month;
and the whole multitude of the children of Israel shall sacri ice it in the
evening.
12:7. And they shall take of the blood thereof, and put it upon both
the side posts, and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they
shall eat it.
12:8. And they shall eat the lesh that night roasted at the ire, and
unleavened bread with wild lettuce.
12:9. You shall not eat thereof any thing raw, nor boiled in water,
but only roasted at the ire; you shall eat the head with the feet and
entrails thereof.
12:10. Neither shall there remain any thing of it until morning. If
there be any thing left, you shall burn it with ire.
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 12:11. And thus you shall eat it: you shall gird your reins, and you
shall have shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you
shall eat in haste; for it is the Phase (that is the Passage) of the Lord.
12:12. And I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and will
kill every irstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast: and
against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments; I am the Lord.
12:13. And the blood shall be unto you for a sign in the houses where
you shall be; and I shall see the blood, and shall pass over you; and the
plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I shall strike the
land of Egypt.
12:14. And this day shall be for a memorial to you; and you shall
keep it a feast to the Lord in your generations, with an everlasting
observance.
12:15. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread: in the irst day
there shall be no leaven in your houses; whosoever shall eat any thing
leavened, from the irst day until the seventh day, that soul shall perish
out of Israel.
12:16. The irst day shall be holy and solemn, and the seventh day
shall be kept with the like solemnity: you shall do no work in them,
except those things that belong to eating.
12:17. And you shall observe the feast of the unleavened bread: for
in this same day I will bring forth your army out of the land of Egypt,
and you shall keep this day in your generations by a perpetual
observance.
12:18. The irst month, the fourteenth day of the month, in the
evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth
day of the same month, in the evening.
Unleavened bread.... By this it appears, that our Saviour made use of unleavened
bread, in the institution of the blessed sacrament, which was on the evening of
the paschal solemnity, at which time there was no leavened bread to be found in
Israel.

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 12:19. Seven days there shall not be found any leaven in your
houses: he that shall eat leavened bread, his soul shall perish out of the
assembly of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land.
12:20. You shall not eat any thing leavened: in all your habitations
you shall eat unleavened bread.
12:21. And Moses called all the ancients of the children of Israel, and
said to them: Go take a lamb by your families, and sacri ice the Phase.
12:22. And dip a bunch of hyssop in the blood that is at the door, and
sprinkle the transom of the door therewith, and both the door cheeks:
let none of you go out of the door of his house till morning.
Sprinkle, etc.... This sprinkling the doors of the Israelites with the blood of the
paschal lamb, in order to their being delivered from the sword of the destroying
angel, was a lively igure of our redemption by the blood of Christ.
12:23. For the Lord will pass through striking the Egyptians: and
when he shall see the blood on the transom, and on both the posts, he
will pass over the door of the house, and not suffer the destroyer to
come into your houses and to hurt you.
12:24. Thou shalt keep this thing as a law for thee and thy children
for ever.
12:25. And when you have entered into the land which the Lord will
give you, as he hath promised, you shall observe these ceremonies.
12:26. And when your children shall say to you: What is the
meaning of this service?
12:27. You shall say to them: It is the victim of the passage of the
Lord, when he passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt,
striking the Egyptians, and saving our houses. And the people bowing
themselves, adored.
12:28. And the children of Israel going forth, did as the Lord had
commanded Moses and Aaron.
12:29. And it came to pass at midnight, the Lord slew every
irstborn in the land of Egypt, from the irstborn of Pharao, who sat on
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 his throne, unto the irstborn of the captive woman that was in the
prison, and all the irstborn of cattle.
12:30. And Pharao arose in the night, and all his servants, and all
Egypt: and there arose a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house
wherein there lay not one dead.
12:31. And Pharao calling Moses and Aaron, in the night, said: Arise
and go forth from among my people, you and the children of Israel: go,
sacri ice to the Lord as you say.
12:32. Your sheep and herds take along with you, as you demanded,
and departing bless me.
12:33. And the Egyptians pressed the people to go forth out of the
land speedily, saying: We shall all die.
12:34. The people therefore took dough before it was leavened; and
tying it in their cloaks, put it on their shoulders.
12:35. And the children of Israel did as Moses had commanded: and
they asked of the Egyptians vessels of silver and gold, and very much
raiment.
12:36. And the Lord gave favour to the people in the sight of the
Egyptians, so that they lent unto them: and they stripped the
Egyptians.
12:37. And the children of Israel set forward from Ramesse to
Socoth, being about six hundred thousand men on foot, beside
children.
12:38. And a mixed multitude, without number, went up also with
them, sheep and herds, and beasts of divers kinds, exceeding many.
12:39. And they baked the meal, which a little before they had
brought out of Egypt in dough: and they made hearth cakes
unleavened: for it could not be leavened, the Egyptians pressing them
to depart, and not suffering them to make any stay; neither did they
think of preparing any meat.
12:40. And the abode of the children of Israel that they made in
Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.
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 12:41. Which being expired, the same day all the army of the Lord
went forth out of the land of Egypt.
12:42. This is the observable night of the Lord, when he brought
them forth out of the land of Egypt: this night all the children of Israel
must observe in their generations.
12:43. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: This is the service of
the Phase; no foreigner shall eat of it.
12:44. But every bought servant shall be circumcised, and so shall
eat.
12:45. The stranger and the hireling shall not eat thereof.
12:46. In one house shall it be eaten, neither shall you carry forth of
the lesh thereof out of the house, neither shall you break a bone
thereof.
12:47. All the assembly of the children of Israel shall keep it.
12:48. And if any stranger be willing to dwell among you, and to
keep the Phase of the Lord, all his males shall irst be circumcised, and
then shall he celebrate it according to the manner: and he shall be as
he that is born in the land: but if any man be uncircumcised, he shall
not eat thereof.
12:49. The same law shall be to him that is born in the land, and to
the proselyte that sojourneth with you.
12:50. And all the children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded
Moses and Aaron.
12:51. And the same day the Lord brought forth the children of
Israel out of the land of Egypt by their companies.
Exodus Chapter 13

The paschal solemnity is to be observed; and the irstborn are to be

consecrated to God. The people are conducted through the desert by a
pillar of ire in the night, and a cloud in the day.
13:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

 13:2. Sanctify unto me every irstborn that openeth the womb

among the children of Israel, as well of men as of beasts: for they are
all mine.
Sanctify unto me every irstborn.... Sancti ication in this place means that the
irstborn males of the Hebrews should be deputed to the ministry in the divine
worship; and the irstborn of beasts to be given for a sacri ice.
13:3. And Moses said to the people: Remember this day in which you
came forth out of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage, for with a
strong hand hath the Lord brought you forth out of this place: that you
eat no leavened bread.
13:4. This day you go forth in the month of new corn.
13:5. And when the Lord shall have brought thee into the land of the
Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Hevite, and
the Jebusite, which he swore to thy fathers that he would give thee, a
land that loweth with milk and honey, thou shalt celebrate this
manner of sacred rites in this month.
13:6. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread: and on the
seventh day shall be the solemnity of the Lord.
13:7. Unleavened bread shall you eat seven days: there shall not be
seen any thing leavened with thee, nor in all thy coasts.
13:8. And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying: This is what the
Lord did to me when I came forth out of Egypt.
13:9. And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a memorial before
thy eyes; and that the law of the Lord be always in thy mouth, for with
a strong hand the Lord hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
13:10. Thou shalt keep this observance at the set time from days to
days.
13:11. And when the Lord shall have brought thee into the land of
the Chanaanite, as he swore to thee and thy fathers, and shall give it
thee:
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 13:12. Thou shalt set apart all that openeth the womb for the Lord,
and all that is irst brought forth of thy cattle: whatsoever thou shalt
have of the male sex, thou shalt consecrate to the Lord.
13:13. The irstborn of an ass thou shalt change for a sheep: and if
thou do not redeem it, thou shalt kill it. And every irstborn of men
thou shalt redeem with a price.
13:14. And when thy son shall ask thee to morrow, saying: What is
this? thou shalt answer him: With a strong hand did the Lord bring us
forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
13:15. For when Pharao was hardened, and would not let us go, the
Lord slew every irstborn in the land of Egypt, from the irstborn of
man to the irstborn of beasts: therefore I sacri ice to the Lord all that
openeth the womb of the male sex, and all the irstborn of my sons I
redeem.
13:16. And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a thing hung
between thy eyes, for a remembrance: because the Lord hath brought
us forth out of Egypt by a strong hand.
13:17. And when Pharao had sent out the people, the Lord led them
not by the way of the land of the Philistines, which is near; thinking
lest perhaps they would repent, if they should see wars arise against
them, and would return into Egypt.
13:18. But he led them about by the way of the desert, which is by
the Red Sea: and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land
of Egypt.
13:19. And Moses took Joseph’s bones with him: because he had
adjured the children of Israel, saying: God shall visit you, carry out my
bones from hence with you.
13:20. And marching from Socoth, they encamped in Etham, in the
utmost coasts of the wilderness.
13:21. And the Lord went before them to shew the way, by day in a
pillar of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of ire; that he might be the
guide of their journey at both times.

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 13:22. There never failed the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar
of ire by night, before the people.
Exodus Chapter 14

Pharao pursueth the children of Israel. They murmur against Moses,

but are encouraged by him, and pass through the Red Sea. Pharao and
his army following them are drowned.
14:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
14:2. Speak to the children of Israel: Let them turn and encamp over
against Phihahiroth, which is between Magdal and the sea over
against Beelsephon: you shall encamp before it upon the sea.
14:3. And Pharao will say of the children of Israel: They are
straitened in the land, the desert hath shut them in.
14:4. And I shall harden his heart and he will pursue you: and I shall
be glori ied in Pharao, and in all his army: and the Egyptians shall
know that I am the Lord. And they did so.
14:5. And it was told the king of the Egyptians that the people was
led: and the heart of Pharao and of his servants was changed with
regard to the people, and they said: What meant we to do, that we let
Israel go from serving us?
14:6. So he made ready his chariot, and took all his people with him.
14:7. And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots
that were in Egypt: and the captains of the whole army.
14:8. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharao, king of Egypt, and
he pursued the children of Israel; but they were gone forth in a mighty
hand.
14:9. And when the Egyptians followed the steps of them who were
gone before, they found them encamped at the sea side: all Pharao’s
horse and chariots and the whole army were in Phihahiroth, before
Beelsephon.
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 14:10. And when Pharao drew near, the children of Israel lifting up
their eyes, saw the Egyptians behind them: and they feared
exceedingly, and cried to the Lord.
14:11. And they said to Moses: Perhaps there were no graves in
Egypt, therefore thou hast brought us to die in the wilderness: why
wouldst thou do this, to lead us out of Egypt?
14:12. Is not this the word that we spoke to thee in Egypt, saying:
Depart from us, that we may serve the Egyptians? for it was much
better to serve them, than to die in the wilderness.
14:13. And Moses said to the people: Fear not: stand, and see the
great wonders of the Lord, which he will do this day; for the Egyptians,
whom you see now, you shall see no more for ever.
14:14. The Lord will ight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
14:15. And the Lord said to Moses: Why criest thou to me? Speak to
the children of Israel to go forward.
14:16. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch forth thy hand over the
sea, and divide it: that the children of Israel may go through the midst
of the sea on dry ground.
14:17. And I will harden the heart of the Egyptians to pursue you:
and I will be glori ied in Pharao, and in all his host, and in his chariots
and in his horsemen.
14:18. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall
be glori ied in Pharao, and in his chariots, and in his horsemen.
14:19. And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel,
removing, went behind them: and together with him the pillar of the
cloud, leaving the forepart,
14:20. Stood behind, between the Egyptians’ camp and the camp of
Israel: and it was a dark cloud, and enlightening the night, so that they
could not come at one another all the night.
A dark cloud, and enlightening the night.... It was a dark cloud to the Egyptians;
but enlightened the night to the Israelites by giving them a great light.
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 14:21. And when Moses had stretched forth his hand over the sea,
the Lord took it away by a strong and burning wind blowing all the
night, and turned it into dry ground: and the water was divided.
14:22. And the children of Israel went in through the midst of the
sea dried up; for the water was as a wall on their right hand and on
their left.
14:23. And the Egyptians pursuing went in after them, and all
Pharao’s horses, his chariots and horsemen, through the midst of the
sea.
14:24. And now the morning watch was come, and behold the Lord
looking upon the Egyptian army through the pillar of ire and of the
cloud, slew their host.
14:25. And overthrew the wheels of the chariots, and they were
carried into the deep. And the Egyptians said: Let us lee from Israel;
for the Lord ighteth for them against us.
14:26. And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth thy hand over the
sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their
chariots and horsemen.
14:27. And when Moses had stretched forth his hand towards the
sea, it returned at the irst break of day to the former place: and as the
Egyptians were leeing away, the waters came upon them, and the
Lord shut them up in the middle of the waves.
14:28. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the
horsemen of all the army of Pharao, who had come into the sea after
them, neither did there so much as one of them remain.
14:29. But the children of Israel marched through the midst of the
sea upon dry land, and the waters were to them as a wall on the right
hand and on the left:
14:30. And the Lord delivered Israel in that day out of the hands of
the Egyptians.

 14:31. And they saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore, and the
mighty hand that the Lord had used against them: and the people
feared the Lord, and they believed the Lord, and Moses his servant.
Exodus Chapter 15

The canticle of Moses. The bitter waters of Mara are made sweet.
15:1. Then Moses and the children of Israel sung this canticle to the
Lord, and said: Let us sing to the Lord: for he is gloriously magni ied,
the horse and the rider he hath thrown into the sea.
15:2. The Lord is my strength and my praise, and he is become
salvation to me: he is my God, and I will glorify him: the God of my
father, and I will exalt him.
15:3. The Lord is as a man of war, Almighty is his name.
15:4. Pharao’s chariots and his army he hath cast into the sea: his
chosen captains are drowned in the Red Sea.
15:5. The depths have covered them, they are sunk to the bottom
like a stone.
15:6. Thy right hand, O Lord, is magni ied in strength: thy right
hand, O Lord, hath slain the enemy.
15:7. And in the multitude of thy glory thou hast put down thy
adversaries: thou hast sent thy wrath, which hath devoured them like
stubble.
15:8. And with the blast of thy anger the waters were gathered
together: the lowing water stood, the depths were gathered together
in the midst of the sea.
15:9. The enemy said: I will pursue and overtake, I will divide the
spoils, my soul shall have its ill: I will draw my sword, my hand shall
slay them.
15:10. Thy wind blew and the sea covered them: they sunk as lead in
the mighty waters.

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 15:11. Who is like to thee, among the strong, O Lord? who is like to
thee, glorious in holiness, terrible and praise-worthy, doing wonders?
15:12. Thou stretchedst forth thy hand, and the earth swallowed
them.
15:13. In thy mercy thou hast been a leader to the people which
thou hast redeemed: and in thy strength thou hast carried them to thy
holy habitation.
15:14. Nations rose up, and were angry: sorrows took hold on the
inhabitants of Philisthiim.
15:15. Then were the princes of Edom troubled, trembling seized on
the stout men of Moab: all the inhabitants of Chanaan became stiff.
15:16. Let fear and dread fall upon them, in the greatness of thy
arm: let them become immoveable as a stone, until thy people, O Lord,
pass by: until this thy people pass by, which thou hast possessed.
15:17. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of
thy inheritance, in thy most irm habitation, which thou hast made, O
Lord; thy sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
15:18. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.
15:19. For Pharao went in on horseback with his chariots and
horsemen into the sea: and the Lord brought back upon them the
waters of the sea: but the children of Israel walked on dry ground in
the midst thereof.
15:20. So Mary the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in
her hand: and all the women went forth after her with timbrels and
with dances.
15:21. And she began the song to them, saying: Let us sing to the
Lord, for he is gloriously magni ied, the horse and his rider he hath
thrown into the sea.
15:22. And Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went
forth into the wilderness of Sur: and they marched three days through
the wilderness, and found no water.

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 15:23. And they came into Mara, and they could not drink the
waters of Mara because they were bitter: whereupon he gave a name
also agreeable to the place, calling it Mara, that is, bitterness.
15:24. And the people murmured against Moses, saying: What shall
we drink?
15:25. But he cried to the Lord, and he shewed him a tree, which
when he had cast into the waters, they were turned into sweetness.
There he appointed him ordinances, and judgments, and there he
proved him,
15:26. Saying: If thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and do
what is right before him, and obey his commandments, and keep all his
precepts, none of the evils that I laid upon Egypt, will I bring upon
thee: for I am the Lord thy healer.
15:27. And the children of Israel came into Elim, where there were
twelve fountains of water, and seventy palm trees: and they encamped
by the waters.
Exodus Chapter 16

The people murmur for want of meat: God giveth them quails and
manna.
16:1. And they set forward from Elim, and all the multitude of the
children of Israel came into the desert of Sin, which is between Elim
and Sinai: the ifteenth day of the second month, after they came out of
the land of Egypt.
16:2. And all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured
against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
16:3. And the children of Israel said to them: Would to God we had
died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat over the
leshpots, and ate bread to the full: Why have you brought us into this
desert, that you might destroy all the multitude with famine?
16:4. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold I will rain bread from
heaven for you; let the people go forth, and gather what is suf icient
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 for every day: that I may prove them whether they will walk in my law,
or not.
16:5. But the sixth day let them provide for to bring in: and let it be
double to that they were wont to gather every day.
16:6. And Moses and Aaron said to the children of Israel In the
evening you shall know that the Lord hath brought you forth out of the
land of Egypt:
16:7. And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord: for he
hath heard your murmuring against the Lord: but as for us, what are
we, that you mutter against us?
16:8. And Moses said: In the evening the Lord will give you lesh to
eat, and in the morning bread to the full: for he hath heard your
murmurings, with which you have murmured against him, for what
are we? your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord.
16:9. Moses also said to Aaron: Say to the whole congregation of the
children of Israel: Come before the Lord; for he hath heard your
murmuring.
16:10. And when Aaron spoke to all the assembly of the children of
Israel, they looked towards the wilderness; and behold the glory of the
Lord appeared in a cloud.
16:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
16:12. I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel, say to
them: In the evening you shall eat lesh, and in the morning you shall
have your ill of bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your
God.
16:13. So it came to pass in the evening, that quails coming up,
covered the camp: and in the morning a dew lay round about the
camp.
16:14. And when it had covered the face of the earth, it appeared in
the wilderness small, and as it were beaten with a pestle, like unto the
hoar frost on the ground.

 16:15. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to
another: Manhu! which signi ieth: What is this! for they knew not
what it was. And Moses said to them: This is the bread which the Lord
hath given you to eat.
16:16. This is the word that the Lord hath commanded: Let every
one gather of it as much as is enough to eat; a gomor for every man,
according to the number of your souls that dwell in a tent, so shall you
take of it.
16:17. And the children of Israel did so: and they gathered, one
more, another less.
16:18. And they measured by the measure of a gomor: neither had
he more that had gathered more; nor did he ind less that had
provided less: but every one had gathered, according to what they
were able to eat.
16:19. And Moses said to them: Let no man leave thereof till the
morning.
16:20. And they hearkened not to him, but some of them left until
the morning, and it began to be full of worms, and it putri ied, and
Moses was angry with them.
16:21. Now every one of them gathered in the morning, as much as
might suf ice to eat: and after the sun grew hot, it melted.
16:22. But on the sixth day they gathered twice as much, that is, two
gomors every man: and all the rulers of the multitude came, and told
Moses.
16:23. And he said to them: This is what the Lord hath spoken: To
morrow is the rest of the sabbath sancti ied to the Lord. Whatsoever
work is to be done, do it; and the meats that are to be dressed, dress
them; and whatsoever shall remain, lay it up until the morning.
16:24. And they did so as Moses had commanded, and it did not
putrify, neither was there worm found in it.
16:25. And Moses said: Eat it to day, because it is the sabbath of the
Lord: to day it shall not be found in the ield.

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 16:26. Gather it six days; but on the seventh day is the sabbath of
the Lord, therefore it shall not be found.
16:27. And the seventh day came; and some of the people going
forth to gather, found none.
16:28. And the Lord said to Moses: How long will you refuse to keep
my commandments, and my law?
16:29. See that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, and for this
reason on the sixth day he giveth you a double provision: let each man
stay at home, and let none go forth out of his place the seventh day.
16:30. And the people kept the sabbath on the seventh day.
16:31. And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it
was like coriander seed, white, and the taste thereof like to lour with
honey.
16:32. And Moses said: This is the word which the Lord hath
commanded: Fill a gomor of it, and let it be kept unto generations to
come hereafter; that they may know the bread, wherewith I fed you in
the wilderness when you were brought forth out of the land of Egypt.
16:33. And Moses said to Aaron: Take a vessel, and put manna into
it, as much as a gomor can hold; and lay it up before the Lord, to keep
unto your generations,
16:34. As the Lord commanded Moses. And Aaron put it in the
tabernacle to be kept.
16:35. And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, till they
came to a habitable land: with this meat were they fed, until they
reached the borders of the land of Chanaan.
16:36. Now a gomor is the tenth part of an ephi.
Exodus Chapter 17

The people murmur again for want of drink; the Lord giveth them
water out of a rock. Moses lifting up his hand in prayer, Amalec is
overcome.

 17:1. Then all the multitude of the children of Israel setting forward
from the desert of Sin, by their mansions, according to the word of the
Lord, encamped in Raphidim, where there was no water for the people
to drink.
17:2. And they chode with Moses, and said: Give us water, that we
may drink. And Moses answered them: Why chide you with me?
Wherefore do you tempt the Lord?
17:3. So the people were thirsty there for want of water, and
murmured against Moses, saying: Why didst thou make us go forth out
of Egypt, to kill us and our children, and our beasts with thirst?
17:4. And Moses cried to the Lord, saying: What shall I do to this
people? Yet a little more and they will stone me.
17:5. And the Lord said to Moses: Go before the people, and take
with thee of the ancients of Israel: and take in thy hand the rod
wherewith thou didst strike the river, and go.
17:6. Behold I will stand there before thee, upon the rock Horeb, and
thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it that the
people may drink. Moses did so before the ancients of Israel:
17:7. And he called the name of that place Temptation, because of
the chiding of the children of Israel, and for that they tempted the
Lord, saying: Is the Lord amongst us or not?
17:8. And Amalec came, and fought against Israel in Raphidim.
17:9. And Moses said to Josue: Choose out men; and go out and ight
against Amalec: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, having the
rod of God in my hand.
17:10. Josue did as Moses had spoken, and he fought against
Amalec; but Moses, and Aaron, and Hur, went up upon the top of the
hill.
17:11. And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel overcame; but if
he let them down a little, Amalec overcame.
17:12. And Moses’s hands were heavy: so they took a stone, and put
under him, and he sat on it: and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands on

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 both sides. And it came to pass, that his hands were not weary until
sunset.
17:13. And Josue put Amalec and his people to light, by the edge of
the sword.
17:14. And the Lord said to Moses: Write this for a memorial in a
book, and deliver it to the ears of Josue; for I will destroy the memory
of Amalec from under heaven.
17:15. And Moses built an altar; and called the name thereof, The
Lord, my exaltation, saying:
17:16. Because the hand of the throne of the Lord, and the war of
the Lord shall be against Amalec, from generation to generation.
Exodus Chapter 18

Jethro bringeth to Moses his wife and children. His counsel.

18:1. And when Jethro the priest of Madian, the kinsman of Moses,
had heard all the things that God had done to Moses, and to Israel his
people, and that the Lord had brought forth Israel out of Egypt:
18:2. He took Sephora, the wife of Moses, whom he had sent back:
18:3. And her two sons, of whom one was called Gersam: his father
saying, I have been a stranger in a foreign country.
18:4. And the other Eliezer: For the God of my father, said he, is my
helper, and hath delivered me from the sword of Pharao.
18:5. And Jethro, the kinsman of Moses, came with his sons, and his
wife to Moses into the desert, where he was camped by the mountain
of God.
18:6. And he sent word to Moses, saying: I Jethro, thy kinsman, come
to thee, and thy wife, and thy two sons with her.
18:7. And he went out to meet his kinsman, and worshipped and
kissed him: and they saluted one another with words of peace. And
when he was come into the tent,

 18:8. Moses told his kinsman all that the Lord had done to Pharao,
and the Egyptians in favour of Israel: and all the labour which had
befallen them in the journey, and that the Lord had delivered them.
18:9. And Jethro rejoiced for all the good things that the Lord had
done to Israel, because he had delivered them out of the hands of the
Egyptians.
18:10. And he said: Blessed is the Lord, who hath delivered you out
of the hand of Pharao, and out of the hand of Egypt.
18:11. Now I know, that the Lord is great above all gods; because he
hath delivered his people out of the hand of the Egyptians, who dealt
proudly against them.
18:12. So Jethro, the kinsman of Moses, offered holocausts and
sacri ices to God: and Aaron and all the ancients of Israel came, to eat
bread with him before God.
18:13. And the next day Moses sat to judge the people, who stood by
Moses from morning until night.
18:14. And when his kinsman had seen all things that he did among
the people, he said: What is it that thou dost among the people? Why
sittest thou alone, and all the people wait from morning till night?
18:15. And Moses answered him: The people come to me to seek the
judgment of God?
18:16. And when any controversy falleth out among them, they
come to me to judge between them, and to shew the precepts of God,
and his laws.
18:17. But he said: The thing thou dost is not good.
18:18. Thou art spent with foolish labour, both thou, and this people
that is with thee; the business is above thy strength, thou alone canst
not bear it.
18:19. But hear my words and counsels, and God shall be with thee.
Be thou to the people in those things that pertain to God, to bring their
words to him:
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 18:20. And to shew the people the ceremonies, and the manner of
worshipping; and the way wherein they ought to walk, and the work
that they ought to do.
18:21. And provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God,
in whom there is truth, and that hate avarice, and appoint of them
rulers of thousands, and of hundreds, and of ifties, and of tens,
18:22. Who may judge the people at all times: and when any great
matter soever shall fall out, let them refer it to thee, and let them
judge the lesser matters only: that so it may be lighter for thee, the
burden being shared out unto others.
18:23. If thou dost this, thou shalt ful il the commandment of God,
and shalt be able to bear his precepts: and all this people shall return
to their places with peace.
18:24. And when Moses heard this, he did all things that he had
suggested unto him.
18:25. And choosing able men out of all Israel, he appointed them
rulers of the people, rulers over thousands, and over hundreds, and
over ifties, and over tens.
18:26. And they judged the people at all times: and whatsoever was
of greater dif iculty they referred to him, and they judged the easier
cases only.
18:27. And he let his kinsman depart: and he returned and went into
his own country.
Exodus Chapter 19

They come to Sinai: the people are commanded to be sancti ied. The
Lord, coming in thunder and lightning, speaketh with Moses.
19:1. In the third month of the departure of Israel out of the land of
Egypt, on this day they came into the wilderness of Sinai:
19:2. For departing out of Raphidim, and coming to the desert of
Sinai, they camped in the same place, and there Israel pitched their
tents over against the mountain.
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 19:3. And Moses went up to God; and the Lord called unto him from
the mountain, and said: Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and
tell the children of Israel:
And Moses went up to God.... Moses went up to mount Sinai, where God spoke to
him.
19:4. You have seen what I have done to the Egyptians, how I have
carried you upon the wings of eagles, and have taken you to myself.
19:5. If therefore you will hear my voice, and keep my covenant, you
shall be my peculiar possession above all people: for all the earth is
mine.
19:6. And you shall be to me a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation.
These are the words thou shalt speak to the children of Israel.
19:7. Moses came; and calling together the elders of the people, he
declared all the words which the Lord had commanded.
19:8. And all the people answered together: All that the Lord hath
spoken, we will do. And when Moses had related the people’s words to
the Lord,
19:9. The Lord said to him: Lo, now will I come to thee in the
darkness of a cloud, that the people may hear me speaking to thee,
and may believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people
to the Lord.
19:10. And he said to him: Go to the people, and sanctify them to
day, and to morrow, and let them wash their garments.
19:11. And let them be ready against the third day; for on the third
day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people, upon Mount
Sinai.
19:12. And thou shalt appoint certain limits to the people round
about, and thou shalt say to them: Take heed ye go not up into the
mount, and that ye touch not the borders thereof: every one that
toucheth the mount, dying he shall die.
19:13. No hands shall touch him, but he shall be stoned to death, or
he shall be shot through with arrows: whether it be beast, or man, he

 shall not live. When the trumpet shall begin to sound, then let them go
up into the mount.
19:14. And Moses came down from the mount to the people, and
sancti ied them. And when they had washed their garments,
19:15. He said to them: Be ready against the third day, and come not
near your wives.
19:16. And now the third day was come, and the morning appeared:
and behold thunders began to be heard, and lightning to lash, and a
very thick cloud to cover the mount, and the noise of the trumpet
sounded exceeding loud; and the people that was in the camp, feared.
19:17. And when Moses had brought them forth to meet God, from
the place of the camp, they stood at the bottom of the mount.
19:18. And all Mount Sinai was on a smoke: because the Lord was
come down upon it in ire, and the smoke arose from it as out of a
furnace: and all the mount was terrible.
19:19. And the sound of the trumpet grew by degrees louder and
louder, and was drawn out to a greater length: Moses spoke, and God
answered him.
19:20. And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, in the very top of
the mount, and he called Moses unto the top thereof. And when he was
gone up thither,
19:21. He said unto him: Go down, and charge the people; lest they
should have a mind to pass the limits to see the Lord, and a very great
multitude of them should perish.
19:22. The priests also that come to the Lord, let them be sancti ied,
lest he strike them.
19:23. And Moses said to the Lord: The people cannot come up to
Mount Sinai: for thou didst charge, and command, saying: Set limits
about the mount, and sanctify it.
19:24. And the Lord said to him: Go, get thee down; and thou shalt
come up, thou and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the
people pass the limits, nor come up to the Lord, lest he kill them.
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 19:25. And Moses went down to the people and told them all.
Exodus Chapter 20

The ten commandments.

20:1. And the Lord spoke all these words:
20:2. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
20:3. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
20:4. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness
of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of
those things that are in the waters under the earth.
A graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing, etc.... All such images, or likenesses,
are forbidden by this commandment, as are made to be adored and served;
according to that which immediately follows, thou shalt not adore them, nor
serve them. That is, all such as are designed for idols or image-gods, or are
worshipped with divine honour. But otherwise images, pictures, or
representations, even in the house of God, and in the very sanctuary so far from
being forbidden, are expressly authorized by the word of God. See Ex. 25.15, and
etc.; chap. 38.7; Num. 21.8, 9; 1 Chron. or Paralip. 28.18, 19; 2 Chron. or Paralip.
3.10.
20:5. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy
God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me:
20:6. And shewing mercy unto thousands to them that love me, and
keep my commandments.
20:7. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for
the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the
Lord his God in vain.
20:8. Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day.
20:9. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works.
20:10. But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God:
thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy

 manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that
is within thy gates.
20:11. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea,
and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day:
therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sancti ied it.
20:12. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayst be
longlived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee.
20:13. Thou shalt not kill.
20:14. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
20:15. Thou shalt not steal.
20:16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
20:17. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house; neither shalt
thou desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor
his ass, nor any thing that is his.
20:18. And all the people saw the voices and the lames, and the
sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking; and being terri ied and
struck with fear, they stood afar off,
20:19. Saying to Moses: Speak thou to us, and we will hear: let not
the Lord speak to us, lest we die.
20:20. And Moses said to the people: Fear not; for God is come to
prove you, and that the dread of him might be in you, and you should
not sin.
20:21. And the people stood afar off. But Moses went to the dark
cloud wherein God was.
20:22. And the Lord said to Moses: Thus shalt thou say to the
children of Israel: You have seen that I have spoken to you from
heaven.
20:23. You shall not make gods of silver, nor shall you make to
yourselves gods of gold.
20:24. You shall make an altar of earth unto me, and you shall offer
upon it your holocausts and peace offerings, your sheep and oxen, in

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 every place where the memory of my name shall be: I will come to
thee, and will bless thee.
20:25. And if thou make an altar of stone unto me, thou shalt not
build it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up a tool upon it, it shall be
de iled.
20:26. Thou shalt not go up by steps unto my altar, lest thy
nakedness be discovered.
Exodus Chapter 21

Laws relating to Justice.

21:1. These are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
21:2. If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve thee; in
the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
21:3. With what raiment he came in, with the like let him go out: if
having a wife, his wife also shall go out with him.
21:4. But if his master gave him a wife, and she hath borne sons and
daughters; the woman and her children shall be her master’s: but he
himself shall go out with his raiment.
21:5. And if the servant shall say: I love my master and my wife and
children, I will not go out free:
21:6. His master shall bring him to the gods, and he shall be set to
the door and the posts, and he shall bore his ear through with an awl:
and he shall be his servant for ever.
To the gods.... Elohim. That is, to the judges, or magistrates, authorized by God.
21:7. If any man sell his daughter to be a servant, she shall not go
out as bondwomen are wont to go out.
21:8. If she displease the eyes of her master to whom she was
delivered, he shall let her go: but he shall have no power to sell her to a
foreign nation, if he despise her.
21:9. But if he have betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her
after the manner of daughters.
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 21:10. And if he take another wife for him, he shall provide her a
marriage, and raiment, neither shall he refuse the price of her chastity.
21:11. If he do not these three things, she shall go out free without
money.
21:12. He that striketh a man with a will to kill him, shall be put to
death.
21:13. But he that did not lie in wait for him, but God delivered him
into his hands: I will appoint thee a place to which he must lee.
21:14. If a man kill his neighbour on set purpose, and by lying in
wait for him: thou shalt take him away from my altar that he may die.
21:15. He that striketh his father or mother, shall be put to death.
21:16. He that shall steal a man, and sell him, being convicted of the
guilt, shall be put to death.
21:17. He that curseth his father or mother, shall die the death.
21:18. If men quarrel, and the one strike his neighbour with a stone,
or with his ist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
21:19. If he rise again and walk abroad upon his staff, he that struck
him shall be quit, yet so that he make restitution for his work, and for
his expenses upon the physicians.
21:20. He that striketh his bondman, or bondwoman, with a rod,
and they die under his hands, shall be guilty of the crime.
21:21. But if the party remain alive a day or two, he shall not be
subject to the punishment, because it is his money.
21:22. If men quarrel, and one strike a woman with child and she
miscarry indeed, but live herself: he shall be answerable for so much
damage as the woman’s husband shall require, and as arbiters shall
award.
21:23. But if her death ensue thereupon, he shall render life for life,
21:24. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
21:25. Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

 21:26. If any man strike the eye of his manservant or maidservant,

and leave them but one eye, he shall let them go free for the eye which
he put out.
21:27. Also if he strike out a tooth of his manservant or
maidservant, he shall in like manner make them free.
21:28. If an ox gore a man or a woman, and they die, he shall be
stoned: and his lesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall be
quit.
21:29. But if the ox was wont to push with his horn yesterday, and
the day before, and they warned his master, and he did not shut him
up, and he shall kill a man or a woman: then the ox shall be stoned,
and his owner also shall be put to death.
21:30. And if they set a price upon him, he shall give for his life
whatsoever is laid upon him.
21:31. If he have gored a son, or a daughter, he shall fall under the
like sentence.
21:32. If he assault a bondman or bondwoman, he shall give thirty
sicles of silver to their master, and the ox shall be stoned.
21:33. If a man open a pit, and dig one, and cover it not, and an ox
or an ass fall into it,
21:34. The owner of the pit shall pay the price of the beasts: and
that which is dead shall be his own.
21:35. If one man’s ox gore another man’s ox, and he die: they shall
sell the live ox, and shall divide the price, and the carcass of that which
died they shall part between them:
21:36. But if he knew that his ox was wont to push yesterday, and
the day before, and his master did not keep him in; he shall pay ox for
ox, and shall take the whole carcass.

 Exodus Chapter 22

The punishment of theft, and other trespasses. The law of lending

without usury, of taking pledges of reverences to superiors, and of
paying tithes.
22:1. If any man steal an ox or a sheep, and kill or sell it: he shall
restore ive oxen for one ox, and four sheep for one sheep.
22:2. If a thief be found breaking open a house or undermining it,
and be wounded so as to die: he that slew him shall not be guilty of
blood.
22:3. But if he did this when the sun is risen, he hath committed
murder, and he shall die. If he have not wherewith to make restitution
for the theft, he shall be sold.
22:4. If that which he stole be found with him, alive, either ox, or ass,
or sheep: he shall restore double.
22:5. If any man hurt a ield or a vineyard, and put in his beast to
feed upon that which is other men’s: he shall restore the best of
whatsoever he hath in his own ield, or in his vineyard, according to
the estimation of the damage.
22:6. If a ire breaking out light upon thorns, and catch stacks of
corn, or corn standing in the ields, he that kindled the ire shall make
good the loss.
22:7. If a man deliver money, or any vessel unto his friend to keep,
and they be stolen away from him that received them: if the thief be
found, he shall restore double:
22:8. If the thief be not known, the master of the house shall be
brought to the gods, and shall swear that he did not lay his hand upon
his neighbour’s goods,
22:9. To do any fraud, either in ox, or in ass, or sheep, or raiment, or
any thing that may bring damage: the cause of both parties shall come
to the gods: and if they give judgment, he shall restore double to his
neighbour.

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 22:10. If a man deliver ass, ox, sheep, or any beast, to his neighbour’s
custody, and it die, or be hurt, or be taken by enemies, and no man saw
it:
22:11. There shall be an oath between them, that he did not put
forth his hand to his neighbour’s goods: and the owner shall accept of
the oath, and he shall not be compelled to make restitution.
22:12. But if it were taken away by stealth, he shall make the loss
good to the owner.
22:13. If it were eaten by a beast, let him bring to him that which
was slain, and he shall not make restitution.
22:14. If a man borrow of his neighbour any of these things, and it
be hurt or die, the owner not being present, he shall be obliged to
make restitution.
22:15. But if the owner be present, he shall not make restitution,
especially if it were hired, and came for the hire of his work.
22:16. If a man seduce a virgin not yet espoused, and lie with her: he
shall endow her, and have her to wife.
22:17. If the maid’s father will not give her to him, he shall give
money according to the dowry, which virgins are wont to receive.
22:18. Wizards thou shalt not suffer to live.
22:19. Whosoever copulateth with a beast; shall be put to death.
22:20. He that sacri iceth to gods, shall be put to death, save only to
the Lord.
22:21. Thou shalt not molest a stranger, nor af lict him: for
yourselves also were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22:22. You shall not hurt a widow or an orphan.
22:23. If you hurt them, they will cry out to me, and I will hear their
cry:
22:24. And my rage shall be enkindled, and I will strike you with the
sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

 22:25. If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor, that

dwelleth with thee, thou shalt not be hard upon them as an
extortioner, nor oppress them with usuries.
22:26. If thou take of thy neighbour a garment in pledge, thou shalt
give it him again before sunset.
22:27. For that same is the only thing, wherewith he is covered, the
clothing of his body, neither hath he any other to sleep in: if he cry to
me, I will hear him, because I am compassionate.
22:28. Thou shalt not speak ill of the gods, and the prince of thy
people thou shalt not curse.
22:29. Thou shalt not delay to pay thy tithes and thy irstfruits: thou
shalt give the irstborn of thy sons to me.
22:30. Thou shalt do the same with the irstborn of thy oxen also
and sheep: seven days let it be with its dam: the eighth day thou shalt
give it to me.
22:31. You shall be holy men to me: the lesh that beasts have tasted
of before, you shall not eat, but shall cast it to the dogs.
Exodus Chapter 23

Laws for judges; the rest of the seventh year, and day: three principal
feasts to be solemnized every year; the promise of an angel, to conduct
and protect them: idols are to be destroyed.
23:1. Thou shalt not receive the voice of a lie: neither shalt thou join
thy hand to bear false witness for a wicked person.
23:2. Thou shalt not follow the multitude to do evil: neither shalt
thou yield in judgment, to the opinion of the most part, to stray from
the truth.
23:3. Neither shalt thou favour a poor man in judgment.
23:4. If thou meet thy enemy’s ox or ass going astray, bring it back
to him.

 23:5. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lie underneath his
burden, thou shalt not pass by, but shalt lift him up with him.
23:6. Thou shalt not go aside in the poor man’s judgment.
23:7. Thou shalt ly lying. The innocent and just person thou shalt
not put to death: because I abhor the wicked.
23:8. Neither shalt thou take bribes, which even blind the wise, and
pervert the words of the just.
23:9. Thou shalt not molest a stranger, for you know the hearts of
strangers: for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.
23:10. Six years thou shalt sow thy ground, and shalt gather the
corn thereof.
23:11. But the seventh year thou shalt let it alone, and suffer it to
rest, that the poor of thy people may eat, and whatsoever shall be left,
let the beasts of the ield eat it: so shalt thou do with thy vineyard and
thy oliveyard.
23:12. Six days thou shalt work: the seventh day thou shalt cease,
that thy ox and thy ass may rest: and the son of thy handmaid and the
stranger may be refreshed.
23:13. Keep all things that I have said to you. And by the name of
strange gods you shall not swear, neither shall it be heard out of your
mouth.
23:14. Three times every year you shall celebrate feasts to me.
23:15. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days
shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of
the month of new corn, when thou didst come forth out of Egypt: thou
shalt not appear empty before me.
23:16. And the feast of the harvest of the irstfruits of thy work,
whatsoever thou hast sown in the ield. The feast also in the end of the
year, when thou hast gathered in all thy corn out of the ield.
23:17. Thrice a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy
God.

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 23:18. Thou shalt not sacri ice the blood of my victim upon leaven,
neither shall the fat of my solemnity remain until the morning.
23:19. Thou shalt carry the irst-fruits of the corn of thy ground to
the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of
his dam.
23:20. Behold I will send my angel, who shall go before thee, and
keep thee in thy journey, and bring thee into the place that I have
prepared.
23:21. Take notice of him, and hear his voice, and do not think him
one to be contemned: for he will not forgive when thou hast sinned,
and my name is in him.
23:22. But if thou wilt hear his voice, and do all that I speak, I will be
an enemy to thy enemies, and will af lict them that af lict thee.
23:23. And my angel shall go before thee, and shall bring thee in
unto the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the
Chanaanite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, whom I will destroy.
23:24. Thou shalt not adore their gods, nor serve them. Thou shalt
not do their works, but shalt destroy them, and break their statues.
23:25. And you shall serve the Lord your God, that I may bless your
bread and your waters, and may take away sickness from the midst of
thee.
23:26. There shall not be one fruitless nor barren in thy land: I will
ill the number of thy days.
23:27. I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people
to whom thou shalt come: and will turn the backs of all thy enemies
before thee:
23:28. Sending out hornets before, that shall drive away the Hevite,
and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, before thou come in.
23:29. I will not cast them out from thy face in one year; lest the
land be brought into a wilderness, and the beasts multiply against
thee.
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 23:30. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, till
thou be increased, and dost possess the land.
23:31. And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea to the sea of the
Palestines, and from the desert to the river: I will deliver the
inhabitants of the land into your hands, and will drive them out from
before you.
23:32. Thou shalt not enter into league with them, nor with their
gods.
23:33. Let them not dwell in thy land, lest perhaps they make thee
sin against me, if thou serve their gods; which, undoubtedly, will be a
scandal to thee.
Exodus Chapter 24

Moses writeth his law; and after offering sacri ices, sprinkleth the
blood of the testament upon the people: then goeth up the mountain
which God covereth with a iery cloud.
24:1. And he said to Moses: Come up to the Lord, thou, and Aaron,
Nadab and Abiu, and seventy of the ancients of Israel, and you shall
adore afar off.
24:2. And Moses alone shall come up to the Lord, but they shall not
come nigh; neither shall the people come up with him.
24:3. So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord,
and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice: We
will do all the words of the Lord, which he hath spoken.
24:4. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord: and rising in the
morning, he built an altar at the foot of the mount, and twelve titles
according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Titles.... That is, pillars.
24:5. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, and they
offered holocausts, and sacri iced paci ic victims of calves to the Lord.
Holocausts.... Whole burnt offerings, in which the whole sacri ice was consumed
with ire upon the altar.
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 24:6. Then Moses took half of the blood, and put it into bowls; and
the rest he poured upon the altar.
24:7. And taking the book of the covenant, he read it in the hearing
of the people: and they said: All things that the Lord hath spoken, we
will do, we will be obedient.
24:8. And he took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and he
said: This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with
you concerning all these words.
24:9. Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and seventy of the
ancients of Israel went up:
24:10. And they saw the God of Israel: and under his feet as it were a
work of sapphire stone, and as the heaven, when clear.
24:11. Neither did he lay his hand upon those of the children of
Israel, that retired afar off, and they saw God, and they did eat and
drink.
24:12. And the Lord said to Moses: Come up to me into the mount,
and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and the law, and the
commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
24:13. Moses rose up, and his minister Josue: and Moses going up
into the mount of God,
24:14. Said to the ancients: Wait ye here till we return to you. You
have Aaron and Hur with you: if any question shall arise, you shall
refer it to them.
24:15. And when Moses was gone up, a cloud covered the mount.
24:16. And the glory of the Lord dwelt upon Sinai, covering it with a
cloud six days: and the seventh day he called him out of the midst of
the cloud.
24:17. And the sight of the glory of the Lord, was like a burning ire
upon the top of the mount, in the eyes of the children of Israel.
24:18. And Moses entering into the midst of the cloud, went up into
the mountain: And he was there forty days and forty nights.

 Exodus Chapter 25

Offerings prescribed for making the tabernacle, the ark, the

candlestick, etc.
25:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
25:2. Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring irstfruits to me:
of every man that offereth of his own accord, you shall take them.
Firstfruits.... Offerings of some of the best and choicest of their goods.
25:3. And these are the things you must take: Gold, and silver, and
brass,
25:4. Violet and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and ine linen, and
goats’ hair,
25:5. And rams’ skins dyed red, and violet skins, and setim wood:
Setim wood.... The wood of a tree that grows in the wilderness, which is said to be
incorruptible.
25:6. Oil to make lights: spices for ointment, and for sweetsmelling
incense:
25:7. Onyx stones, and precious stones to adorn the ephod and the
rational.
The ephod and the rational.... The ephod was the high priest’s upper vestment;
and the rational his breastplate, in which were twelve gems, etc.
25:8. And they shall make me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in the
midst of them:
25:9. According to all the likeness of the tabernacle which I will
shew thee, and of all the vessels for the service thereof: and thus you
shall make it:
25:10. Frame an ark of setim wood, the length whereof shall be of
two cubits and a half; the breadth, a cubit and a half; the height,
likewise, a cubit and a half.
25:11. And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold, within and
without; and over it thou shalt make a golden crown round about:

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 25:12. And four golden rings, which thou shalt put at the four
corners of the ark: let two rings be on the one side, and two on the
other.
25:13. Thou shalt make bars also of setim wood, and shalt overlay
them with gold.
25:14. And thou shalt put them in through the rings that are in the
sides of the ark, that it may be carried on them:
25:15. And they shall be always in the rings, neither shall they at
any time be drawn out of them.
25:16. And thou shalt put in the ark the testimony which I will give
thee.
25:17. Thou shalt make also a propitiatory of the purest gold: the
length thereof shall be two cubits and a half, and the breadth a cubit
and a half.
A propitiatory.... a covering for the ark: called a propitiatory, or mercy seat,
because the Lord, who was supposed to sit there upon the wings of the
cherubims, with the ark for his footstool, from thence shewed mercy. It is also
called the oracle, ver. 18 and 20; because from thence God gave his orders and
his answers.
25:18. Thou shalt make also two cherubims of beaten gold, on the
two sides of the oracle.
25:19. Let one cherub be on the one side, and the other on the other.
25:20. Let them cover both sides of the propitiatory, spreading their
wings, and covering the oracle, and let them look one towards the
other, their faces being turned towards the propitiatory wherewith the
ark is to be covered.
25:21. In which thou shalt put the testimony that I will give thee.
25:22. Thence will I give orders, and will speak to thee over the
propitiatory, and from the midst of the two cherubims, which shall be
upon the ark of the testimony, all things which I will command the
children of Israel by thee.

 25:23. Thou shalt make a table also of setim wood, of two cubits in
length, and a cubit in breadth, and a cubit and a half in height.
A table.... On which were to be placed the twelve loaves of proposition: or, as they
are called in the Hebrew, the face bread, because they were always to stand
before the face of the Lord in his temple: as a igure of the eucharistic sacri ice
and sacrament, in the church of Christ.
25:24. And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold: and thou shalt
make to it a golden ledge round about.
25:25. And to the ledge itself a polished crown, four inches high; and
over the same another little golden crown.
25:26. Thou shalt prepare also four golden rings, and shalt put them
in the four corners of the same table, over each foot.
25:27. Under the crown shall the golden rings be, that the bars may
be put through them, and the table may be carried.
25:28. The bars also themselves thou shalt make of setim wood, and
shalt overlay them with gold, to bear up the table.
25:29. Thou shalt prepare also dishes, and bowls, censers, and cups,
wherein the libations are to be offered, of the purest gold.
Libations.... That is, drink offerings.
25:30. And thou shalt set upon the table loaves of proposition in my
sight always.
25:31. Thou shalt make also a candlestick of beaten work, of the
inest gold, the shaft thereof, and the branches, the cups, and the
bowls, and the lilies going forth from it.
A candlestick.... This candlestick, with its seven lamps, which was always to give
light in the house of God, was a igure of the light of the Holy Ghost, and his
sevenfold grace, in the sanctuary of the church of Christ.
25:32. Six branches shall come out of the sides, three out of one side,
and three out of the other.
25:33. Three cups as it were nuts to every branch, and a bowl
withal, and a lily: and three cups likewise of the fashion of nuts in the
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 other branch, and a bowl withal, and a lily. Such shall be the work of
the six branches, that are to come out from the shaft:
25:34. And in the candlestick itself shall be four cups in the manner
of a nut, and at every one bowls and lilies.
25:35. Bowls under two branches in three places, which together
make six, coming forth out of one shaft.
25:36. And both the bowls and the branches shall be of the same
beaten work of the purest gold.
25:37. Thou shalt make also seven lamps, and shalt set them upon
the candlestick, to give light over against.
25:38. The snuffers also, and where the snuf ings shall be put out,
shall be made of the purest gold.
25:39. The whole weight of the candlestick, with all the furniture
thereof, shall be a talent of the purest gold.
25:40. Look, and make it according to the pattern that was shewn
thee in the mount.
Exodus Chapter 26

The form of the tabernacle with its appurtenances.

26:1. And thou shalt make the tabernacle in this manner: Thou shalt
make ten curtains of ine twisted linen, and violet and purple, and
scarlet twice dyed, diversi ied with embroidery.
26:2. The length of one curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits; the
breadth shall be four cubits. All the curtains shall be of one measure.
26:3. Five curtains shall be joined one to another, and the other ive
shall be coupled together in like manner.
26:4. Thou shalt make loops of violet in the sides and tops of the
curtains, that they may be joined one to another.
26:5. Every curtain shall have ifty loops on both sides, so set on,
that one loop may be against another loop, and one may be itted to
the other.

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 26:6. Thou shalt make also ifty rings of gold, wherewith the veils of
the curtains are to be joined, that it may be made one tabernacle.
26:7. Thou shalt make also eleven curtains of goats’ hair, to cover
the top of the tabernacle.
26:8. The length of one hair-curtain shall be thirty cubits; and the
breadth, four: the measure of all the curtains shall be equal.
26:9. Five of which thou shalt couple by themselves, and the six
others thou shalt couple one to another, so as to double the sixth
curtain in the front of the roof.
26:10. Thou shalt make also ifty loops in the edge of one curtain,
that it may be joined with the other: and ifty loops in the edge of the
other curtain, that it may be coupled with its fellow.
26:11. Thou shalt make also ifty buckles of brass, wherewith the
loops may be joined, that of all there may be made one covering.
26:12. And that which shall remain of the curtains, that are
prepared for the roof, to wit, one curtain that is over and above, with
the half thereof thou shalt cover the back parts of the tabernacle.
26:13. And there shall hang down a cubit on the one side, and
another on the other side, which is over and above in the length of the
curtains, fencing both sides of the tabernacle.
26:14. Thou shalt make also another cover to the roof of rams’ skins
dyed red: and over that again another cover of violet coloured skins.
26:15. Thou shalt make also the boards of the tabernacle standing
upright of setim wood.
26:16. Let every one of them be ten cubits in length, and in breadth
one cubit and a half.
26:17. In the sides of the boards shall be made two mortises,
whereby one board may be joined to another board: and after this
manner shall all the boards be prepared.
26:18. Of which twenty shall be in the south side southward.

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 26:19. For which thou shalt cast forty sockets of silver, that under
every board may be put two sockets at the two corners.
26:20. In the second side also of the tabernacle that looketh to the
north, there shall be twenty boards,
26:21. Having forty sockets of silver, two sockets shall be put under
each board.
26:22. But on the west side of the tabernacle thou shalt make six
boards.
26:23. And again other two which shall be erected in the corners at
the back of the tabernacle.
26:24. And they shall be joined together from beneath unto the top,
and one joint shall hold them all. The like joining shall be observed for
the two boards also that are to be put in the corners.
26:25. And they shall be in all eight boards, and their silver sockets
sixteen, reckoning two sockets for each board.
26:26. Thou shalt make also ive bars of setim wood, to hold
together the boards on one side of the tabernacle.
26:27. And ive others on the other side, and as many at the west
side:
26:28. And they shall be put along by the midst of the boards, from
one end to the other.
26:29. The boards also themselves thou shalt overlay with gold, and
shalt cast rings of gold to be set upon them, for places for the bars to
hold together the boardwork: which bars thou shalt cover with plates
of gold.
26:30. And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the
pattern that was shewn thee in the mount.
26:31. Thou shalt make also a veil of violet, and purple, and scarlet
twice dyed, and ine twisted linen, wrought with embroidered work
and goodly variety:

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 26:32. And thou shalt hang it up before four pillars of setim wood,
which themselves also shall be overlaid with gold, and shall have
heads of gold, but sockets of silver.
26:33. And the veil shall be hanged on with rings, and within it thou
shalt put the ark of the testimony, and the sanctuary and the holy of
the holies shall be divided with it.
The sanctuary, etc.... That part of the tabernacle, which was without the veil, into
which the priests daily entered, is here called the sanctuary, or holy place; that
part which was within the veil, into which no one but the high priest ever went,
and he but once a year, is called the holy of holies, (literally, the sanctuary of the
sanctuaries,) as being the most holy of all holy places.
26:34. And thou shalt set the propitiatory upon the ark of the
testimony, in the holy of holies.
26:35. And the table without the veil, and over against the table the
candlestick in the south side of the tabernacle: for the table shall stand
in the north side.
26:36. Thou shalt make also a hanging in the entrance of the
tabernacle of violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and ine
twisted linen with embroidered work.
26:37. And thou shalt overlay with gold ive pillars of setim wood,
before which the hanging shall be drawn: their heads shall be of gold,
and the sockets of brass.
Exodus Chapter 27

The altar; and the court of the tabernacle with its hangings and
pillars. Provision of oil for lamps.
27:1. Thou shalt make also an altar of setim wood, which shall be
ive cubits long, and as many broad, that is four square, and three
cubits high.
27:2. And there shall be horns at the four corners of the same: and
thou shalt cover it with brass.
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 27:3. And thou shalt make for the uses thereof pans to receive the
ashes, and tongs and leshhooks, and irepans: all its vessels thou shalt
make of brass.
27:4. And a grate of brass in manner of a net; at the four corners of
which, shall be four rings of brass,
27:5. Which thou shalt put under the hearth of the altar: and the
grate shall be even to the midst of the altar.
27:6. Thou shalt make also two bars for the altar, of setim wood,
which thou shalt cover with plates of brass:
27:7. And thou shalt draw them through rings, and they shall be on
both sides of the altar to carry it.
27:8. Thou shalt not make it solid, but empty and hollow in the
inside, as it was shewn thee in the mount.
27:9. Thou shalt make also the court of the tabernacle, in the south
side whereof southward there shall be hangings of ine twisted linen of
a hundred cubits long for one side.
27:10. And twenty pillars with as many sockets of brass, the heads of
which, with their engraving, shall be of silver.
27:11. In like manner also on the north side there shall be hangings
of a hundred cubits long, twenty pillars, and as many sockets of brass,
and their heads with their engraving of silver.
27:12. But in the breadth of the court, that looketh to the west,
there shall be hangings of ifty cubits, and ten pillars, and as many
sockets.
27:13. In that breadth also of the court, which looketh to the east,
there shall be ifty cubits.
27:14. In which there shall be for one side, hangings of ifteen cubits,
and three pillars, and as many sockets.
27:15. And in the other side, there shall be hangings of ifteen cubits,
with three pillars, and as many sockets.

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 27:16. And in the entrance of the court there shall be made a
hanging of twenty cubits of violet and purple, and scarlet twice dyed,
and ine twisted linen, with embroidered work: it shall have four
pillars, with as many sockets.
27:17. All the pillars of the court round about shall be garnished
with plates of silver, silver heads, and sockets of brass.
27:18. In length the court shall take up a hundred cubits, in breadth
ifty, the height shall be of ive cubits, and it shall be made of ine
twisted linen, and shall have sockets of brass.
27:19. All the vessels of the tabernacle for all uses and ceremonies,
and the pins both of it and of the court, thou shalt make of brass.
27:20. Command the children of Israel that they bring thee the
purest oil of the olives, and beaten with a pestle: that a lamp may burn
always,
27:21. In the tabernacle of the testimony, without the veil that
hangs before the testimony. And Aaron and his sons shall order it, that
it may give light before the Lord until the morning. It shall be a
perpetual observance throughout their successions among the
children of Israel.
Exodus Chapter 28

The holy vestments for Aaron and his sons.

28:1. Take unto thee also Aaron thy brother with his sons, from
among the children of Israel, that they may minister to me in the
priest’s of ice: Aaron, Nadab, and Abiu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
28:2. And thou shalt make a holy vesture for Aaron, thy brother, for
glory and for beauty.
28:3. And thou shalt speak to all the wise of heart, whom I have
illed with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s vestments,
in which he being consecrated, may minister to me.
28:4. And these shall be the vestments that they shall make: A
rational and an ephod, a tunic and a strait linen garment, a mitre and
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 a girdle. They shall make the holy vestments for thy brother Aaron and
his sons, that they may do the of ice of priesthood unto me.
28:5. And they shall take gold, and violet, and purple, and scarlet
twice dyed, and ine linen.
28:6. And they shall make the ephod of gold, and violet, and purple,
and scarlet twice dyed, and ine twisted linen, embroidered with divers
colours.
28:7. It shall have the two edges joined in the top on both sides, that
they may be closed together.
28:8. The very workmanship also, and all the variety of the work,
shall be of gold, and violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and ine
twisted linen.
28:9. And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and shalt grave on them
the names of the children of Israel:
28:10. Six names on one stone, and the other six on the other,
according to the order of their birth.
28:11. With the work of an engraver, and the graving of a jeweller,
thou shalt engrave them with the names of the children of Israel, set in
gold and compassed about:
28:12. And thou shalt put them in both sides of the ephod, a
memorial for the children of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names
before the Lord upon both shoulders, for a remembrance.
28:13. Thou shalt make also hooks of gold.
28:14. And two little chains of the purest gold, linked one to another,
which thou shalt put into the hooks.
28:15. And thou shalt make the rational of judgment with
embroidered work of divers colours, according to the workmanship of
the ephod, of gold, violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and ine
twisted linen.
The rational of judgment.... This part of the priest’s attire, which he wore at his
breast, was called the rational of judgment; partly because it admonished both
priest and people of their duty to God, by carrying the names of all their tribes in

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his presence; and by the Urim and the Thummim, that is, doctrine and truth,
which were written upon it; and partly because it gave divine answers and
oracles, as if it were rational and endowed with judgment.
28:16. It shall be four square and doubled: it shall be the measure of
a span both in length and in breadth.
28:17. And thou shalt set in it four rows of stones . In the irst row
shall be a sardius stone, and a topaz, and an emerald:
28:18. In the second a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a jasper:
28:19. In the third a ligurius, an agate, and an amethyst:
28:20. In the fourth a chrysolite, an onyx, and a beryl. They shall be
set in gold by their rows.
28:21. And they shall have the names of the children of Israel: with
twelve names shall they be engraved, each stone with the name of one
according to the twelve tribes.
28:22. And thou shalt make on the rational chains, linked one to
another, of the purest gold:
28:23. And two rings of gold, which thou shalt put in the two ends at
the top of the rational.
28:24. And the golden chains thou shalt join to the rings, that are in
the ends thereof.
28:25. And the ends of the chains themselves, thou shalt join
together with two hooks, on both sides of the ephod, which is towards
the rational.
28:26. Thou shalt make also two rings of gold, which thou shalt put
in the top parts of the rational, in the borders that are over against the
ephod, and look towards the back parts thereof.
28:27. Moreover also other two rings of gold, which are to be set on
each side of the ephod beneath, that looketh towards the nether
joining, that the rational may be itted with the ephod,
28:28. And may be fastened by the rings thereof unto the rings of the
ephod with a violet illet, that the joining arti icially wrought may

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 continue, and the rational and the ephod may not be loosed one from
the other.
28:29. And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in
the rational of judgment upon his breast, when he shall enter into the
sanctuary, a memorial before the Lord for ever.
28:30. And thou shalt put in the rational of judgment doctrine and
truth, which shall be on Aaron’s breast, when he shall go in before the
Lord: and he shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his
breast, in the sight of the Lord always.
Doctrine and Truth.... Hebrew, Urim and Thummim: illuminations and
perfections. These words, written on the rational, seem to signify the light of
doctrine and the integrity of life, with which the priests of God ought to
approach him.
28:31. And thou shalt make the tunic of the ephod all of violet,
28:32. In the midst whereof above shall be a hole for the head, and a
border round about it woven, as is wont to be made in the outmost
parts of garments, that it may not easily be broken.
28:33. And beneath at the feet of the same tunic, round about, thou
shalt make as it were pomegranates, of violet, and purple, and scarlet
twice dyed, with little bells set between:
28:34. So that there shall be a golden bell and a pomegranate, and
again another golden bell and a pomegranate.
28:35. And Aaron shall be vested with it in the of ice of his ministry,
that the sound may be heard, when he goeth in and cometh out of the
sanctuary, in the sight of the Lord, and that he may not die.
28:36. Thou shalt make also a plate of the purest gold: wherein thou
shalt grave with engraver’s work, Holy to the Lord.
28:37. And thou shalt tie it with a violet illet, and it shall be upon
the mitre,
28:38. Hanging over the forehead of the high priest. And Aaron shall
bear the iniquities of those things, which the children of Israel have
offered and sancti ied, in all their gifts and offerings. And the plate

 shall be always on his forehead, that the Lord may be well pleased
with them.
28:39. And thou shalt gird the tunic with ine linen, and thou shalt
make a ine linen mitre, and a girdle of embroidered work.
28:40. Moreover, for the sons of Aaron thou shalt prepare linen
tunics, and girdles and mitres for glory and beauty:
28:41. And with all these things thou shalt vest Aaron thy brother,
and his sons with him. And thou shalt consecrate the hands of them all,
and shalt sanctify them, that they may do the of ice of priesthood unto
me.
28:42. Thou shalt make also linen breeches, to cover the lesh of
their nakedness, from the reins to the thighs:
28:43. And Aaron and his sons shall use them when they shall go
into the tabernacle of the testimony, or when they approach to the
altar to minister in the sanctuary, lest being guilty of iniquity they die.
It shall be a law for ever to Aaron, and to his seed after him.
Exodus Chapter 29

The manner of consecrating Aaron and other priests; the institution of

the daily sacri ice of two lambs, one in the morning, the other at
evening.
29:1. And thou shalt also do this, that they may be consecrated to
me in priesthood. Take a calf from the herd, and two rams without
blemish,
29:2. And unleavened bread, and a cake without leaven, tempered
with oil, wafers also unleavened, anointed with oil: thou shalt make
them all of wheaten lour.
29:3. And thou shalt put them in a basket, and offer them: and the
calf and the two rams.
29:4. And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the
tabernacle of the testimony. And when thou hast washed the father
and his sons with water,

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 29:5. Thou shalt clothe Aaron with his vestments, that is, with the
linen garment and the tunic, and the ephod and the rational, which
thou shalt gird with the girdle.
29:6. And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and the holy plate
upon the mitre,
29:7. And thou shalt pour the oil of unction upon his head: and by
this rite shall he be consecrated.
29:8. Thou shalt bring his sons also, and shalt put on them the linen
tunics, and gird them with a girdle:
29:9. To wit, Aaron and his children, and thou shalt put mitres upon
them; and they shall be priests to me by a perpetual ordinance. After
thou shalt have consecrated their hands,
29:10. Thou shalt present also the calf before the tabernacle of the
testimony. And Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon his head,
29:11. And thou shalt kill him in the sight of the Lord, beside the
door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
29:12. And taking some of the blood of the calf, thou shalt put it
upon the horns of the altar with thy inger, and the rest of the blood
thou shalt pour at the bottom thereof.
29:13. Thou shalt take also all the fat that covereth the entrails, and
the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon
them, and shalt offer a burnt offering upon the altar:
29:14. But the lesh of the calf, and the hide and the dung, thou shalt
burn abroad, without the camp, because it is for sin.
29:15. Thou shalt take also one ram, upon the head whereof Aaron
and his sons shall lay their hands.
29:16. And when thou hast killed him, thou shalt take of the blood
thereof, and pour round about the altar.
29:17. And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and having washed his
entrails and feet, thou shalt put them upon the lesh that is cut in
pieces, and upon his head.
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 29:18. And thou shalt offer the whole ram for a burnt offering upon
the altar: it is an oblation to the Lord, a most sweet savour of the
victim of the Lord.
29:19. Thou shalt take also the other ram, upon whose head Aaron
and his sons shall lay their hands.
29:20. And when thou hast sacri iced him, thou shalt take of his
blood, and put upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron and of his sons,
and upon the thumbs and great toes of their right hand and foot, and
thou shalt pour the blood upon the altar round about.
29:21. And when thou hast taken of the blood that is upon the altar,
and of the oil of unction, thou shalt sprinkle Aaron and his vesture, his
sons and their vestments. And after they and their vestments are
consecrated,
29:22. Thou shalt take the fat of the ram, and the rump, and the fat
that covereth the lungs, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys,
and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder, because it is the
ram of consecration:
29:23. And one roll of bread, a cake tempered with oil, a wafer out
of the basket of unleavened bread, which is set in the sight of the Lord:
29:24. And thou shalt put all upon the hands of Aaron and of his
sons, and shalt sanctify them elevating before the Lord.
29:25. And thou shalt take all from their hands; and shalt burn them
upon the altar for a holocaust, a most sweet savour in the sight of the
Lord, because it is his oblation.
29:26. Thou shalt take also the breast of the ram, wherewith Aaron
was consecrated, and elevating it thou shalt sanctify it before the Lord,
and it shall fall to thy share.
29:27. And thou shalt sanctify both the consecrated breast, and the
shoulder that thou didst separate of the ram,
29:28. Wherewith Aaron was consecrated and his sons, and they
shall fall to Aaron’s share, and his sons’, by a perpetual right from the

 children of Israel: because they are the choicest and the beginnings of
their peace victims which they offer to the Lord.
29:29. And the holy vesture, which Aaron shall use, his sons shall
have after him, that they may be anointed, and their hands
consecrated in it.
29:30. He of his sons that shall be appointed high priest in his stead,
and that shall enter into the tabernacle of the testimony to minister in
the sanctuary, shall wear it seven days.
29:31. And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and shalt
boil the lesh thereof in the holy place:
29:32. And Aaron and his sons shall eat it. The loaves also, that are
in the basket, they shall eat in the entry of the tabernacle of the
testimony,
29:33. That it may be an atoning sacri ice, and the hands of the
offerers may be sancti ied. A stranger shall not eat of them, because
they are holy.
29:34. And if there remain of the consecrated lesh, or of the bread,
till the morning, thou shalt burn the remainder with ire: they shall
not be eaten, because they are sancti ied.
29:35. All that I have commanded thee, thou shalt do unto Aaron
and his sons. Seven days shalt thou consecrate their hands:
29:36. And thou shalt offer a calf for sin every day for expiation. And
thou shalt cleanse the altar when thou hast offered the victim of
expiation, and shalt anoint it to sanctify it.
29:37. Seven days shalt thou expiate the altar and sanctify it, and it
shall be most holy. Every one, that shall touch it, shall be holy.
29:38. This is what thou shalt sacri ice upon the altar: Two lambs of
a year old every day continually,
29:39. One lamb in the morning, and another in the evening.
29:40. With one lamb a tenth part of lour tempered with beaten oil,
of the fourth part of a hin, and wine for libation of the same measure.
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 29:41. And the other lamb thou shalt offer in the evening, according
to the rite of the morning oblation, and according to what we have
said, for a savour of sweetness:
29:42. It is a sacri ice to the Lord, by perpetual oblation unto your
generations, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony before the
Lord, where I will appoint to speak unto thee.
29:43. And there will I command the children of Israel, and the altar
shall be sancti ied by my glory.
29:44. I will sanctify also the tabernacle of the testimony with the
altar, and Aaron with his sons, to do the of ice of priesthood unto me.
29:45. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and will
be their God:
29:46. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who have
brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might abide among them,
I the Lord their God.
Exodus Chapter 30

The altar of incense: money to be gathered for the use of the

tabernacle: the brazen laver: the holy oil of unction, and the
composition of the perfume.
30:1. Thou shalt make also an altar to burn incense, of setim wood.
An altar to burn incense.... This burning of incense was an emblem of prayer,
ascending to God from an in lamed heart. See Ps. 140.2; Apoc. 5.8, and 8.4.
30:2. It shall be a cubit in length, and another in breadth, that is,
four square, and two in height. Horns shall go out of the same.
30:3. And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold, as well the grate
thereof, as the walls round about, and the horns. And thou shalt make
to it a crown of gold round about,
30:4. And two golden rings under the crown on either side, that the
bars may be put into them, and the altar be carried.

 30:5. And thou shalt make the bars also of setim wood, and shalt
overlay them with gold.
30:6. And thou shalt set the altar over against the veil, that hangeth
before the ark of the testimony before the propitiatory wherewith the
testimony is covered, where I will speak to thee.
30:7. And Aaron shall burn sweet smelling incense upon it in the
morning. When he shall dress the lamps, he shall burn it:
30:8. And when he shall place them in the evening, he shall burn an
everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations.
30:9. You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition, nor
oblation, and victim, neither shall you offer libations.
30:10. And Aaron shall pray upon the horns thereof once a year,
with the blood of that which was offered for sin; and shall make
atonement upon it in your generations. It shall be most holy to the
Lord.
30:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
30:12. When thou shalt take the sum of the children of Israel,
according to their number, every one of them shall give a price for
their souls to the Lord, and there shall be no scourge among them,
when they shall be reckoned.
30:13. And this shall every one give that passeth at the naming, half
a sicle according to the standard of the temple. A sicle hath twenty
obols. Half a sicle shall be offered to the Lord.
Half a sicle.... A sicle or shekel of silver, (which was also called a stater,)
according to the standard or weight of the sanctuary, which was the most just
and exact, was half an ounce of silver, that is, about half a crown of English
money. The obol, or gerah, was about three halfpence.
30:14. He that is counted in the number from twenty years and
upwards, shall give the price.
30:15. The rich man shall not add to half a sicle, and the poor man
shall diminish nothing.

 30:16. And the money received, which was contributed by the

children of Israel, thou shalt deliver unto the uses of the tabernacle of
the testimony, that it may be a memorial of them before the Lord, and
he may be merciful to their souls.
30:17. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
30:18. Thou shalt make also a brazen laver with its foot to wash in:
and thou shalt set it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the
altar. And water being put into it:
30:19. Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet in it:
30:20. When they are going into the tabernacle of the testimony,
and when they are to come to the altar, to offer on it incense to the
Lord,
30:21. Lest perhaps they die. It shall be an everlasting law to him,
and to his seed by successions.
30:22. And the Lord spoke to Moses,
30:23. Saying: Take spices, of principal and chosen myrrh ive
hundred sicles, and of cinnamon half so much; that is, two hundred
and ifty sicles, of calamus in like manner two hundred and ifty,
30:24. And of cassia ive hundred sicles by the weight of the
sanctuary, of oil of olives the measure hin:
30:25. And thou shalt make the holy oil of unction, an ointment
compounded after the art of the perfumer,
30:26. And therewith thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the
testimony, and the ark of the testament,
30:27. And the table with the vessels thereof, the candlestick and
furniture thereof, the altars of incense,
30:28. And of holocaust, and all the furniture that belongeth to the
service of them.
30:29. And thou shalt sanctify all, and they shall be most holy: he
that shall touch them shall be sancti ied.
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 30:30. Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and shalt sanctify
them, that they may do the of ice of priesthood unto me.
30:31. And thou shalt say to the children of Israel: This oil of unction
shall be holy unto me throughout your generations.
30:32. The lesh of man shall not be anointed therewith, and you
shall make none other of the same composition, because it is
sancti ied, and shall be holy unto you.
30:33. What man soever shall compound such, and shall give thereof
to a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.
30:34. And the Lord said to Moses: Take unto thee spices, stacte, and
onycha, galbanum of sweet savour, and the clearest frankincense, all
shall be of equal weight.
30:35. And thou shalt make incense compounded by the work of the
perfumer, well tempered together, and pure, and most worthy of
sancti ication.
30:36. And when thou hast beaten all into very small powder, thou
shalt set of it before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where
I will appear to thee. Most holy shall this incense be unto you.
30:37. You shall not make such a composition for your own uses,
because it is holy to the Lord.
30:38. What man soever shall make the like, to enjoy the smell
thereof, he shall perish out of his people.
Exodus Chapter 31

Beseleel and Ooliab are appointed by the Lord to make the tabernacle,
and the things belonging thereto. The observation of the sabbath day
is again commanded. And the Lord delivereth to Moses two tables
written with the inger of God.
31:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
31:2. Behold, I have called by name Beseleel the son of Uri, the son of
Hur, of the tribe of Juda,
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 31:3. And I have illed him with the spirit of God, with wisdom and
understanding, and knowledge in all manner of work,
31:4. To devise whatsoever may be arti icially made of gold, and
silver, and brass,
31:5. Of marble, and precious stones, and variety of wood.
31:6. And I have given him for his companion Ooliab, the son of
Achisamech, of the tribe of Dan. And I have put wisdom in the heart of
every skilful man, that they may make all things which I have
commanded thee,
31:7. The tabernacle of the covenant, and the ark of the testimony,
and the propitiatory, that is over it, and all the vessels of the
tabernacle,
31:8. And the table and the vessels thereof, the most pure
candlestick with the vessels thereof, and the altars of incense,
31:9. And of holocaust, and all their vessels, the laver with its foot,
31:10. The holy vestments in the ministry for Aaron the priest, and
for his sons, that they may execute their of ice, about the sacred
things:
31:11. The oil of unction, and the incense of spices in the sanctuary,
all things which I have commanded thee, shall they make.
31:12. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
31:13. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
See that you keep my sabbath; because it is a sign between me and you
in your generations that you may know that I am the Lord, who
sanctify you.
31:14. keep you my sabbath: for it is holy unto you: he that shall
profane it, shall be put to death: he that shall do any work in it, his
soul shall perish out of the midst of his people.
31:15. Six days shall you do work: in the seventh day is the sabbath,
the rest holy to the Lord. Every one that shall do any work on this day,
shall die.

 31:16. Let the children of Israel keep the sabbath, and celebrate it in
their generations.
31:17. It is an everlasting covenant, and a perpetual sign between
me and the children of Israel. For in six days the Lord made heaven
and earth, and in the seventh he ceased from work.
31:18. And the Lord, when he had ended these words in Mount Sinai,
gave to Moses two stone tables of testimony, written with the inger of
God.
Exodus Chapter 32

The people fall into idolatry. Moses prayeth for them. He breaketh the
tables: destroyeth the idol: blameth Aaron, and causeth many of the
idolaters to be slain.
32:1. And the people seeing that Moses delayed to come down from
the mount, gathering together against Aaron, said: Arise, make us
gods, that may go before us: For as to this Moses, the man that
brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has befallen
him.
32:2. And Aaron said to them: Take the golden earrings from the
ears of your wives, and your sons and daughters, and bring them to
me.
32:3. And the people did what he had commanded, bringing the
earrings to Aaron.
32:4. And when he had received them, he fashioned them by
founders’ work, and made of them a molten calf. And they said: These
are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
32:5. And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and made
proclamation by a crier’s voice, saying To morrow is the solemnity of
the Lord.
32:6. And rising in the morning, they offered holocausts, and peace
victims, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to
play.

 32:7. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go, get thee down: thy
people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned.
32:8. They have quickly strayed from the way which thou didst shew
them: and they have made to themselves a molten calf, and have
adored it, and sacri icing victims to it, have said: These are thy gods, O
Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
32:9. And again the Lord said to Moses: I see that this people is
stiffnecked:
32:10. Let me alone, that my wrath may be kindled against them,
and that I may destroy them, and I will make of thee a great nation.
32:11. But Moses besought the Lord his God, saying: Why, O Lord, is
thy indignation enkindled against thy people, whom thou hast brought
out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand?
32:12. Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech thee: He craftily brought
them out, that he might kill them in the mountains, and destroy them
from the earth: let thy anger cease, and be appeased upon the
wickedness of thy people.
32:13. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom
thou sworest by thy own self, saying: I will multiply your seed as the
stars of heaven: and this whole land that I have spoken of, I will give to
your seed, and you shall possess it for ever:
32:14. And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had
spoken against his people.
32:15. And Moses returned from the mount, carrying the two tables
of the testimony in his hand, written on both sides,
32:16. And made by the work of God; the writing also of God was
graven in the tables.
32:17. And Josue hearing the noise of the people shouting, said to
Moses: The noise of battle is heard in the camp.
32:18. But he answered: It is not the cry of men encouraging to
ight, nor the shout of men compelling to lee: but I hear the voice of
singers.
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 32:19. And when he came nigh to the camp, he saw the calf, and the
dances: and being very angry, he threw the tables out of his hand, and
broke them at the foot of the mount:
32:20. And laying hold of the calf which they had made, he burnt it,
and beat it to powder, which he strewed into water, and gave thereof
to the children of Israel to drink.
32:21. And he said to Aaron: What has this people done to thee, that
thou shouldst bring upon them a most heinous sin?
32:22. And he answered him: Let not my lord be offended; for thou
knowest this people, that they are prone to evil.
32:23. They said to me: make us gods, that may go before us; for as
to this Moses, who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know
not what is befallen him.
32:24. And I said to them: Which of you hath any gold? and they
took and brought it to me; and I cast it into the ire, and this calf came
out.
32:25. And when Moses saw that the people were naked, (for Aaron
had stripped them by occasion of the shame of the ilth, and had set
them naked among their enemies)
Naked.... Having lost not only their gold, and their honour, but what was worst of
all, being stripped also of the grace of God, and having lost him.—The shame of
the ilth.... That is, of the idol, which they had taken for their god. It is the usual
phrase of the scripture to call idols ilth and abominations.
32:26. Then standing in the gate of the camp, he said: If any man be
on the Lord’s side, let him join with me. And all the sons of Levi
gathered themselves together unto him:
32:27. And he said to them: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Put
every man his sword upon his thigh: go, and return from gate to gate
through the midst of the camp, and let every man kill his brother, and
friend, and neighbour.
32:28. And the sons of Levi did according to the words of Moses, and
there were slain that day about three and twenty thousand men.
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 32:29. And Moses said: You have consecrated your hands this day to
the Lord, every man in his son and in his brother, that a blessing may
be given to you.
32:30. And when the next day was come, Moses spoke to the people:
You have sinned a very great sin: I will go up to the Lord, if by any
means I may be able to entreat him for your crime.
32:31. And returning to the Lord, he said: I beseech thee: this people
hath sinned a heinous sin, and they have made to themselves gods of
gold: either forgive them this trespass,
32:32. Or if thou do not, strike me out of the book that thou hast
written.
32:33. And the Lord answered him: He that hath sinned against me,
him will I strike out of my book:
32:34. But go thou, and lead this people whither I have told thee: my
angel shall go before thee. And I in the day of revenge will visit this sin
also of theirs.
32:35. The Lord therefore struck the people for the guilt, on
occasion of the calf which Aaron had made.
Exodus Chapter 33

The people mourn for their sin. Moses pitcheth the tabernacle without
the camp. He converseth familiarly with God. Desireth to see his glory.
33:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go, get thee up from this
place, thou and thy people which thou hast brought out of the land of
Egypt, into the land concerning which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, saying: To thy seed I will give it:
33:2. And I will send an angel before thee, that I may cast out the
Chanaanite, and the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite,
and the Hevite, and the Jebusite,
33:3. That thou mayst enter into the land that loweth with milk
and honey. For I will not go up with thee, because thou art a
stiffnecked people; lest I destroy thee in the way.

 33:4. And the people hearing these very bad tidings, mourned: and
no man put on his ornaments according to custom.
33:5. And the Lord said to Moses: Say to the children of Israel: Thou
art a stiffnecked people, once I shall come up in the midst of thee, and
shall destroy thee. Now presently lay aside thy ornaments, that I may
know what to do to thee.
33:6. So the children of Israel laid aside their ornaments by Mount
Horeb.
33:7. Moses also taking the tabernacle, pitched it without the camp
afar off, and called the name thereof, The tabernacle of the covenant.
And all the people, that had any question, went forth to the tabernacle
of the covenant, without the camp.
33:8. And when Moses went forth to the tabernacle, all the people
rose up, and every one stood in the door of his pavilion, and they
beheld the back of Moses, till he went into the tabernacle.
33:9. And when he was gone into the tabernacle of the covenant, the
pillar of the cloud came down, and stood at the door, and he spoke
with Moses.
33:10. And all saw that the pillar of the cloud stood at the door of
the tabernacle. And they stood and worshipped at the doors of their
tent.
33:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to
speak to his friend. And when he returned into the camp, his servant
Josue, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from the tabernacle.
Face to face.... That is, in a most familiar manner. Though as we learn from this
very chapter, Moses could not see the face of the Lord.
33:12. And Moses said to the Lord: Thou commandest me to lead
forth this people; and thou dost not let me know whom thou wilt send
with me, especially whereas thou hast said: I know thee by name, and
thou hast found favour in my sight.

 I know thee by name.... In the language of the scriptures, God is said to know
such as he approves and loves: and to know by name, those whom he favours in a
most singular manner, as he did his servant Moses.
33:13. If therefore I have found favour in thy sight, shew me thy
face, that I may know thee, and may ind grace before thy eyes: look
upon thy people this nation.
33:14. And the Lord said: My face shall go before thee, and I will give
thee rest.
33:15. And Moses said: If thou thyself dost not go before, bring us
not out of this place.
33:16. For how shall we be able to know, I and thy people, that we
have found grace in thy sight, unless thou walk with us, that we may
be glori ied by all people that dwell upon the earth?
33:17. And the Lord said to Moses: This word also, which thou hast
spoken, will I do; for thou hast found grace before me, and thee I have
known by name.
33:18. And he said: Shew me thy glory.
33:19. He answered: I will shew thee all good, and I will proclaim in
the name of the Lord before thee: and I will have mercy on whom I
will, and I will be merciful to whom it shall please me.
33:20. And again he said: Thou canst not see my face: for man shall
not see me, and live.
33:21. And again he said: Behold there is a place with me, and thou
shalt stand upon the rock.
33:22. And when my glory shall pass, I will set thee in a hole of the
rock, and protect thee with my right hand till I pass:
33:23. And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back
parts: but my face thou canst not see.
See my back parts.... The Lord by his angel, usually spoke to Moses in the pillar of
the cloud; so that he could not see the glory of him that spoke familiarly with
him. In the vision here mentioned he was allowed to see something of him, in an
assumed corporeal form: not in the face, the rays of which were too bright for
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 mortal eye to bear, but to view him as it were behind, when his face was turned
from him.
Exodus Chapter 34

The tables are renewed: all society with the Chanaanites is forbid:
some precepts concerning the irstborn, the sabbath, and other feasts:
after forty days’ fast, Moses returneth to the people with the
commandments, and his face appearing horned with rays of light, he
covereth it, whensoever he speaketh to the people.
34:1. And after this he said: Hew thee two tables of stone like unto
the former, and I will write upon them the words, which were in the
tables, which thou brokest.
34:2. Be ready in the morning, that thou mayst forthwith go up into
Mount Sinai, and thou shalt stand with me upon the top of the mount.
34:3. Let no man go up with thee, and let not any man be seen
throughout all the mount; neither let the oxen nor the sheep feed over
against it.
34:4. Then he cut out two tables of stone, such as had been before;
and rising very early he went up into the Mount Sinai, as the Lord had
commanded him, carrying with him the tables.
34:5. And when the Lord was come down in a cloud, Moses stood
with him, calling upon the name of the Lord.
34:6. And when he passed before him, he said: O the Lord, the Lord
God, merciful and gracious, patient and of much compassion, and true,
34:7. Who keepest mercy unto thousands: who takest away iniquity,
and wickedness, and sin, and no man of himself is innocent before thee.
Who renderest the iniquity of the fathers to the children, and to the
grandchildren unto the third and fourth generation.
34:8. And Moses making haste, bowed down prostrate unto the
earth, and adoring,

 34:9. Said: If I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, I beseech thee
that thou wilt go with us, (for it is a stiffnecked people) and take away
our iniquities and sin, and possess us.
34:10. The Lord answered: I will make a covenant in the sight of all,
I will do signs such as were never seen upon the earth, nor in any
nations; that this people, in the midst of whom thou art, may see the
terrible work of the Lord which I will do.
34:11. Observe all things which this day I command thee: I myself
will drive out before thy face the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, and
the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite.
34:12. Beware thou never join in friendship with the inhabitants of
that land, which may be thy ruin:
34:13. But destroy their altars, break their statues and cut down
their groves:
34:14. Adore not any strange god. The Lord his name is jealous, he is
a jealous God.
34:15. Make no covenant with the men of those countries; lest, when
they have committed fornication with their gods, and have adored
their idols, some one call thee to eat of the things sacri iced.
34:16. Neither shalt thou take of their daughters a wife for thy son,
lest after they themselves have committed fornication, they make thy
sons also to commit fornication with their gods.
34:17. Thou shalt not make to thyself any molten gods.
34:18. Thou shalt keep the feast of the unleavened bread. Seven days
shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee in the time of
the month of the new corn: for in the month of the spring time thou
camest out from Egypt.
34:19. All of the male kind that openeth the womb, shall be mine. Of
all beasts; both of oxen and of sheep, it shall be mine.
34:20. The irstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a sheep: but if
thou wilt not give a price for it, it shall be slain. The irstborn of thy
sons thou shalt redeem: neither shalt thou appear before me empty.
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 34:21. Six days shalt thou work, the seventh day thou shalt cease to
plough and to reap.
34:22. Thou shalt keep the feast of weeks with the irstfruits of the
corn of thy wheat harvest, and the feast when the time of the year
returneth that all things are laid in.
34:23. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear in the sight
of the almighty Lord the God of Israel.
34:24. For when I shall have taken away the nations from thy face,
and shall have enlarged thy borders, no man shall lie in wait against
thy land when thou shalt go up, and appear in the sight of the Lord thy
God thrice in a year.
34:25. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacri ice upon leaven;
neither shall there remain in the morning any thing of the victim of
the solemnity of the Phase.
34:26. The irst of the fruits of thy ground thou shalt offer in the
house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of his
dam.
34:27. And the Lord said to Moses: Write thee these words, by which
I have made a covenant both with thee and with Israel.
34:28. And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights:
he neither ate bread nor drank water, and he wrote upon the tables
the ten words of the covenant.
34:29. And when Moses came down from the Mount Sinai, he held
the two tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was
horned from the conversation of the Lord.
Horned.... That is, shining, and sending forth rays of light like horns.
34:30. And Aaron and the children of Israel seeing the face of Moses
horned, were afraid to come near.
34:31. And being called by him, they returned, both Aaron and the
rulers of the congregation. And after that he spoke to them,

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 34:32. And all the children of Israel came to him: and he gave them
in commandment all that he had heard of the Lord on Mount Sinai.
34:33. And having done speaking, he put a veil upon his face.
34:34. But when he went in to the Lord, and spoke with him, he took
it away until he came forth, and then he spoke to the children of Israel
all things that had been commanded him.
34:35. And they saw that the face of Moses when he came out was
horned, but he covered his face again, if at any time he spoke to them.
Exodus Chapter 35

The sabbath. Offerings for making the tabernacle. Beseleel and Ooliab
are called to the work.
35:1. And all the multitude of the children of Israel being gathered
together, he said to them: These are the things which the Lord hath
commanded to be done:
35:2. Six days you shall do work; the seventh day shall be holy unto
you, the sabbath and the rest of the Lord: he that shall do any work on
it, shall be put to death.
35:3. You shall kindle no ire in any of your habitations on the
sabbath day.
35:4. And Moses said to all the assembly of the children of Israel:
This is the word the Lord hath commanded, saying:
35:5. Set aside with you irstfruits to the Lord. Let every one that is
willing and hath a ready heart, offer them to the Lord: gold, and silver,
and brass,
35:6. Violet and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and ine linen, goats’
hair,
35:7. And rams’ skins dyed red, and violet coloured skins, setim
wood,
35:8. And oil to maintain lights, and to make ointment, and most
sweet incense,

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 35:9. Onyx stones, and precious stones, for the adorning of the ephod
and the rational.
35:10. Whosoever of you is wise, let him come, and make that which
the Lord hath commanded:
35:11. To wit, the tabernacle, and the roof thereof, and the cover, the
rings, and the board-work with the bars, the pillars and the sockets:
35:12. The ark and the staves, the propitiatory, and the veil that is
drawn before it:
35:13. The table with the bars and the vessels, and the loaves of
proposition:
35:14. The candlestick to bear up the lights, the vessels thereof and
the lamps, and the oil for the nourishing of ires:
35:15. The altar of incense, and the bars, and the oil of unction, and
the incense of spices: the hanging at the door of the tabernacle:
35:16. The altar of holocaust, and its grate of brass, with the bars
and vessels thereof: the laver and its foot:
35:17. The curtains of the court, with the pillars and the sockets, the
hanging in the doors of the entry.
35:18. The pins of the tabernacle, and of the court, with their little
cords:
35:19. The vestments that are to be used in the ministry of the
sanctuary, the vesture of Aaron the high priest, and of his sons, to do
the of ice of priesthood to me.
35:20. And all the multitude of the children of Israel going out from
the presence of Moses,
35:21. Offered irstfruits to the Lord with a most ready and devout
mind, to make the work of the tabernacle of the testimony. Whatever
was necessary to the service and to the holy vestments,
35:22. Both men and women gave bracelets and earrings, rings and
tablets: every vessel of gold was set aside to be offered to the Lord.
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 35:23. If any man had violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, ine
linen and goats’ hair, ramskins dyed red, and violet coloured skins,
35:24. Metal of silver and brass, they offered it to the Lord, and
setim wood for divers uses.
35:25. The skilful women also gave such things as they had spun,
violet, purple, and scarlet, and ine linen,
35:26. And goats’ hair, giving all of their own accord.
35:27. But the princes offered onyx stones, and precious stones, for
the ephod and the rational,
35:28. And spices and oil for the lights, and for the preparing of
ointment, and to make the incense of most sweet savour.
35:29. All, both men and women, with devout mind offered gifts,
that the works might be done which the Lord had commanded by the
hand of Moses. All the children of Israel dedicated voluntary offerings
to the Lord.
35:30. And Moses said to the children of Israel: Behold, the Lord
hath called by name Beseleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe
of Juda,
35:31. And hath illed him with the spirit of God, with wisdom and
understanding, and knowledge, and all learning,
35:32. To devise and to work in gold and silver and brass,
35:33. And in engraving stones, and in carpenters’ work.
Whatsoever can be devised arti icially,
35:34. He hath given in his heart: Ooliab also, the son of
Achisamech, of the tribe of Dan:
35:35. Both of them hath he instructed with wisdom, to do
carpenters’ work, and tapestry, and embroidery in blue and purple,
and scarlet twice dyed, and ine linen, and to weave all things, and to
invent all new things.

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 Exodus Chapter 36

The offerings are delivered to the workmen, the curtains, coverings,

boards, bars, veil, pillars, and hanging are made.
36:1. Beseleel therefore, and Ooliab, and every wise man, to whom
the Lord gave wisdom and understanding, to know how to work
arti icially, made the things that are necessary for the uses of the
sanctuary, and which the Lord commanded.
36:2. And when Moses had called them, and every skilful man, to
whom the Lord had given wisdom, and such as of their own accord
had offered themselves to the making of the work,
36:3. He delivered all the offerings of the children of Israel unto
them. And while they were earnest about the work, the people daily in
the morning offered their vows.
36:4. Whereupon the workmen being constrained to come,
36:5. Said to Moses: The people offereth more than is necessary.
36:6. Moses therefore commanded proclamation to be made by the
crier’s voice: Let neither man nor woman offer any more for the work
of the sanctuary. And so they ceased from offering gifts,
36:7. Because the things that were offered did suf ice, and were too
much.
36:8. And all the men that were wise of heart, to accomplish the
work of the tabernacle, made ten curtains of twisted ine linen, and
violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, with varied work, and the
art of embroidering:
36:9. The length of one curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the
breadth four: all the curtains were of the same size.
36:10. And he joined ive curtains, one to another, and the other ive
he coupled one to another.
36:11. He made also loops of violet in the edge of one curtain on
both sides, and in the edge of the other curtain in like manner,
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 36:12. That the loops might meet one against another, and might be
joined each with the other.
36:13. Whereupon also he cast ifty rings of gold, that might catch
the loops of the curtains, and they might be made one tabernacle.
36:14. He made also eleven curtains of goats’ hair, to cover the roof
of the tabernacle:
36:15. One curtain was thirty cubits long, and four cubits broad: all
the curtains were of one measure.
36:16. Five of which he joined apart, and the other six apart.
36:17. And he made ifty loops in the edge of one curtain, and ifty in
the edge of another curtain, that they might be joined one to another.
36:18. And ifty buckles of brass wherewith the roof might be knit
together, that of all the curtains there might be made one covering.
36:19. He made also a cover for the tabernacle of rams’ skins dyed
red; and another cover over that of violet skins.
36:20. He made also the boards of the tabernacle of setim wood
standing.
36:21. The length of one board was ten cubits; and the breadth was
one cubit and a half.
36:22. There were two mortises throughout every board, that one
might be joined to the other. And in this manner he made for all the
boards of the tabernacle.
36:23. Of which twenty were at the south side southward,
36:24. With forty sockets of silver, two sockets were put under one
board on the two sides of the corners, where the mortises of the sides
end in the corners.
36:25. At that side also of the tabernacle, that looketh towards the
north, he made twenty boards,
36:26. With forty sockets of silver, two sockets for every board.
36:27. But against the west, to wit, at that side of the tabernacle,
which looketh to the sea, he made six boards,

 36:28. And two others at each corner of the tabernacle behind:

36:29. Which were also joined from beneath unto the top, and went
together into one joint. Thus he did on both sides at the corners:
36:30. So there were in all eight boards, and they had sixteen
sockets of silver, to wit, two sockets under every board.
36:31. He made also bars of setim wood, ive to hold together the
boards of one side of the tabernacle,
36:32. And ive others to join together the boards of the other side;
and besides these, ive other bars at the west side of the tabernacle
towards the sea.
36:33. He made also another bar, that might come by the midst of
the boards from corner to corner.
36:34. And the boards themselves he overlaid with gold casting for
them sockets of silver. And their rings he made of gold, through which
the bars might be drawn: and he covered the bars themselves with
plates of gold.
36:35. He made also a veil of violet, and purple, scarlet and ine
twisted linen, varied and distinguished with embroidery:
36:36. And four pillars of setim wood, which with their heads he
overlaid with gold, casting for them sockets of silver.
36:37. He made also a hanging in the entry of the tabernacle of
violet, purple, scarlet, and ine twisted linen, with the work of an
embroiderer.
36:38. And ive pillars with their heads, which he covered with gold,
and their sockets he cast of brass.
Exodus Chapter 37

Beseleel maketh the ark: the propitiatory, and cherubims, the table,
the candlestick, the lamps, and the altar of incense, and compoundeth
the incense.
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 37:1. And Beseleel made also, the ark of setim wood: it was two
cubits and a half in length, and a cubit and a half in breadth, and the
height was of one cubit and a half: and he overlaid it with the purest
gold within and without.
37:2. And he made to it a crown of gold round about,
37:3. Casting four rings of gold at the four corners thereof: two
rings in one side, and two in the other.
37:4. And he made bars of setim wood, which he overlaid with gold,
37:5. And he put them into the rings that were at the sides of the ark
to carry it.
37:6. He made also the propitiatory, that is, the oracle, of the purest
gold, two cubits and a half in length, and a cubit and a half in breadth.
37:7. Two cherubims also of beaten gold, which he set on the two
sides of the propitiatory:
37:8. One cherub in the top of one side, and the other cherub in the
top of the other side: two cherubims at the two ends of the
propitiatory,
37:9. Spreading their wings, and covering the propitiatory, and
looking one towards the other, and towards it.
37:10. He made also the table of setim wood, in length two cubits,
and in breadth one cubit, and in height it was a cubit and a half.
37:11. And he overlaid it with the inest gold, and he made to it a
golden ledge round about,
37:12. And to the ledge itself he made a polished crown of gold, of
four ingers breadth, and upon the same another golden crown.
37:13. And he cast four rings of gold, which he put in the four
corners at each foot of the table,
37:14. Over against the crown: and he put the bars into them, that
the table might be carried.
37:15. The bars also themselves he made of setim wood, and
overlaid them with gold.
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 37:16. And the vessels for the divers uses of the table, dishes, bowls,
and cups, and censers of pure gold, wherein the libations are to be
offered.
37:17. He made also the candlestick of beaten work of the inest
gold. from the shaft whereof its branches, its cups, and bowls, and lilies
came out:
37:18. Six on the two sides: three branches on one side, and three on
the other.
37:19. Three cups in manner of a nut on each branch, and bowls
withal and lilies: and three cups of the fashion of a nut in another
branch, and bowls withal and lilies. The work of the six branches, that
went out from the shaft of the candlestick was equal.
37:20. And in the shaft itself were four cups after the manner of a
nut, and bowls withal at every one, and lilies:
37:21. And bowls under two branches in three places, which
together made six branches going out from one shaft.
37:22. So both the bowls, and the branches were of the same, all
beaten work of the purest gold.
37:23. He made also the seven lamps with their snuffers, and the
vessels where the snuf ings were to be put out, of the purest gold.
37:24. The candlestick with all the vessels thereof weighed a talent
of gold.
37:25. He made also the altar of incense of setim wood, being a
cubit on every side foursquare, and in height two cubits: from the
corners of which went out horns.
37:26. And he overlaid it with the purest gold, with its grate, and the
sides, and the horns.
37:27. And he made to it a crown of gold round about, and two
golden rings under the crown at each side, that the bars might be put
into them, and the altar be carried.

 37:28. And the bars themselves he made also of setim wood, and
overlaid them with plates of gold.
37:29. He compounded also the oil for the ointment of
sancti ication, and incense of the purest spices, according to the work
of a perfumer.
Exodus Chapter 38

He maketh the altar of holocaust. The brazen laver. The court with its
pillars and hangings. The sum of what the people offered.
38:1. He made also the altar of holocaust of setim wood, ive cubits
square, and three in height:
38:2. The horns whereof went out from the corners, and he overlaid
it with plates of brass.
38:3. And for the uses thereof, he prepared divers vessels of brass,
cauldrons, tongs, leshhooks, pothooks and irepans.
38:4. And he made the grate thereof of brass, in manner of a net,
and under it in the midst of the altar a hearth,
38:5. Casting four rings at the four ends of the net at the top, to put
in bars to carry it:
38:6. And he made the bars of setim wood, and overlaid them with
plates of brass:
38:7. And he drew them through the rings that stood out in the sides
of the altar. And the altar itself was not solid, but hollow, of boards,
and empty within.
38:8. He made also the laver of brass, with the foot thereof, of the
mirrors of the women that watched at the door of the tabernacle.
38:9. He made also the court, in the south side whereof were
hangings of ine twisted linen of a hundred cubits.
38:10. Twenty pillars of brass with their sockets, the heads of the
pillars, and the whole graving of the work, of silver.
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 38:11. In like manner at the north side the hangings, the pillars, and
the sockets and heads of the pillars were of the same measure, and
work and metal.
38:12. But on that side that looketh to the west, there were
hangings of ifty cubits, ten pillars of brass with their sockets, and the
heads of the pillars, and all the graving of the work, of silver.
38:13. Moreover, towards the east he prepared hangings of ifty
cubits:
38:14. Fifteen cubits of which, were on one side with three pillars,
and their sockets:
38:15. And on the other side (for between the two he made the entry
of the tabernacle) there were hangings equally of ifteen cubits, and
three pillars, and as many sockets.
38:16. All the hangings of the court were woven with twisted linen.
38:17. The sockets of the pillars were of brass, and their heads with
all their gravings of silver: and he overlaid the pillars of the court also
with silver.
38:18. And he made in the entry thereof an embroidered hanging of
violet, purple, scarlet, and ine twisted linen, that was twenty cubits
long, and ive cubits high, according to the measure of all the hangings
of the court.
38:19. And the pillars in the entry were four, with sockets of brass,
and their heads and gravings of silver.
38:20. The pins also of the tabernacle and of the court round about
he made of brass.
38:21. These are the instruments of the tabernacle of the testimony,
which were counted according to the commandment of Moses, in the
ceremonies of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron the
priest:
38:22. Which Beseleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of
Juda, had made, as the Lord commanded by Moses.

 38:23. Having for his companion Ooliab, the son of Achisamech, of

the tribe of Dan: who also was an excellent arti icer in wood, and
worker in tapestry and embroidery in violet, purple, scarlet, and ine
linen.
38:24. All the gold that was spent in the work of the sanctuary, and
that was offered in gifts, was nine and twenty talents, and seven
hundred and thirty sicles according to the standard of the sanctuary.
38:25. And it was offered by them that went to be numbered, from
twenty years old and upwards, of six hundred and three thousand ive
hundred and ifty men able to bear arms.
38:26. There were moreover a hundred talents of silver, whereof
were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and of the entry where the veil
hangeth.
38:27. A hundred sockets were made of a hundred talents, one
talent being reckoned for every socket.
38:28. And of the thousand seven hundred and seventy- ive he made
the heads of the pillars, which also he overlaid with silver.
38:29. And there were offered of brass also seventy-two thousand
talents, and four hundred sicles besides,
38:30. Of which were cast the sockets in the entry of the tabernacle
of the testimony, and the altar of brass with the grate thereof, and also
the vessels that belong to the use thereof.
38:31. And the sockets of the court as well round about as in the
entry thereof, and the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round
about.
Exodus Chapter 39

All the ornaments of Aaron and his sons are made. And the whole work
of the tabernacle is inished.
39:1. And he made, of violet and purple, scarlet and ine linen, the
vestments for Aaron to wear when he ministered in the holy places, as
the Lord commanded Moses.

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 39:2. So he made an ephod of gold, violet, and purple, and scarlet

twice dyed, and ine twisted linen,
39:3. With embroidered work, and he cut thin plates of gold, and
drew them small into threads, that they might be twisted with the
woof of the foresaid colours,
39:4. And two borders coupled one to the other in the top on either
side,
39:5. And a girdle of the same colours, as the Lord had commanded
Moses.
39:6. He prepared also two onyx stones, fast set and closed in gold,
and graven, by the art of a lapidary, with the names of the children of
Israel:
39:7. And he set them in the sides of the ephod, for a memorial of the
children of Israel, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
39:8. He made also a rational with embroidered work, according to
the work of the ephod, of gold, violet, purple, and scarlet twice dyed,
and ine twisted linen:
39:9. Foursquare, double, of the measure of a span.
39:10. And he set four rows of precious stones in it. In the irst row
was a sardius, a topaz, an emerald.
39:11. In the second, a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a jasper.
39:12. In the third, a ligurius, an agate, and an amethyst.
39:13. In the fourth, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a beryl, set and
enclosed in gold by their rows.
39:14. And the twelve stones, were engraved with the names of the
twelve tribes of Israel, each one with its several name.
39:15. They made also in the rational little chains, linked one to
another, of the purest gold,
39:16. And two hooks, and as many rings of gold. And they set the
rings on either side of the rational,
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 39:17. On which rings the two golden chains should hang, which
they put into the hooks that stood out in the corners of the ephod.
39:18. These both before and behind so answered one another, that
the ephod and the rational were bound together,
39:19. Being fastened to the girdle, and strongly coupled with rings,
which a violet illet joined, lest they should lag loose, and be moved
one from the other, as the Lord commanded Moses.
39:20. They made also the tunic of the ephod all of violet,
39:21. And a hole for the head in the upper part at the middle, and a
woven border round about the hole:
39:22. And beneath at the feet pomegranates of violet, purple,
scarlet, and ine twisted linen:
39:23. And little bells of the purest gold, which they put between the
pomegranates at the bottom of the tunic round about:
39:24. To wit, a bell of gold, and a pomegranate, wherewith the high
priest went adorned, when he discharged his ministry, as the Lord had
commanded Moses.
39:25. They made also ine linen tunics with woven work for Aaron
and his sons:
39:26. And mitres with their little crowns of ine linen:
39:27. And linen breeches of ine linen:
39:28. And a girdle of ine twisted linen, violet, purple, and scarlet
twice dyed, of embroidery work, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
39:29. They made also the plate of sacred veneration of the purest
gold, and they wrote on it with the engraving of a lapidary: The Holy
of the Lord:
39:30. And they fastened it to the mitre with a violet illet, as the
Lord had commanded Moses.
39:31. So all the work of the tabernacle and of the roof of the
testimony was inished: and the children of Israel did all things which
the Lord had commanded Moses.

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 39:32. And they offered the tabernacle, and the roof, and the whole
furniture, the rings, the boards, the bars, the pillars and their sockets,
39:33. The cover of rams’ skins dyed red, and the other cover of
violet skins,
39:34. The veil, the ark, the bars, the propitiatory,
39:35. The table, with the vessels thereof, and the loaves of
proposition:
39:36. The candlestick, the lamps, and the furniture of them, with
the oil:
39:37. The altar of gold, and the ointment, and the incense of spices:
39:38. And the hanging in the entry of the tabernacle:
39:39. The altar of brass, the grate, the bars, and all the vessels
thereof: the laver, with the foot thereof: the hangings of the court, and
the pillars, with their sockets:
39:40. The hanging in the entry of the court, and the little cords,
and the pins thereof. Nothing was wanting of the vessels, that were
commanded to be made for the ministry of the tabernacle, and for the
roof of the covenant.
39:41. The vestments also, which the priests, to wit, Aaron and his
sons, use in the sanctuary,
39:42. The children of Israel offered, as the Lord had commanded.
39:43. And when Moses saw all things inished, he blessed them.
Exodus Chapter 40

The tabernacle is commanded to be set up and anointed. God illeth it

with his majesty.
40:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
40:2. The irst month, the irst day of the month, thou shalt set up
the tabernacle of the testimony,
40:3. And shalt put the ark in it, and shalt let down the veil before it:

 40:4. And thou shalt bring in the table, and set upon it the things
that are commanded according to the rite. The candlestick shall stand
with its lamps,
40:5. And the altar of gold, whereon the incense is burnt before the
ark of the testimony. Thou shalt put the hanging in the entry of the
tabernacle,
40:6. And before it the altar of holocaust.
40:7. The laver between the altar and the tabernacle, and thou shalt
ill it with water.
40:8. And thou shalt encompass the court with hangings, and the
entry thereof.
40:9. And thou shalt take the oil of unction and anoint the
tabernacle with its vessels, that they may be sancti ied:
40:10. The altar of holocaust and all its vessels:
40:11. The laver with its foot: thou shalt consecrate all with the oil
of unction, that they may be most holy.
40:12. And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the
tabernacle of the testimony, and having washed them with water,
40:13. Thou shalt put on them the holy vestments, that they may
minister to me, and that the unction of them may prosper to an
everlasting priesthood.
40:14. And Moses did all that the Lord had commanded.
40:15. So in the irst month of the second year, the irst day of the
month, the tabernacle was set up.
40:16. And Moses reared it up, and placed the boards and the
sockets and the bars, and set up the pillars,
40:17. And spread the roof over the tabernacle, putting over it a
cover, as the Lord had commanded.
40:18. And he put the testimony in the ark, thrusting bars
underneath, and the oracle above.
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 40:19. And when he had brought the ark into the tabernacle, he
drew the veil before it to ful il the commandment of the Lord.
40:20. And he set the table in the tabernacle of the testimony, at the
north side, without the veil,
40:21. Setting there in order the loaves of proposition, as the Lord
had commanded Moses.
40:22. He set the candlestick also in the tabernacle of the testimony,
over against the table on the south side,
40:23. Placing the lamps in order, according to the precept of the
Lord.
40:24. He set also the altar of gold under the roof of the testimony,
over against the veil,
40:25. And burnt upon it the incense of spices, as the Lord had
commanded Moses.
40:26. And he put also the hanging in the entry of the tabernacle of
the testimony,
40:27. And the altar of holocaust in the entry of the testimony,
offering the holocaust, and the sacri ices upon it, as the Lord had
commanded.
40:28. And he set the laver between the tabernacle of the testimony
and the altar, illing it with water.
40:29. And Moses and Aaron, and his sons, washed their hands and
feet,
40:30. When they went into the tabernacle of the covenant, and
went to the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
40:31. He set up also the court round about the tabernacle and the
altar, drawing the hanging in the entry thereof. After all things were
perfected,
40:32. The cloud covered the tabernacle of the testimony, and the
glory of the Lord illed it.

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 40:33. Neither could Moses go into the tabernacle of the covenant,

the cloud covering all things, and the majesty of the Lord shining, for
the cloud had covered all.
40:34. If at any time the cloud removed from the tabernacle, the
children of Israel went forward by their troops:
40:35. If it hung over, they remained in the same place.
40:36. For the cloud of the Lord hung over the tabernacle by day,
and a ire by night, in the sight of all the children of Israel throughout
all their mansions.

THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS

This Book is called LEVITICUS, because it treats of the Of ices,

Ministries, Rites and Ceremonies of the Priests and Levites. The
Hebrews call it VAICRA, from the word with which it begins.
Levi cus Chapter 1

Of holocausts or burnt offerings.

1:1. And the Lord called Moses, and spoke to him from the
tabernacle of the testimony, saying:
1:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The
man among you that shall offer to the Lord a sacri ice of the cattle,
that is, offering victims of oxen and sheep:
1:3. If his offering be a holocaust, and of the herd, he shall offer a
male without blemish, at the door of the testimony, to make the Lord
favourable to him.
A holocaust.... That is, a whole burnt offering (olokauston), so called, because the
whole victim was consumed with ire; and given in such manner to God as wholly
to evaporate, as it were, for his honour and glory; without having any part of it
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 reserved for the use of man. The other sacri ices in the Old Testament were
either offerings for sin, or peace offerings: and these latter again were either
offered in thanksgiving for blessings received; or by way of prayer for new
favours or graces. So that sacri ices were then offered to God for four different
ends or intentions, answerable to the different obligations which man has to
God: 1. By way of adoration, homage, praise, and glory due to his divine majesty.
2. By way of thanksgiving for all bene its received from him. 3. By way of
confessing and craving pardon for sins. 4. By way of prayer and petition for
grace and relief in all necessities. In the New Law we have but one sacri ice, viz.,
that of the body and blood of Christ: but this one sacri ice of the New Testament
perfectly answers all these four ends; and both priest and people, as often as it is
celebrated, ought to join in offering it up for these four ends.
1:4. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the victim: and it
shall be acceptable, and help to its expiation.
1:5. And he shall immolate the calf before the Lord: and the priests
the sons of Aaron shall offer the blood thereof, pouring it round about
the altar, which is before the door of the tabernacle.
1:6. And when they have layed the victim, they shall cut the joints
into pieces:
1:7. And shall put ire on the altar, having before laid in order a pile
of wood.
1:8. And they shall lay the parts that are cut out in order thereupon:
to wit, the head, and all things that cleave to the liver;
1:9. The entrails and feet being washed with water. And the priest
shall burn them upon the altar for a holocaust, and a sweet savour to
the Lord.
1:10. And if the offering be of the locks, a holocaust of sheep or of
goats, he shall offer a male without blemish.
1:11. And he shall immolate it at the side of the altar that looketh to
the north, before the Lord: but the sons of Aaron shall pour the blood
thereof upon the altar round about.

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 1:12. And they shall divide the joints, the head, and all that cleave to
the liver: and shall lay them upon the wood, under which the ire is to
be put.
1:13. But the entrails and the feet they shall wash with water. And
the priest shall offer it all and burn it all upon the altar for a
holocaust, and most sweet savour to the Lord.
1:14. But if the oblation of a holocaust to the Lord be of birds, of
turtles, or of young pigeons:
1:15. The priest shall offer it at the altar: and twisting back the
neck, and breaking the place of the wound, he shall make the blood
run down upon the brim of the altar.
1:16. But the crop of the throat, and the feathers he shall cast beside
the altar at the east side, in the place where the ashes are wont to be
poured out.
1:17. And he shall break the pinions thereof, and shall not cut, nor
divide it with a knife: and shall burn it upon the altar, putting ire
under the wood. It is a holocaust and oblation of most sweet savour to
the Lord.
Levi cus Chapter 2

Of offerings of lour, and irstfruits.

2:1. When any one shall offer an oblation of sacri ice to the Lord, his
offering shall be of ine lour: and he shall pour oil upon it, and put
frankincense,
2:2. And shall bring it to the sons of Aaron the priests. And one of
them shall take a handful of the lour and oil, and all the frankincense;
and shall put it a memorial upon the altar for a most sweet savour to
the Lord.
2:3. And the remnant of the sacri ice shall be Aaron’s, and his sons’,
holy of holies of the offerings of the Lord.
Holy of holies.... That is, most holy, as being dedicated to God, and set aside by his
ordinance for the use of his priests.
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 2:4. But when thou offerest a sacri ice baked in the oven of lour, to
wit, loaves without leaven, tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers,
anointed with oil:
2:5. If thy oblation be from the fryingpan, of lour tempered with oil,
and without leaven:
2:6. Thou shalt divide it into little pieces, and shalt pour oil upon it.
2:7. And if the sacri ice be from the gridiron, in like manner the lour
shall be tempered with oil.
2:8. And when thou offerest it to the Lord, thou shalt deliver it to the
hands of the priest.
2:9. And when he hath offered it, he shall take a memorial out of the
sacri ice, and burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour to the Lord.
2:10. And whatsoever is left, shall be Aaron’s, and his sons’: holy of
holies of the offerings of the Lord.
2:11. Every oblation that is offered to the Lord shall be made
without leaven: neither shall any leaven or honey be burnt in the
sacri ice to the Lord.
Without leaven or honey.... No leaven nor honey was to be used in the sacri ice
offered to God; to signify that we are to exclude from the pure worship of the
gospel, all double dealing and affection to carnal pleasures.
2:12. You shall offer only the irstfruits of them and gifts: but they
shall not be put upon the altar, for a savour of sweetness.
2:13. Whatsoever sacri ice thou offerest, thou shalt season it with
salt: neither shalt thou take away the salt of the covenant of thy God
from thy sacri ice. In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt.
Salt.... In every sacri ice salt was to be used, which is an emblem of wisdom and
discretion, without which none of our performances are agreeable to God.
2:14. But if thou offer a gift of the irstfruits of thy corn to the Lord,
of the ears yet green, thou shalt dry it at the ire, and break it small
like meal; and so shalt thou offer thy irstfruits to the Lord:
2:15. Pouring oil upon it and putting on frankincense, because it is
the oblation of the Lord.
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 2:16. Whereof the priest shall burn for a memorial of the gift, part
of the corn broken small and of the oil, and all the frankincense.
Levi cus Chapter 3

Of peace offerings.
3:1. And if his oblation be a sacri ice of peace offerings, and he will
offer of the herd, whether male or female: he shall offer them without
blemish before the Lord.
Peace offerings.... Peace, in the scripture language, signi ies happiness, welfare or
prosperity; in a word, all kind of blessings.—Such sacri ices, therefore, as were
offered either on occasion of blessings received, or to obtain new favours, were
called paci ic or peace offerings. In these, some part of the victim was consumed
with ire on the altar of God; other parts were eaten by the priests and by the
persons for whom the sacri ice was offered.
3:2. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his victim, which
shall be slain in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony: and the
sons of Aaron the priests shall pour the blood round about upon the
altar.
3:3. And they shall offer of the sacri ice of peace offerings, for an
oblation to the Lord: the fat that covereth the entrails, and all the fat
that is within,
3:4. The two kidneys with the fat wherewith the lanks are covered,
and the caul of the liver with the two little kidneys.
3:5. And they shall burn them upon the altar, for a holocaust,
putting ire under the wood: for an oblation of most sweet savour to
the Lord.
3:6. But if his oblation and the sacri ice of peace offering be of the
lock, whether he offer male or female, they shall be without blemish.
3:7. If he offer a lamb before the Lord:
3:8. He shall put his hand upon the head of the victim. And it shall be
slain in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony: and the sons of
Aaron shall pour the blood thereof round about upon the altar.
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 3:9. And they shall offer of the victim of peace offerings, a sacri ice
to the Lord: the fat and the whole rump,
3:10. With the kidneys, and the fat that covereth the belly and all
the vitals and both the little kidneys, with the fat that is about the
lanks, and the caul of the liver with the little kidneys.
3:11. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, for the food of
the ire, and of the oblation of the Lord.
3:12. If his offering be a goat, and he offer it to the Lord:
3:13. He shall put his hand upon the head thereof: and shall
immolate it in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony. And the
sons of Aaron shall pour the blood thereof round about upon the altar.
3:14. And they shall take of it for the food of the Lord’s ire, the fat
that covereth the belly, and that covereth all the vital parts:
3:15. The two little kidneys with the caul that is upon them which is
by the lanks, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys.
3:16. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, for the food of
the ire, and of a most sweet savour. All the fat shall be the Lord’s.
3:17. By a perpetual law for your generations, and in all your
habitations: neither blood nor fat shall you eat at all.
Fat.... It is meant of the fat, which by the prescription of the law was to be offered
on God’s altar; not of the fat of meat, such as we commonly eat.
Levi cus Chapter 4

Of offerings for sins of ignorance.

4:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
4:2. Say to the children of Israel: The soul that sinneth through
ignorance, and doth any thing concerning any of the commandments
of the Lord, which he commanded not to be done:
Ignorance.... To be ignorant of what we are bound to know is sinful; and for such
culpable ignorance, these sacri ices, prescribed in this and the following chapter,
were appointed.
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 4:3. If the priest that is anointed shall sin, making the people to
offend, he shall offer to the Lord for his sin a calf without blemish.
4:4. And he shall bring it to the door of the testimony before the
Lord: and shall put his hand upon the head thereof, and shall sacri ice
it to the Lord.
4:5. He shall take also of the blood of the calf: and carry it into the
tabernacle of the testimony.
The blood.... As the igure of the blood of Christ shed for the remission of our sins,
and carried by him into the sanctuary of heaven.
4:6. And having dipped his inger in the blood, he shall sprinkle with
it seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary.
4:7. And he shall put some of the same blood upon the horns of the
altar of the sweet incense most acceptable to the Lord, which is in the
tabernacle of the testimony. And he shall pour all the rest of the blood
at the foot of the altar of holocaust in the entry of the tabernacle.
4:8. And he shall take off the fat of the calf for the sin offering, as
well that which covereth the entrails, as all the inwards:
4:9. The two little kidneys, and the caul that is upon them, which is
by the lanks, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys:
4:10. As it is taken off from the calf of the sacri ice of peace
offerings. And he shall burn them upon the altar of holocaust.
4:11. But the skin and all the lesh with the head and the feet and
the bowels and the dung:
4:12. And the rest of the body, he shall carry forth without the camp
into a clean place where the ashes are wont to be poured out: and he
shall burn them upon a pile of wood. They shall be burnt in the place
where the ashes are poured out.
4:13. And if all the multitude of Israel shall be ignorant, and
through ignorance shall do that which is against the commandment of
the Lord,
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 4:14. And afterwards shall understand their sin: they shall offer for
their sin a calf, and shall bring it to the door of the tabernacle.
4:15. And the ancients of the people shall put their hands upon the
head thereof before the Lord. And the calf being immolated in the sight
of the Lord:
4:16. The priest that is anointed shall carry of the blood into the
tabernacle of the testimony.
4:17. And shall dip his inger in it and sprinkle it seven times before
the veil.
4:18. And he shall put of the same blood on the horns of the altar
that is before the Lord, in the tabernacle of the testimony. And the rest
of the blood he shall pour at the foot of the altar of holocaust, which is
at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
4:19. And all the fat thereof he shall take off, and shall burn it upon
the altar:
4:20. Doing so with this calf, as he did also with that before. And the
priest praying for them, the Lord will be merciful unto them.
4:21. But the calf itself he shall carry forth without the camp, and
shall burn it as he did the former calf: because it is for the sin of the
multitude.
4:22. If a prince shall sin, and through ignorance do any one of the
things that the law of the Lord forbiddeth,
4:23. And afterwards shall come to know his sin: he shall offer a
buck goat without blemish, a sacri ice to the Lord.
4:24. And he shall put his hand upon the head thereof: and when he
hath immolated it in the place where the holocaust is wont to be slain
before the Lord, because it is for sin,
4:25. The priest shall dip his inger in the blood of the victim for sin,
touching therewith the horns of the altar of holocaust, and pouring
out the rest at the foot thereof.

 4:26. But the fat he shall burn upon it, as is wont to be done with the
victims of peace offerings. And the priest shall pray for him, and for his
sin: and it shall be forgiven him.
4:27. And if any one of the people of the land shall sin through
ignorance, doing any of those things that by the law of the Lord are
forbidden, and offending,
4:28. And shall come to know his sin: he shall offer a she goat
without blemish.
4:29. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the victim that is
for sin: and shall immolate it in the place of the holocaust.
4:30. And the priest shall take of the blood with his inger, and shall
touch the horns of the altar of holocaust: and shall pour out the rest at
the foot thereof.
4:31. But taking off all the fat, as is wont to be taken away of the
victims of peace offerings, he shall burn it upon the altar, for a sweet
savour to the Lord: and he shall pray for him, and it shall be forgiven
him.
4:32. But if he offer of the lock a victim for his sin, to wit, an ewe
without blemish:
4:33. He shall put his hand upon the head thereof, and shall
immolate it in the place where the victims of holocausts are wont to be
slain.
4:34. And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his inger,
and shall touch the horns of the altar of holocaust: and the rest he
shall pour out at the foot thereof.
4:35. All the fat also he shall take off, as the fat of the ram that is
offered for peace offerings is wont to be taken away: and shall burn it
upon the altar, for a burnt sacri ice of the Lord. And he shall pray for
him and his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.
Levi cus Chapter 5

Of other sacri ices for sins.

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 5:1. If any one sin, and hear the voice of one swearing, and is a
witness either because he himself hath seen, or is privy to it: if he do
not utter it, he shall bear his iniquity.
5:2. Whosoever toucheth any unclean thing, either that which hath
been killed by a beast, or died of itself, or any other creeping thing:
and forgetteth his uncleanness, he is guilty, and hath offended.
5:3. And if he touch any thing of the uncleanness of man, according
to any uncleanness wherewith he is wont to be de iled: and having
forgotten it, come afterwards to know it, he shall be guilty of an
offence.
5:4. The person that sweareth, and uttereth with his lips, that he
would do either evil or good, and bindeth the same with an oath, and
his word: and having forgotten it afterwards understandeth his
offence,
5:5. Let him do penance for his sin:
5:6. And offer of the locks an ewe lamb, or a she goat, and the priest
shall pray for him and for his sin.
5:7. But if he be not able to offer a beast, let him offer two turtles, or
two young pigeons to the Lord, one for sin, and the other for a
holocaust,
5:8. And he shall give them to the priest: who shall offer the irst for
sin, and twist back the head of it to the little pinions, so that it stick to
the neck, and be not altogether broken off.
5:9. And of its blood he shall sprinkle the side of the altar: and
whatever is left, he shall let it drop at the bottom thereof, because it is
for sin.
5:10. And the other he shall burn for a holocaust, as is wont to be
done. And the priest shall pray for him, and for his sin, and it shall be
forgiven him.
5:11. And if his hand be not able to offer two turtles, or two young
pigeons, he shall offer for his sin the tenth part of an ephi of lour. He

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 shall not put oil upon it, nor put any frankincense thereon, because it
is for sin.
5:12. And he shall deliver it to the priest, who shall take a handful
thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar for a memorial of him that
offered it:
5:13. Praying for him and making atonement. But the part that is
left, he himself shall have for a gift.
5:14. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
5:15. If any one shall sin through mistake, transgressing the
ceremonies in those things that are sacri iced to the Lord, he shall
offer for his offence a ram without blemish out of the locks, that may
be bought for two sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary.
5:16. And he shall make good the damage itself which he hath done,
and shall add the ifth part besides, delivering it to the priest, who
shall pray for him, offering the ram: and it shall be forgiven him.
5:17. If any one sin through ignorance, and do one of those things
which by the law of the Lord are forbidden, and being guilty of sin,
understand his iniquity:
5:18. He shall offer of the locks a ram without blemish to the priest,
according to the measure and estimation of the sin. And the priest
shall pray for him, because he did it ignorantly: And it shall be forgiven
him,
5:19. Because by mistake he trespassed against the Lord.
Levi cus Chapter 6

Oblation for sins of injustice: ordinances concerning the holocausts

and the perpetual ire: the sacri ices of the priests, and the sin
offerings.
6:1. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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 6:2. Whosoever shall sin, and despising the Lord, shall deny to his
neighbour the thing delivered to his keeping, which was committed to
his trust; or shall by force extort any thing, or commit oppression;
6:3. Or shall ind a thing lost, and denying it, shall also swear falsely,
or shall do any other of the many things, wherein men are wont to sin:
6:4. Being convicted of the offence, he shall restore
6:5. All that he would have gotten by fraud, in the principal, and the
ifth part besides, to the owner, whom he wronged.
6:6. Moreover for his sin he shall offer a ram without blemish out of
the lock: and shall give it to the priest, according to the estimation
and measure of the offence.
6:7. And he shall pray for him before the Lord: and he shall have
forgiveness for every thing in doing of which he bath sinned.
6:8. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
6:9. Command Aaron and his sons: This is the law of a holocaust. It
shall be burnt upon the altar, all night until morning: the ire shall be
of the same altar.
6:10. The priest shall be vested with the tunick and the linen
breeches; and he shall take up the ashes of that which the devouring
ire hath burnt: and putting them beside the altar,
6:11. Shall put off his former vestments, and being clothed with
others, shall carry them forth without the camp, and shall cause them
to be consumed to dust in a very clean place.
6:12. And the ire on the altar shall always burn, and the priest shall
feed it, putting wood on it every day in the morning: and laying on the
holocaust, shall burn thereupon the fat of the peace offerings.
6:13. This is the perpetual ire which shall never go out on the altar.
The perpetual ire.... This ire came from heaven, (infra. chap. 9.24,) and was
always kept burning on the altar, as a igure of the heavenly ire of divine love,
which ought to be always burning in the heart of a Christian.
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 6:14. This is the law of the sacri ice and libations, which the children
of Aaron shall offer before the Lord, and before the altar.
6:15. The priest shall take a handful of the lour that is tempered
with oil, and all the frankincense that is put upon the lour: and he
shall burn on the altar for a memorial of most sweet odour to the
Lord.
6:16. And the part of the lour that is left, Aaron and his sons shall
eat, without leaven: and he shall eat it in the holy place of the court of
the tabernacle.
6:17. And therefore it shall not be leavened, because part thereof is
offered for the burnt sacri ice of the Lord. It shall be most holy, as that
which is offered for sin and for trespass.
6:18. The males only of the race of Aaron shall eat it. It shall be an
ordinance everlasting in your generations concerning the sacri ices of
the Lord: Every one that toucheth them shall be sancti ied.
6:19. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
6:20. This is the oblation of Aaron, and of his sons, which they must
offer to the Lord, in the day of their anointing. They shall offer the
tenth part of an ephi of lour for a perpetual sacri ice, half of it in the
morning, and half of it in the evening.
6:21. It shall be tempered with oil, and shall be fried in a fryingpan.
6:22. And the priest that rightfully succeedeth his father, shall offer
it hot, for a most sweet odour to the Lord: and it shall be wholly burnt
on the altar.
6:23. For every sacri ice of the priest shall be consumed with ire:
neither shall any man eat thereof.
6:24. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
6:25. Say to Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the victim for sin.
In the place where the holocaust is offered, it shall be immolated
before the Lord. It is holy of holies.

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 6:26. The priest that offereth it, shall eat it in a holy place, in the
court of the tabernacle.
6:27. Whatsoever shall touch the lesh thereof, shall be sancti ied. If
a garment be sprinkled with the blood thereof, it shall be washed in a
holy place.
6:28. And the earthen vessel, wherein it was sodden, shall be broken:
but if the vessel be of brass, it shall be scoured, and washed with water.
6:29. Every male of the priestly race shall eat of the lesh thereof,
because it is holy of holies.
6:30. For the victim that is slain for sin, the blood of which is carried
into the tabernacle of the testimony to make atonement in the
sanctuary, shall not be eaten, but shall be burnt with ire.
Levi cus Chapter 7

Of sacri ices for trespasses and thanks offerings. No fat nor blood is to
be eaten.
7:1. This also is the law of the sacri ice for a trespass: it is most holy.
Trespass.... Trespasses, for which these offerings were to be made, were lesser
offences than those for which the sin offerings were appointed.
7:2. Therefore where the holocaust is immolated, the victim also for
a trespass shall be slain: the blood thereof shall be poured round about
the altar.
7:3. They shall offer thereof the rump and the fat that covereth the
entrails:
7:4. The two little kidneys, and the fat which is by the lanks, and the
caul of the liver with the little kidneys.
7:5. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the burnt
sacri ice of the Lord for a trespass.
7:6. Every male of the priestly race, shall eat this lesh in a holy
place, because it is most holy.
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 7:7. As the sacri ice for sin is offered, so is also that for a trespass:
the same shall be the law of both these sacri ices. It shall belong to the
priest that offereth it.
7:8. The priest that offereth the victim of holocaust, shall have the
skin thereof.
7:9. And every sacri ice of lour that is baked in the oven, and
whatsoever is dressed on the gridiron, or in the fryingpan, shall be the
priest’s that offereth it.
7:10. Whether they be tempered with oil, or dry, all the sons of
Aaron shall have one as much as another.
7:11. This is the law of the sacri ice of peace offerings that is offered
to the Lord.
7:12. If the oblation be for thanksgiving, they shall offer loaves
without leaven tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed
with oil, and ine lour fried, and cakes tempered and mingled with oil.
7:13. Moreover loaves of leavened bread with the sacri ice of thanks,
which is offered for peace offerings:
7:14. Of which one shall be offered to the Lord for irstfruits, and
shall be the priest’s that shall pour out the blood of the victim.
7:15. And the lesh of it shall be eaten the same day: neither shall
any of it remain until the morning.
7:16. If any man by vow, or of his own accord offer a sacri ice, it
shall in like manner be eaten the same day. And if any of it remain
until the morrow, it is lawful to eat it.
7:17. But whatsoever shall be found on the third day shall be
consumed with ire.
7:18. If any man eat of the lesh of the victim of peace offerings on
the third day, the oblation shall be of no effect: neither shall it pro it
the offerer. Yea rather, whatsoever soul shall de ile itself with such
meat, shall be guilty of transgression.

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 7:19. The lesh that hath touched any unclean thing, shall not be
eaten: but shall be burnt with ire. He that is clean shall eat of it.
7:20. If any one that is de iled shall eat of the lesh of the sacri ice of
peace offerings, which is offered to the Lord, he shall be cut off from
his people.
7:21. And he that hath touched the uncleanness of man, or of beast,
or of any thing that can de ile, and shall eat of such kind of lesh: shall
be cut off from his people.
7:22. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
7:23. Say to the children of Israel: The fat of a sheep, and of an ox,
and of a goat you shall not eat.
7:24. The fat of a carcass that hath died of itself, and of a beast that
was caught by another beast, you shall have for divers uses.
7:25. If any man eat the fat that should be offered for the burnt
sacri ice of the Lord, he shall perish out of his people.
7:26. Moreover you shall not eat the blood of any creature
whatsoever, whether of birds or beasts.
7:27. Every one that eateth blood, shall perish from among the
people.
7:28. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
7:29. Speak to the children of Israel, saying: He that offereth a
victim of peace offerings to the Lord, let him offer therewith a sacri ice
also, that is, the libations thereof.
7:30. He shall hold in his hands the fat of the victim, and the breast.
And when he hath offered and consecrated both to the Lord, he shall
deliver them to the priest,
7:31. Who shall burn the fat upon the altar. But the breast shall be
Aaron’s and his sons’.
7:32. The right shoulder also of the victim, of peace offerings shall
fall to the priest for irstfruits.
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 7:33. He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the blood, and the
fat: he shall have the right shoulder also for his portion.
7:34. For the breast that is elevated and the shoulder that is
separated I have taken of the children of Israel, from off their victims
of peace offerings: and have given them to Aaron the priest, and to his
sons, by a law for ever, from all the people of Israel.
7:35. This is the anointing of Aaron and his sons, in the ceremonies
of the Lord, in the day when Moses offered them, that they might do
the of ice of priesthood,
7:36. And the things that the Lord commanded to be given them by
the children of Israel, by a perpetual observance in their generations.
7:37. This is the law of holocaust, and of the sacri ice for sin, and for
trespass, and for consecration, and the victims of peace offerings:
7:38. Which the Lord appointed to Moses in mount Sinai, when he
commanded the children of Israel, that they should offer their
oblations to the Lord in the desert of Sinai.
Levi cus Chapter 8

Moses consecrateth Aaron and his sons.

8:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
8:2. Take Aaron with his sons, their vestments, and the oil of
unction: a calf for sin, two rams, a basket with unleavened bread.
8:3. And thou shalt gather together all the congregation to the door
of the tabernacle.
8:4. And Moses did as the Lord had commanded. And all the
multitude being gathered together before the door of the tabernacle:
8:5. He said: This is the word that the Lord hath commanded to be
done.
8:6. And immediately, he offered Aaron and his sons. And when he
had washed them,
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 8:7. He vested the high priest with the strait linen garment, girding
him with the girdle, and putting on him the violet tunick: and over it
he put the ephod.
8:8. And binding it with the girdle, he itted it to the rational, on
which was Doctrine and Truth.
8:9. He put also the mitre upon his head: and upon the mitre over
the forehead, he put the plate of gold, consecrated with sancti ication,
as the Lord had commanded him.
8:10. He took also the oil of unction, with which he anointed the
tabernacle, with all the furniture thereof.
8:11. And when he had sancti ied and sprinkled the altar seven
times, he anointed it, and all the vessels thereof: and the laver with the
foot thereof, he sancti ied with the oil.
8:12. And he poured it upon Aaron’s head: and he anointed and
consecrated him.
8:13. And after he had offered his sons, he vested them with linen
tunicks, and girded them with girdles: and put mitres on them as the
Lord had commanded.
8:14. He offered also the calf for sin: and when Aaron and his sons
had put their hands upon the head thereof,
8:15. He immolated it: and took the blood, and dipping his inger in
it, he touched the horns of the altar round about. Which being
expiated, and sancti ied, he poured the rest of the blood at the bottom
thereof.
8:16. But the fat that was upon the entrails, and the caul of the liver,
and the two little kidneys, with their fat, he burnt upon the altar.
8:17. And the calf with the skin, and the lesh and the dung, he burnt
without the camp, as the Lord had commanded.
8:18. He offered also a ram for holocaust. And when Aaron and his
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 8:19. He immolated it, and poured the blood thereof round about
the altar.
8:20. And cutting the ram into pieces, the head thereof, and the
joints, and the fat he burnt in the ire.
8:21. Having irst washed the entrails, and the feet, and the whole
ram together he burnt upon the altar: because it was a holocaust of
most sweet odour to the Lord, as he had commanded him.
8:22. He offered also the second ram, in the consecration of priests:
and Aaron, and his sons put their hands upon the head thereof.
8:23. And when Moses had immolated it, he took of the blood
thereof, and touched the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and the thumb of his
right hand, and in like manner also the great toe of his right foot.
8:24. He offered also the sons of Aaron: and when with the blood of
the ram that was immolated, he had touched the tip of the right ear of
every one of them, and the thumbs of their right hands, and the great
toes of their right feet, the rest he poured on the altar round about.
8:25. But the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that covereth the
entrails, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat,
and with the right shoulder, he separated.
8:26. And taking out of the basket of unleavened bread, which was
before the Lord, a loaf without leaven, and a cake tempered with oil
and a wafer, he put them upon the fat, and the right shoulder:
8:27. Delivering all to Aaron, and to his sons. Who having lifted
them up before the Lord,
8:28. He took them again from their hands, and burnt them upon
the altar of holocaust: because it was the oblation of consecration, for
a sweet odour of sacri ice to the Lord.
8:29. And he took of the ram of consecration, the breast for his
portion, elevating it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded him.
8:30. And taking the ointment, and the blood that was upon the
altar, he sprinkled Aaron, and his vestments, and his sons, and their
vestments with it.

 8:31. And when he had sancti ied them in their vestments, he

commanded them, saying: Boil the lesh before the door of the
tabernacle, and there eat it. Eat ye also the loaves of consecration, that
are laid in the basket, as the Lord commanded me, saying: Aaron and
his sons shall eat them.
8:32. And whatsoever shall be left of the lesh and the loaves, shall
be consumed with ire.
8:33. And you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle for seven
days, until the day wherein the time of your consecration shall be
expired. For in seven days the consecration is inished:
8:34. As at this present it hath been done, that the rite of the
sacri ice might be accomplished.
8:35. Day and night shall you remain in the tabernacle observing
the watches of the Lord, lest you die. For so it hath been commanded
me.
8:36. And Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord spoke by
the hand of Moses.
Levi cus Chapter 9

Aaron offereth sacri ice for himself and the people. Fire cometh from
the Lord upon the altar.
9:1. And when the eighth day was come, Moses called Aaron and his
sons, and the ancients of Israel, and said to Aaron:
9:2. Take of the herd a calf for sin, and a ram for a holocaust, both
without blemish, and offer them before the Lord.
9:3. And to the children of Israel thou shalt say: Take ye a he goat
for sin, and a calf, and a lamb, both of a year old, and without blemish
for a holocaust.
9:4. Also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings. And immolate
them before the Lord, offering for the sacri ice of every one of them
lour tempered with oil: for to day the Lord will appear to you.
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 9:5. They brought therefore all things that Moses had commanded
before the door of the tabernacle: where when all the multitude stood,
9:6. Moses said: This is the word, which the Lord hath commanded.
Do it, and his glory will appear to you.
9:7. And he said to Aaron: Approach to the altar, and offer sacri ice
for thy sin. Offer the holocaust, and pray for thyself and for the people:
and when thou hast slain the people’s victim, pray for them, as the
Lord hath commanded.
9:8. And forthwith Aaron, approaching to the altar, immolated the
calf for his sin.
9:9. And his sons brought him the blood of it: and he dipped his
inger therein, and touched the horns of the altar, and poured the rest
at the foot thereof.
9:10. And the fat, and the little kidneys, and the caul of the liver,
which are for sin, he burnt upon the altar, as the Lord had commanded
Moses.
9:11. But the lesh and skins thereof he burnt with ire without the
camp.
9:12. He immolated also the victim of holocaust: and his sons
brought him the blood thereof, which he poured round about on the
altar.
9:13. And the victim being cut into pieces, they brought to him the
head and all the members: all which he burnt with ire upon the altar.
9:14. Having irst washed the entrails and the feet with water.
9:15. Then offering for the sin of the people, he slew the he goat: and
expiating the altar,
9:16. He offered the holocaust.
9:17. Adding in the sacri ice the libations, which are offered withal,
and burning them upon the altar, besides the ceremonies of the
morning holocaust.
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 9:18. He immolated also the bullock and the ram, and peace
offerings of the people: and his sons brought him the blood, which he
poured upon the altar round about.
9:19. The fat also of the bullock, and the rump of the ram, and the
two little kidneys with their fat, and the caul of the liver,
9:20. They put upon the breasts. And after the fat was burnt upon
the altar,
9:21. Aaron separated their breasts, and the right shoulders,
elevating them before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.
9:22. And stretching forth his hands to the people, he blessed them.
And so the victims for sin, and the holocausts, and the peace offerings
being inished, he came down.
9:23. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the
testimony, and afterwards came forth and blessed the people. And the
glory of the Lord appeared to all the multitude.
9:24. And, behold, a ire, coming forth from the Lord, devoured the
holocaust, and the fat that was upon the altar: which when the
multitude saw, they praised the Lord, falling on their faces.
Levi cus Chapter 10

Nadab and Abiu for offering strange ire, are burnt by ire. Priests are
forbidden to drink wine, when they enter into the tabernacle. The law
of eating the holy things.
10:1. And Nadab and Abiu, the sons of Aaron, taking their censers,
put ire therein, and incense on it, offering before the Lord strange ire:
which was not commanded them.
10:2. And ire coming out from the Lord destroyed them: and they
died before the Lord.
10:3. And Moses said to Aaron: This is what the Lord hath spoken. I
will be sancti ied in them that approach to me: and I will be glori ied
in the sight of all the people. And when Aaron heard this, he held his
peace.
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 10:4. And Moses called Misael and Elisaphan, the sons of Oziel, the
uncle of Aaron, and said to them: Go and take away your brethren
from before the sanctuary, and carry them without the camp.
10:5. And they went forthwith and took them as they lay, vested
with linen tunicks, and cast them forth, as had been commanded them.
10:6. And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons:
Uncover not your heads, and rend not your garments, lest perhaps you
die, and indignation come upon all the congregation. Let your
brethren, and all the house of Israel, bewail the burning which the
Lord has kindled.
10:7. But you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle:
otherwise you shall perish, for the oil of the holy unction is on you. And
they did all things according to the precept of Moses.
10:8. The Lord also said to Aaron:
10:9. You shall not drink wine nor any thing that may make drunk,
thou nor thy sons, when you enter into the tabernacle of the testimony,
lest you die. Because it is an everlasting precept; through your
generations:
10:10. And that you may have knowledge to discern between holy
and unholy, between unclean and clean:
10:11. And may teach the children of Israel all my ordinances which
the Lord hath spoken to them by the hand of Moses.
10:12. And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his
sons that were left: Take the sacri ice that is remaining of the oblation
of the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar, because it is
holy of holies.
10:13. And you shall eat it in a holy place: which is given to thee and
thy sons of the oblations of the Lord, as it hath been commanded me.
10:14. The breast also that is offered, and the shoulder that is
separated, you shall eat in a most clean place, thou and thy sons, and
thy daughters with thee. For they are set aside for thee and thy
children, of the victims of peace offerings of the children of Israel.

 10:15. Because they have elevated before the Lord the shoulder and
the breast, and the fat that is burnt on the altar: and they belong to
thee and to thy sons by a perpetual law, as the Lord hath commanded.
10:16. While these things were a doing, when Moses sought for the
buck goat, that had been offered for sin, he found it burnt. And being
angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron that were left, he
said:
10:17. Why did you not eat in the holy place the sacri ice for sin,
which is most holy, and given to you, that you may bear the iniquity of
the people, and may pray for them in the sight of the Lord.
10:18. Especially, whereas none of the blood thereof hath been
carried within the holy places: and you ought to have eaten it in the
sanctuary, as was commanded me?
10:19. Aaron answered: This day hath been offered the victim for
sin, and the holocaust before the Lord: and to me what thou seest has
happened. How could I eat it, or please the Lord in the ceremonies,
having a sorrowful heart?
10:20. Which when Moses had heard he was satis ied.
Levi cus Chapter 11

The distinction of clean and unclean animals.

11:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
11:2. Say to the children of Israel: These are the animals which you
are to eat of all the living things of the earth.
Animals which you are to eat, etc.... The prohibition of so many kinds of beasts,
birds, and ishes, in the law, was ordered, 1st, to exercise the people in obedience,
and temperance; 2ndly, to restrain them from the vices of which these animals
were symbols; 3rdly, because the things here forbidden were for the most part
unwholesome, and not proper to be eaten; 4thly, that the people of God, by being
obliged to abstain from things corporally unclean, might be trained up to seek a
spiritual cleanness.
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 11:3. Whatsoever hath the hoof divided, and cheweth the cud
among the beasts, you shall eat.
Hoof divided, and cheweth the cud.... The dividing of the hoof and chewing of the
cud, signify discretion between good and evil, and meditating on the law of God;
and where either of these is wanting a man is unclean. In like manner ishes
were reputed unclean that had not ins and scales: that is, souls that did not
raise themselves up by prayer and cover themselves with the scales of virtue.
11:4. But whatsoever cheweth indeed the cud, and hath a hoof, but
divideth it not, as the camel, and others: that you shall not eat, but
shall reckon it among the unclean.
11:5. The cherogrillus which cheweth the cud, but divideth not the
hoof, is unclean.
The cherogrillus.... Some suppose it to be the rabbit, others the hedgehog. St.
Jerome intimates that it is another kind of animal common in Palestine, which
lives in the holes of rocks or in the earth. We choose here, as also in the names of
several other creatures that follow (which are little known in this part of the
world,) to keep the Greek or Latin names.
11:6. The hare also: for that too cheweth the cud, but divideth not
the hoof.
11:7. And the swine, which, though it divideth the hoof, cheweth not
the cud.
11:8. The lesh of these you shall not eat, nor shall you touch their
carcasses, because they are unclean to you.
11:9. These are the things that breed in the waters, and which it is
lawful to eat. All that hath ins, and scales, as well in the sea, as in the
rivers, and the pools, you shall eat.
11:10. But whatsoever hath not ins and scales, of those things that
move and live in the waters, shall be an abomination to you,
11:11. And detestable. Their lesh you shall not eat: and their
carcasses you shall avoid.
11:12. All that have not ins and scales, in the waters, shall be
unclean.

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 11:13. Of birds these are they which you must not eat, and which are
to be avoided by you: The eagle, and the griffon, and the osprey.
The griffon.... Not the monster which the painter represent, which hath no being
upon earth; but a bird of the eagle kind, larger than the common.
11:14. And the kite, and the vulture, according to their kind.
11:15. And all that is of the raven kind, according to their likeness.
11:16. The ostrich, and the owl, and the larus, and the hawk
according to its kind.
11:17. The screech owl, and the cormorant, and the ibis.
11:18. And the swan, and the bittern, and the porphyrion.
11:19. The heron, and the charadroin according to its kind, the houp
also, and the bat.
11:20. Of things that ly, whatsoever goeth upon four feet, shall be
abominable to you.
11:21. But whatsoever walketh upon four feet, but hath the legs
behind longer, wherewith it hoppeth upon the earth,
11:22. That you shall eat: as the bruchus in its kind, the attacus, and
ophimachus, and the locust, every one according to their kind.
11:23. But of lying things whatsoever hath four feet only, shall be
an abomination to you.
11:24. And whosoever shall touch the carcasses of them, shall be
de iled: and shall be unclean until the evening:
11:25. And if it be necessary that he carry any of these things when
they are dead: he shall wash his clothes, and shall be unclean until the
sun set.
11:26. Every beast that hath a hoof, but divideth it not, nor cheweth
the cud shall be unclean: and he that toucheth it, shall be de iled.
11:27. That which walketh upon hands of all animals which go on
all four, shall be unclean: he that shall touch their carcasses shall be
de iled until evening.
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 11:28. And he that shall carry such carcasses, shall wash his clothes,
and shall be unclean until evening: because all these things are
unclean to you.
11:29. These also shall be reckoned among unclean things, of all
that move upon the earth. The weasel, and the mouse, and the
crocodile, every one according to their kind:
11:30. The shrew, and the chameleon, and the stellio, and the lizard,
and the mole.
11:31. All these are unclean. He that toucheth their carcasses shall
be unclean until the evening.
11:32. And upon what thing soever any of their carcasses shall fall,
it shall be de iled, whether it be a vessel of wood, or a garment, or
skins or haircloths: or any thing in which work is done. They shall be
dipped in water, and shall be unclean until the evening, and so
afterwards shall be clean.
11:33. But an earthen vessel, into which any of these shall fall, shall
be de iled: and therefore is to be broken.
11:34. Any meat which you eat, if water from such a vessel be
poured upon it, shall be unclean; and every liquor that is drunk out of
any such vessel, shall be unclean.
11:35. And upon whatsoever thing any of these dead beasts shall
fall, it shall be unclean. Whether it be oven, or pots with feet, they shall
be destroyed, and shall be unclean.
11:36. But fountains and cisterns, and all gatherings together of
waters shall be clean. He that toucheth their carcasses shall be de iled.
11:37. If it fall upon seed corn, it shall not de ile it.
11:38. But if any man pour water upon the seed, and afterwards it
be touched by the carcasses, it shall be forthwith de iled.
11:39. If any beast die, of which it is lawful for you to eat, he that
toucheth the carcass thereof, shall be unclean until the evening.
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 11:40. And he that eateth or carrieth any thing thereof, shall wash
his clothes, and shall be unclean until the evening.
11:41. All that creepeth upon the earth shall be abominable: neither
shall it be taken for meat.
11:42. Whatsoever goeth upon the breast on four feet, or hath many
feet, or traileth on the earth, you shall not eat, because it is
abominable.
11:43. Do not de ile your souls, nor touch aught thereof, lest you be
unclean,
11:44. For I am the Lord your God. Be holy because I am holy. De ile
not your souls by any creeping thing, that moveth upon the earth.
11:45. For I am the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
that I might be your God.
11:46. You shall be holy, because I am holy. This is the law of beasts
and fowls, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and
creepeth on the earth:
11:47. That you may know the differences of the clean, and unclean,
and know what you ought to eat, and what to refuse.
Levi cus Chapter 12

The puri ication of women after childbirth.

12:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
12:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: If a
woman having received seed shall bear a man child, she shall be
unclean seven days, according to the days of separation of her lowers.
12:3. And on the eighth day the infant shall be circumcised:
12:4. But she shall remain three and thirty days in the blood of her
puri ication. She shall touch no holy thing: neither shall she enter into
the sanctuary, until the days of her puri ication, be ful illed.
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 12:5. But if she shall bear a maid child, she shall be unclean two
weeks, according to the custom of her monthly courses. And she shall
remain in the blood of her puri ication sixty-six days.
12:6. And when the days of her puri ication are expired, for a son, or
for a daughter, she shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of the
testimony, a lamb of a year old for a holocaust, and a young pigeon or
a turtle for sin: and shall deliver them to the priest.
12:7. Who shall offer them before the Lord, and shall pray for her:
and so she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law
for her that beareth a man child or a maid child.
12:8. And if her hand ind not suf iciency, and she is not able to offer
a lamb, she shall take two turtles, or two young pigeons, one for a
holocaust, and another for sin: and the priest shall pray for her, and so
she shall be cleansed.
Levi cus Chapter 13

The law concerning leprosy in men, and in garments.

13:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
13:2. The man in whose skin or lesh shall arise a different colour or
a blister, or as it were something shining, that is the stroke of the
leprosy, shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or any one of his sons.
13:3. And if he see the leprosy in his skin, and the hair turned white
and the place where the leprosy appears lower than the skin and the
rest of the lesh: it is the stroke of the leprosy, and upon his judgment
he shall be separated.
13:4. But if there be a shining whiteness in the skin, and not lower
than the other lesh, and the hair be of the former colour, the priest
shall shut him up seven days.
13:5. And the seventh day he shall look on him: and if the leprosy be
grown no farther, and hath not spread itself in the skin, he shall shut
him up again other seven days.
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 13:6. And on the seventh day, he shall look on him. If the leprosy be
somewhat obscure, and not spread in the skin, he shall declare him
clean, because it is but a scab: and the man shall wash his clothes, and
shall be clean.
13:7. But, if the leprosy grow again, after he was seen by the priest
and restored to cleanness, he shall be brought to him:
13:8. And shall be condemned of uncleanness.
13:9. If the stroke of the leprosy be in a man, he shall be brought to
the priest:
13:10. And he shall view him. And when there shall be a white
colour in the skin, and it shall have changed the look of the hair, and
the living lesh itself shall appear:
13:11. It shall be judged an inveterate leprosy, and grown into the
skin. The priest therefore shall declare him unclean: and shall not shut
him up, because he is evidently unclean.
13:12. But if the leprosy spring out running about in the skin, and
cover all the skin from the head to the feet, whatsoever falleth under
the sight of the eyes:
13:13. The priest shall view him, and shall judge that the leprosy
which he has is very clean: because it is all turned into whiteness, and
therefore the man shall be clean.
13:14. But when the live lesh shall appear in him:
13:15. Then by the judgment of the priest he shall be de iled, and
shall be reckoned among the unclean. For live lesh, if it be spotted
with leprosy, is unclean.
13:16. And if again it be turned into whiteness, and cover all the
man:
13:17. The priest shall view him, and shall judge him to be clean.
13:18. When also there has been an ulcer in the lesh and the skin,
and it has been healed:

 13:19. And in the place of the ulcer, there appeareth a white scar, or
somewhat red, the man shall be brought to the priest.
13:20. And when he shall see the place of the leprosy lower than the
other lesh, and the hair turned white: he shall declare him unclean,
for the plague of leprosy is broken out in the ulcer.
13:21. But if the hair be of the former colour, and the scar somewhat
obscure, and be not lower than the lesh that is near it: he shall shut
him up seven days.
13:22. And if it spread, he shall judge him to have the leprosy:
13:23. But if it stay in its place, it is but the scar of an ulcer: and the
man shall be clean.
13:24. The lesh also and skin that hath been burnt, and after it is
healed hath a white or a red scar:
13:25. The priest shall view it, and if he see it turned white, and the
place thereof is lower than the other skin: he shall declare him
unclean, because the evil of leprosy is broken out in the scar.
13:26. But if the colour of the hair be not changed, nor the blemish
lower than the other lesh, and the appearance of the leprosy be
somewhat obscure: he shall shut him up seven days,
13:27. And on the seventh day he shall view him. If the leprosy be
grown farther in the skin, he shall declare him unclean.
13:28. But if the whiteness stay in its place, and be not very clear, it
is the sore of a burning: and therefore he shall be cleansed, because it
is only the scar of a burning.
13:29. If the leprosy break out in the head or the beard of a man or
woman, the priest shall see them,
13:30. And if the place be lower than the other lesh, and the hair
yellow, and thinner than usual: he shall declare them unclean, because
it is the leprosy of the head and the beard;
13:31. But if he perceive the place of the spot is equal with the lesh
that is near it, and the hair black: he shall shut him up seven days,
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 13:32. And on the seventh day he shall look upon it. If the spot be
not grown, and the hair keep its colour, and the place of the blemish be
even with the other lesh:
13:33. The man shall be shaven all but the place of the spot: and he
shall be shut up other seven days.
13:34. If on the seventh day the evil seem to have stayed in its place,
and not lower than the other lesh, he shall cleanse him: and his
clothes being washed he shall be clean.
13:35. But if after his cleansing the spot spread again in the skin:
13:36. He shall seek no more whether the hair be turned yellow,
because he is evidently unclean.
13:37. But if the spot be stayed, and the hair be black, let him know
that the man is healed: and let him con idently pronounce him clean.
13:38. If a whiteness appear in the skin of a man or a woman,
13:39. The priest shall view them. If he ind that a darkish whiteness
shineth in the skin, let him know that it is not the leprosy, but a white
blemish, and that the man is clean.
13:40. The man whose hair falleth off from his head, he is bald and
clean:
13:41. And if the hair fall from his forehead, he is bald before and
clean.
13:42. But if in the bald head or in the bald forehead there be risen a
white or reddish colour:
13:43. And the priest perceive this, he shall condemn him
undoubtedly of leprosy which is risen in the bald part.
13:44. Now whosoever shall be de iled with the leprosy, and is
separated by the judgment of the priest:
13:45. Shall have his clothes hanging loose, his head bare, his mouth
covered with a cloth: and he shall cry out that he is de iled and
unclean.

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 13:46. All the time that he is a leper and unclean he shall dwell
alone without the camp.
13:47. A woollen or linen garment that shall have the leprosy
13:48. In the warp, and the woof: or skin, or whatsoever is made of a
skin:
13:49. If it be infected with a white or red spot, it shall be accounted
the leprosy, and shall be shewn to the priest.
13:50. And he shall look upon it and shall shut it up seven days.
13:51. And on the seventh day when he looketh on it again, if he ind
that it is grown, it is a ixed leprosy. He shall judge the garment
unclean, and every thing wherein it shall be found.
13:52. And therefore it shall be burnt with ire.
13:53. But if he see that it is not grown,
13:54. He shall give orders, and they shall wash that part wherein
the leprosy is: and he shall shut it up other seven days.
13:55. And when he shall see that the former colour is not returned,
nor yet the leprosy spread, he shall judge it unclean: and shall burn it
with ire, for the leprosy has taken hold of the outside of the garment,
or through the whole.
13:56. But if the place of the leprosy be somewhat dark, after the
garment is washed, he shall tear it off, and divide it from that which is
sound.
13:57. And if after this there appear in those places that before were
without spot, a lying and wandering leprosy: it must be burnt with
ire.
13:58. If it cease, he shall wash with water the parts that are pure,
the second time: and they shall be clean.
13:59. This is the law touching the leprosy of any woollen or linen
garment, either in the warp or woof, or any thing of skins: how it
ought to be cleaned, or pronounced unclean.
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 Levi cus Chapter 14

The rites of sacri ices in cleansing the leprosy. Leprosy in houses.

14:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
14:2. This is the rite of a leper, when he is to be cleansed. He shall be
brought to the priest:
14:3. Who going out of the camp, when he shall ind that the leprosy
is cleansed,
14:4. Shall command him that is to be puri ied, to offer for himself
two living sparrows, which it is lawful to eat, and cedar wood, and
scarlet, and hyssop.
14:5. And he shall command one of the sparrows to be immolated in
an earthen vessel over living waters.
Living waters.... That is, waters taken from a spring, brook, or river.
14:6. But the other that is alive, he shall dip, with the cedar wood,
and the scarlet and the hyssop, in the blood of the sparrow that is
immolated:
14:7. Wherewith he shall sprinkle him that is to be cleansed seven
times, that he may be rightly puri ied. And he shall let go the living
sparrow, that it may ly into the ield.
14:8. And when the man hath washed his clothes, he shall shave all
the hair of his body, and shall be washed with water: and being
puri ied he shall enter into the camp, yet so that he tarry without his
own tent seven days.
14:9. And on the seventh day he shall shave the hair of his head, and
his beard and his eyebrows, and the hair of all his body. And having
washed again his clothes, and his body,
14:10. On the eighth day, he shall take two lambs without blemish,
and an ewe of a year old without blemish, and three tenths of lour
tempered with oil for a sacri ice, and a sextary of oil apart.
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A sextary.... Heb. log: a measure of liquids, which was the twelfth part of a hin;
and held about as much as six eggs.
14:11. And when the priest that puri ieth the man, hath presented
him, and all these things before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle
of the testimony:
14:12. He shall take a lamb, and offer it for a trespass offering with
the sextary of oil. And having offered all before the Lord,
14:13. He shall immolate the lamb, where the victim for sin is wont
to be immolated, and the holocaust, that is, in the holy place. For as
that which is for sin, so also the victim for a trespass offering
pertaineth to the priest: it is holy of holies.
14:14. And the priest taking of the blood of the victim that was
immolated for trespass, shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him
that is cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand and the great
toe of his right foot.
Taking of the blood, etc.... These ceremonies used in the cleansing of a leper, were
mysterious and very signi icative. The sprinkling seven times with the blood of
the little bird, the washing himself and his clothes, the shaving his hair and his
beard, signify the means which are to be used in the reconciliation of a sinner,
and the steps by which he is to return to God, viz., by the repeated application of
the blood of Christ: the washing his conscience with the waters of compunction:
and retrenching all vanities and super luities, by employing all that is over and
above what is necessary in alms deeds. The sin offering, and the holocaust or
burnt offering, which he was to offer at his cleansing, signify the sacri ice of a
contrite and humble heart, and that of adoration in spirit and truth, with
gratitude and thankfulness, for the forgiveness of sins, with which we are ever to
appear before the Almighty. The touching the right ear, the thumb of the right
hand, and the great toe of the right foot, irst with the blood of the victim, and
then with the remainder of the oil, which had been sprinkled seven times before
the Lord, signify the application of the blood of Christ, and the unction of the
sevenfold grace of the Holy Ghost; to the sinner’s right ear, that he may duly
hearken to and obey the law of God; and to his right hand and foot, that the
works of his hands, and all the steps or affections of his soul, signi ied by the feet,
may be rightly directed to God.
14:15. And he shall pour of the sextary of oil into his own left hand,

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 14:16. And shall dip his right inger in it, and sprinkle it before the
Lord seven times.
14:17. And the rest of the oil in his left hand, he shall pour upon the
tip of the right ear of him that is cleansed, and upon the thumb of his
right hand and the great toe of his right foot, and upon the blood that
was shed for trespass:
14:18. And upon his head.
14:19. And he shall pray for him before the Lord, and shall offer the
sacri ice for sin. Then shall he immolate the holocaust.
14:20. And put it on the altar with the libations thereof: and the
man shall be rightly cleansed.
14:21. But if he be poor, and his hand cannot ind the things
aforesaid: he shall take a lamb for an offering for trespass, that the
priest may pray for him, and a tenth part of lour tempered with oil for
a sacri ice, and a sextary of oil:
14:22. And two turtles or two young pigeons, of which one may be
for sin, and the other for a holocaust.
14:23. And he shall offer them on the eighth day of his puri ication
to the priest, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony before the
Lord.
14:24. And the priest receiving the lamb for trespass, and the
sextary of oil, shall elevate them together.
14:25. And the lamb being immolated, he shall put of the blood
thereof upon the tip of the right ear of him that is cleansed, and upon
the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot.
14:26. But he shall pour part of the oil into his own left hand,
14:27. And dipping the inger of his right hand in it, he shall sprinkle
it seven times before the Lord.
14:28. And he shall touch the tip of the right ear of him that is
cleansed, and the thumb of his right hand and the great toe of his right
foot, in the place of the blood that was shed for trespass.
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 14:29. And the other part of the oil that is in his left hand, he shall
pour upon the head of the puri ied person, that he may appease the
Lord for him.
14:30. And he shall offer a turtle, or young pigeon:
14:31. One for trespass, and the other for a holocaust, with their
libations.
14:32. This is the sacri ice of a leper, that is not able to have all
things that appertain to his cleansing.
14:33. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
14:34. When you shall come into the land of Chanaan, which I will
give you for a possession, if there be the plague of leprosy in a house:
14:35. He whose house it is, shall go and tell the priest, saying: It
seemeth to me, that there is the plague of leprosy in my house,
14:36. And he shall command, that they carry forth all things out of
the house, before he go into it, and see whether it have the leprosy, let
all things become unclean that are in the house. And afterwards he
shall go in to view the leprosy of the house.
14:37. And if he see in the walls thereof as it were little dints,
dis igured with paleness or redness, and lower than all he rest:
14:38. He shall go out of the door of the house, and forthwith shut it
up seven days,
14:39. And returning on the seventh day, he shall look upon it. If he
ind that the leprosy is spread,
14:40. He shall command, that the stones wherein the leprosy is, be
taken out, and cast without the city into an unclean place:
14:41. And that the house be scraped on the inside round about, and
the dust of the scrapings be scattered without the city into an unclean
place:
14:42. And that other stones be laid in the place of them that were
taken away, and the house be plastered with other mortar.
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 14:43. But if after the stones be taken out, and the dust scraped off,
and it be plastered with other earth.
14:44. The priest going in perceive that the leprosy is returned, and
the walls full of spots, it is a lasting leprosy, and the house is unclean.
14:45. And they shall destroy it forthwith, and shall cast the stones
and timber thereof, and all the dust without the town into an unclean
place.
14:46. He that entereth into the house when it is shut, shall be
unclean until evening,
14:47. And he that sleepeth in it, and eateth any thing, shall wash
his clothes.
14:48. But if the priest going in perceive that the leprosy is not
spread in the house, after it was plastered again, he shall purify it, it
being cured.
14:49. And for the puri ication thereof he shall take two sparrows,
and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.
14:50. And having immolated one sparrow in an earthen vessel, over
living waters,
14:51. He shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet,
and the living sparrow, and shall dip all in the blood of the sparrow
that is immolated, and in the living water: and he shall sprinkle the
house seven times.
14:52. And shall purify it as well with the blood of the sparrow, as
with the living water, and with the living sparrow, and with the cedar
wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet.
14:53. And when he hath let go the sparrow to ly freely away into
the ield, he shall pray for the house: and it shall be rightly cleansed.
14:54. This is the law of every kind of leprosy and stroke.
14:55. Of the leprosy of garments and houses,
14:56. Of a scar and of blisters breaking out of a shining spot, and
when the colours are diversely changed:
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 14:57. That it may be known when a thing is clean or unclean.

Levi cus Chapter 15

Other legal uncleannesses.

15:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
15:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: The man that
hath an issue of seed, shall be unclean.
Issue of seed shall be unclean.... These legal uncleannesses were instituted in
order to give the people a horror of carnal impurities.
15:3. And then shall he be judged subject to this evil, when a ilthy
humour, at every moment, cleaveth to his lesh, and gathereth there.
15:4. Every bed on which he sleepeth, shall be unclean, and every
place on which he sitteth.
15:5. If any man touch his bed, he shall wash his clothes and being
washed with water, he shall be unclean until the evening.
15:6. If a man sit where that man hath sitten, he also shall wash his
clothes: and being washed with water, shall be unclean until the
evening.
15:7. He that toucheth his lesh, shall wash his clothes: and being
himself washed with water shall be unclean until the evening.
15:8. If such a man cast his spittle upon him that is clean, he shall
wash his clothes: and being washed with water, he shall be unclean
until the evening.
15:9. The saddle on which he hath sitten shall be unclean.
15:10. And whatsoever has been under him that hath the issue of
seed, shall be unclean until the evening. He that carrieth any of these
things, shall wash his clothes: and being washed with water, he shall
be unclean until the evening.
15:11. Every person whom such a one shall touch, not having
washed his hands before, shall wash his clothes: and being washed
with water, shall be unclean until the evening.
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 15:12. If he touch a vessel of earth, it shall be broken: but if a vessel

of wood, it shall be washed with water.
15:13. If he who suffereth this disease be healed, he shall number
seven days after his cleansing: and having washed his clothes, and all
his body in living water, he shall be clean.
15:14. And on the eighth day he shall take two turtles, or two young
pigeons, and he shall come before the Lord, to the door of the
tabernacle of the testimony, and shall give them to the priest.
15:15. Who shall offer one for sin, and the other for a holocaust: and
he shall pray for him before the Lord, that he may be cleansed of the
issue of his seed.
15:16. The man from whom the seed of copulation goeth out, shall
wash all his body with water: and he shall be unclean until the
evening.
15:17. The garment or skin that he weareth, he shall wash with
water: and it shall be unclean until the evening.
15:18. The woman, with whom he copulateth, shall be washed with
water: and shall be unclean until the evening.
15:19. The woman, who at the return of the month, hath her issue of
blood, shall be separated seven days.
15:20. Every one that toucheth her, shall be unclean until the
evening.
15:21. And every thing that she sleepeth on, or that she sitteth on in
the days of her separation, shall be de iled.
15:22. He that toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes: and being
himself washed with water, shall be unclean until the evening.
15:23. Whosoever shall touch any vessel on which she sitteth, shall
wash his clothes: and himself being washed with water, shall be de iled
until the evening.

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 15:24. If a man copulateth with her in the time of her lowers, he
shall be unclean seven days: and every bed on which he shall sleep,
shall be de iled.
15:25. The woman that hath still issue of blood many days out of her
ordinary time, or that ceaseth not to low after the monthly courses, as
long as she is subject to this disease, shall be unclean, in the same
manner as if she were in her lowers.
15:26. Every bed on which she sleepeth, and every vessel on which
she sitteth, shall be de iled.
15:27. Whosoever toucheth them shall wash his clothes: and himself
being washed with water, shall be unclean until the evening.
15:28. If the blood stop and cease to run, she shall count seven days
of her puri ication:
15:29. And on the eighth day she shall offer for herself to the priest,
two turtles, or two young pigeons, at the door of the tabernacle of the
testimony:
15:30. And he shall offer one for sin, and the other for a holocaust,
and he shall pray for her before the Lord, and for the issue of her
uncleanness.
15:31. You shall teach therefore the children of Israel to take heed of
uncleanness, that they may not die in their ilth, when they shall have
de iled my tabernacle that is among them.
15:32. This is the law of him that hath the issue of seed, and that is
de iled by copulation.
15:33. And of the woman that is separated in her monthly times, or
that hath a continual issue of blood, and of the man that sleepeth with
her.
Levi cus Chapter 16

When and how the high priest must enter into the sanctuary. The feast
of expiation.
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 16:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of
Aaron when they were slain upon their offering strange ire:
16:2. And he commanded him, saying: Speak to Aaron thy brother,
that he enter not at all into the sanctuary, which is within the veil
before the propitiatory, with which the ark is covered, lest he die, (for I
will appear in a cloud over the oracle),
Enter not.... No one but the high priest, and he but once a year, could enter into
the sanctuary; to signify that no one could enter into the sanctuary of heaven,
till Christ our high priest opened it by his passion. Heb. 10.8.
16:3. Unless he irst do these things. He shall offer a calf for sin, and
a ram for a holocaust.
16:4. He shall be vested with a linen tunick: he shall cover his
nakedness with linen breeches: he shall be girded with a linen girdle,
and he shall put a linen mitre upon his head. For these are holy
vestments: all which he shall put on, after he is washed.
16:5. And he shall receive from the whole multitude of the children
of Israel two buck goats for sin, and one ram for a holocaust.
16:6. And when he hath offered the cattle and prayed for himself
and for his own house:
16:7. He shall make the two buck goats to stand before the Lord in
the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
16:8. And casting lots upon them both, one to be offered to the Lord,
and the other to be the emissary goat:
16:9. That whose lot fell to be offered to the Lord, he shall offer for
sin.
16:10. But that whose lot was to be the emissary goat, he shall
present before the Lord, that he may pour prayers upon him, and let
him go into the wilderness.
16:11. After these things are duly celebrated, he shall offer the calf:
and praying for himself and for his own house, he shall immolate it.

 16:12. And taking the censer, which he hath illed with the burning
coals of the altar, and taking up with his hands the compounded
perfume for incense, he shall go in within the veil into the holy place:
16:13. That when the perfumes are put upon the ire, the cloud and
vapour thereof may cover the oracle, which is over the testimony, and
he may not die.
16:14. He shall take also of the blood of the calf, and sprinkle with
his inger seven times towards the propitiatory to the east.
16:15. And when he hath killed the buck goat for the sin of the
people, he shall carry in the blood thereof within the veil, as he was
commanded to do with the blood of the calf, that he may sprinkle it
over against the oracle:
16:16. And may expiate the sanctuary from the uncleanness of the
children of Israel, and from their transgressions, and all their sins.
According to this rite shall he do to the tabernacle of the testimony,
which is ixed among them in the midst of the ilth of their habitation.
16:17. Let no man be in the tabernacle when the high priest goeth
into the sanctuary, to pray for himself and his house, and for the whole
congregation of Israel, until he come out.
16:18. And when he is come out to the altar that is before the Lord,
let him pray for himself: and taking the blood of the calf, and of the
buck goat, let him pour it upon the horns thereof round about.
16:19. And sprinkling with his inger seven times, let him expiate,
and sanctify it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
16:20. After he hath cleaned the sanctuary, and the tabernacle, and
the altar, then let him offer the living goat.
16:21. And putting both hands upon his head, let him confess all the
iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their offences and sins. And
praying that they may light on its head, he shall turn him out by a man
ready for it, into the desert.
16:22. And when the goat hath carried all their iniquities into an
uninhabited land, and shall be let go into the desert:
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 16:23. Aaron shall return into the tabernacle of the testimony, and
putting off the vestments, which he had on him before when he entered
into the sanctuary, and leaving them there,
16:24. He shall wash his lesh in the holy place, and shall put on his
own garments. And after that he is come out and hath offered his own
holocaust, and that of the people, he shall pray both for himself, and
for the people.
16:25. And the fat that is offered for sins, he shall burn on the altar.
16:26. But he that hath let go the emissary goat, shall wash his
clothes, and his body with water, and so shall enter into the camp.
16:27. But the calf and the buck goat, that were sacri iced for sin,
and whose blood was carried into the sanctuary, to accomplish the
atonement, they shall carry forth without the camp, and shall burn
with ire: their skins and their lesh, and their dung.
16:28. And whosoever burneth them shall wash his clothes, and lesh
with water: and so shall enter into the camp.
16:29. And this shall be to you an everlasting ordinance. The seventh
month, the tenth day of the month, you shall af lict your souls, and
shall do no work, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger
that sojourneth among you.
16:30. Upon this day shall be the expiation for you, and the
cleansing from all your sins. You shall be cleansed before the Lord.
16:31. For it is a sabbath of rest: and you shall af lict your souls by a
perpetual religion.
16:32. And the priest that is anointed, and whose hands are
consecrated to do the of ice of the priesthood in his father’s stead, shall
make atonement. And he shall be vested with the linen robe and the
holy vestments.
16:33. And he shall expiate the sanctuary and the tabernacle of the
testimony and the altar: the priest also and all the people.
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 16:34. And this shall be an ordinance for ever, that you pray for the
children of Israel, and for all their sins once a year. He did therefore as
the Lord had commanded Moses.
Levi cus Chapter 17

No sacri ices to be offered but at the door of the tabernacle: a

prohibition of blood.
17:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
17:2. Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel,
saying to them: This is the word, which the Lord hath commanded,
saying:
17:3. Any man whosoever of the house of Israel, if he kill an ox, or a
sheep, or a goat in the camp, or without the camp,
If he kill, etc.... That is, in order to sacri ice. The law of God forbids sacri ices to be
offered in any other place but at the tabernacle or temple of the Lord; to signify
that no sacri ice would be acceptable to God, out of his true temple, the one holy,
catholic, apostolic church.
17:4. And offer it not at the door of the tabernacle an oblation to the
Lord, shall be guilty of blood. As if he had shed blood, so shall he perish
from the midst of his people.
17:5. Therefore the children of Israel shall bring to the priest their
victims, which they kill in the ield, that they may be sancti ied to the
Lord before the door of the tabernacle of the testimony: and they may
sacri ice them for peace offerings to the Lord.
17:6. And the priest shall pour the blood upon the altar of the Lord,
at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony: and shall burn the fat
for a sweet odour to the Lord.
17:7. And they shall no more sacri ice their victims to devils, with
whom they have committed fornication. It shall be an ordinance for
ever to them and to their posterity.
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 17:8. And thou shalt say to them: The man of the house of Israel, and
of the strangers who sojourn among you, that offereth a holocaust or a
victim,
17:9. And bringeth it not to the door of the tabernacle of the
testimony, that it may be offered to the Lord, shall perish from among
his people.
17:10. If any man whosoever of the house of Israel, and of the
strangers that sojourn among them, eat blood, I will set my face
against his soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
Eat blood.... To eat blood was forbidden in the law; partly, because God reserved
it to himself, to be offered in sacri ices on the altar, as to the Lord of life and
death; and as a igure of the blood of Christ; and partly, to give men a horror of
shedding blood. Gen. 9.4, 5, 6.
17:11. Because the life of the lesh is in the blood: and I have given it
to you, that you may make atonement with it upon the altar for your
souls, and the blood may be for an expiation of the soul.
17:12. Therefore I have said to the children of Israel: No soul of you,
nor of the strangers that sojourn among you, shall eat blood.
17:13. Any man whosoever of the children of Israel, and of the
strangers that sojourn among you, if by hunting or fowling, he take a
wild beast or a bird, which is lawful to eat, let him pour out its blood,
and cover it with earth.
17:14. For the life of all lesh is in the blood. Therefore I said to the
children of Israel: you shall not eat the blood of any lesh at all,
because the life of the lesh is in the blood, and whosoever eateth it,
shall be cut off.
17:15. The soul that eateth that which died of itself, or has been
caught by a beast, whether he be one of your own country or a
stranger, shall wash his clothes and himself with water, and shall be
de iled until the evening: and in this manner he shall be made clean.
17:16. But if he do not wash his clothes, and his body, he shall bear
his iniquity.
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 Levi cus Chapter 18

Marriage is prohibited in certain degrees of kindred: Anda all

unnatural lusts.
18:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
18:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: I
am the Lord your God.
18:3. You shall not do according to the custom of the land of Egypt,
in which you dwelt: neither shall you act according to the manner of
the country of Chanaan, into which I will bring you. Nor shall you walk
in their ordinances.
18:4. You shall do my judgments, and shall observe my precepts, and
shall walk in them. I am the Lord your God.
18:5. Keep my laws and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall
live in them, I am the Lord.
18:6. No man shall approach to her that is near of kin to him, to
uncover her nakedness. I am the Lord.
18:7. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father, or the
nakedness of thy mother: she is thy mother, thou shalt not uncover her
nakedness.
18:8. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s wife: for
it is the nakedness of thy father.
18:9. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy sister by father or
by mother: whether born at home or abroad.
18:10. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy son’s daughter,
or thy daughter’s daughter: because it is thy own nakedness.
18:11. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s wife’s
daughter, whom she bore to thy father: and who is thy sister.
18:12. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister:
because she is the lesh of thy father.
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 18:13. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister:
because she is thy mother’s lesh.
18:14. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother:
neither shalt thou approach to his wife, who is joined to thee by
af inity.
18:15. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law:
because she is thy son’s wife, neither shalt thou discover her shame.
18:16. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife:
because it is the nakedness of thy brother.
18:17. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy wife and her
daughter. Thou shalt not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s
daughter, to discover her shame: because they are her lesh, and such
copulation is incest.
18:18. Thou shalt not take thy wife’s sister for a harlot, to rival her:
neither shalt thou discover her nakedness, while she is yet living.
18:19. Thou shalt not approach to a woman having her lowers:
neither shalt thou uncover her nakedness.
18:20. Thou shalt not lie with thy neighbour’s wife: nor be de iled
with mingling of seed.
18:21. Thou shalt not give any of thy seed to be consecrated to the
idol Moloch, nor de ile the name of thy God. I am the Lord.
18:22. Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: because
it is an abomination.
18:23. Thou shalt not copulate with any beast: neither shalt thou be
de iled with it. A woman shall not lie down to a beast, nor copulate
with it: because it is a heinous crime.
Because it is a heinous crime.... In Hebrew, this word heinous crime is expressed
by the word confusion, signifying the shamefulness and baseness of this
abominable sin.
18:24. De ile not yourselves with any of these things with which all
the nations have been de iled, which I will cast out before you,
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 18:25. And with which the land is de iled: the abominations of which
I will visit, that it may vomit out its inhabitants.
18:26. Keep ye my ordinances and my judgments: and do not any of
these abominations. Neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger
that sojourneth among you.
18:27. For all these detestable things the inhabitants of the land
have done, that were before you, and have de iled it.
18:28. Beware then, lest in like manner, it vomit you also out, if you
do the like things: as it vomited out the nation that was before you.
18:29. Every soul that shall commit any of these abominations, shall
perish from the midst of his people.
18:30. Keep my commandments. Do not the things which they have
done, that have been before you: and be not de iled therein. I am the
Lord your God.
Levi cus Chapter 19

Divers ordinances, partly moral, partly ceremonial or judicial.

19:1. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
19:2. Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel. And
thou shalt say to them: Be ye holy, because I the Lord your God am
holy.
19:3. Let every one fear his father, and his mother. Keep my
sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.
19:4. Turn ye not to idols: nor make to yourselves molten gods. I am
the Lord your God.
19:5. If ye offer in sacri ice a peace offering to the Lord, that he may
be favourable:
19:6. You shall eat it on the same day it was offered, and the next
day. And whatsoever shall be left until the third day, you shall burn
with ire.
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 19:7. If after two days any man eat thereof, he shall be profane and
guilty of impiety:
19:8. And shall bear his iniquity, because he hath de iled the holy
thing of the Lord. And that soul shall perish from among his people.
19:9. When thou reapest the corn of thy land, thou shalt not cut
down all that is on the face of the earth to the very ground: nor shalt
thou gather the ears that remain.
19:10. Neither shalt thou gather the bunches and grapes that fall
down in thy vineyard: but shalt leave them to the poor and the
strangers to take. I am the Lord your God.
19:11. You shall not steal. You shall not lie: neither shall any man
deceive his neighbour.
19:12. Thou shalt not swear falsely by my name, nor profane the
name of thy God. I am the Lord.
19:13. Thou shalt not calumniate thy neighbour, nor oppress him by
violence. The wages of him that hath been hired by thee shall not abide
with thee until the morning.
19:14. Thou shalt not speak evil of the deaf, nor put a stumbling
block before the blind: but thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, because I
am the Lord.
19:15. Thou shalt not do that which is unjust, nor judge unjustly.
Respect not the person of the poor: nor honour the countenance of the
mighty. But judge thy neighbour according to justice.
19:16. Thou shalt not be a detractor nor a whisperer among the
people. Thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy neighbour. I am
the Lord.
19:17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: But reprove him
openly, lest thou incur sin through him.
19:18. Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of thy citizens.
Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself. I am the Lord.

 19:19. Keep ye my laws. Thou shalt not make thy cattle to gender
with beasts of any other kind. Thou shalt not sow thy ield with
different seeds. Thou shalt not wear a garment that is woven of two
sorts.
Different seeds, etc.... This law tends to recommend simplicity and plain dealing
in all things, and to teach the people not to join any false worship or heresy with
the worship of the true God.
19:20. If a man carnally lie with a woman that is a bondservant and
marriageable, and yet not redeemed with a price, nor made free: they
both shall be scourged: and they shall not be put to death, because she
was not a free woman.
19:21. And for his trespass he shall offer a ram to the Lord, at the
door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
19:22. And the priest shall pray for him: and for his sin before the
Lord: and he shall have mercy on him, and the sin shall be forgiven.
19:23. When you shall be come into the land, and shall have planted
in it fruit trees, you shall take away the irstfruits of them. The fruit
that comes forth shall be unclean to you: neither shall you eat of them.
Firstfruits.... Proeputia, literally, their foreskins; it alludes to circumcision, and
signi ies that for the irst three years the trees were to be as uncircumcised, and
their fruit unclean: till in the fourth year their increase was sancti ied and given
to the Lord, that is, to the priests.
19:24. But in the fourth year, all their fruit shall be sancti ied, to the
praise of the Lord.
19:25. And in the ifth year you shall eat the fruits thereof, gathering
the increase thereof. I am the Lord your God.
19:26. You shall not eat with blood. You shall not divine nor observe
dreams.
19:27. Nor shall you cut your hair roundwise: nor shave your beard.
19:28. You shall not make any cuttings in your lesh, for the dead:
neither shall you make in yourselves any igures or marks. I am the
Lord.
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 19:29. Make not thy daughter a common strumpet, lest the land be
de iled, and illed with wickedness.
19:30. Keep ye my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary. I am the
Lord.
19:31. Go not aside after wizards: neither ask any thing of
soothsayers, to be de iled by them. I am the Lord your God.
19:32. Rise up before the hoary head, and honour the person of the
aged man: and fear the Lord thy God. I am the Lord.
19:33. If a stranger dwell in your land, and abide among you, do not
upbraid him:
19:34. But let him be among you as one of the same country. And
you shall love him as yourselves: for you were strangers in the land of
Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
19:35. Do not any unjust thing in judgment, in rule, in weight, or in
measure.
19:36. Let the balance be just and the weights equal, the bushel just,
and the sextary equal. I am the Lord your God, that brought you out of
the land of Egypt.
19:37. Keep all my precepts, and all my judgments: and do them. I
am the Lord.
Levi cus Chapter 20

Divers crimes to be punished with death.

20:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
20:2. Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: If any man of the
children Israel, or of the strangers that dwell in Israel, give of his seed
to the idol Moloch, dying let him die. The people of the land shall stone
him.
20:3. And I will set my face against him: and I will cut him off from
the midst of his people, because he hath given of his seed to Moloch,
and hath de iled my sanctuary, and profaned my holy name.
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 20:4. And if the people of the land neglecting, and as it were little
regarding my commandment, let alone the man that hath given of his
seed to Moloch, and will not kill him:
20:5. I will set my face against that man, and his kindred, and will
cut off both him and all that consented with him, to commit
fornication with Moloch, out of the midst of their people.
20:6. The soul that shall go aside after magicians, and soothsayers,
and shall commit fornication with them: I will set my face against that
soul, and destroy it out of the midst of its people.
20:7. Sanctify yourselves, and be ye holy: because I am the Lord your
God.
20:8. Keep my precepts, and do them. I am the Lord that sanctify
you.
20:9. He that curseth his father, or mother, dying let him die. He
hath cursed his father, and mother: let his blood be upon him.
20:10. If any man commit adultery with the wife of another, and
de ile his neighbour’s wife: let them be put to death, both the adulterer
and the adulteress.
20:11. If a man lie with his stepmother, and discover the nakedness
of his father, let them both be put to death: their blood be upon them.
20:12. If any man lie with his daughter in law: let both die, because
they have done a heinous crime. Their blood be upon them.
20:13. If any one lie with a man as with a woman, both have
committed an abomination: let them be put to death. Their blood be
upon them.
20:14. If any man after marrying the daughter, marry her mother,
he hath done a heinous crime. He shall be burnt alive with them:
neither shall so great an abomination remain in the midst of you.
20:15. He that shall copulate with any beast or cattle, dying let him
die: the beast also ye shall kill.
The beast also ye shall kill.... The killing of the beast was for the greater horror of
the crime, and to prevent the remembrance of such abomination.
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 20:16. The woman that shall lie under any beast, shall be killed
together with the same. Their blood be upon them.
20:17. If any man take his sister, the daughter of his father, or the
daughter of his mother, and see her nakedness, and she behold her
brother’s shame: they have committed a crime. They shall be slain, in
the sight of their people, because they have discovered one another’s
nakedness. And they shall bear their iniquity.
20:18. If any man lie with a woman in her lowers, and uncover her
nakedness, and she open the fountain of her blood: both shall be
destroyed out of the midst of their people.
20:19. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy aunt by thy
mother, and of thy aunt by thy father. He that doth this, hath
uncovered the shame of his own lesh: both shall bear their iniquity.
20:20. If any man lie with the wife of his uncle by the father, or of his
uncle by the mother, and uncover the shame of his near akin, both
shall bear their sin. They shall die without children.
20:21. He that marrieth his brother’s wife, doth an unlawful thing:
he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be without
children.
20:22. Keep my laws and my judgments, and do them: lest the land
into which you are to enter to dwell therein, vomit you also out.
20:23. Walk not after the laws of the nations, which I will cast out
before you. For they have done all these things: and therefore I
abhorred them.
20:24. But to you I say: Possess their land which I will give you for
an inheritance, a land lowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your
God, who have separated you from other people.
20:25. Therefore do you also separate the clean beast from the
unclean, and the clean fowl from the unclean. De ile not your souls
with beasts, or birds, or any things that move on the earth, and which I
have shewn you to be unclean:

 20:26. You shall be holy unto me, because I the Lord am holy: and I
have separated you from other people, that you should be mine.
20:27. A man, or woman, in whom there is a pythonical or divining
spirit, dying let them die. They shall stone them. Their blood be upon
them.
Levi cus Chapter 21

Ordinances relating to the priests.

21:1. The Lord said also to Moses: Speak to the priests the sons of
Aaron, and thou shalt say to them: Let not a priest incur an
uncleanness at the death of his citizens.
An uncleanness.... Viz., such as was contracted in laying out the dead body, or
touching it; or in going into the house, or assisting at the funeral, etc.
21:2. But only for his kin, such as are near in blood: that is to say, for
his father and for his mother, and for his son, and for his daughter, for
his brother also:
21:3. And for a maiden sister, who hath had no husband.
21:4. But not even for the prince of his people shall he do any thing
that may make him unclean.
21:5. Neither shall they shave their head, nor their beard, nor make
incisions in their lesh.
21:6. They shall be holy to their God, and shall not profane his name.
For they offer the burnt offering of the Lord, and the bread of their
God: and therefore they shall be holy.
21:7. They shall not take to wife a harlot or a vile prostitute, nor one
that has been put away from her husband: because they are
consecrated to their God,
21:8. And offer the loaves of proposition. Let them therefore be holy
because I also am holy: the Lord, who sanctify them.
21:9. If the daughter of a priest be taken in whoredom and
dishonour the name of her father, she shall be burnt with ire.
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 21:10. The high priest, that is to say, the priest who is the greatest
among his brethren, upon whose head the oil of unction hath been
poured; and whose hands have been consecrated for the priesthood;
and who hath been vested with the holy vestments. He shall not
uncover his head: he shall not rend his garments.
21:11. Nor shall he go in at all to any dead person: not even for his
father, or his mother, shall he be de iled.
21:12. Neither shall he go out of the holy places, lest he de ile the
sanctuary of the Lord: because the oil of the holy unction of his God is
upon him. I am the Lord.
21:13. He shall take a virgin unto his wife.
21:14. But a widow or one that is divorced, or de iled, or a harlot, he
shall not take: but a maid of his own people.
21:15. He shall not mingle the stock of his kindred with the common
people of this nation: for I am the Lord who sanctify him.
21:16. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
21:17. Say to Aaron: Whosoever of thy seed throughout their
families, hath a blemish, he shall not offer bread to his God.
21:18. Neither shall he approach to minister to him: If he be blind; if
he be lame; if he have a little, or a great, or a crooked nose;
21:19. If his foot, or if his hand be broken;
21:20. If he be crookbacked; or blear eyed; or have a pearl in his eye,
or a continual scab, or a dry scurf in his body, or a rupture.
21:21. Whosoever of the seed of Aaron the priest hath a blemish: he
shall not approach to offer sacri ices to the Lord, nor bread to his God.
21:22. He shall eat nevertheless of the loaves that are offered in the
sanctuary.
21:23. Yet so that he enter not within the veil, nor approach to the
altar: because he hath a blemish, and he must not de ile my sanctuary.
I am the Lord who sanctify them.

 21:24. Moses, therefore spoke to Aaron, and to his sons and to all
Israel, all the things that had been commanded him.
Levi cus Chapter 22

Who may eat the holy things: and what things may be offered.
22:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying:
22:2. Speak to Aaron and to his sons, that they beware of those
things that are consecrated of the children of Israel: and de ile not the
name of the things sancti ied to me, which they offer. I am the Lord.
22:3. Say to them and to their posterity: Every man of your race,
that approacheth to those things that are consecrated, and which the
children of Israel have offered to the Lord, in whom there is
uncleanness, shall perish before the Lord. I am the Lord.
Approacheth, etc.... This is to give us to understand, with what purity of soul we
are to approach to the blessed sacrament of which these meats that had been
offered in sacri ice were a igure.
22:4. The man of the seed of Aaron, that is a leper, or that suffereth
a running of the seed, shall not eat of those things that are sancti ied
to me, until he be healed. He that toucheth any thing unclean by
occasion of the dead: and he whose seed goeth from him as in
generation:
22:5. And he that toucheth a creeping thing, or any unclean thing,
the touching of which is de iling:
22:6. Shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat those
things that are sancti ied. But when he hath washed his lesh with
water,
22:7. And the sun is down, then being puri ied, he shall eat of the
sancti ied things, because it is his meat.
22:8. That which dieth of itself, and that which was taken by a beast,
they shall not eat, nor be de iled therewith. I am the Lord.
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 22:9. Let them keep my precepts, that they may not fall into sin, and
die in the sanctuary, when they shall have de iled it. I am the Lord who
sanctify them.
22:10. No stranger shall eat of the sancti ied things: a sojourner of
the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of them.
22:11. But he whom the priest hath bought, and he that is his
servant, born in his house, these shall eat of them.
22:12. If the daughter of a priest be married to any of the people,
she shall not eat of those things that are sancti ied nor of the
irstfruits.
22:13. But if she be a widow, or divorced, and having no children
return to her father’s house, she shall eat of her father’s meats, as she
was wont to do when she was a maid. No stranger hath leave to eat of
them.
22:14. He that eateth of the sancti ied things through ignorance,
shall add the ifth part with that which he ate, and shall give it to the
priest into the sanctuary.
22:15. And they shall not profane the sancti ied things of the
children of Israel, which they offer to the Lord:
22:16. Lest perhaps they bear the iniquity of their trespass, when
they shall have eaten the sancti ied things. I am the Lord who sanctify
them.
22:17. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
22:18. Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of
Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man of the house of Israel, and
of the strangers who dwell with you, that offereth his oblation, either
paying his vows, or offering of his own accord, whatsoever it be which
he presenteth for a holocaust of the Lord,
22:19. To be offered by you: it shall be a male without blemish of the
beeves, or of the sheep, or of the goats.
22:20. If it have a blemish you shall not offer it: neither shall it be
acceptable.
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 22:21. The man that offereth a victim of peace offerings to the Lord,
either paying his vows, or offering of his own accord, whether of
beeves or of sheep, shall offer it without blemish, that it may be
acceptable. There shall be no blemish in it.
22:22. If it be blind, or broken, or have a scar or blisters, or a scab,
or a dry scurf: you shall not offer them to the Lord, nor burn any thing
of them upon the Lord’s altar.
22:23. An ox or a sheep, that hath the ear and the tail cut off, thou
mayst offer voluntarily: but a vow may not be paid with them.
22:24. you shall not offer to the Lord any beast that hath the
testicles bruised, or crushed, or cut and taken away: neither shall you
do any such things in your land.
22:25. you shall not offer bread to your God, from the hand of a
stranger, nor any other thing that he would give: because they are all
corrupted, and de iled. You shall not receive them.
22:26. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
22:27. When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, they
shall be seven days under the udder of their dam: but the eighth day,
and thenceforth, they may be offered to the Lord.
22:28. Whether it be a cow, or a sheep, they shall not be sacri iced
the same day with their young ones.
22:29. If you immolate a victim for thanksgiving to the Lord, that he
may be favourable,
22:30. You shall eat it the same day. There shall not any of it remain
until the morning of the next day. I am the Lord.
22:31. Keep my commandments, and do them. I am the Lord.
22:32. Profane not my holy name, that I may be sancti ied in the
midst of the children of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctify you:
22:33. And who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might be
your God. I am the Lord.
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 Levi cus Chapter 23

Holy days to be kept.

23:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
23:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call holy.
23:3. Six days shall ye do work: the seventh day, because it is the rest
of the sabbath, shall be called holy. You shall do no work on that day: it
is the sabbath of the Lord in all your habitations.
23:4. These also are the holy days of the Lord, which you must
celebrate in their seasons.
23:5. The irst month, the fourteenth day of the month at evening, is
the phase of the Lord.
23:6. And the ifteenth day of the same month is the solemnity of the
unleavened bread of the Lord. Seven days shall you eat unleavened
bread.
23:7. The irst day shall be most solemn unto you, and holy: you
shall do no servile work therein.
23:8. But you shall offer sacri ice in ire to the Lord seven days. And
the seventh day shall be more solemn, and more holy: and you shall do
no servile work therein.
23:9. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
23:10. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
When you shall have entered into the land which I will give you, and
shall reap your corn, you shall bring sheaves of ears, the irstfruits of
your harvest to the priest.
23:11. Who shall lift up the sheaf before the Lord, the next day after
the sabbath, that it may be acceptable for you, and shall sanctify it.
23:12. And on the same day that the sheaf is consecrated, a lamb
without blemish of the irst year shall be killed for a holocaust of the
Lord.
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 23:13. And the libations shall be offered with it: two tenths of lour
tempered with oil, for a burnt offering of the Lord, and a most sweet
odour. Libations also of wine, the fourth part of a hin.
23:14. You shall not eat either bread, or parched corn, or frumenty
or the harvest, until the day that you shall offer thereof to your God. It
is a precept for ever throughout your generations, and all your
dwellings.
23:15. You shall count therefore from the morrow after the sabbath,
wherein you offered the sheaf of irstfruits, seven full weeks.
23:16. Even unto the morrow after the seventh week be expired, that
is to say, ifty days: and so you shall offer a new sacri ice to the Lord.
23:17. Out of all your dwellings, two loaves of the irstfruits, of two
tenths of lour leavened, which you shall bake for the irstfruits of the
Lord.
23:18. And you shall offer with the loaves seven lambs without
blemish of the irst year, and one calf from the herd, and two rams, and
they shall be for a holocaust with their libations for a most sweet
odour to the Lord.
23:19. You shall offer also a buck goat for sin, and two lambs of the
irst year for sacri ices of peace offerings.
23:20. And when the priest hath lifted them up with the loaves of the
irstfruits before the Lord, they shall fall to his use.
23:21. And you shall call this day most solemn, and most holy. You
shall do no servile work therein. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in
all your dwellings and generations.
23:22. And when you reap the corn of your land, you shall not cut it
to the very ground: neither shall you gather the ears that remain. But
you shall leave them for the poor and for the strangers. I am the Lord
your God.
23:23. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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 23:24. Say to the children of Israel: The seventh month, on the irst
day of the month, you shall keep a sabbath, a memorial, with the
sound of trumpets, and it shall be called holy.
23:25. You shall do no servile work therein, and you shall offer a
holocaust to the Lord.
23:26. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
23:27. Upon the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of
atonement. It shall be most solemn, and shall be called holy: and you
shall af lict your souls on that day, and shall offer a holocaust to the
Lord.
23:28. You shall do no servile work in the time of this day: because it
is a day of propitiation, that the Lord your God may be merciful unto
you.
23:29. Every soul that is not af licted on this day, shall perish from
among his people.
23:30. And every soul that shall do any work, the same will I destroy
from among his people.
23:31. You shall do no work therefore on that day: it shall be an
everlasting ordinance unto you in all your generations, and dwellings.
23:32. It is a sabbath of rest, and you shall af lict your souls
beginning on the ninth day of the month. From evening until evening
you shall celebrate your sabbaths.
23:33. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
23:34. Say to the children of Israel: From the ifteenth day of this
same seventh month, shall be kept the feast of tabernacles, seven days
to the Lord.
23:35. The irst day shall be called most solemn and most holy: you
shall do no servile work therein. And seven days you shall offer
holocausts to the Lord.

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 23:36. The eighth day also shall be most solemn and most holy: and
you shall offer holocausts to the Lord. For it is the day of assembly and
congregation. You shall do no servile work therein.
23:37. These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall call most
solemn and most holy, and shall offer on them oblations to the Lord:
holocausts and libations according to the rite of every day.
23:38. Besides the sabbaths of the Lord, and your gifts, and those
things that you offer by vow, or which you shall give to the Lord
voluntarily.
23:39. So from the ifteenth day of the seventh month, when you
shall have gathered in all the fruits of your land, you shall celebrate
the feast of the Lord seven days. On the irst day and the eighth shall
be a sabbath: that is a day of rest.
23:40. And you shall take to you on the irst day the fruits of the
fairest tree, and branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and
willows of the brook: And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.
23:41. And you shall keep the solemnity thereof seven days in the
year. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations. In the
seventh month shall you celebrate this feast.
23:42. And you shall dwell in bowers seven days. Every one that is of
the race of Israel, shall dwell in tabernacles:
23:43. That your posterity may know, that I made the children of
Israel to dwell in tabernacles, when I brought them out of the land of
Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
23:44. And Moses spoke concerning the feasts of the Lord to the
children of Israel.
Levi cus Chapter 24

The oil for the lamps. The loaves of proposition. The punishment of
blasphemy.
24:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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 24:2. Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee the
inest and clearest oil of olives, to furnish the lamps continually,
24:3. Without the veil of the testimony in the tabernacle of the
covenant. And Aaron shall set them from evening until morning before
the Lord, by a perpetual service and rite in your generations.
24:4. They shall be set upon the most pure candlestick before the
Lord continually.
24:5. Thou shalt take also ine lour, and shalt bake twelve loaves
thereof, two tenths shall be in every loaf.
24:6. And thou shalt set them six and six, one against another, upon
the most clean table before the Lord.
24:7. And thou shalt put upon them the clearest frankincense, that
the bread may be for a memorial of the oblation of the Lord.
24:8. Every sabbath they shall be changed before the Lord: being
received of the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.
24:9. And they shall be Aaron’s and his sons’, that they may eat them
in the holy place: because it is most holy of the sacri ices of the Lord by
a perpetual right.
24:10. And behold there went out the son of a woman of Israel,
whom she had of an Egyptian, among the children of Israel: and fell at
words in the camp with a man of Israel.
24:11. And when he had blasphemed the name, and had cursed it, he
was brought to Moses. (Now his mother was called Salumith, the
daughter of Dabri, of the tribe of Dan.)
24:12. And they put him into prison, till they might know what the
Lord would command.
24:13. And the Lord spoke to Moses,
24:14. Saying: Bring forth the blasphemer without the camp: and let
them that heard him, put their hands upon his head: and let all the
people stone him.
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 24:15. And thou shalt speak to the children of Israel: The man that
curseth his God, shall bear his sin:
24:16. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him
die. All the multitude shall stone him, whether he be a native or a
stranger. He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die.
24:17. He that striketh and killeth a man: dying let him die.
24:18. He that killeth a beast, shall make it good that is to say, shall
give beast for beast.
24:19. He that giveth a blemish to any of his neighbours: as he hath
done, so shall it be done to him:
24:20. Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, shall he
restore. What blemish he gave, the like shall he be compelled to suffer.
24:21. He that striketh a beast, shall render another. He that
striketh a man shall be punished.
24:22. Let there be equal judgment among you, whether he be a
stranger, or a native that offends: because I am the Lord your God.
24:23. And Moses spoke to the children of Israel. And they brought
forth him that had blasphemed, without the camp: and they stoned
him. And the children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Levi cus Chapter 25

The law of the seventh and of the iftieth year of jubilee.

25:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses in mount Sinai, saying:
25:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
When you shall have entered into the land which I will give you,
observe the rest of the sabbath of the Lord.
25:3. Six years thou shalt sow thy ield and six years thou shalt
prune thy vineyard, and shalt gather the fruits thereof.
25:4. But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath to the land, of
the resting of the Lord. Thou shalt not sow thy ield, nor prune thy
vineyard.
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 25:5. What the ground shall bring forth of itself, thou shalt not reap:
neither shalt thou gather the grapes or the irstfruits as a vintage. For
it is a year of rest to the land.
25:6. But they shall be unto you for meat, to thee and to thy
manservant, to thy maidservant and thy hireling, and to the strangers
that sojourn with thee.
25:7. All things that grow shall be meat to thy beasts and to thy
cattle.
25:8. Thou shalt also number to thee seven weeks of years: that is to
say, seven times seven, which together make forty-nine years.
25:9. And thou shalt sound the trumpet in the seventh month, the
tenth day of the month, in the time of the expiation in all your land.
25:10. And thou shalt sanctify the iftieth year, and shalt proclaim
remission to all the inhabitants of thy land: for it is the year of jubilee.
Every man shall return to his possession, and every one shall go back
to his former family:
Remission.... That is, a general release and discharge from debts and bondage,
and a reinstating of every man in his former possessions.
25:11. Because it is the jubilee and the iftieth year. You shall not
sow, nor reap the things that grow in the ield of their own accord,
neither shall you gather the irstfruits of the vines,
25:12. Because of the sancti ication of the jubilee. But as they grow
you shall presently eat them.
25:13. In the year of the jubilee all shall return to their possessions.
25:14. When thou shalt sell any thing to thy neighbour, or shalt buy
of him: grieve not thy brother. But thou shalt buy of him according to
the number of years from the jubilee.
25:15. And he shall sell to thee according to the computation of the
fruits.

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 25:16. The more years remain after the jubilee, the more shall the
price increase: and the less time is counted, so much the less shall the
purchase cost. For he shall sell to thee the time of the fruits.
25:17. Do not af lict your countrymen: but let every one fear his
God. Because I am the Lord your God.
25:18. Do my precepts, and keep my judgments, and ful il them: that
you may dwell in the land without any fear.
25:19. And the ground may yield you its fruits, of which you may eat
your ill, fearing no man’s invasion.
25:20. But if you say: What shall we eat the seventh year, if we sow
not, nor gather our fruits?
25:21. I will give you my blessing the sixth year: and it shall yield the
fruits of three years.
25:22. And the eighth year you shall sow, and shall eat of the old
fruits, until the ninth year: till new grow up, you shall eat the old store.
25:23. The land also shall not be sold for ever: because it is mine,
and you are strangers and sojourners with me.
25:24. For which cause all the country of your possession shall be
under the condition of redemption.
25:25. If thy brother being impoverished sell his little possession,
and his kinsman will: he may redeem what he had sold.
25:26. But if he have no kinsman, and he himself can ind the price
to redeem it:
25:27. The value of the fruits shall be counted from that time when
he sold it. And the overplus he shall restore to the buyer, and so shall
receive his possession again.
25:28. But if his hands ind not the means to repay the price, the
buyer shall have what he bought, until the year of the jubilee. For in
that year all that is sold shall return to the owner, and to the ancient
possessor.
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 25:29. He that selleth a house within the walls of a city, shall have
the liberty to redeem it, until one year be expired.
25:30. If he redeem it not, and the whole year be fully out, the buyer
shall possess it, and his posterity for ever, and it cannot be redeemed,
not even in the jubilee.
25:31. But if the house be in a village, that hath no walls, it shall be
sold according to the same law as the ields. If it be not redeemed
before, in the jubilee it shall return to the owner.
25:32. The houses of Levites, which are in cities, may always be
redeemed.
25:33. If they be not redeemed, in the jubilee they shall all return to
the owners: because the houses of the cities of the Levites are for their
possessions among the children of Israel.
25:34. But let not their suburbs be sold, because it is a perpetual
possession.
25:35. If thy brother be impoverished, and weak of hand, and thou
receive him as a stranger and sojourner, and he live with thee:
25:36. Take not usury of him nor more than thou gavest. Fear thy
God, that thy brother may live with thee.
25:37. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury: nor exact of
him any increase of fruits.
25:38. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt, that I might give you the land of Chanaan, and might be your
God.
25:39. If thy brother constrained by poverty, sell himself to thee:
thou shalt not oppress him with the service of bondservants.
25:40. But he shall be as a hireling, and a sojourner: he shall work
with thee until the year of the jubilee.
25:41. And afterwards he shall go out with his children: and shall
return to his kindred and to the possession of his fathers.

 25:42. For they are my servants, and I brought them out of the land
of Egypt: let them not be sold as bondmen.
25:43. Af lict him not by might: but fear thy God.
25:44. Let your bondmen, and your bondwomen, be of the nations
that are round about you:
25:45. And of the strangers that sojourn among you, or that were
born of them in your land. These you shall have for servants:
25:46. And by right of inheritance shall leave them to your posterity,
and shall possess them for ever. But oppress not your brethren the
children of Israel by might.
25:47. If the hand of a stranger or a sojourner grow strong among
you, and thy brother being impoverished sell himself to him, or to any
of his race:
25:48. After the sale he may be redeemed. He that will of his
brethren shall redeem him:
25:49. Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, or his kinsman, by blood,
or by af inity. But if he himself be able also, he shall redeem himself:
25:50. Counting only the years from the time of his selling unto the
year of the jubilee: and counting the money that he was sold for,
according to the number of the years and the reckoning of a hired
servant.
25:51. If there be many years that remain until the jubilee,
according to them shall he also repay the price.
25:52. If few, he shall make the reckoning with him according to the
number of the years: and shall repay to the buyer of what remaineth of
the years.
25:53. His wages being allowed for which he served before: he shall
not af lict him violently in thy sight.
25:54. And if by these means he cannot be redeemed, in the year of
the jubilee he shall go out with his children.
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 25:55. For the children of Israel are my servants, whom I brought

forth out of the land of Egypt.
Levi cus Chapter 26

God’s promises to them that keep his commandments. And the many
punishments with which he threatens transgressors.
26:1. I am the Lord your God. You shall not make to yourselves any
idol or graven thing: neither shall you erect pillars, nor set up a
remarkable stone in your land, to adore it. For I am the Lord your God.
26:2. Keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
26:3. If you walk in my precepts, and keep my commandments, and
do them, I will give you rain in due seasons.
26:4. And the ground shall bring forth its increase: and the trees
shall be illed with fruit.
26:5. The threshing of your harvest shall reach unto the vintage,
and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and you shall eat
your bread to the full, and dwell in your land without fear.
26:6. I will give peace in your coasts: you shall sleep, and there shall
be none to make you afraid. I will take away evil beasts: and the sword
shall not pass through your quarters.
26:7. You shall pursue your enemies: and they shall fall before you.
26:8. Five of yours shall pursue a hundred others: and a hundred of
you ten thousand. Your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
26:9. I will look on you, and make you increase: you shall be
multiplied, and I will establish my covenant with you.
26:10. You shall eat the oldest of the old store: and, new coming on,
you shall cast away the old.
26:11. I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you: and my soul shall
not cast you off.
26:12. I will walk among you, and will be your God: and you shall be
my people.
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 26:13. I am the Lord your God: who have brought you out of the
land of the Egyptians, that you should not serve them: and who have
broken the chains of your necks, that you might go upright.
26:14. But if you will not hear me, nor do all my commandments:
26:15. If you despise my laws, and contemn my judgments so as not
to do those things which are appointed by me, and to make void my
covenant:
26:16. I also will do these things to you. I will quickly visit you with
poverty, and burning heat, which shall waste your eyes, and consume
your lives. You shall sow your seed in vain, which shall be devoured by
your enemies.
26:17. I will set my face against you, and you shall fall down before
your enemies: and shall be made subject to them that hate you. You
shall lee when no man pursueth you.
26:18. But if you will not yet for all this obey me: I will chastise you
seven times more for your sins.
26:19. And I will break the pride of your stubbornness: and I will
make to you the heaven above as iron, and the earth as brass.
26:20. Your labour shall be spent in vain: the ground shall not bring
forth her increase: nor the trees yield their fruit.
26:21. If you walk contrary to me, and will not hearken to me, I will
bring seven times more plagues upon you for your sins.
26:22. And I will send in upon you the beasts of the ield, to destroy
you and your cattle, and make you few in number: and that your
highways may be desolate.
26:23. And if even so you will not amend, but will walk contrary to
me:
26:24. I also will walk contrary to you, and will strike you seven
times for your sins.
26:25. And I will bring in upon you the sword that shall avenge my
covenant. And when you shall lee into the cities, I will send the

 pestilence in the midst of you. And you shall be delivered into the
hands of your enemies,
26:26. After I shall have broken the staff of your bread: so that ten
women shall bake your bread in one oven, and give it out by weight:
and you shall eat, and shall not be illed,
26:27. But if you will not for all this hearken to me, but will walk
against me,
26:28. I will also go against you with opposite fury: and I will
chastise you with seven plagues for your sins,
26:29. So that you shall eat the lesh of your sons and of your
daughters.
26:30. I will destroy your high places, and break your idols. You shall
fall among the ruins of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
26:31. Insomuch that I will bring your cities to be a wilderness: and
I will make your sanctuaries desolate: and will receive no more your
sweet odours.
26:32. And I will destroy your land: and your enemies shall be
astonished at it, when they shall be the inhabitants thereof.
26:33. And I will scatter you among the Gentiles: and I will draw out
the sword after you. And your land shall be desert, and your cities
destroyed.
26:34. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths all the days of her
desolation. When you shall be
26:35. In the enemy’s land, she shall keep a sabbath, and rest in the
sabbaths of her desolation: because she did not rest in your sabbaths,
when you dwelt therein.
26:36. And as to them that shall remain of you I will send fear in
their hearts in the countries of their enemies. The sound of a lying leaf
shall terrify them: and they shall lee as it were from the sword. They
shall fall, when no man pursueth them.

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 26:37. And they shall every one fall upon their brethren as leeing
from wars: none of you shall dare to resist your enemies.
26:38. You shall perish among the Gentiles: and an enemy’s land
shall consume you.
26:39. And if of them also some remain, they shall pine away in their
iniquities, in the land of their enemies: and they shall be af licted for
the sins of their fathers, and their own.
26:40. Until they confess their iniquities, and the iniquities of their
ancestors, whereby they have transgressed against me, and walked
contrary unto me.
26:41. Therefore I also will walk against them, and bring them into
their enemies’ land until their uncircumcised mind be ashamed. Then
shall they pray for their sins.
26:42. And I will remember my covenant, that I made with Jacob,
and Isaac, and Abraham. I will remember also the land:
26:43. Which when she shall be left by them, shall enjoy her
sabbaths, being desolate for them. But they shall pray for their sins,
because they rejected my judgments, and despised my laws.
26:44. And yet for all that when they were in the land of their
enemies, I did not cast them off altogether. Neither did I so despise
them that they should be quite consumed: and I should make void my
covenant with them. For I am the Lord their God.
26:45. And I will remember my former covenant, when I brought
them out of the land of Egypt, in the sight of the Gentiles, to be their
God. I am the Lord. These are the judgments, and precepts, and laws,
which the Lord gave between him and the children of Israel, in mount
Sinai, by the hand of Moses.
Levi cus Chapter 27

Of vows and tithes.

27:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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 27:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The
man that shall have made a vow, and promised his soul to God, shall
give the price according to estimation.
27:3. If it be a man from twenty years old unto sixty years old, he
shall give ifty sicles of silver, after the weight of the sanctuary:
27:4. If a woman, thirty.
27:5. But from the ifth year until the twentieth, a man shall give
twenty sicles: a woman ten.
27:6. From one month until the ifth year, for a male shall be given
ive sicles: for a female three.
27:7. A man that is sixty years old or upward, shall give ifteen
sicles: a woman ten.
27:8. If he be poor, and not able to pay the estimation, he shall stand
before the priest: and as much as he shall value him at, and see him
able to pay, so much shall he give.
27:9. But a beast that may be sacri iced to the Lord, if any one shall
vow, shall be holy,
27:10. And cannot be changed: that is to say, neither a better for a
worse, nor a worse for a better. And if he shall change it: both that
which was changed, and that for which it was changed, shall be
consecrated to the Lord.
27:11. An unclean beast, which cannot be sacri iced to the Lord, if
any man shall vow, shall be brought before the priest:
27:12. Who judging whether it be good or bad, shall set the price.
27:13. Which, if he that offereth it will give, he shall add above the
estimation the ifth part.
27:14. If a man shall vow his house, and sanctify it to the Lord, the
priest shall consider it, whether it be good or bad: and it shall be sold
according to the price, which he shall appoint.
27:15. But if he that vowed, will redeem it, he shall give the ifth
part of the estimation over and above: and shall have the house.
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 27:16. And if he vow the ield of his possession, and consecrate it to

the Lord, the price shall be rated according to the measure of the seed.
If the ground be sown with thirty bushels of barley, let it be sold for
ifty sicles of silver.
27:17. If he vow his ield immediately from the year of jubilee that is
beginning: as much as it may be worth, at so much it shall be rated.
27:18. But if some time after, the priest shall reckon the money
according to the number of years that remain until the jubilee, and the
price shall be abated.
27:19. And if he that had vowed, will redeem his ield, he shall add
the ifth part of the money of the estimation, and shall possess it.
27:20. And if he will not redeem it, but it be sold to any other man,
he that vowed it, may not redeem it any more.
27:21. For when the day of jubilee cometh, it shall be sancti ied to
the Lord, and as a possession consecrated, pertaineth to the right of
the priest.
27:22. If a ield that was bought, and not of a man’s ancestors’
possession, be sancti ied to the Lord:
27:23. The priest shall reckon the price according to the number of
years, unto the jubilee. And he that had vowed, shall give that to the
Lord.
27:24. But in the jubilee, it shall return to the former owner, who
had sold it, and had it in the lot of his possession.
27:25. All estimation shall be made according to the sicle of the
sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty obols.
27:26. The irstborn, which belong to the Lord, no man may sanctify
and vow: whether it be bullock, or sheep, they are the Lord’s.
27:27. And if it be an unclean beast, he that offereth it shall redeem
it, according to thy estimation, and shall add the ifth part of the price.
If he will not redeem it, it shall be sold to another for how much soever
it was estimated by thee.
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 27:28. Any thing that is devoted to the Lord, whether it be man, or

beast, or ield, shall not be sold: neither may it be redeemed.
Whatsoever is once consecrated shall be holy of holies to the Lord.
27:29. And any consecration that is offered by man, shall not be
redeemed, but dying shall die.
27:30. All tithes of the land, whether of corn, or of the fruits of trees,
are the Lord’s, and are sancti ied to him.
27:31. And if any man will redeem his tithes, he shall add the ifth
part of them.
27:32. Of all the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and goats, that pass under
the shepherd’s rod, every tenth that cometh shall be sancti ied to the
Lord.
27:33. It shall not be chosen neither good nor bad, neither shall it be
changed for another. If any man change it: both that which was
changed, and that for which it was changed, shall be sancti ied to the
Lord, and shall not be redeemed.
27:34. These are the precepts which the Lord commanded Moses for
the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

THE BOOK OF NUMBERS

This fourth Book of Moses is called NUMBERS, because it begins with

the numbering of the people. The Hebrews, from its irst words, call it
VAIEDABBER. It contains the transactions of the Israelites from the
second month of the second year after their going out of Egypt, until
the beginning of the eleventh month of the fortieth year; that is, a
history almost of thirty-nine years.

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 Numbers Chapter 1

The children of Israel are numbered: the Levites are designed to serve
the tabernacle.
1:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai in the
tabernacle of the covenant, the irst day of the second month, the
second year of their going out of Egypt, saying:
1:2. Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel by
their families, and houses, and the names of every one, as many as are
of the male sex,
1:3. From twenty years old and upwards, of all the men of Israel it
for war, and you shall number them by their troops, thou and Aaron.
1:4. And there shall be with you the princes of the tribes, and of the
houses in their kindreds,
1:5. Whose names are these: Of Ruben, Elisur the son of Sedeur.
1:6. Of Simeon, Salamiel the son of Surisaddai.
1:7. Of Juda, Nahasson the son of Aminadab.
1:8. Of Issachar, Nathanael the son of Suar.
1:9. Of Zabulon, Eliab the son of Helon.
1:10. And of the sons of Joseph: of Ephraim, Elisama the son of
Ammiud: of Manasses, Gamaliel the son of Phadassur.
1:11. Of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gedeon.
1:12. Of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammisaddai.
1:13. Of Aser, Phegiel the son of Ochran.
1:14. Of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Duel.
1:15. Of Nephtali, Ahira the son of Enan.
1:16. These are the most noble princes of the multitude by their
tribes and kindreds, and the chiefs of the army of Israel:
1:17. Whom Moses and Aaron took with all the multitude of the
common people:

 1:18. And assembled them on the irst day of the second month,
reckoning them up by the kindreds, and houses, and families, and
heads, and names of every one from twenty years old and upward,
1:19. As the Lord had commanded Moses. And they were numbered
in the desert of Sinai.
1:20. Of Ruben the eldest son of Israel, by their generations and
families and houses and names of every head, all that were of the male
sex, from twenty years old and upward, that were able to go forth to
war,
1:21. Were forty-six thousand ive hundred.
1:22. Of the sons of Simeon by their generations and families, and
houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names and heads of
every one, all that were of the male sex, from twenty years old and
upward, that were able to go forth to war,
1:23. Fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
1:24. Of the sons of Gad, by their generations and families and
houses of their kindreds were reckoned up by the names of every one
from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to
war,
1:25. Forty- ive thousand six hundred and ifty.
1:26. Of the sons of Juda, by their generations and families and
houses of their kindreds, by the names of every one from twenty years
old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war,
1:27. Were reckoned up seventy-four thousand six hundred.
1:28. Of the sons of Issachar, by their generations and families and
houses of their kindreds, by the names of every one from twenty years
old and upward, all that could go forth to war,
1:29. Were reckoned up ifty-four thousand four hundred.
1:30. Of the sons of Zabulon, by the generations and families and
houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one

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 from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to
war,
1:31. Fifty-seven thousand four hundred.
1:32. Of the sons of Joseph, namely, of the sons of Ephraim, by the
generations and families and houses of their kindreds, were reckoned
up by the names of every one, from twenty years old and upward, all
that were able to go forth to war,
1:33. Forty thousand ive hundred.
1:34. Moreover of the sons of Manasses, by the generations and
families and houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names
of every one from twenty years old and upward, all that could go forth
to war,
1:35. Thirty-two thousand two hundred.
1:36. Of the sons of Benjamin, by their generations and families and
houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one
from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to
war,
1:37. Thirty- ive thousand four hundred.
1:38. Of the sons of Dan, by their generations and families and
houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one
from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to
war,
1:39. Sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
1:40. Of the sons of Aser, by their generations and families and
houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one
from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to
war,
1:41. Forty-one thousand and ive hundred.
1:42. Of the sons of Nephtali, by their generations and families and
houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one
from twenty years old and upward, were able to go forth to war,

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 1:43. Fifty-three thousand four hundred.

1:44. These are they who were numbered by Moses and Aaron, and
the twelve princes of Israel, every one by the houses of their kindreds.
1:45. And the whole number of the children of Israel by their houses
and families, from twenty years old and upward, that were able to go
to war,
1:46. Were six hundred and three thousand ive hundred and ifty
men.
1:47. But the Levites in the tribes of their families were not
numbered with them.
1:48. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
1:49. Number not the tribe of Levi, neither shalt thou put down the
sum of them with the children of Israel:
1:50. But appoint them over the tabernacle of the testimony, and all
the vessels thereof, and whatsoever pertaineth to the ceremonies. They
shall carry the tabernacle and all the furniture thereof: and they shall
minister, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.
1:51. When you are to go forward, the Levites shall take down the
tabernacle: when you are to camp, they shall set it up. What stranger
soever cometh to it, shall be slain.
1:52. And the children of Israel shall camp every man by his troops
and bands and army.
1:53. But the Levites shall pitch their tents round about the
tabernacle, lest there come indignation upon the multitude of the
children of Israel, and they shall keep watch, and guard the tabernacle
of the testimony.
1:54. And the children of Israel did according to all things which the
Lord had commanded Moses.
Numbers Chapter 2

The order of the tribes in their camp.

 2:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

2:2. All the children of Israel shall camp by their troops, ensigns, and
standards, and the houses of their kindreds, round about the
tabernacle of the covenant.
2:3. On the east Juda shall pitch his tents by the bands of his army:
and the prince of his sons; shall be Nahasson the son of Aminadab.
2:4. And the whole sum of the ighting men of his stock, were
seventy-four thousand six hundred.
2:5. Next unto him they of the tribe of Issachar encamped, whose
prince was Nathanael, the son of Suar.
2:6. And the whole number of his ighting men were ifty-four
thousand four hundred.
2:7. In the tribe of Zabulon the prince was Eliab the son of Helon.
2:8. And all the army of ighting men of his stock, were ifty-seven
thousand four hundred.
2:9. All that were numbered in the camp of Juda, were a hundred
and eighty-six thousand four hundred: and they by their troops shall
march irst.
2:10. In the camp of the sons of Ruben, on the south side, the prince
shall be Elisur the son of Sedeur:
2:11. And the whole army of his ighting men, that were numbered,
were forty-six thousand ive hundred.
2:12. Beside him camped they of the tribe of Simeon: whose prince
was Salamiel the son of Surisaddai.
2:13. And the whole army of his ighting men, that were numbered,
were ifty-nine thousand three hundred.
2:14. In the tribe of Gad the prince was Eliasaph the son of Duel.
2:15. And the whole army of his ighting men that were numbered,
were forty- ive thousand six hundred and ifty.
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 2:16. All that were reckoned up in the camp of Ruben, were a

hundred and ifty-one thousand four hundred and ifty, by their troops:
they shall march in the second place.
2:17. And the tabernacle of the testimony shall be carried by the
of icers of the Levites and their troops. As it shall be set up, so shall it
be taken down. Every one shall march according to their places, and
ranks.
2:18. On the west side shall be the camp of the sons of Ephraim,
whose prince was Elisama the son of Ammiud.
2:19. The whole army of his ighting men, that were numbered, were
forty thousand ive hundred.
2:20. And with them the tribe of the sons of Manasses, whose prince
was Gamaliel the son of Phadassur.
2:21. And the whole army of his ighting men, that were numbered,
were thirty-two thousand two hundred.
2:22. In the tribe of the sons of Benjamin the prince was Abidan the
son of Gedeon.
2:23. And the whole army of ighting men, that were reckoned up,
were thirty- ive thousand four hundred.
2:24. All that were numbered in the camp of Ephraim, were a
hundred and eight-thousand one hundred by their troops: they shall
march in the third place.
2:25. On the north side camped the sons of Dan: whose prince was
Ahiezar the son of Ammisaddai.
2:26. The whole army of his ighting men, that were numbered, were
sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
2:27. Beside him they of the tribe of Aser pitched their tents: whose
prince was Phegiel the son of Ochran.
2:28. The whole army of his ighting men, that were numbered, were
forty-one thousand ive hundred.
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 2:29. Of the tribe of the sons of Nephtali the prince was Ahira the
son of Enan.
2:30. The whole army of his ighting men, were ifty-three thousand
four hundred.
2:31. All that were numbered in the camp of Dan, were a hundred
and ifty-seven thousand six hundred: and they shall march last.
2:32. This is the number of the children of Israel, of their army
divided according to the houses of their kindreds and their troops, six
hundred and three thousand ive hundred and ifty.
2:33. And the Levites were not numbered among the children of
Israel: for so the Lord had commanded Moses.
2:34. And the children of Israel did according to all things that the
Lord had commanded. They camped by their troops, and marched by
the families and houses of their fathers.
Numbers Chapter 3

The Levites are numbered and their of ices distinguished. They are
taken in the place of the irstborn of the children of Israel.
3:1. These are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that
the Lord spoke to Moses in mount Sinai.
3:2. And these the names of the sons of Aaron: his irstborn Nadab,
then Abiu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar.
3:3. These the names of the sons of Aaron the priests that were
anointed, and whose hands were illed and consecrated, to do the
functions of priesthood.
3:4. Now Nadab and Abiu died, without children, when they offered
strange ire before the Lord, in the desert of Sinai: and Eleazar and
Ithamar performed the priestly of ice in the presence of Aaron their
father.
3:5. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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 3:6. Bring the tribe of Levi, and make them stand in the sight of
Aaron the priest to minister to him, and let them watch,
3:7. And observe whatsoever appertaineth to the service of the
multitude before the tabernacle of the testimony,
3:8. And let them keep the vessels of the tabernacle, serving in the
ministry thereof.
3:9. And thou shalt give the Levites for a gift,
3:10. To Aaron and to his sons, to whom they are delivered by the
children of Israel. But thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons over the
service of priesthood. The stranger that approacheth to minister, shall
be put to death.
3:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
3:12. I have taken the Levites from the children of Israel, for every
irstborn that openeth the womb among the children of Israel, and the
Levites shall be mine.
3:13. For every irstborn is mine: since I struck the irstborn in the
land of Egypt: I have sancti ied to myself whatsoever is irstborn in
Israel both of man and beast, they are mine: I am the Lord.
3:14. And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, saying:
3:15. Number the sons of Levi by the houses of their fathers and
their families, every male from one month and upward.
3:16. Moses numbered them as the Lord had commanded.
3:17. And there were found sons of Levi by their names, Gerson and
Caath Merari.
3:18. The sons of Gerson: Lebni and Semei.
3:19. The sons of Caath: Amram, and Jesaar, Hebron and Oziel:
3:20. The sons of Merari, Moholi and Musi.
3:21. Of Gerson were two families, the Lebnites, and the Semeites:
3:22. Of which were numbered, people of the male sex from one
month and upward, seven thousand ive hundred.
3:23. These shall pitch behind the tabernacle on the west,
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 3:24. Under their prince Eliasaph the son of Lael.

3:25. And their charge shall be in the tabernacle of the covenant:
3:26. The tabernacle itself and the cover thereof, the hanging that is
drawn before the doors of the tabernacle of the covenant, and the
curtains of the court: the hanging also that is hanged in the entry of
the court of the tabernacle, and whatsoever belongeth to the rite of
the altar, the cords of the tabernacle, and all the furniture thereof.
3:27. Of the kindred of Caath come the families of the Amramites
and Jesaarites and Hebronites and Ozielites. These are the families of
the Caathites reckoned up by their names:
3:28. All of the male sex from one month and upward, eight
thousand six hundred: they shall have the guard of the sanctuary,
3:29. And shall camp on the south side.
3:30. And their prince shall be Elisaphan the son of Oziel:
3:31. And they shall keep the ark, and the table and the candlestick,
the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary, wherewith they minister,
and the veil, and all the furniture of this kind.
3:32. And the prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar, the son of
Aaron the priest, shall be over them that watch for the guard of the
sanctuary.
3:33. And of Merari are the families of the Moholites, and Musites,
reckoned up by their names:
3:34. All of the male kind from one month and upward, six thousand
two hundred.
3:35. Their prince Suriel the son of Abihaiel: their shall camp on the
north side.
3:36. Under their custody shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and
the bars, and the pillars and their sockets, and all things that pertain
to this kind of service:
3:37. And the pillars of the court round about with their sockets, and
the pins with their cords.

 3:38. Before the tabernacle of the covenant, that is to say on the east
side shall Moses and Aaron camp, with their sons, having the custody
of the sanctuary, in the midst of the children of Israel. What stranger
soever cometh unto it, shall be put to death.
3:39. All the Levites, that I Moses and Aaron numbered according to
the precept of the Lord, by their f families, of the male kind from one
month and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
3:40. And the Lord said to Moses: Number the irstborn of the male
sex of the children of Israel, from one month and upward, and thou
shalt take the sum of them.
3:41. And thou shalt take the Levites to me for all the irstborn of
the children of Israel, I am the Lord: and their cattle for all the
irstborn of the cattle of the children of Israel:
3:42. Moses reckoned up, as the Lord had commanded, the irstborn
of the children of Israel:
3:43. And the males by their names, from one month and upward,
were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
3:44. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
3:45. Take the Levites for the irstborn of the children of Israel, and
the cattle of the Levites for their cattle, and the Levites shall be mine. I
am the Lord.
3:46. But for the price of the two hundred and seventy-three, of the
irstborn of the children of Israel, that exceed the number of the
Levites,
3:47. Thou shalt take ive sicles for every head, according to the
weight of the sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty obols.
3:48. And thou shalt give the money to Aaron and his sons, the price
of them that are above.
3:49. Moses therefore took the money of them that were above, and
whom they had redeemed from the Levites,
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 3:50. For the irstborn of the children of Israel, one thousand three
hundred and sixty- ive sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary,
3:51. And gave it to Aaron and his sons according to the word that
the Lord had commanded him.
Numbers Chapter 4

The age and time of the Levites’ service: their of ices and burdens.
4:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, and Aaron, saying:
4:2. Take the sum of the sons of Caath from the midst of the Levites,
by their houses and families.
4:3. From thirty years old and upward, to ifty years old, of all that
go in to stand and to minister in the tabernacle of the covenant.
4:4. This is the service of the sons of Caath:
4:5. When the camp is; to set forward, Aaron and his sons shall go
into the tabernacle of the covenant, and the holy of holies, and shall
take down the veil that hangeth before the door, and shall wrap up the
ark of the testimony in it,
4:6. And shall cover it again with a cover of violet skins, and shall
spread over it a cloth all of violet, and shall put in the bars.
4:7. They shall wrap up also the table of proposition in a cloth of
violet, and shall put with it the censers and little mortars, the cups and
bowls to pour out the libations: the loaves shall be always on it:
4:8. And they shall spread over it a cloth of scarlet, which again they
shall cover with a covering of violet skins, and shall put in the bars.
4:9. They shall take also a cloth of violet wherewith they shall cover
the candlestick with the lamps and tongs thereof and the snuffers and
all the oil vessels, which are necessary for the dressing of the lamps:
4:10. And over all they shall put a cover of violet skins and put in the
bars.

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 4:11. And they shall wrap up the golden altar also in a cloth of
violet, and shall spread over it a cover of violet skins, and put in the
bars.
4:12. All the vessels wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, they
shall wrap up in a cloth of violet, and shall spread over it a cover of
violet skins, and put in the bars.
4:13. They shall cleanse the altar also from the ashes, and shall
wrap it up in a purple cloth,
4:14. And shall put it with all the vessels that they use in the
ministry thereof, that is to say, irepans, leshhooks and forks, pothooks
and shovels. They shall cover all the vessels of the altar together with a
covering of violet skins, and shall put in the bars.
4:15. And when Aaron and his sons have wrapped up the sanctuary
and the vessels thereof at the removing of the camp, then shall the
sons of Caath enter in to carry the things wrapped up: and they shall
not touch the vessels of the sanctuary, lest they die. These are the
burdens of the sons of Caath: in the tabernacle of the covenant:
4:16. And over them shall be Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, to
whose charge pertaineth the oil to dress the lamps, and the sweet
incense, and the sacri ice, that is always offered, and the oil of unction,
and whatsoever pertaineth to the service of the tabernacle, and of all
the vessels that are in the sanctuary.
4:17. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
4:18. Destroy not the people of Caath from the midst of the Levites:
4:19. But do this to them, that they may live, and not die, by
touching the holies of holies. Aaron and his sons shall go in, and they
shall appoint every man his work, and shall divide the burdens that
every man is to carry.
4:20. Let not others by any curiosity see the things that are in the
sanctuary before they be wrapped up, otherwise they shall die.
4:21. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

 4:22. Take the sum of the sons of Gerson also by their houses and
families and kindreds.
4:23. From thirty years old and upward, unto ifty years old.
Number them all that go in and minister in the tabernacle of the
covenant.
4:24. This is the of ice of the family of the Gersonites:
4:25. To carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the roof of the
covenant, the other covering, and the violet covering over all, and the
hanging that hangeth in the entry of the tabernacle of the covenant,
4:26. The curtains of the court, and the veil in the entry that is
before tabernacle. All things that pertain to the altar, the cords and
the vessels of the ministry,
4:27. The sons of Gerson shall carry, by the commandment of Aaron
and his sons: and each man shall know to what burden he must be
assigned.
4:28. This is the service of the family of the Gersonites in the
tabernacle of the covenant, and they shall be under the hand of
Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
4:29. Thou shalt reckon up the sons of Merari also by the families
and houses of their fathers,
4:30. From thirty years old and upward, unto ifty years old, all that
go in to the of ice of their ministry, and to the service of the covenant
of the testimony.
4:31. These are their burdens: They shall carry the boards of the
tabernacle and the bars thereof, the pillars and their sockets,
4:32. The pillars also of the court round about, with their sockets
and pins and cords. They shall receive by account all the vessels and
furniture, and so shall carry them.
4:33. This is the of ice of the family of the Merarites, and their
ministry in the tabernacle of the covenant: and they shall be under the
hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

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 4:34. So Moses and Aaron and the princes of the synagogue

reckoned up the sons of Caath, by their kindreds and the houses of
their fathers,
4:35. From thirty years old and upward, unto ifty years old, all that
go in to the ministry of the tabernacle of the covenant:
4:36. And they were found two thousand seven hundred and ifty.
4:37. This is the number of the people of Caath that go in to the
tabernacle of the covenant: these did Moses and Aaron number
according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
4:38. The sons of Gerson also were numbered by the kindreds and
houses of their fathers,
4:39. From thirty years old and upward, unto ifty years old, all that
go in to minister in the tabernacle of the covenant:
4:40. And they were found two thousand six hundred and thirty.
4:41. This is the people of the Gersonites, whom Moses and Aaron
numbered according to the word of the Lord.
4:42. The sons of Merari also were numbered by the kindreds and
houses of their fathers,
4:43. From thirty years old and upward, unto ifty years old, all that
go in to ful il the rites of the tabernacle of the covenant:
4:44. And they were found three thousand two hundred.
4:45. This is the number of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and
Aaron reckoned up according to the commandment of the Lord by the
hand of Moses.
4:46. All that were reckoned up of the Levites, and whom Moses and
Aaron and the princes of Israel took by name, by the kindreds and
houses of their fathers,
4:47. From thirty years old and upward, until ifty years old, that go
into the ministry of the tabernacle, and to carry the burdens,
4:48. Were in all eight thousand ive hundred and eighty.
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 4:49. Moses reckoned them up according to the word of the Lord,

every one according to their of ice and burdens, as the Lord had
commanded him.
Numbers Chapter 5

The unclean are removed out of the camp: confession of sins, and
satisfaction: irstfruits and oblations belonging to the priests: trial of
jealousy.
5:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
5:2. Command the children of Israel, that they cast out of the camp
every leper, and whosoever hath an issue of seed, or is de iled by the
dead:
5:3. Whether it be man or woman, cast ye them out of the camp, lest
they de ile it when I shall dwell with you,
5:4. And the children of Israel did so, and they cast them forth
without the camp, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
5:5. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
5:6. Say to the children of Israel: When a man or woman shall have
committed any of all the sins that men are wont to commit, and by
negligence shall have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and
offended,
5:7. They shall confess their sin, and restore the principal itself, and
the ifth part over and above, to him against whom they have sinned.
Shall confess.... This confession and satisfaction, ordained in the Old Law, was a
igure of the sacrament of penance.
5:8. But if there be no one to receive it, they shall give it to the Lord,
and it shall be the priest’s, besides the ram that is offered for expiation,
to be an atoning sacri ice.
5:9. All the irstfruits also, which the children of Israel offer, belong
to the priest:
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 5:10. And whatsoever is offered into the sanctuary by every one, and
is delivered into the hands of the priest, it shall be his.
5:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
5:12. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The
man whose wife shall have gone astray, and contemning her husband,
5:13. Shall have slept with another man, and her husband cannot
discover it, but the adultery is secret, and cannot be proved by
witnesses, because she was not found in the adultery:
5:14. If the spirit of jealousy stir up the husband against his wife,
who either is de iled, or is charged with false suspicion,
The spirit of jealousy, etc.... This ordinance was designed to clear the innocent,
and to prevent jealous husbands from doing mischief to their wives: as likewise
to give all a horror of adultery, by punishing it in so remarkable a manner.
5:15. He shall bring her to the priest, and shall offer an oblation for
her, the tenth part of a measure of barley meal: he shall not pour oil
thereon, nor put frankincense upon it: because it is a sacri ice of
jealousy, and an oblation searching out adultery.
5:16. The priest therefore shall offer it, and set it before the Lord.
5:17. And he shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall
cast a little earth of the pavement of the tabernacle into it.
5:18. And when the woman shall stand before the Lord, he shall
uncover her head, and shall put on her hands the sacri ice of
remembrance, and the oblation of jealousy: and he himself shall hold
the most bitter waters, whereon he hath heaped curses with
execration.
5:19. And he shall adjure her, and shall say: If another man hath not
slept with thee, and if thou be not de iled by forsaking thy husband’s
bed, these most bitter waters, on which I have heaped curses, shall not
hurt thee.
5:20. But if thou hast gone aside from thy husband, and art de iled,
and hast lain with another man:

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 5:21. These curses shall light upon thee: The Lord make thee a curse,
and an example for all among his people: may he make thy thigh to
rot, and may thy belly swell and burst asunder.
5:22. Let the cursed waters enter into thy belly, and may thy womb
swell and thy thigh rot. And the woman shall answer, Amen, amen.
5:23. And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall
wash them out with the most bitter waters, upon which he hath
heaped the curses,
5:24. And he shall give them her to drink. And when she hath drunk
them up,
5:25. The priest shall take from her hand the sacri ice of jealousy,
and shall elevate it before the Lord, and shall put it upon the altar: yet
so as irst,
5:26. To take a handful of the sacri ice of that which is offered, and
burn it upon the altar: and so give the most bitter waters to the
woman to drink.
5:27. And when she hath drunk them, if she be de iled, and having
despised her husband be guilty of adultery, the malediction shall go
through her, and her belly swelling, her thigh shall rot: and the woman
shall be a curse, and an example to all the people.
5:28. But if she be not de iled, she shall not be hurt, and shall bear
children.
5:29. This is the law of jealousy. If a woman hath gone aside from
her husband, and be de iled,
5:30. And the husband stirred up by the spirit of jealousy bring her
before the Lord, and the priest do to her according to all things that
are here written:
5:31. The husband shall be blameless, and she shall bear her
iniquity.
Numbers Chapter 6

The law of the Nazarites: the form of blessing the people.

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 6:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

6:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
When a man, or woman, shall make a vow to be sancti ied, and will
consecrate themselves to the Lord:
6:3. They shall abstain from wine, and from every thing that may
make a man drunk. They shall not drink vinegar of wine, or of any
other drink, nor any thing that is pressed out of the grape: nor shall
they eat grapes either fresh or dried.
6:4. All the days that they are consecrated to the Lord by vow: they
shall eat nothing that cometh of the vineyard, from the raisin even to
the kernel.
6:5. All the time of his separation no razor shall pass over his head,
until the day be ful illed of his consecration to the Lord. He shall be
holy, and shall let the hair of his head grow.
6:6. All the time of his consecration he shall not go in to any dead,
6:7. Neither shall he make himself unclean, even for his father, or for
his mother, or for his brother, or for his sister, when they die, because
the consecration of his God is upon his head.
6:8. All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the Lord.
6:9. But if any man die suddenly before him: the head of his
consecration shall be de iled: and he shall shave it forthwith on the
same day of his puri ication, and again on the seventh day.
6:10. And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young
pigeons to the priest in the entry of the covenant of the testimony.
6:11. And the priest shall offer one for sin, and the other for a
holocaust, and shall pray for him, for that he hath sinned by the dead:
and he shall sanctify his head that day:
6:12. And shall consecrate to the Lord the days of his separation,
offering a lamb of one year for sin: yet so that the former days be
made void, because his sancti ication was profaned.

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 6:13. This is the law of consecration. When the days which he had
determined by vow shall be expired, he shall bring him to the door of
the tabernacle of the covenant,
6:14. And shall offer his oblation to the Lord: one he lamb of a year
old without blemish for a holocaust, and one ewe lamb of a year old
without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for a
victim of peace offering,
6:15. A basket also of unleavened bread, tempered with oil, and
wafers without leaven anointed with oil, and the libations of each:
6:16. And the priest shall present them before the Lord, and shall
offer both the sin offering and the holocaust.
6:17. But the ram he shall immolate for a sacri ice of peace offering
to the Lord, offering at the same time the basket of unleavened bread,
and the libations that are due by custom.
6:18. Then shall the hair of the consecration of the Nazarite, be
shaved off before the door of the tabernacle of the covenant: and he
shall take his hair, and lay it upon the ire, which is under the sacri ice
of the peace offerings.
6:19. And shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one
unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and he
shall deliver them into the hands of the Nazarite, after his head is
shaven.
6:20. And receiving them again from him, he shall elevate them in
the sight of the Lord: and they being sancti ied shall belong to the
priest, as the breast, which was commanded to be separated, and the
shoulder. After this the Nazarite may drink wine.
6:21. This is the law of the Nazarite, when he hath vowed his
oblation to the Lord in the time of his consecration, besides those
things which his hand shall ind, according to that which he had vowed
in his mind, so shall he do for the ful illing of his sancti ication.
6:22. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

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 6:23. Say to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the children of
Israel, and you shall say to them:
6:24. The Lord bless thee, and keep thee.
6:25. The Lord shew his face to thee, and have mercy on thee.
6:26. The Lord turn his countenance to thee, and give thee peace.
6:27. And they shall invoke my name upon the children of Israel, and
I will bless them.
Numbers Chapter 7

The offerings of the princes at the dedication of the tabernacle. God

speaketh to Moses from the propitiatory.
7:1. And it came to pass in the day that Moses had inished the
tabernacle, and set it up, and had anointed and sancti ied it with all its
vessels, the altar likewise and all the vessels thereof,
7:2. The princes of Israel and the heads of the families, in every
tribe, who were the rulers of them who had been numbered, offered
7:3. Their gifts before the Lord, six wagons covered, and twelve oxen.
Two princes offered one wagon, and each one an ox, and they offered
them before the tabernacle.
7:4. And the Lord said to Moses:
7:5. Receive them from them to serve in the ministry of the
tabernacle, and thou shalt deliver them to the Levites according to the
order of their ministry.
7:6. Moses therefore receiving the wagons and the oxen, delivered
them to the Levites.
7:7. Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gerson,
according to their necessity.
7:8. The other four wagons, and eight oxen he gave to the sons of
Merari, according to their of ices and service, under the hand of
Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

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 7:9. But to the sons of Caath he gave no wagons or oxen: because

they serve in the sanctuary and carry their burdens upon their own
shoulders.
7:10. And the princes offered for the dedication of the altar on the
day when it was anointed, their oblation before the altar.
7:11. And the Lord said to Moses: Let each of the princes one day
after another offer their gifts for the dedication of the altar.
7:12. The irst day Nahasson the son of Aminadab of the tribe of
Juda offered his offering:
7:13. And his offering was a silver dish weighing one hundred and
thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles according to the weight of
the sanctuary, both full of lour tempered with oil for a sacri ice:
7:14. A little mortar of ten sicles of gold full of incense:
7:15. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:
7:16. And a buck goat for sin:
7:17. And for the sacri ice of peace offerings, two oxen, ive rams,
ive he goats, ive lambs of a year old. This was the offering of
Nahasson the son of Aminadab.
7:18. The second day Nathanael the son of Suar, prince of the tribe
of Issachar, made his offering,
7:19. A silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a silver
bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary, both
full of lour tempered with oil for a sacri ice:
7:20. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:21. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:
7:22. And a buck goat for sin:
7:23. And for the sacri ice of peace offerings, two oxen, ive rams,
ive buck goats, ive lambs of a year old. This was the offering of
Nathanael the son of Suar.
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 7:24. The third day the prince of the sons of Zabulon, Eliab the son
of Helon,
7:25. Offered a silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, both full of
lour tempered with oil for a sacri ice:
7:26. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:27. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:
7:28. And a buck goat for sin:
7:29. And for the sacri ice of peace offerings, two oxen, ive rams,
ive buck goats, ive lambs of a year old. This is the oblation of Eliab
the son of Helon.
7:30. The fourth day the prince of the sons of Ruben, Elisur the son
of Sedeur,
7:31. Offered a silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles according to the weight of the sanctuary,
both full of lour tempered with oil for a sacri ice:
7:32. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:33. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old, for a
holocaust:
7:34. And a buck goat for sin:
7:35. And for victims of peace offerings two oxen, ive rams, ive
buck goats, ive lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Elisur the
son of Sedeur.
7:36. The ifth day the prince of the sons of Simeon, Salamiel the son
of Surisaddai,
7:37. Offered a silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles after the weight of the sanctuary, both full
of lour tempered with oil for a sacri ice:
7:38. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
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 7:39. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:
7:40. And a buck goat for sin:
7:41. And for sacri ices of peace offerings, two oxen, ive rams, ive
buck goats, ive lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Salamiel
the son of Surisaddai.
7:42. The sixth day the prince of the sons of Gad, Eliasaph the son of
Duel,
7:43. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, both full of
lour tempered with oil for a sacri ice:
7:44. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:45. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:
7:46. And a buck goat for sin:
7:47. And for sacri ices of peace offerings, two oxen, ive rams, ive
buck goats, ive lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph
the son of Duel.
7:48. The seventh day the prince of the sons of Ephraim, Elisama the
son of Ammiud,
7:49. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles according to the weight of the sanctuary,
both full of lour tempered with oil for a sacri ice:
7:50. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:51. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:
7:52. And a buck goat for sin:
7:53. And for sacri ices of peace offerings, two oxen, ive rams, ive
buck goats, ive lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Elisama
the son of Ammiud.
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 7:54. The eighth day the prince of the sons of Manasses, Gamaliel
the son of Phadassur,
7:55. Offered a silver dish, weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary,
both full of lour tempered with oil for a sacri ice:
7:56. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:57. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:
7:58. And a buck goat for sin:
7:59. And for sacri ices of peace offerings, two oxen, ive rams, ive
buck goats, ive lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel
the son of Phadassur.
7:60. The ninth day the prince of the sons of Benjamin, Abidan the
son of Gedeon,
7:61. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, both full of
lour tempered with oil for a sacri ice:
7:62. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:63. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:
7:64. And a buck goat for sin:
7:65. And for sacri ices of peace offerings, two oxen, ive rams, ive
buck goats, ive lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Abidan
the son of Gedeon.
7:66. The tenth day the princes of the sons of Dan, Ahiezer the son of
Ammisaddai,
7:67. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary,
both full of lour tempered with oil for a sacri ice:
7:68. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
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 7:69. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:
7:70. And a buck goat for sin:
7:71. And for sacri ices of peace offerings, two oxen, ive rams, ive
buck goats, ive lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer
the son of Ammisaddai.
7:72. The eleventh day the prince of the sons of Aser, Phegiel the son
of Ochran,
7:73. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary,
both full of lour tempered with oil for a sacri ice:
7:74. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:75. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:
7:76. And a buck goat for sin:
7:77. And for sacri ices of peace offerings, two oxen, ive rams, ive
buck goats, ive lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Phegiel
the son of Ochran.
7:78. The twelfth day the prince of the sons of Nephtali, Ahira the
son of Enan,
7:79. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary,
both full of lour tempered with oil for a sacri ice:
7:80. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:81. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:
7:82. And a buck goat for sin:
7:83. And for sacri ices of peace offerings, two oxen, ive rams, ive
buck goats, ive lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Ahira the
son of Enan.

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 7:84. These were the offerings made by the princes of Israel in the
dedication of the altar, in the day wherein it was consecrated. Twelve
dishes of silver: twelve silver bowls: twelve little mortars of gold:
7:85. Each dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles of silver, and
each bowl seventy sicles: that is, putting all the vessels of silver
together, two thousand four hundred sicles, by the weight of the
sanctuary.
7:86. Twelve little mortars of gold full of incense, weighing ten sicles
apiece, by the weight of the sanctuary: that is, in all a hundred and
twenty sicles of gold.
7:87. Twelve oxen out of the herd for a holocaust, twelve rams,
twelve lambs of a year old, and their libations: twelve buck goats for
sin.
7:88. And for sacri ices of peace offerings, oxen twenty-four, rams
sixty, buck goats sixty, lambs of a year old sixty. These things were
offered in the dedication of the altar, when it was anointed.
7:89. And when Moses entered into the tabernacle of the covenant,
to consult the oracle, he heard the voice of one speaking to him from
the propitiatory, that is over the ark between the two cherubims, and
from this place he spoke to him.
Numbers Chapter 8

The seven lamps are placed on the golden candlestick, to shine

towards the loaves of proposition: the ordination of the Levites: and to
what age they shall serve in the tabernacle.
8:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
8:2. Speak to Aaron, and thou shalt say to him: When thou shalt
place the seven lamps, let the candlestick be set up on the south side.
Give orders therefore that the lamps look over against the north,
towards the table of the loaves of proposition, over against that part
shall they give light, towards which the candlestick looketh.

 8:3. And Aaron did so, and he put the lamps upon the candlestick, as
the Lord had commanded Moses.
8:4. Now this was the work of the candlestick, it was of beaten gold,
both the shaft in the middle, and all that came out of both sides of the
branches: according to the pattern which the Lord had shewn to
Moses, so he made the candlestick.
8:5. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
8:6. Take the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, and
thou shalt purify them,
8:7. According to this rite: Let them be sprinkled with the water of
puri ication, and let them shave all the hairs of their lesh. And when
they shall have washed their garments, and are cleansed,
Let them be sprinkled with the water of puri ication.... This was the holy water
mixed with the ashes of the red cow, Num. 19., appointed for purifying all that
were unclean. It was a igure of the blood of Christ, applied to our souls by his
holy sacraments.
8:8. They shall take an ox of the herd, and for the offering thereof
ine lour tempered with oil: and thou shalt take another ox of the herd
for a sin offering:
8:9. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the
covenant, calling together all the multitude of the children of Israel:
8:10. And when the Levites are before the Lord, the children of Israel
shall put their hands upon them:
8:11. And Aaron shall offer the Levites, as a gift in the sight of the
Lord from the children of Israel, that they may serve in his ministry.
8:12. The Levites also shall put their hands upon the heads of the
oxen, of which thou shalt sacri ice one for sin, and the other for a
holocaust to the Lord, to pray for them.
8:13. And thou shalt set the Levites in the sight of Aaron and of his,
and shalt consecrate them being offered to the Lord,
8:14. And shalt separate them from the midst of the children of
Israel, to be mine.
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 8:15. And afterwards they shall enter into the tabernacle of the
covenant, to serve me. And thus shalt thou purify and consecrate them
for an oblation of the Lord: for as a gift they were given me by the
children of Israel.
8:16. I have taken them instead of the irstborn that open every
womb in Israel,
8:17. For all the irstborn of the children of Israel, both of men and
of beasts, are mine. From the day that I slew every irstborn in the land
of Egypt, have I sancti ied them to myself:
8:18. And I have taken the Levites for all the irstborn of the children
of Israel:
8:19. And have delivered them for a gift to Aaron and his sons out of
the midst of the people, to serve me for Israel in the tabernacle of the
covenant, and to pray for them, lest there should be a plague among
the people, if they should presume to approach unto my sanctuary.
8:20. And Moses and Aaron and all the multitude of the children of
Israel did with the Levites all that the Lord had commanded Moses:
8:21. And they were puri ied, and washed their garments. And
Aaron lifted them up in the sight of the Lord, and prayed for them,
8:22. That being puri ied they might go into the tabernacle of the
covenant to do their services before Aaron and his sons. As the Lord
had commanded Moses touching the Levites, so was it done.
8:23. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
8:24. This is the law of the Levites: From twenty- ive years old and
upwards, they shall go in to minister in the tabernacle of the covenant.
8:25. And when they shall have accomplished the iftieth year of
their age, they shall cease to serve:
8:26. And they shall be the ministers of their brethren in the
tabernacle of the covenant, to keep the things that are committed to
their care, but not to do the works. Thus shalt thou order the Levites
touching their charge.

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 Numbers Chapter 9

The precept of the pasch is renewed: the unclean and travellers are to
observe it the second month: the camp is guided by the pillar of the
cloud.
9:1. The Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, the second year
after they were come out of the land of Egypt, in the irst month,
saying:
9:2. Let the children of Israel make the phase in its due time,
Make the phase.... That is, keep the paschal solemnity, and eat the paschal lamb.
9:3. The fourteenth day of this month in the evening, according to
all the ceremonies and justi ications thereof.
9:4. And Moses commanded the children of Israel that they should
make the phase.
9:5. And they made it in its proper time: the fourteenth day of the
month at evening, in mount Sinai. The children of Israel did according
to all things that the Lord had commanded Moses.
9:6. But behold some who were unclean by occasion of the soul of a
man, who could not make the phase on that day, coming to Moses and
Aaron,
Behold some who were unclean by occasion of the soul of a man, etc.... That is, by
having touched or come near a dead body, out of which the soul was departed.
9:7. Said to them: We are unclean by occasion of the soul of a man.
Why are we kept back that we may not offer in its season the offering
to the Lord among the children of Israel?
9:8. And Moses answered them: Stay that I may consult the Lord
what he will ordain concerning you.
9:9. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
9:10. Say to the children of Israel: The man that shall be unclean by
occasion of one that is dead, or shall be in a journey afar off in your
nation, let him make the phase to the Lord.

 9:11. In the second month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the
evening, they shall eat it with unleavened bread and wild lettuce:
9:12. They shall not leave any thing thereof until morning, nor
break a bone thereof, they shall observe all the ceremonies of the
phase.
9:13. But if any man is clean, and was not on a journey, and did not
make the phase, that soul shall be cut off from among his people,
because he offered not sacri ice to the Lord in due season: he shall
bear his sin.
9:14. The sojourner also and the stranger if they be among you,
shall make the phase to the Lord according to the ceremonies and
justi ications thereof. The same ordinances shall be with you both for
the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.
9:15. Now on the day that the tabernacle was reared up, a cloud
covered it. But from the evening there was over the tabernacle, as it
were, the appearance of ire until the morning.
9:16. So it was always: by day the cloud covered it, and by night as it
were the appearance of ire.
9:17. And when the cloud that covered the tabernacle was taken up,
then the children of Israel marched forward: and in the place where
the cloud stood still, there they camped.
9:18. At the commandment of the Lord they marched, and at his
commandment they pitched the tabernacle. All the days that the cloud
abode over the tabernacle, they remained in the same place:
9:19. And if it was so that it continued over it a long time, the
children of Israel kept the watches of the Lord, and marched not,
9:20. For as many days soever as the cloud stayed over the
tabernacle. At the commandment of the Lord they pitched their tents,
and at his commandment they took them down.
9:21. If the cloud tarried from evening until morning, and
immediately at break of day left the tabernacle, they marched
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 forward: and if it departed after a day and a night, they took down
their tents.
9:22. But if it remained over the tabernacle for two days or a month
or a longer time, the children of Israel remained in the same place, and
marched not: but immediately as soon as it departed, they removed
the camp.
9:23. By the word of the Lord they pitched their tents, and by his
word they marched: and kept the watches of the Lord according to his
commandment by the hand of Moses.
Numbers Chapter 10

The silver trumpets and their use. They march from Sinai.
10:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
10:2. Make thee two trumpets of beaten silver, wherewith thou
mayest call together the multitude when the camp is to be removed.
10:3. And when thou shalt sound the trumpets, all the multitude
shall gather unto thee to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant.
10:4. If thou sound but once, the princes and the heads of the
multitude of Israel shall come to thee.
10:5. But if the sound of the trumpets be longer, and with
interruptions, they that are on the east side, shall irst go forward.
10:6. And at the second sounding and like noise of the trumpet, they
who lie on the south side shall take up their tents. And after this
manner shall the rest do, when the trumpets shall sound for a march.
10:7. But when the people is to be gathered together, the sound of
the trumpets shall be plain, and they shall not make a broken sound.
10:8. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall sound the trumpets: and
this shall be an ordinance for ever in your generations.
10:9. If you go forth to war out of your land against the enemies
that ight against you, you shall sound aloud with the trumpets, and
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 there shall be a remembrance of you before the Lord your God, that
you may be delivered out of the hands of your enemies.
10:10. If at any time you shall have a banquet, and on your festival
days, and on the irst days of your months, you shall sound the
trumpets over the holocausts, and the sacri ices of peace offerings,
that they may be to you for a remembrance of your God. I am the Lord
your God.
10:11. The second year, in the second month, the twentieth day of
the month, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the
covenant.
10:12. And the children of Israel marched by their troops from the
desert of Sinai, and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Pharan.
10:13. And the irst went forward according to the commandment
of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
10:14. The sons of Juda by their troops: whose prince was Nahasson
the son of Aminadab.
10:15. In the tribe of the sons of Issachar, the prince was Nathanael
the son of Suar.
10:16. In the tribe of Zabulon, the prince was Eliab the son of Helon.
10:17. And the tabernacle was taken down, and the sons of Gerson
and Merari set forward, bearing it.
10:18. And the sons of Ruben also marched, by their troops and
ranks, whose prince was Helisur the son of Sedeur.
10:19. And in the tribe of Simeon, the prince was Salamiel the son of
Surisaddai.
10:20. And in the tribe of Gad, the prince was Eliasaph the son of
Duel.
10:21. Then the Caathites also marched carrying the sanctuary. So
long was the tabernacle carried, till they came to the place of setting it
up.

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 10:22. The sons of Ephraim also moved their camp by their troops,
in whose army the prince was Elisama the son of Ammiud.
10:23. And in the tribe of the sons of Manasses, the prince was
Gamaliel the son of Phadassur.
10:24. And in the tribe of Benjamin, the prince was Abidan the son
of Gedeon.
10:25. The last of all the camp marched the sons of Dan by their
troops, in whose army the prince was Ahiezer the son of Ammisaddai.
10:26. And in the tribe of the sons of Aser, the prince was Phegiel the
son of Ochran.
10:27. And in the tribe of the sons of Nephtali, the prince was Ahira
the son of Enan.
10:28. This was the order of the camps, and marches of the children
of Israel by their troops, when they set forward.
10:29. And Moses said to Hobab the son of Raguel the Madianite, his
kinsman: We are going towards the place which the Lord will give us:
come with us, that we may do thee good: for the Lord hath promised
good things to Israel.
10:30. But he answered him: I will not go with thee, but I will return
to my country, wherein I was born.
10:31. And he said: Do not leave us: for thou knowest in what places
we should encamp in the wilderness, and thou shalt be our guide.
10:32. And if thou comest with us, we will give thee what is the best
of the riches which the Lord shall deliver to us.
10:33. So they marched from the mount of the Lord three days’
journey, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them, for
three days providing a place for the camp.
10:34. The cloud also of the Lord was over them by day when they
marched.

 10:35. And when the ark was lifted up, Moses said: Arise, O Lord, and
let thy enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee, lee from
before thy face.
10:36. And when it was set down, he said: Return, O Lord, to the
multitude of the host of Israel.
Numbers Chapter 11

The people murmur and are punished with ire. God appointeth
seventy ancients for assistants to Moses. They prophesy. The people
have their ill of lesh, but forthwith many die of the plague.
11:1. In the mean time there arose a murmuring of the people
against the Lord, as it were repining at their fatigue. And when the
Lord heard it he was angry. And the ire of the Lord being kindled
against them, devoured them that were at the uttermost part of the
camp.
11:2. And when the people cried to Moses, Moses prayed to the Lord,
and the ire was swallowed up.
11:3. And he called the name of that place, The burning: for that the
ire of the Lord had been kindled against them.
The burning.... Hebrew, Taberah.
11:4. For a mixt multitude of people, that came up with them,
burned with desire, sitting and weeping, the children of Israel also
being joined with them, and said: Who shall give us lesh to eat?
A mixt multitude.... These were people that came with them out of Egypt, who
were not of the race of Israel; who, by their murmuring, drew also the children of
Israel to murmur: this should teach us the danger of associating ourselves with
the children of Egypt, that is, with the lovers and admirers of this wicked world.
11:5. We remember the ish that we ate in Egypt free cost: the
cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the
onions, and the garlic.
11:6. Our soul is dry, our eyes behold nothing else but manna.
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 11:7. Now the manna was like coriander seed, of the colour of
bdellium.
Bdellium.... Bdellium, according to Pliny, 1.21, c. 9. was of the colour of a man’s
nail, white and bright.
11:8. And the people went about, and gathering it, ground it in a
mill, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pot, and made cakes
thereof of the taste of bread tempered with oil.
11:9. And when the dew fell in the night upon the camp, the manna
also fell with it.
11:10. Now Moses heard the people weeping by their families, every
one at the door of his tent. And the wrath of the Lord was exceedingly
enkindled: to Moses also the thing seemed insupportable.
11:11. And he said to the Lord: Why hast thou af licted thy servant?
Wherefore do I not ind favour before thee? And why hast thou laid the
weight of all this people upon me?
11:12. Have I conceived all this multitude, or begotten them, that
thou shouldst say to me: Carry them in thy bosom as the nurse is wont
to carry the little infant, and bear them into the land, for which thou
hast sworn to their fathers?
11:13. Whence should I have lesh to give to so great a multitude?
They weep against me, saying: Give us lesh that we may eat.
11:14. I am not able alone to bear all this people, because it is too
heavy for me.
11:15. But if it seem unto thee otherwise, I beseech thee to kill me,
and let me ind grace in thy eyes, that I be not af licted with so great
evils.
11:16. And the Lord said to Moses: Gather unto me seventy men of
the ancients of Israel, whom thou knowest to be ancients and masters
of the people: and thou shalt bring them to the door of the tabernacle
of the covenant, and shalt make them stand there with thee,
Seventy men.... This was the irst institution of the council or senate, called the
Sanhedrin, consisting of seventy or seventy-two senators or counsellors.

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 11:17. That I may come down and speak with thee: and I will take of
thy spirit, and will give to them, that they may bear with thee the
burden of the people, and thou mayest not be burthened alone.
11:18. And thou shalt say to the people: Be ye sancti ied: to morrow
you shall eat lesh: for I have heard you say: Who will give us lesh to
eat? It was well with us in Egypt. That the Lord may give you lesh, and
you may eat:
11:19. Not for one day, nor two, nor ive, nor ten, no nor for twenty.
11:20. But even for a month of days, till it come out at your nostrils,
and become loathsome to you, because you have cast off the Lord, who
is in the midst of you, and have wept before him, saying: Why came we
out of Egypt?
11:21. And Moses said: There are six hundred thousand footmen of
this people, and sayest thou: I will give them lesh to eat a whole
month?
11:22. Shall then a multitude of sheep and oxen be killed, that it may
suf ice for their food? or shall the ishes of the sea be gathered
together to ill them?
11:23. And the Lord answered him: Is the hand of the Lord unable?
Thou shalt presently see whether my word shall come to pass or no.
11:24. Moses therefore came, and told the people the words of the
Lord, and assembled seventy men of the ancients of Israel, and made
them to stand about the tabernacle.
11:25. And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, taking
away of the spirit that was in Moses, and giving to the seventy men.
And when the spirit had rested on them they prophesied, nor did they
cease afterwards.
11:26. Now there remained in the camp two of the men, of whom
one was called Eldad, and the other Medad, upon whom the spirit
rested; for they also had been enrolled, but were not gone forth to the
tabernacle.
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 11:27. And when they prophesied in the camp, there ran a young
man, and told Moses, saying: Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp.
11:28. Forthwith Josue the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, and
chosen out of many, said: My lord Moses forbid them.
11:29. But he said: Why hast thou emulation for me? O that all the
people might prophesy, and that the Lord would give them his spirit!
11:30. And Moses returned, with the ancients of Israel, into the
camp.
11:31. And a wind going out from the Lord, taking quails up beyond
the sea brought them, and cast them into the camp for the space of
one day’s journey, on every side of the camp round about, and they
lew in the air two cubits high above the ground.
11:32. The people therefore rising up all that day, and night, and the
next day, gathered together of quails, he that did least, ten cores: and
they dried them round about the camp.
11:33. As yet the lesh was between their teeth, neither had that
kind of meat failed: when behold the wrath of the Lord being provoked
against the people, struck them with an exceeding great plague.
11:34. And that place was called, The graves of lust: for there they
buried the people that had lusted. And departing from the graves of
lust, they came unto Haseroth, and abode there.
The graves of lust.... Or, the sepulchres of concupiscence: so called from their
irregular desire of lesh. In Hebrew, Kibroth. Hattaavah.
Numbers Chapter 12

Mary and Aaron murmur against Moses, whom God praiseth above
other prophets. Mary being struck with leprosy, Aaron confesseth his
fault. Moses prayeth for her, and after seven days’ separation from the
camp, she is restored.
12:1. And Mary and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of his wife
the Ethiopian,
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Ethiopian.... Sephora the wife of Moses was of Madian, which bordered upon the
land of Chus or Ethiopia: where note, that the Ethiopia here spoken of is not that
of Africa but that of Arabia.
12:2. And they said: Hath the Lord spoken by Moses only? Hath he
not also spoken to us in like manner? And when the Lord heard this,
12:3. (For Moses was a man exceeding meek above all men that
dwelt upon earth)
Exceeding meek.... Moses being the meekest of men, would not contend for
himself; therefore, God inspired him to write here his own defence: and the Holy
Spirit, whose dictate he wrote, obliged him to declare the truth, though it was so
much to his own praise.
12:4. Immediately he spoke to him, and to Aaron and Mary: Come
out you three only to the tabernacle of the covenant. And when they
were come out,
12:5. The Lord came down in a pillar of the cloud, and stood in the
entry of the tabernacle calling to Aaron and Mary. And when they
were come,
12:6. He said to them: Hear my words: if there be among you a
prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to
him in a dream.
12:7. But it is not so with my servant Moses who is most faithful in
all my house:
12:8. For I speak to him mouth to mouth: and plainly, and not by
riddles and igures doth he see the Lord. Why then were you not afraid
to speak ill of my servant Moses?
12:9. And being angry with them he went away:
12:10. The cloud also that was over the tabernacle departed: and
behold Mary appeared white as snow with a leprosy. And when Aaron
had looked on her, and saw her all covered with leprosy,
12:11. He said to Moses: I beseech thee, my lord, lay not upon us this
sin, which we have foolishly committed:

 12:12. Let her not be as one dead, and as an abortive that is cast
forth from the mother’s womb. Lo, now one half of her lesh is
consumed with the leprosy.
12:13. And Moses cried to the Lord, saying O God, I beseech thee heal
her.
12:14. And the Lord answered him: If her father had spitten upon
her face, ought she not to have been ashamed for seven days at least?
Let her be separated seven days without the camp, and afterwards she
shall be called again.
12:15. Mary therefore was put out of the camp seven days: and the
people moved not from that place until Mary was called again.
Numbers Chapter 13

The twelve spies are sent to view the land. The relation they make of it.
13:1. And the people marched from Haseroth, and pitched their
tents in the desert of Pharan.
13:2. And there the Lord spoke to Moses, saying.
13:3. Send men to view the land of Chanaan, which I will give to the
children of Israel, one of every tribe, of the rulers.
13:4. Moses did what the Lord had commanded, sending from the
desert of Pharan, principal men, whose names are these:
13:5. Of the tribe of Ruben, Sammua the son of Zechur.
13:6. Of the tribe of Simeon, Saphat the son of Huri.
13:7. Of the tribe of Juda, Caleb the son of Jephone.
13:8. Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
13:9. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Osee the son of Nun.
13:10. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Phalti the son of Raphu.
13:11. Of the tribe of Zabulon, Geddiel the son of Sodi.
13:12. Of the tribe of Joseph, of the sceptre of Manasses, Gaddi the
son of Susi.

 13:13. Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.

13:14. Of the tribe of Aser, Sthur the son of Michael.
13:15. Of the tribe of Nephtali, Nahabi the son of Vapsi.
13:16. Of the tribe of Gad, Guel the son of Machi.
13:17. These are the names of the men, whom Moses sent to view the
land: and he called Osee the son of Nun, Josue.
13:18. And Moses sent them to view the land of Chanaan, and said to
them: Go you up by the south side. And when you shall come to the
mountains,
13:19. View the land, of what sort it is, and the people that are the
inhabitants thereof, whether they be strong or weak: few in number or
many:
13:20. The land itself, whether it be good or bad: what manner of
cities, walled or without walls:
13:21. The ground, fat or barren, woody or without trees. Be of good
courage, and bring us of the fruits of the land. Now it was the time
when the irstripe grapes are it to be eaten.
13:22. And when they were gone up, they viewed the land from the
desert of Sin, unto Rohob as you enter into Emath.
13:23. And they went up at the south side, and came to Hebron,
where were Achiman and Sisai and Tholmai the sons of Enac. For
Hebron was built seven years before Tanis the city of Egypt.
13:24. And going forward as far as the torrent of the cluster of
grapes, they cut off a branch with its cluster of grapes, which two men
carried upon a lever. They took also of the pomegranates and of the
igs of that place:
13:25. Which was called Nehelescol, that is to say, the torrent of the
cluster of grapes, because from thence the children of Israel had
carried a cluster of grapes.
13:26. And they that went to spy out the land returned after forty
days, having gone round all the country,
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 13:27. And came to Moses and Aaron and to all the assembly of the
children of Israel to the desert of Pharan, which is in Cades. And
speaking to them and to all the multitude, they shewed them the fruits
of the land:
13:28. And they related and said: We came into the land to which
thou sentest us, which in very deed loweth with milk and honey as
may be known by these fruits:
13:29. But it hath very strong inhabitants, and the cities are great
and walled. We saw there the race of Enac.
13:30. Amalec dwelleth in the south, the Hethite and the Jebusite
and the Amorrhite in the mountains: but the Chanaanite abideth by
the sea and near the streams of the Jordan.
13:31. In the mean time Caleb, to still the murmuring of the people
that rose against Moses, said: Let us go up and possess the land, for we
shall be able to conquer it.
13:32. But the others, that had been with him, said: No, we are not
able to go up to this people, because they are stronger than we.
13:33. And they spoke ill of the land, which they had viewed, before
the children of Israel, saying: The land which we have viewed,
devoureth its inhabitants: the people, that we beheld are of a tall
stature.
Spoke ill, etc.... These men, who by their misrepresentations of the land of
promise, discouraged the Israelites from attempting the conquest of it, were a
igure of worldlings, who, by decrying or misrepresenting true devotion,
discourage Christians from seeking in earnest and acquiring so great a good,
and thereby securing to themselves a happy eternity.
13:34. There we saw certain monsters of the sons of Enac, of the
giant kind: in comparison of whom, we seemed like locusts.
Numbers Chapter 14

The people murmur. God threateneth to destroy them. He is appeased

by Moses, yet so as to exclude the murmurers from entering the
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 promised land. The authors of the sedition are struck dead. The rest
going to ight against the will of God are beaten.
14:1. Therefore the whole multitude crying wept that night.
14:2. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and
Aaron, saying:
14:3. Would God that we had died in Egypt: and would God we may
die in this vast wilderness, and that the Lord may not bring us into this
land, lest we fall by the sword, and our wives and children be led away
captives. Is it not better to return into Egypt?
14:4. And they said one to another: Let us appoint a captain, and let
us return into Egypt.
14:5. And when Moses and Aaron heard this, they fell down lat
upon the ground before the multitude of the children of Israel.
14:6. But Josue the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephone, who
themselves also had viewed the land, rent their garments,
14:7. And said to all the multitude of the children of Israel: The land
which we have gone round is very good:
14:8. If the Lord be favourable, he will bring us into it, and give us a
land lowing with milk and honey.
14:9. Be not rebellious against the Lord: and fear ye not the people
of this land, for we are able to eat them up as bread. All aid is gone
from them: the Lord is with us, fear ye not.
14:10. And when all the multitude cried out, and would have stoned
them, the glory of the Lord appeared over the tabernacle of the
covenant to all the children of Israel.
14:11. And the Lord said to Moses: How long will this people detract
me? how long will they not believe me for all the signs that I have
wrought before them?
14:12. I will strike them therefore with pestilence, and will consume
them: but thee I will make a ruler over a great nation, and a mightier
than this is.
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 14:13. And Moses said to the Lord: That the Egyptians, from the
midst of whom thou hast brought forth this people,
14:14. And the inhabitants of this land, (who have heard that thou,
O Lord, art among this people, and art seen face to face, and thy cloud
protecteth them, and thou goest before them in a pillar of a cloud by
day, and in a pillar of ire by night,)
14:15. May hear that thou hast killed so great a multitude as it were
one man and may say:
14:16. He could not bring the people into the land for which he had
sworn, therefore did he kill them in the wilderness.
14:17. Let then the strength of the Lord be magni ied, as thou hast
sworn, saying:
14:18. The Lord is patient and full of mercy, by taking away iniquity
and wickedness, and leaving no man clear, who visitest the sins of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
Clear.... i. e., who deserves punishment.
14:19. Forgive, I beseech thee, the sins of this people, according to
the greatness of thy mercy, as thou hast been merciful to them from
their going out of Egypt unto this place.
14:20. And the Lord said: I have forgiven according to thy word.
14:21. As I live: and the whole earth shall be illed with the glory of
the Lord.
14:22. But yet all the men that have seen my majesty, and the signs
that I have done in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and have tempted me
now ten times, and have not obeyed my voice,
14:23. Shall not see the land for which I swore to their fathers,
neither shall any one of them that hath detracted me behold it.
14:24. My servant Caleb, who being full of another spirit hath
followed me, I will bring into this land which he hath gone round: and
his seed shall possess it.

 14:25. For the Amalecite and the Chanaanite dwell in the valleys. To
morrow remove the camp, and return into the wilderness by the way
of the Red Sea.
14:26. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
14:27. How long doth this wicked multitude murmur against me? I
have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel.
14:28. Say therefore to them: As I live, saith the Lord: According as
you have spoken in my hearing, so will I do to you.
14:29. In the wilderness shall your carcasses lie. All you that were
numbered from twenty years old and upward, and have murmured
against me,
14:30. Shall not enter into the land, over which I lifted up my hand
to make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephone, and Josue
the son of Nun.
14:31. But your children, of whom you said, that they should be a
prey to the enemies, will I bring in: that they may see the land which
you have despised.
14:32. Your carcasses shall lie in the wilderness.
14:33. Your children shall wander in the desert forty years, and shall
bear your fornication, until the carcasses of their fathers be consumed
in the desert,
Shall bear your fornication.... That is, shall bear the punishment of your
disloyalty to God, which in the scripture language is here called a fornication, in
a spiritual sense.
14:34. According to the number of the forty days, wherein you
viewed the land: a year shall be counted for a day. And forty years you
shall receive your iniquities, and shall know my revenge:
14:35. For as I have spoken, so will I do to all this wicked multitude,
that hath risen up together against me: in this wilderness shall it faint
away and die.

 14:36. Therefore all the men, whom Moses had sent to view the land,
and who at their return had made the whole multitude to murmur
against him, speaking ill of the land that it was naught,
14:37. Died and were struck in the sight of the Lord.
14:38. But Josue the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephone lived,
of all them that had gone to view the land.
14:39. And Moses spoke all these words to all the children of Israel,
and the people mourned exceedingly.
14:40. And behold rising up very early in the morning, they went up
to the top of the mountain, and said: We are ready to go up to the
place, of which the Lord hath spoken: for we have sinned.
14:41. And Moses said to them: Why transgress you the word of the
Lord, which shall not succeed prosperously with you?
14:42. Go not up, for the Lord is not with you: lest you fall before
your enemies.
14:43. The Amalecite and the Chanaanite are before you, and by
their sword you shall fall, because you would not consent to the Lord,
neither will the Lord be with you.
14:44. But they being blinded went up to the top of the mountain.
But the ark of the testament of the Lord and Moses departed not from
the camp.
14:45. And the Amalecite came down, and the Chanaanite that
dwelt in the mountain: and smiting and slaying them pursued them as
far as Horma.
Numbers Chapter 15

Certain laws concerning sacri ices. Sabbath breaking is punished with

death. The law of fringes on their garments.
15:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

 15:2. Speak to the children of Israel and thou shalt say to them:
When you shall be come unto the land of your habitation, which I will
give you,
15:3. And shall make an offering to the Lord, for a holocaust, or a
victim, paying your vows, or voluntarily offering gifts, or in your
solemnities burning a sweet savour unto the Lord, of oxen or of sheep:
15:4. Whosoever immolateth the victim, shall offer a sacri ice of ine
lour, the tenth part of an ephi, tempered with the fourth part of a hin
of oil:
15:5. And he shall give the same measure of wine to pour out in
libations for the holocaust or for the victim. For every lamb,
15:6. And for every ram there shall be a sacri ice of lour of two
tenths, which shall be tempered with the third part of a hin of oil:
15:7. And he shall offer the third part the same measure of wine for
the libation, for a sweet savour to the Lord.
15:8. But when thou offerest a holocaust or sacri ice of oxen, to ful il
thy vow or for victims of peace offerings,
15:9. Thou shalt give for every ox three tenths of lour tempered
with half a hin of oil,
15:10. And wine for libations of the same measure, for an offering of
most sweet savour to the Lord.
15:11. Thus shalt thou do
15:12. For every ox and ram and lamb and kid.
15:13. Both they that are born in the land, and the strangers
15:14. Shall offer sacri ices after the same rite.
15:15. There shall be all one law and judgment both for you and for
them who are strangers in the land.
15:16. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
15:17. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
15:18. When you are come into the land which I will give you,
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 15:19. And shall eat of the bread of that country, you shall separate
irstfruits to the Lord,
15:20. Of the things you eat. As you separate irstfruits of your
barn loors:
15:21. So also shall you give irstfruits of your dough to the Lord.
15:22. And if through ignorance you omit any of these things, which
the Lord hath spoken to Moses,
15:23. And by him hath commanded you from the day that he began
to command and thenceforward,
15:24. And the multitude have forgotten to do it: they shall offer a
calf out of the herd, a holocaust for a most sweet savour to the Lord,
and the sacri ice and libations thereof, as the ceremonies require, and
a buck goat for sin:
15:25. And the priest shall pray for all the multitude of the children
of Israel: and it shall be forgiven them, because they sinned ignorantly,
offering notwithstanding a burnt offering to the Lord for themselves
and for their sin and their Ignorance:
15:26. And it shall be forgiven all the people of the children of Israel:
and the strangers that sojourn among them: because it is the fault of
all the people through ignorance.
15:27. But if one soul shall sin ignorantly, he shall offer a she goat of
a year old for his sin.
15:28. And the priest shall pray for him, because he sinned
ignorantly before the Lord: and he shall obtain his pardon, and it shall
be forgiven him.
15:29. The same law shall be for all that sin by ignorance, whether
they be natives or strangers.
15:30. But the soul that committeth any thing through pride,
whether he be born in the land or a stranger (because he hath been
rebellious against the Lord) shall be cut off from among his people:
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 15:31. For he hath contemned the word of the Lord, and made void
his precept: therefore shall he be destroyed, and shall bear his iniquity.
15:32. And it came to pass, when the children of Israel were in the
wilderness, and had found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day,
15:33. That they brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole
multitude.
15:34. And they put him into prison, not knowing what they should
do with him.
15:35. And the Lord said to Moses: Let that man die, let all the
multitude stone him without the camp.
15:36. And when they had brought him out, they stoned him, and he
died as the Lord had commanded.
15:37. The Lord also said to Moses:
15:38. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt tell them to
make to themselves fringes in the corners of their garments, putting in
them ribands of blue:
Fringes.... The Pharisees enlarged these fringes through hypocrisy, Matt. 23.5, to
appear more zealous than other men for the law of God.
15:39. That when they shall see them, they may remember all the
commandments of the Lord, and not follow their own thoughts and
eyes going astray after divers things,
15:40. But rather being mindful of the precepts of the Lord, may do
them and be holy to their God.
15:41. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt, that I might be your God.
Numbers Chapter 16

The schism of Core and his adherents: their punishment.

16:1. And behold Core the son of Isaar, the son of Caath, the son of
Levi, and Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab, and Hon the son of
Pheleth of the children of Ruben,

 16:2. Rose up against Moses, and with them two hundred and ifty
others of the children of Israel, leading men of the synagogue, and who
in the time of assembly were called by name.
Rose up.... The crime of these men, which was punished in so remarkable a
manner, was that of schism, and of rebellion against the authority established by
God in the church; and their pretending to the priesthood without being lawfully
called and sent: the same is the case of all modern sectaries.
16:3. And when they had stood up against Moses and Aaron, they
said: Let it be enough for you, that all the multitude consisteth of holy
ones, and the Lord is among them: Why lift you up yourselves above
the people of the Lord?
16:4. When Moses heard this, he fell lat on his face:
16:5. And speaking to Core and all the multitude, he said: In the
morning the Lord will make known who belong to him, and the holy he
will join to himself: and whom he shall choose, they shall approach to
him.
16:6. Do this therefore: Take every man of you your censers, thou
Core, and all thy company.
16:7. And putting ire in them to morrow, put incense upon it before
the Lord: and whomsoever he shall choose, the same shall be holy: you
take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
16:8. And he said again to Core: Hear ye sons of Levi.
16:9. Is it a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath spared
you from all the people, and joined you to himself, that you should
serve him in the service of the tabernacle, and should stand before the
congregation of the people, and should minister to him?
16:10. Did he therefore make thee and all thy brethren the sons of
Levi to approach unto him, that you should challenge to yourselves the
priesthood also,
16:11. And that all thy company should stand against the Lord? for
what is Aaron that you murmur against him?

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 16:12. Then Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab.
But they answered: We will not come.
16:13. Is it a small matter to thee, that thou hast brought us out of a
land that lowed with milk and honey, to kill us in the desert, except
thou rule also like a lord over us?
16:14. Thou hast brought us indeed into a land that loweth with
rivers of milk and honey, and hast given us possessions of ields and
vineyards; wilt thou also pull out our eyes? We will not come.
16:15. Moses therefore being very angry, said to the Lord: Respect
not their sacri ices: thou knowest that I have not taken of them so
much as a young ass at any time, nor have injured any of them.
Very angry.... This anger was a zeal against sin; and an indignation at the affront
offered to God; like that which the same holy prophet conceived upon the sight of
the golden calf, Ex. 32.19.
16:16. And he said to Core: Do thou and thy congregation stand
apart before the Lord to morrow, and Aaron apart.
16:17. Take every one of you censers, and put incense upon them,
offering to the Lord two hundred and ifty censers: let Aaron also hold
his censer.
16:18. When they had done this, Moses and Aaron standing,
16:19. And had drawn up all the multitude against them to the door
of the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord appeared to them all.
16:20. And the Lord speaking to Moses and Aaron, said:
16:21. Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I
may presently destroy them.
16:22. They fell lat on their face, and said: O most mighty, the God
of the spirits of all lesh, for one man’s sin shall thy wrath rage against
all?
16:23. And the Lord said to Moses:
16:24. Command the whole people to separate themselves from the
tents of Core and Dathan and Abiron.

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 16:25. And Moses arose, and went to Dathan and Abiron: and the
ancients of Israel following him,
16:26. He said to the multitude: Depart from the tents of these
wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be involved in their
sins.
16:27. And when they were departed from their tents round about,
Dathan and Abiron coming out stood in the entry of their pavilions
with their wives and children, and all the people.
16:28. And Moses said: By this you shall know that the Lord hath
sent me to do all things that you see, and that I have not forged them
of my own head:
16:29. If these men die the common death of men, and if they be
visited with a plague, wherewith others also are wont to be visited, the
Lord did not send me.
16:30. But if the Lord do a new thing, and the earth opening her
mouth swallow them down, and all things that belong to them, and
they go down alive into hell, you shall know that they have
blasphemed the Lord.
16:31. And immediately as he had made an end of speaking, the
earth broke asunder under their feet:
16:32. And opening her mouth, devoured them with their tents and
all their substance.
16:33. And they went down alive into hell, the ground closing upon
them, and they perished from among the people.
16:34. But all Israel, that was standing round about, led at the cry
of them that were perishing: saying: Lest perhaps the earth swallow us
up also.
16:35. And a ire coming out from the Lord, destroyed the two
hundred and ifty men that offered the incense.
16:36. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

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 16:37. Command Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the
censers that lie in the burning, and to scatter the ire of one side and
the other: because they are sancti ied
16:38. In the deaths of the sinners: and let him beat them into
plates, and fasten them to the altar, because incense hath been offered
in them to the Lord, and they are sancti ied, that the children of Israel
may see them for a sign and a memorial.
16:39. Then Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, wherein they
had offered, whom the burning ire had devoured, and beat them into
plates, fastening them to the altar:
16:40. That the children of Israel might have for the time to come
wherewith they should be admonished, that no stranger or any one
that is not of the seed of Aaron should come near to offer incense to
the Lord, lest he should suffer as Core suffered, and all his
congregation, according as the Lord spoke to Moses.
16:41. The following day all the multitude of the children of Israel
murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying: You have killed the
people of the Lord.
16:42. And when there arose a sedition, and the tumult increased,
16:43. Moses and Aaron led to the tabernacle of the covenant. And
when they were gone into it, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the
Lord appeared.
16:44. And the Lord said to Moses:
16:45. Get you out from the midst of this multitude, this moment will
I destroy them. And as they were lying on the ground,
16:46. Moses said to Aaron: Take the censer, and putting ire in it
from the altar, put incense upon it, and go quickly to the people to
pray for them: for already wrath is gone out from the Lord, and the
plague rageth.
16:47. When Aaron had done this, and had run to the midst of the
multitude which the burning ire was now destroying, he offered the
incense:

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 16:48. And standing between the dead and the living, he prayed for
the people, and the plague ceased.
16:49. And the number of them that were slain was fourteen
thousand and seven hundred men, besides them that had perished in
the sedition of Core.
16:50. And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of
the covenant after the destruction was over.
Numbers Chapter 17

The priesthood is con irmed to Aaron by the miracle of the blooming of

his rod, which is kept for a monument in the tabernacle.
17:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
17:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a
rod by their kindreds, of all the princes of the tribes, twelve rods, and
write the name of every man upon his rod.
17:3. And the name of Aaron shall be for the tribe of Levi, and one
rod shall contain all their families:
17:4. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the covenant
before the testimony, where I will speak to thee.
17:5. Whomsoever of these I shall choose, his rod shall blossom: and
I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel,
wherewith they murmur against you.
17:6. And Moses spoke to the children of Israel: and all the princes
gave him rods one for every tribe: and there were twelve rods besides
the rod of Aaron.
17:7. And when Moses had Laid them up before the Lord in the
tabernacle of the testimony:
17:8. He returned on the following day, and found that the rod of
Aaron for the house of Levi, was budded: and that the buds swelling it
had bloomed blossoms, which spreading the leaves, were formed into
almonds.

 The rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, was budded, etc.... This rod of Aaron
which thus miraculously brought forth fruit, was a igure of the blessed Virgin
conceiving and bringing forth her Son without any prejudice to her virginity.
17:9. Moses therefore brought out all the rods from before the Lord
to all the children of Israel: and they saw, and every one received their
rods.
17:10. And the Lord said to Moses: Carry back the rod of Aaron into
the tabernacle of the testimony, that it may be kept there for a token of
the rebellious children of Israel, and that their complaints may cease
from me lest they die.
17:11. And Moses did as the Lord had commanded.
17:12. And the children of Israel said to Moses: Behold we are
consumed, we all perish.
17:13. Whosoever approacheth to the tabernacle of the Lord, he
dieth. Are we all to a man to be utterly destroyed?
Numbers Chapter 18

The charge of the priests and of the Levites, and their portion.
18:1. And the Lord said to Aaron: Thou, and thy sons, and thy
father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and
thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the sins of your priesthood.
Thou, and thy father’s house with thee, shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary....
That is, you shall be punished if, through negligence or want of due attention,
you err in the discharge of the sacred functions for which you were ordained.
18:2. And take with thee thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, and
the sceptre of thy father, and let them be ready in hand, and minister
to thee: but thou and thy sons shall minister in the tabernacle of the
testimony.
18:3. And the Levites shall watch to do thy commands, and about all
the works of the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels
of the sanctuary nor the altar, lest both they die, and you also perish
with them.

 18:4. But let them be with thee, and watch in the charge of the
tabernacle, and in all the ceremonies thereof. A stranger shall not join
himself with you.
18:5. Watch ye in the charge of the sanctuary, and in the ministry of
the altar: lest indignation rise upon the children of Israel.
18:6. I have given you your brethren the Levites from among the
children of Israel, and have delivered them for a gift to the Lord, to
serve in the ministries of the tabernacle.
18:7. But thou and thy sons look ye to the priesthood: and all things
that pertain to the service of the altar, and that are within the veil,
shall be executed by the priests. If any stranger shall approach, he
shall be slain.
18:8. And the Lord said to Aaron: Behold I have given thee the
charge of my irstfruits. All things that are sancti ied by the children of
Israel, I have delivered to thee and to thy sons for the priestly of ice, by
everlasting ordinances.
18:9. These therefore shalt thou take of the things that are
sancti ied, and are offered to the Lord. Every offering, and sacri ice,
and whatsoever is rendered to me for sin and for trespass, and
becometh holy of holies, shall be for thee and thy sons.
18:10. Thou shalt eat it in the sanctuary: the males only shall eat
thereof, because it is a consecrated thing to thee.
18:11. But the irstfruits, which the children of Israel shall vow and
offer, I have given to thee, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters, by a
perpetual law. He that is clean in thy house, shall eat them.
18:12. All the best of the oil, and of the wine, and of the corn,
whatsoever irstfruits they offer to the Lord, I have given them to thee.
18:13. All the irstripe of the fruits, that the ground bringeth forth,
and which are brought to the Lord, shall be for thy use: he that is clean
in thy house, shall eat them.
18:14. Every thing that the children of Israel shall give by vow, shall
be thine.
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 18:15. Whatsoever is irstborn of all lesh, which they offer to the

Lord, whether it be of men, or of beasts, shall belong to thee: only for
the irstborn of man thou shalt take a price, and every beast that is
unclean thou shalt cause to be redeemed,
18:16. And the redemption of it shall be after one month, for ive
sicles of silver, by the weight of the sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty
obols.
18:17. But the irstling of a cow, and of a sheep and of a goat thou
shalt not cause to be redeemed, because they are sancti ied to the
Lord. Their blood only thou shalt pour upon the altar, and their fat
thou shalt burn for a most sweet odour to the Lord.
18:18. But the lesh shall fall to thy use, as the consecrated breast,
and the right shoulder shall be thine.
18:19. All the irstfruits of the sanctuary which the children of Israel
offer to the Lord, I have given to thee and to thy sons and daughters,
by a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt for ever before the
Lord, to thee and to thy sons.
A covenant of salt.... It is a proverbial expression, signifying a covenant not to be
altered or corrupted; as salt is used to keep things from corruption; a covenant
perpetual, like that by which it was appointed, that salt should be used in every
sacri ice. Lev. 2.
18:20. And the Lord said to Aaron: You shall possess nothing in their
land, neither shall you have a portion among them: I am thy portion
and inheritance in the midst of the children of Israel.
18:21. And I have given to the sons of Levi all the tithes of Israel for
a possession, for the ministry wherewith they serve me in the
tabernacle of the covenant:
18:22. That the children of Israel may not approach any more to the
tabernacle, nor commit deadly sin,
Deadly sin.... That is, sin which will bring death after it.
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 18:23. But only the sons of Levi may serve me in the tabernacle, and
bear the sins of the people. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in your
generations. They shall not possess any other thing,
18:24. But be content with the oblation or tithes, which I have
separated for their uses and necessities.
18:25. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
18:26. Command the Levites, and declare unto them: When you shall
receive of the children of Israel the tithes, which I have given you, offer
the irstfruits of them to the Lord, that is to say, the tenth part of the
tenth:
18:27. That it may be reckoned to you as an oblation of irstfruits, as
well of the barn loors as of the winepresses:
18:28. And of all the things of which you receive tithes, offer the
irstfruits to the Lord, and give them to Aaron the priest.
18:29. All the things that you shall offer of the tithes, and shall
separate for the gifts of the Lord, shall be the best and choicest things.
18:30. And thou shalt say to them: If you offer all the goodly and the
better things of the tithes, it shall be reckoned to you as if you had
given the irstfruits of the barn loor and the winepress:
18:31. And you shall eat them in all your places, both you and your
families: because it is your reward for the ministry, wherewith you
serve in the tabernacle of the testimony.
18:32. And you shall not sin in this point, by reserving the choicest
and fat things to yourselves, lest you profane the oblations of the
children of Israel, and die.
Numbers Chapter 19

The law of the sacri ice of the red cow, and the water of expiation.
19:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
19:2. This is the observance of the victim, which the Lord hath
ordained. Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee a
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 red cow of full age, in which there is no blemish, and which hath not
carried the yoke:
A red cow, etc.... This red cow, offered in sacri ice for sin, and consumed with ire
without the camp, with the ashes of which, mingled with water, the unclean were
to be expiated and puri ied; was a igure of the passion of Christ, by whose
precious blood applied to our souls in the holy sacraments, we are cleansed from
our sins.
19:3. And you shall deliver her to Eleazar the priest, who shall bring
her forth without the camp, and shall immolate her in the sight of all:
19:4. And dipping his inger in her blood, shall sprinkle it over
against the door of the tabernacle seven times,
19:5. And shall burn her in the sight of all delivering up to the ire
her skin, and her lesh, and her blood, and her dung.
19:6. The priest shall also take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet
twice dyed, and cast it into the lame, with which the cow is consumed.
19:7. And then after washing his garments, and body, he shall enter
into the camp, and shall be unclean until the evening.
19:8. He also that hath burned her, shall wash his garments, and his
body, and shall be unclean until the evening.
19:9. And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the cow,
and shall pour them forth without the camp in a most clean place, that
they may be reserved for the multitude of the children of Israel, and for
a water of aspersion: because the cow was burnt for sin.
19:10. And when he that carried the ashes of the cow, hath washed
his garments, he shall be unclean until the evening. The children of
Israel, and the strangers that dwell among them, shall observe this for
a holy thing by a perpetual ordinance.
19:11. He that toucheth the corpse of a man, and is therefore
unclean seven days,
19:12. Shall be sprinkled with this water on the third day, and on
the seventh, and so shall be cleansed. If he were not sprinkled on the
third day, he cannot be cleansed on the seventh.

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 19:13. Every one that toucheth the corpse of a man, and is not
sprinkled with this mixture, shall profane the tabernacle of the Lord,
and shall perish out of Israel: because he was not sprinkled with the
water of expiation, he shall be unclean, and his uncleanness shall
remain upon him.
19:14. This is the law of a man that dieth in a tent: All that go into
his tent and all the vessels that are there, shall be unclean seven days.
19:15. The vessel that hath no cover, nor binding over it, shall be
unclean.
19:16. If any man in the ield touch the corpse of a man that was
slain, or that died of himself, or his bone, or his grave, he shall be
unclean seven days.
19:17. And they shall take of the ashes of the burning and of the sin
offering, and shall pour living waters upon them into a vessel.
19:18. And a man that is clean shall dip hyssop in them, and shall
sprinkle therewith all the tent, and all the furniture, and the men that
are de iled with touching any such thing:
19:19. And in this manner he that is clean shall purify the unclean
on the third and on the seventh day. And being expiated the seventh
day, he shall wash both himself and his garments, and be unclean until
the evening.
19:20. If any man be not expiated after this rite, his soul shall perish
out of the midst of the church: because he hath profaned the sanctuary
of the Lord, and was not sprinkled with the water of puri ication.
19:21. This precept shall be an ordinance for ever. He also that
sprinkled the water, shall wash his garments. Every one that shall
touch the waters of expiation, shall be unclean until the evening.
19:22. Whatsoever a person toucheth who is unclean, he shall make
it unclean: and the person that toucheth any of these things, shall be
unclean until the evening.
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 Numbers Chapter 20

The death of Mary the sister of Moses. The people murmur for want of
water: God giveth it them from the rock. The death of Aaron.
20:1. And the children of Israel, and all the multitude came into the
desert of Sin, in the irst month: and the people abode in Cades. And
Mary died there, and was buried in the same place.
20:2. And the people wanting water, came together against Moses
and Aaron:
20:3. And making a sedition, they said: Would God we had perished
among our brethren before the Lord.
20:4. Why have you brought out the church of the Lord into the
wilderness, that both we and our cattle should die?
20:5. Why have you made us come up out of Egypt, and have
brought us into this wretched place which cannot be sowed, nor
bringeth forth igs, nor vines, nor pomegranates, neither is there any
water to drink?
20:6. And Moses and Aaron leaving the multitude, went into the
tabernacle of the covenant, and fell lat upon the ground, and cried to
the Lord, and said. O Lord God, hear the cry of this people, and open to
them thy treasure, a fountain of living water, that being satis ied, they
may cease to murmur. And the glory of the Lord appeared over them.
20:7. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
20:8. Take the rod, and assemble the people together, thou and
Aaron thy brother, and speak to the rock before them, and it shall yield
waters. And when thou hast brought forth water out of the rock, all
the multitude and their cattle shall drink.
20:9. Moses therefore took the rod, which was before the Lord, as he
had commanded him,
20:10. And having gathered together the multitude before the rock,
he said to them: Hear, ye rebellious and incredulous: Can we bring you
forth water out of this rock?

 20:11. And when Moses had lifted up his hand, and struck the rock
twice with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that
the people and their cattle drank,
The rock.... This rock was a igure of Christ, and the water that issued out from
the rock, of his precious blood, the source of all our good.
20:12. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Because you have not
believed me, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, you shall not
bring these people into the land, which I will give them.
You have not believed, etc.... The fault of Moses and Aaron, on this occasion, was
a certain dif idence and weakness of faith; not doubting of God’s power or
veracity; but apprehending the unworthiness of that rebellious and incredulous
people, and therefore speaking with some ambiguity.
20:13. This is the Water of contradiction, where the children of
Israel strove with words against the Lord, and he was sancti ied in
them.
The Water of contradiction.... Or strife. Hebrew, Meribah.
20:14. In the mean time Moses sent messengers from Cades to the
king of Edom, to say: Thus saith thy brother Israel: Thou knowest all
the labour that hath come upon us:
20:15. In what manner our fathers went down into Egypt, and there
we dwelt a long time, and the Egyptians af licted us and our fathers.
20:16. And how we cried to the Lord, and he heard us, and sent an
angel, who hath brought us out of Egypt. Lo, we are now in the city of
Cades, which is in the uttermost of thy borders,
20:17. And we beseech thee that we may have leave to pass through
thy country. We will not go through the ields, nor through the
vineyards, we will not drink the waters of thy wells, but we will go by
the common highway, neither turning aside to the right hand, nor to
the left, till we are past thy borders.
20:18. And Edom answered them: Thou shalt not pass by me: if thou
dost I will come out armed against thee.

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 20:19. And the children of Israel said: We will go by the beaten way:
and if we and our cattle drink of thy waters, we will give thee what is
just: there shall be no dif iculty in the price, only let us pass speedily.
20:20. But he answered: Thou shalt not pass. And immediately he
came forth to meet them with an in inite multitude, and a strong
hand,
20:21. Neither would he condescend to their desire to grant them
passage through his borders. Wherefore Israel turned another way
from him.
20:22. And when they had removed the camp from Cades, they came
to mount Hor, which is in the borders of the land of Edom:
20:23. Where the Lord spoke to Moses:
20:24. Let Aaron, saith he, go to his people: for he shall not go into
the land which I have given the children of Israel, because he was
incredulous to my words, at the waters of contradiction.
20:25. Take Aaron and his son with him, and bring them up into
mount Hor:
20:26. And when thou hast stripped the father of his vesture, thou
shalt vest therewith Eleazar his son: Aaron shall be gathered to his
people, and die there.
20:27. Moses did as the Lord had commanded: and they went up
into mount Hor before all the multitude.
20:28. And when he had stripped Aaron of his vestments, he vested
Eleazar his son with them.
20:29. And Aaron being dead in the top of the mountain, he came
down with Eleazar.
20:30. And all the multitude seeing that Aaron was dead, mourned
for him thirty days throughout all their families.

 Numbers Chapter 21

King Arad is overcome. The people murmur and are punished with
iery serpents: they are healed by the brazen serpent. They conquer
the kings Sehon and Og.
21:1. And when king Arad the Chanaanite, who dwelt towards the
south, had heard this, to wit, that Israel was come by the way of the
spies, he fought against them, and overcoming them carried off their
spoils.
21:2. But Israel binding himself by vow to the Lord, said: If thou wilt
deliver this people into my hand, I will utterly destroy their cities.
21:3. And the Lord heard the prayers of Israel, and delivered up the
Chanaanite, and they cut them off and destroyed their cities: and they
called the name of that place Horma, that is to say, Anathema.
Anathema.... That is, a thing devoted to utter destruction.
21:4. And they marched from mount Hor, by the way that leadeth to
the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom. And the people began to be
weary of their journey and labour:
21:5. And speaking against God and Moses, they said: Why didst
thou bring us out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? There is no bread,
nor have we any waters: our soul now loatheth this very light food.
Very light food.... So they call the heavenly manna: thus worldlings loathe the
things of heaven, for which they have no relish.
21:6. Wherefore the Lord sent among the people iery serpents,
which bit them and killed many of them.
Fiery serpents.... They are so called, because they that were bitten by them were
burnt with a violent heat.
21:7. Upon which they came to Moses, and said; We have sinned,
because we have spoken against the Lord and thee: pray that he may
take away these serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
21:8. And the Lord said to him: Make a brazen serpent, and set it up
for a sign: whosoever being struck shall look on it, shall live.
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 21:9. Moses therefore made a brazen serpent, and set it up for a

sign: which when they that were bitten looked upon, they were healed.
A brazen serpent.... This was a igure of Christ cruci ied, and of the ef icacy of a
lively faith in him, against the bites of the hellish serpent. John 3.14.
21:10. And the children of Israel setting forwards camped in Oboth.
21:11. And departing thence they pitched their tents in Jeabarim, in
the wilderness, that faceth Moab toward the east.
21:12. And removing from thence, they came to the torrent Zared:
21:13. Which they left and encamped over against Arnon, which is
in the desert and standeth out on the borders of the Amorrhite. For
Arnon is the border of Moab, dividing the Moabites and the
Amorrhites.
21:14. Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord: As he
did in the Red Sea, so will he do in the streams of Arnon.
The book of the wars, etc.... An ancient book, which, like several others quoted in
scripture, has been lost.
21:15. The rocks of the torrents were bowed down that they might
rest in Ar, and lie down in the borders of the Moabites.
21:16. When they went from that place, the well appeared whereof
the Lord said to Moses: Gather the people together, and I will give
them water.
21:17. Then Israel sung this song: Let the well spring up. They sung
thereto:
21:18. The well, which the princes dug, and the chiefs of the people
prepared by the direction of the lawgiver, and with their staves. And
they marched from the wilderness to Mathana.
21:19. From Mathana unto Nahaliel: from Nahaliel unto Bamoth.
21:20. From Bamoth, is a valley in the country of Moab, to the top of
Phasga, which looked towards the desert.
21:21. And Israel sent messengers to Sehon king of the Amorrhites,
saying:

 21:22. I beseech thee that I may have leave to pass through thy land:
we will not go aside into the ields or the vineyards, we will not drink
waters of the wells, we will go the king’s highway, till we be past thy
borders.
21:23. And he would not grant that Israel should pass by his
borders: but rather gathering an army, went forth to meet them in the
desert, and came to Jasa and fought against them.
21:24. And he was slain by them with the edge of the sword, and
they possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jeboc, and to the
con ines of the children of Ammon: for the borders of the Ammonites,
were kept with a strong garrison.
21:25. So Israel took all his cities, and dwelt in the cities of the
Amorrhite, to wit, in Hesebon, and in the villages thereof.
21:26. Hesebon was the city of Sehon the king of the Amorrhites,
who fought against the king of Moab: and took all the land, that had
been of his dominion, as far as the Arnon.
21:27. Therefore it is said in the proverb: Come into Hesebon, let the
city of Sehon be built and set up:
21:28. A ire is gone out of Hesebon, a lame from the city of Sehon,
and hath consumed Ar of the Moabites, and the inhabitants of the high
places of the Arnon.
21:29. Woe to thee Moab: thou art undone, O people of Chamos. He
hath given his sons to light, and his daughters into captivity to Sehon
the king of the Amorrhites.
21:30. Their yoke is perished from Hesebon unto Dibon, they came
weary to Nophe, and unto Medaba.
21:31. So Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorrhite.
21:32. And Moses sent some to take a view of Jazer: and they took
the villages of it, and conquered the inhabitants.
21:33. And they turned themselves, and went up by the way of
Basan, and Og the king of Basan came against them with all his
people, to ight in Edrai.
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 21:34. And the Lord said to Moses: Fear him not, for I have delivered
him and all his people, and his country into thy hand: and thou shalt
do to him as thou didst to Sehon the king of the Amorrhites, the
inhabitant of Hesebon.
21:35. So they slew him also with his sons, and all his people, not
letting any one escape, and they possessed his land.
Numbers Chapter 22

Balac, king of Moab, sendeth twice for Balaam to curse Israel. In his
way Balaam is rebuked by an angel.
22:1. And they went forward and encamped in the plains of Moab,
over against where Jericho is situate beyond the Jordan.
22:2. And Balac the son of Sephor, seeing all that Israel had done to
the Amorrhite,
22:3. And that the Moabites were in great fear of him, and were not
able to sustain his assault,
22:4. He said to the elders of Madian: So will this people destroy all
that dwell in our borders, as the ox is wont to eat the grass to the very
roots. Now he was at that time king in Moab.
22:5. He sent therefore messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, a
soothsayer, who dwelt by the river of the land of the children of
Ammon, to call him, and to say: Behold a people is come out of Egypt,
that hath covered the face of the earth, sitting over against me.
22:6. Come therefore, and curse this people, because it is mightier
than I: if by any means I may beat them and drive them out of my land:
for I know that he whom thou shalt bless is blessed, and he whom thou
shalt curse is cursed.
22:7. And the ancients of Moab, and the elders of Madian, went with
the price of divination in their hands. And where they were come to
Balaam, and had told him all the words of Balac:

 22:8. He answered: Tarry here this night and I will answer

whatsoever the Lord shall say to me. And while they stayed with
Balaam, God came and said to him:
22:9. What mean these men that are with thee?
22:10. He answered: Balac the son of Sephor king of the Moabites
hath sent to me,
22:11. Saying: Behold a people that is come out of Egypt, hath
covered the face of the land: come and curse them, if by any means I
may ight with them and drive them away.
22:12. And God said to Balaam: Thou shalt not go with them, nor
shalt thou curse the people: because it is blessed.
22:13. And he rose in the morning and said to the princes: Go into
your country, because the Lord hath forbid me to come with you.
22:14. The princes returning, said to Balac: Balaam would not come
with us.
22:15. Then he sent many more and more noble than he had sent
before:
22:16. Who, when they were come to Balaam, said: Thus saith Balac
the son of Sephor, Delay not to come to me:
22:17. For I am ready to honour thee, and will give thee whatsoever
thou wilt: come and curse this people.
22:18. Balaam answered: If Balac would give me his house full of
silver and gold, I cannot alter the word of the Lord my God, to speak
either more or less.
22:19. I pray you to stay here this night also, that I may know what
the Lord will answer me once more.
To stay.... His desiring them to stay, after he had been fully informed already that
it was not God’s will he should go, came from the inclination he had to gratify
Balac, for the sake of worldly gain. And this perverse disposition God punished by
permitting him to go (though not to curse the people as he would willingly have
done), and suffering him to fall still deeper and deeper into sin, till he came at
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 last to give that abominable counsel against the people of God, which ended in
his own destruction. So sad a thing it is to indulge a passion for money.
22:20. God therefore came to Balaam in the night, and said to him:
If these men be come to call thee, arise and go with them: yet so, that
thou do what I shall command thee.
22:21. Balaam arose in the morning, and saddling his ass went with
them.
22:22. And God was angry. And an angel of the Lord stood in the
way against Balaam, who sat on the ass, and had two servants with
him.
22:23. The ass seeing the angel standing in the way, with a drawn
sword, turned herself out of the way, and went into the ield. And when
Balaam beat her, and had a mind to bring her again to the way,
22:24. The angel stood in a narrow place between two walls,
wherewith the vineyards were enclosed.
22:25. And the ass seeing him, thrust herself close to the wall, and
bruised the foot of the rider. But he beat her again:
22:26. And nevertheless the angel going on to a narrow place, where
there was no way to turn aside either to the right hand or to the left,
stood to meet him.
22:27. And when the ass saw the angel standing, she fell under the
feet of the rider: who being angry beat her sides more vehemently with
a staff.
22:28. And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said: What
have I done to thee? Why strikest thou me, lo, now this third time?
Opened the mouth, etc.... The angel moved the tongue of the ass, to utter these
speeches, to rebuke, by the mouth of a brute beast, the brutal fury and folly of
Balaam.
22:29. Balaam answered: Because thou hast deserved it, and hast
served me ill: I would I had a sword that I might kill thee.

 22:30. The ass said: Am not I thy beast, on which thou hast been
always accustomed to ride until this present day? tell me if I ever did
the like thing to thee. But he said: Never.
22:31. Forthwith the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw
the angel standing in the way with a drawn sword, and he worshipped
him falling lat on the ground.
22:32. And the angel said to him: Why beatest thou thy ass these
three times? I am come to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse,
and contrary to me:
Perverse.... Because thy inclinations are wicked in being willing for the sake of
gain to curse the people of whom I am the guardian.
22:33. And unless the ass had turned out of the way, giving place to
me who stood against thee, I had slain thee, and she should have lived.
22:34. Balaam said: I have sinned, not knowing that thou didst
stand against me: and now if it displease thee that I go, I will return.
22:35. The angel said: Go with these men, and see thou speak no
other thing than what I shall command thee. He went therefore with
the princes.
22:36. And when Balac heard it he came forth to meet him in a town
of the Moabites, that is situate in the uttermost borders of Arnon.
22:37. And he said to Balaam: I sent messengers to call thee, why
didst thou not come immediately to me? was it because I am not able
to reward thy coming?
22:38. He answered him: Lo, here I am: shall I have power to speak
any other thing but that which God shall put in my mouth?
22:39. So they went on together, and came into a city, that was in
the uttermost borders of his kingdom.
22:40. And when Balac had killed oxen and sheep, he sent presents
to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.
22:41. And when morning was come, he brought him to the high
places of Baal, and he beheld the uttermost part of the people.
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 Numbers Chapter 23

Balaam, instead of cursing Israel, is obliged to bless them, and

prophesy good things of them.
23:1. And Balaam said to Balac: Build me here seven altars, and
prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.
23:2. And when he had done according to the word of Balaam, they
laid together a calf and a ram upon every altar.
23:3. And Balaam said to Balac: Stand a while by thy burnt offering,
until I go, to see if perhaps the Lord will meet me, and whatsoever he
shall command, I will speak to thee.
23:4. And when he was gone with speed, God met him. And Balaam
speaking to him, said: I have erected seven altars, and have laid on
everyone a calf and a ram.
23:5. And the Lord put the word in his mouth, and said: Return to
Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.
23:6. Returning he found Balac standing by his burnt offering, with
all the princes of the Moabites:
23:7. And taking up his parable, he said: Balac king of the Moabites
hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come,
said he, and curse Jacob: make haste and detest Israel.
23:8. How shall I curse him, whom God hath not cursed? By what
means should I detest him, whom the Lord detesteth not?
23:9. I shall see him from the tops of the rocks, and shall consider
him from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and shall not be
reckoned among the nations.
23:10. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and know the number of the
stock of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the just, and my last end be
like to them.
23:11. And Balac said to Balaam: What is this that thou dost? I sent
for thee to curse my enemies: and thou contrariwise blessest them.

 23:12. He answered him: Can I speak any thing else but what the
Lord commandeth?
23:13. Balac therefore said: Come with me to another place from
whence thou mayest see part of Israel, and canst not see them all:
curse them from thence.
23:14. And when he had brought him to a high place, upon the top
of mount Phasga, Balaam built seven altars, and laying on every one a
calf and a ram,
23:15. He said to Balac: Stand here by thy burnt offering while I go
to meet him.
23:16. And when the Lord had met him, and had put the word in his
mouth, he said: Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou say to him.
23:17. Returning he found him standing by his burnt sacri ice, and
the princes of the Moabites with him. And Balac said to him: What
hath the Lord spoken?
23:18. But he taking up his parable, said: Stand, O Balac, and give
ear: hear, thou son of Sephor:
23:19. God is not a man, that he should lie, nor is the son of man,
that he should be changed. Hath he said then, and will he not do? hath
he spoken, and will he not ful il?
23:20. I was brought to bless, the blessing I am not able to hinder.
23:21. There is no idol in Jacob, neither is there an image god to be
seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the sound of the
victory of the king in him.
23:22. God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to
the rhinoceros.
23:23. There is no soothsaying in Jacob, nor divination in Israel. In
their times it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God hath
wrought.

 23:24. Behold the people shall rise up as a lioness, and shall lift itself
up as a lion: it shall not lie down till it devour the prey, and drink the
blood of the slain.
23:25. And Balac said to Balaam: Neither curse, nor bless him.
23:26. And he said: Did I not tell thee, that whatsoever God should
command me, that I would do?
23:27. And Balac said to him: Come and I will bring thee to another
place; if peradventure it please God that thou mayest curse them from
thence.
23:28. And when he had brought him upon the top of mount Phogor,
which looketh towards the wilderness,
23:29. Balaam said to him: Build me here seven altars, and prepare
as many calves, and the same number of rams.
23:30. Balac did as Balaam had said: and he laid on every altar, a
calf and a ram.
Numbers Chapter 24

Balaam still continues to prophesy good things in favour of Israel.

24:1. And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord that he should
bless Israel, he went not as he had gone before, to seek divination: but
setting his face towards the desert,
24:2. And lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel abiding in their tents by
their tribes: and the spirit of God rushing upon him,
24:3. He took up his parable and said: Balaam the son of Beor hath
said: The man hath said, whose eye is stopped up:
24:4. The hearer of the words of God hath said, he that hath beheld
the vision of the Almighty, he that falleth, and so his eyes are opened:
24:5. How beautiful are thy tabernacles O Jacob, and thy tents, O
Israel!
24:6. As woody valleys, as watered gardens near the rivers, as
tabernacles which the Lord hath pitched, as cedars by the waterside.

 24:7. Water shall low out of his bucket, and his seed shall be in
many waters. For Agag his king shall be removed, and his kingdom
shall be taken away.
24:8. God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to
the rhinoceros. They shall devour the nations that are his enemies, and
break their bones, and pierce them with arrows.
24:9. Lying down he hath slept as a lion, and as a lioness, whom
none shall dare to rouse. He that blesseth thee, shall also himself be
blessed: he that curseth thee shall be reckoned accursed.
24:10. And Balac being angry against Balaam, clapped his hands
together and said: I called thee to curse my enemies, and thou on the
contrary hast blessed them three times.
24:11. Return to thy place. I had determined indeed greatly to
honour thee, but the Lord hath deprived thee of the honour designed
for thee.
24:12. Balaam made answer to Balac: Did I not say to thy
messengers, whom thou sentest to me:
24:13. If Balac would give me his house full of silver and gold, I
cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to utter any thing of
my own head either good or evil: but whatsoever the Lord shall say,
that I will speak?
24:14. But yet going to my people, I will give thee counsel, what this
people shall do to thy people in the latter days.
24:15. Therefore taking up his parable, again he said: Balaam the
son of Beor hath said: The man whose eye is stopped up, hath said:
24:16. The hearer of the words of God hath said, who knoweth the
doctrine of the Highest, and seeth the visions of the Almighty, who
falling hath his eyes opened:
24:17. I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near.
A STAR SHALL RISE out of Jacob and a sceptre shall spring up from
Israel: and shall strike the chiefs of Moab, and shall waste all the
children of Seth

 24:18. And he shall possess Idumea: the inheritance of Seir shall

come to their enemies, but Israel shall do manfully.
24:19. Out of Jacob shall he come that shall rule, and shall destroy
the remains of the city.
24:20. And when he saw Amalec, he took up his parable, and said:
Amalec the beginning of nations, whose latter ends shall be destroyed.
24:21. He saw also the Cinite: and took up his parable, and said: Thy
habitation indeed is strong: but though thou build thy nest in a rock,
24:22. And thou be chosen of the stock of Cin, how long shalt thou be
able to continue? For Assur shall take thee captive.
24:23. And taking up his parable, again he said: Alas, who shall live
when God shall do these things?
24:24. They shall come in galleys from Italy, they shall overcome the
Assyrians, and shall waste the Hebrews, and at the last they
themselves also shall perish.
24:25. And Balaam rose, and returned to his place: Balac also
returned the way that he came.
Numbers Chapter 25

The people fall into fornication and idolatry; for which twenty-four
thousand are slain. The zeal of Phinees.
25:1. And Israel at that time abode in Settim, and the people
committed fornication with the daughters of Moab,
25:2. Who called them to their sacri ices. And they ate of them, and
adored their gods.
25:3. And Israel was initiated to Beelphegor: upon which the Lord
being angry,
Initiated to Beelphegor.... That is, they took to the worship of Beelphegor, an
obscene idol of the Moabites, and were consecrated, as it were, to him.

 25:4. Said to Moses: Take all the princes of the people, and hang
them up on gibbets against the sun: that my fury may be turned away
from Israel.
25:5. And Moses said to the judges of Israel: Let every man kill his
neighbours, that have been initiated to Beelphegor.
25:6. And behold one of the children of Israel went in before his
brethren to a harlot of Madian, in the sight of Moses and of all the
children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle.
25:7. And when Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the
priest saw it, he rose up from the midst of the multitude, and taking a
dagger,
25:8. Went in after the Israelite into the brothel house, and thrust
both of them through together, to wit, the man and the woman in the
genital parts. And the scourge ceased from the children of Israel.
25:9. And there were slain four and twenty thousand men.
25:10. And the Lord said to Moses:
25:11. Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, hath
turned away my wrath from the children of Israel: because he was
moved with my zeal against them, that I myself might not destroy the
children of Israel in my zeal.
25:12. Therefore say to him: behold I give him the peace of my
covenant,
25:13. And the covenant of the priesthood for ever shall be both to
him and his seed, because he hath been zealous for his God, and hath
made atonement for the wickedness of the children of Israel.
25:14. And the name of the Israelite, that was slain with the woman
of Madian, was Zambri the son of Salu, a prince of the kindred and
tribe of Simeon.
25:15. And the Madianite woman, that was slain with him, was
called Cozbi the daughter of Sur, a most noble prince among the
Madianites.

 25:16. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

25:17. Let the Madianites ind you their enemies, and slay you them:
25:18. Because they also have acted like enemies against you, and
have guilefully deceived you by the idol Phogor, and Cozbi their sister,
a daughter of a prince of Madian, who was slain in the day of the
plague for the sacrilege of Phogor.
Numbers Chapter 26

The people are again numbered by their tribes and families.

26:1. After the blood of the guilty was shed, the Lord said to Moses
and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest:
26:2. Number the whole sum of the children of Israel from twenty
years old and upward, by their houses and kindreds, all that are able
to go forth to war.
26:3. Moses therefore and Eleazar the priest, being in the plains of
Moab upon the Jordan over against Jericho, spoke to them that were
26:4. From twenty years old and upward, as the Lord had
commanded: and this is the number of them:
26:5. Ruben the irstborn of Israel. His sons were Henoch, of whom is
the family of the Henochites: and Phallu, of whom is the family of the
Phalluites:
26:6. And Hesron, of whom is the family of the Hesronites: and
Charmi, of whom is the family of the Charmites.
26:7. These are the families of the stock of Ruben: whose number
was found to be forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty.
26:8. The son of Phallu was Eliab.
26:9. His sons, were Namuel and Dathan and Abiron. These are
Dathan and Abiron the princes of the people, that rose against Moses
and Aaron in the sedition of Core, when they rebelled against the Lord:

 26:10. And the earth opening her mouth swallowed up Core, many
others dying, when the ire burned two hundred and ifty men. And
there was a great miracle wrought,
26:11. That when Core perished, his sons did not perish.
26:12. The sons of Simeon by their kindreds: Namuel, of him is the
family of the Namuelites: Jamin, of him is the family of the Jaminites:
Jachim, of him is the family of the Jachimites:
26:13. Zare, of him is the family of the Zarites: Saul, of him is the
family of the Saulites.
26:14. These are the families of the stock of Simeon, of which the
whole number was twenty-two thousand two hundred.
26:15. The sons of Gad by their kindreds: Sephon, of him is the
family of the Sephonites: Aggi, of him is the family of the Aggites: Suni,
of him is the family of the Sunites:
26:16. Ozni, of him is the family of the Oznites: Her, of him is the
family of the Herites:
26:17. Arod, of him is the family of the Arodites: Ariel, of him is the
family of the Arielites.
26:18. These are the families of Gad, of which the whole number was
forty thousand ive hundred.
26:19. The sons of Juda, Her and Onan, who both died in the land of
Chanaan.
26:20. And the sons of Juda by their kindreds were: Sela, of whom is
the family of the Selaites: Phares, of whom is the family of the
Pharesites: Zare, of whom is the family of the Zarites.
26:21. Moreover the sons of Phares were: Hesron, of whom is the
family of the Hesronites: and Hamul, of whom is the family of the
Hamulites.
26:22. These are the families of Juda, of which the whole number
was seventy-six thousand ive hundred.

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 26:23. The sons of Issachar, by their kindreds: Thola of whom is the
family of the Tholaites: Phua, of whom is the family of the Phuaites:
26:24. Jasub, of whom is the family of the Jasubites: Semran, of
whom is the family of the Semranites.
26:25. These are the kindreds of Issachar, whose number was sixty-
four thousand three hundred.
26:26. The sons of Zabulon by their kindreds: Sared, of whom is the
family of the Saredites: Elon, of whom is the family of the Elonites:
Jalel, of whom is the family of the Jalelites.
26:27. These are the kindreds of Zabulon, whose number was sixty
thousand ive hundred.
26:28. The sons of Joseph by their kindred, Manasses and Ephraim.
26:29. Of Manasses was born Machir, of whom is the family of the
Machirites. Machir begot Galaad, of whom is the family of the
Galaadites.
26:30. Galaad had sons: Jezer, of whom is the family of the Jezerites:
and Helec, of whom is the family of the Helecites:
26:31. And Asriel, of whom is the family of the Asrielites: and
Sechem, of whom is the family of the Sechemites:
26:32. And Semida, of whom is the family of the Semidaites: and
Hepher, of whom is the family of the Hepherites.
26:33. And Hepher was the father of Salphaad, who had no sons, but
only daughters, whose names are these: Maala, and Noa, and Hegla,
and Melcha, and Thersa.
26:34. These are the families of Manasses, and the number of them
ifty-two thousand seven hundred.
26:35. And the sons of Ephraim by their kindreds were these:
Suthala, of whom is the family of the Suthalaites: Becher, of whom is
the family of the Becherites: Thehen, of whom is the family of the
Thehenites.
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 26:36. Now the son of Suthala was Heran, of whom is the family of
the Heranites.
26:37. These are the kindreds of the sons of Ephraim: whose number
was thirty-two thousand ive hundred.
26:38. These are the sons of Joseph by their families. The sons of
Benjamin in their kindreds: Bela, of whom is the family of the Belaites:
Asbel, of whom is the family of the Asbelites: Ahiram, of whom is the
family of the Ahiramites:
26:39. Supham, of whom is the family of the Suphamites: Hupham,
of whom is the family of the Huphamites.
26:40. The sons of Bela: Hered, and Noeman. Of Hered, is the family
of the Heredites: of Noeman, the family of the Noemanites.
26:41. These are the sons of Benjamin by their kindreds, whose
number was forty- ive thousand six hundred.
26:42. The sons of Dan by their kindreds: Suham, of whom is the
family of the Suhamites: These are the kindreds of Dan by their
families.
26:43. All were Suhamites, whose number was sixty-four thousand
four hundred.
26:44. The sons of Aser by their kindreds: Jemna, of whom is the
family of the Jemnaites: Jessui, of whom is the family of the Jessuites:
Brie, of whom is the family of the Brieites.
26:45. The sons of Brie: Heber, of whom is the family of the
Heberites: and Melchiel, of whom is the family of the Melchielites.
26:46. And the name of the daughter of Aser, was Sara.
26:47. These are the kindreds of the sons of Aser, and their number
ifty-three thousand four hundred.
26:48. The sons of Nephtali by their kindreds: Jesiel, of whom is the
family of the Jesielites: Guni, of whom is the family of the Gunites:
26:49. Jeser, of whom is the family of the Jeserites: Sellem, of whom
is the family of the Sellemites.
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 26:50. These are the kindreds of the sons of Nephtali by their

families: whose number was forty- ive thousand four hundred.
26:51. This is the sum of the children of Israel, that were reckoned
up, six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty.
26:52. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
26:53. To these shall the land be divided for their possessions
according to the number of names.
26:54. To the greater number thou shalt give a greater portion, and
to the fewer a less: to every one, as they have now been reckoned up,
shall a possession be delivered:
26:55. Yet so that by lot the land be divided to the tribe and families.
26:56. Whatsoever shall fall by lot, that shall be taken by the more,
or the fewer.
26:57. This also is the number of the sons of Levi by their families:
Gerson, of whom is the family of the Gersonites: Caath, of whom is the
family of the Caathites: Merari, of whom is the family of the Merarites.
26:58. These are the families of Levi: The family of Lobni, the family
of Hebroni, the family of Moholi, the family of Musi, the family of Core.
Now Caath begot Amram:
26:59. Who had to wife Jochabed the daughter of Levi, who was
born to him in Egypt. She bore to her husband Amram sons, Aaron and
Moses, and Mary their sister.
26:60. Of Aaron were born Nadab and Abiu, and Eleazar and
Ithamar:
26:61. Of whom Nadab and Abiu died, when they had offered the
strange ire before the Lord.
26:62. And all that were numbered, were twenty-three thousand
males from one month old and upward: for they were not reckoned up
among the children of Israel, neither was a possession given to them
with the rest.
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 26:63. This is the number of the children of Israel, that were

enrolled by Moses and Eleazar the priest, in the plains of Moab upon
the Jordan, over against Jericho.
26:64. Among whom there was not one of them that were numbered
before by Moses and Aaron in the desert of Sinai.
26:65. For the Lord had foretold that they should die in the
wilderness. And none remained of them, but Caleb the son of Jephone,
and Josue the son of Nun.
Numbers Chapter 27

The law of inheritance. Josue is appointed to succeed Moses.

27:1. Then came the daughters of Salphaad, the son of Hepher, the
son of Galaad, the son of Machir, the son of Manasses, who was the son
of Joseph: and their names are Maala, and Noa, and Hegla, and
Melcha, and Thersa.
27:2. And they stood before Moses and Eleazar the priest, and all the
princes of the people at the door of the tabernacle of the covenant, and
said:
27:3. Our father died in the desert, and was not in the sedition, that
was raised against the Lord under Core, but he died in his own sin: and
he had no male children. Why is his name taken away out of his family,
because he had no son? Give us a possession among the kinsmen of our
father.
27:4. And Moses referred their cause to the judgment of the Lord.
27:5. And the Lord said to him:
27:6. The daughters of Salphaad demand a just thing: Give them a
possession among their father’s kindred, and let them succeed him in
his inheritance.
27:7. And to the children of Israel thou shalt speak these things:
27:8. When a man dieth without a son, his inheritance shall pass to
his daughter.

 27:9. If he have no daughter, his brethren shall succeed him.

27:10. And if he have no brethren, you shall give the inheritance to
his father’s brethren.
27:11. But if he have no uncles by the father, the inheritance shall be
given to them that are the next akin. And this shall be to the children
of Israel sacred by a perpetual law, as the Lord hath commanded
Moses.
27:12. The Lord also said to Moses: Go up into this mountain
Abarim, and view from thence the land which I will give to the children
of Israel.
27:13. And when thou shalt have seen it, thou also shalt go to thy
people, as thy brother Aaron is gone:
27:14. Because you offended me in the desert of Sin in the
contradiction of the multitude, neither would you sanctify me before
them at the waters. These are the waters of contradiction in Cades of
the desert of Sin.
27:15. And Moses answered him:
27:16. May the Lord the God of the spirits of all lesh provide a man,
that may be over this multitude:
27:17. And may go out and in before them, and may lead them out,
or bring them in: lest the people of the Lord be as sheep without a
shepherd.
27:18. And the Lord said to him: take Josue the son of Nun, a man in
whom is the Spirit, and put thy hand upon him.
27:19. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest and all the
multitude:
27:20. And thou shalt give him precepts in the sight of all, and part
of thy glory, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may
hear him.

 27:21. If any thing be to be done, Eleazar the priest shall consult the
Lord for him. He and all the children of Israel with him, and the rest of
the multitude shall go out and go in at his word.
27:22. Moses did as the Lord had commanded. And, when he had
taken Josue, he set him before Eleazar the priest, and all the assembly
of the people,
27:23. And laying his hands on his head, he repeated all things that
the Lord had commanded.
Numbers Chapter 28

Sacri ices are appointed as well for every day as for sabbaths, and
other festivals.
28:1. The Lord also said to Moses:
28:2. Command the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
Offer ye my oblation and my bread, and burnt sacri ice of most sweet
odour, in their due seasons.
28:3. These are the sacri ices which you shall offer: Two lambs of a
year old without blemish every day for the perpetual holocaust:
28:4. One you shall offer in the mornings, and the other in the
evening:
28:5. And the tenth part of an ephi of lour, which shall be tempered
with the purest oil, of the measure of the fourth part of a hin.
28:6. It is the continual holocaust which you offered in mount Sinai
for a most sweet odour of a sacri ice by ire to the Lord.
28:7. And for a libation you shall offer of wine the fourth part of a
hin for every lamb in the sanctuary of the Lord.
28:8. And you shall offer the other lamb in like manner in the
evening according to all the rites of the morning sacri ice, and of the
libations thereof, an oblation of most sweet odour to the Lord.
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 28:9. And on the sabbath day you shall offer two lambs of a year old
without blemish, and two tenths of lour tempered with oil in sacri ice,
and the libations,
28:10. Which regularly are poured out every sabbath for the
perpetual holocaust.
28:11. And on the irst day of the month you shall offer a holocaust
to the Lord, two calves of the herd, one ram, and seven lambs of a year
old, without blemish,
28:12. And three tenths of lour tempered with oil in sacri ice for
every calf: and two tenths of lour tempered with oil for every ram:
28:13. And the tenth of a tenth of lour tempered with oil in sacri ice
for every lamb. It is a holocaust of most sweet odour and an offering
by ire to the Lord.
28:14. And these shall be the libations of wine that are to be poured
out for every victim: Half a hin for every calf, a third for a ram, and a
fourth for a lamb. This shall be the holocaust for every month, as they
succeed one another in the course of the year.
28:15. A buck goat also shall be offered to the Lord for a sin offering
over and above the perpetual holocaust with its libations.
28:16. And in the irst month, on the fourteenth day of the month,
shall be the phase of the Lord,
28:17. And on the ifteenth day the solemn feast: seven days shall
they eat unleavened bread.
28:18. And the irst day of them shall be venerable and holy: you
shall not do any servile work therein.
28:19. And you shall offer a burnt sacri ice a holocaust to the Lord,
two calves of the herd, one ram, seven lambs of a year old, without
blemish:
28:20. And for the sacri ice of every one three tenths of lour which
shall be tempered with oil to every calf, and two tenths to every ram,
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 28:21. And the tenth of a tenth, to every lamb, that is to say, to all
the seven lambs:
28:22. And one buck goat for sin, to make atonement for you,
28:23. Besides the morning holocaust which you shall always offer.
28:24. So shall you do every day of the seven days for the food of the
ire, and for a most sweet odour to the Lord, which shall rise from the
holocaust, and from the libations of each.
28:25. The seventh day also shall be most solemn and holy unto you,
you shall do no servile work therein.
28:26. The day also of irstfruits, when after the weeks are
accomplished, you shall offer new fruits to the Lord, shall be venerable
and holy: you shall do no servile work therein.
28:27. And you shall offer a holocaust for a most sweet odour to the
Lord, two calves of the herd, one ram, and seven lambs of a year old,
without blemish:
28:28. And in the sacri ices of them three tenths of lour tempered
with oil to every calf, two to every ram,
28:29. The tenth of a tenth to every lamb, which in all are seven
lambs: a buck goat also,
28:30. Which is slain for expiation: besides the perpetual holocaust
and the libations thereof.
28:31. You shall offer them all without blemish with their libations.
Numbers Chapter 29

Sacri ices for the festivals of the seventh month.

29:1. The irst day also of the seventh month shall be venerable and
holy unto you; you shall do no servile work therein, because it is the
day of the sounding and of trumpets.
29:2. And you shall offer a holocaust for a most sweet odour to the
Lord, one calf of the herd, one ram and seven lambs of a year old,
without blemish.
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 29:3. And for their sacri ices, three tenths of lour tempered with oil
to every calf, two tenths to a ram,
29:4. One tenth to a lamb, which in all are seven lambs:
29:5. And a buck goat for sin, which is offered for the expiation of
the people,
29:6. Besides the holocaust of the irst day of the month with the
sacri ices thereof, and the perpetual holocaust with the accustomed
libations. With the same ceremonies you shall offer a burnt sacri ice
for a most sweet odour to the Lord.
29:7. The tenth day also of this seventh month shall be holy and
venerable unto you, and you shall af lict your souls; you shall do no
servile work therein.
29:8. And you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord for a most sweet
odour, one calf of the herd, one ram, and seven lambs of a year old,
without blemish:
29:9. And for their sacri ices, three tenths of lour tempered with oil
to every calf, two tenths to a ram,
29:10. The tenth of a tenth to every lamb, which are in all seven
lambs:
29:11. And a buck goat for sin, besides the things that are wont to be
offered for sin, for expiation, and for the perpetual holocaust with
their sacri ice and libations.
29:12. And on the ifteenth day of the seventh month, which shall be
unto you holy and venerable, you shall do no servile work, but shall
celebrate a solemnity to the Lord seven days.
29:13. And you shall offer a holocaust for a most sweet odour to the
Lord, thirteen calves of the herd, two rams, and fourteen lambs of a
year old, without blemish:
29:14. And for their libations three tenths of lour tempered with oil
to every calf, being in all thirteen calves: and two tenths to each ram,
being two rams,
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 29:15. And the tenth of a tenth to every lamb, being in all fourteen
lambs:
29:16. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacri ice and the libation thereof.
29:17. On the second day you shall offer twelve calves of the herd,
two rams and fourteen lambs of a year old, without blemish:
29:18. And the sacri ices and the libations for every one, for the
calves and for the rams and for the lambs you shall duly celebrate:
29:19. And a buck goat for a sin offering besides the perpetual
holocaust, and the sacri ice and the libation thereof.
29:20. The third day you shall offer eleven calves, two rams, and
fourteen lambs of a year old, without blemish:
29:21. And the sacri ices and the libations of every one for the calves
and for the rams and for the lambs you shall offer according to the
rite:
29:22. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacri ice, and the libation thereof.
29:23. The fourth day you shall offer ten calves, two rams, and
fourteen lambs of a year old, without blemish:
29:24. And the sacri ices and the libations of every one for the calves
and for the rams and for the lambs you shall celebrate in right
manner:
29:25. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacri ice and the libation thereof.
29:26. The ifth day you shall offer nine calves, two rams, and
fourteen lambs of a year old, without blemish:
29:27. And the sacri ices and the libations of every one for the calves
and for the rams and for the lambs you shall celebrate according to
the rite:
29:28. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacri ice and the libation thereof.

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 29:29. The sixth day you shall offer eight calves, two rams, and
fourteen lambs of a year old, without blemish:
29:30. And the sacri ices and the libations of every one for the calves
and for the rams and for the lambs you shall celebrate according to
the rite:
29:31. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacri ice and the libation thereof.
29:32. The seventh day you shall offer seven calves and two rams,
and fourteen lambs of a year old, without blemish:
29:33. And the sacri ices and the libations of every one for the calves
and for the rams and for the lambs you shall celebrate according to
the rite:
29:34. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacri ice and the libation thereof.
29:35. On the eighth day, which is most solemn, you shall do no
servile work:
29:36. But you shall offer a holocaust for a most sweet odour to the
Lord, one calf, one ram, and seven lambs of a year old, without
blemish:
29:37. And the sacri ices and the libations of every one for the calves
and for the rams and for the lambs you shall celebrate according to
the rite:
29:38. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacri ice and the libation thereof.
29:39. These things shall you offer to the Lord in your solemnities:
besides your vows and voluntary oblations for holocaust, for sacri ice,
for libation, and for victims of peace offerings.
Numbers Chapter 30

Of vows and oaths: and their obligation.

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 30:1. And Moses told the children of Israel all that the Lord had
commanded him:
30:2. And he said to the princes of the tribes of the children of Israel:
This is the word that the Lord hath commanded:
30:3. If any man make a vow to the Lord, or bind himself by an oath:
he shall not make his word void but shall ful il all that he promised.
30:4. If a woman vow any thing, and bind herself by an oath, being
in her father’s house, and but yet a girl in age: if her father knew the
vow that she hath promised, and the oath wherewith she hath bound
her soul, and held his peace, she shall be bound by the vow:
30:5. Whatsoever she promised and swore, she shall ful il in deed.
30:6. But if her father, immediately as soon as he heard it, gainsaid
it, both her vows and her oaths shall be void, neither shall she be
bound to what she promised, because her father hath gainsaid it.
30:7. If she have a husband, and shall vow any thing, and the word
once going out of her mouth shall bind her soul by an oath,
30:8. The day that her husband shall hear it, and not gainsay it, she
shall be bound to the vow, and shall give whatsoever she promised.
30:9. But if as soon as he heareth he gainsay it, and make her
promises and the words wherewith she had bound her soul of no
effect: the Lord will forgive her.
30:10. The widow, and she that is divorced, shall ful il whatsoever
they vow.
30:11. If the wife in the house of her husband, hath bound herself by
vow and by oath,
30:12. If her husband hear, and hold his peace, and doth not
disallow the promise, she shall accomplish whatsoever she had
promised.
30:13. But if forthwith he gainsay it, she shall not be bound by the
promise: because her husband gainsaid it, and the Lord will be
merciful to her.

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 30:14. If she vow and bind herself by oath, to af lict her soul by
fasting, or abstinence from other things, it shall depend on the will of
her husband, whether she shall do it, or not do it.
30:15. But if the husband hearing it hold his peace, and defer the
declaring his mind till another day: whatsoever she had vowed and
promised, she shall ful il: because immediately as he heard it, he held
his peace.
30:16. But if he gainsay it after that he knew it, he shall bear her
iniquity.
30:17. These are the laws which the Lord appointed to Moses
between the husband and the wife, between the father and the
daughter that is as yet but a girl in age, or that abideth in her father’s
house.
Numbers Chapter 31

The Madianites are slain for having drawn the people of Israel into sin.
The dividing of the booty.
31:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
31:2. Revenge irst the children of Israel on the Madianites, and so
thou shalt be gathered to thy people.
31:3. And Moses forthwith said: Arm of you men to ight, who may
take the revenge of the Lord on the Madianites.
31:4. Let a thousand men be chosen out of every tribe of Israel to be
sent to the war.
31:5. And they gave a thousand of every tribe, that is to say, twelve
thousand men well appointed for battle.
31:6. And Moses sent them with Phinees the son of Eleazar the
priest, and he delivered to him the holy vessels, and the trumpets to
sound.
31:7. And when they had fought against the Madianites and had
overcome them, they slew all the men.

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 31:8. And their kings Evi, and Recem, and Sur, and Hur, and Rebe,
ive princes of the nation: Balaam also the son of Beor they killed with
the sword.
31:9. And they took their women, and their children captives, and all
their cattle, and all their goods: and all their possessions they
plundered:
31:10. And all their cities, and their villages, and castles, they
burned.
31:11. And they carried away the booty, and all that they had taken
both of men and of beasts.
31:12. And they brought them to Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and
to all the multitude of the children of Israel. But the rest of the things
for use they carried to the camp on the plains of Moab, beside the
Jordan over against Jericho.
31:13. And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the
synagogue went forth to meet them without the camp.
31:14. And Moses being angry with the chief of icers of the army, the
tribunes, and the centurions that were come from the battle,
31:15. Said: Why have you saved the women?
31:16. Are not these they, that deceived the children of Israel by the
counsel of Balaam, and made you transgress against the Lord by the
sin of Phogor, for which also the people was punished?
The sin of Phogor.... The sin committed in the worship of Beelphegor.
31:17. Therefore kill all that are of the male sex, even of the
children: and put to death the women, that have carnally known men.
Of children.... Women and children, ordinarily speaking, were not to be killed in
war, Deut. 20.14. But the great Lord of life and death was pleased to order it
otherwise in the present case, in detestation of the wickedness of this people,
who by the counsel of Balaam, had sent their women among the Israelites on
purpose to draw them from God.
31:18. But the girls, and all the women that are virgins save for
yourselves:
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 31:19. And stay without the camp seven days. He that hath killed a
man, or touched one that is killed, shall be puri ied the third day and
the seventh day.
31:20. And of all the spoil, every garment, or vessel, or any thing
made for use, of the skins, or hair of goats, or of wood, shall be
puri ied.
31:21. Eleazar also the priest spoke to the men of the army, that had
fought, in this manner: This is the ordinance of the law, which the Lord
hath commanded Moses:
31:22. Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin,
31:23. And all that may pass through the ire, shall be puri ied by
ire, but whatsoever cannot abide the ire, shall be sancti ied with the
water of expiation:
31:24. And you shall wash your garments the seventh day, and being
puri ied, you shall afterwards enter into the camp.
31:25. And the Lord said to Moses:
31:26. Take the sum of the things that were taken both of man and
beast, thou and Eleazar the priest and the princes of the multitude:
31:27. And thou shalt divide the spoil equally, between them that
fought and went out to the war, and between the rest of the multitude.
31:28. And thou shalt separate a portion to the Lord from them that
fought and were in the battle, one soul of ive hundred as well of
persons as of oxen and asses and sheep.
31:29. And thou shalt give it to Eleazar the priest, because they are
the irstfruits of the Lord.
31:30. Out of the moiety also of the children of Israel thou shalt take
the iftieth head of persons, and of oxen, and asses, and sheep, and of
all beasts, and thou shalt give them to the Levites that watch in the
charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.
31:31. And Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord had commanded.
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 31:32. And the spoil which the army had taken, was six hundred
seventy- ive thousand sheep,
31:33. Seventy-two thousand oxen,
31:34. Sixty-one thousand asses:
31:35. And thirty-two thousand persons of the female sex, that had
not known men.
31:36. And one half was given to them that had been in the battle, to
wit, three hundred thirty-seven thousand ive hundred sheep:
31:37. Out of which, for the portion of the Lord, were reckoned six
hundred seventy ive sheep.
31:38. And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen:
31:39. Out of the thirty thousand ive hundred asses, sixty-one asses:
31:40. Out of the sixteen thousand persons, there fell to the portion
of the Lord, thirty-two souls.
31:41. And Moses delivered the number of the irstfruits of the Lord
to Eleazar the priest, as had been commanded him,
31:42. Out of the half of the children of Israel, which he had
separated for them that had been in the battle.
31:43. But out of the half that fell to the rest of the multitude, that is
to say, out of the three hundred thirty-seven thousand ive hundred
sheep,
31:44. And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen,
31:45. And out of the thirty thousand ive hundred asses,
31:46. And out of the sixteen thousand persons,
31:47. Moses took the iftieth head, and gave it to the Levites that
watched in the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded.
31:48. And when the commanders of the army, and the tribunes and
centurions were come to Moses, they said:
31:49. We thy servants have reckoned up the number of the ighting
men, whom we had under our hand, and not so much as one was
wanting.

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 31:50. Therefore we offer as gifts to the Lord what gold every one of
us could ind in the booty, in garters and tablets, rings and bracelets,
and chains, that thou mayst pray to the Lord for us.
31:51. And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in
divers kinds,
31:52. In weight sixteen thousand seven hundred and ifty sicles,
from the tribunes and from the centurions.
31:53. For that which every one had taken in the booty was his own.
31:54. And that which was received they brought into the
tabernacle of the testimony, for a memorial of the children of Israel
before the Lord.
Numbers Chapter 32

The tribes of Ruben and Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasses, receive
their inheritance on the east side of Jordan, upon conditions approved
of by Moses.
32:1. And the sons of Ruben and Gad had many locks of cattle, and
their substance in beasts was in inite. And when they saw the lands of
Jazer and Galaad it for feeding cattle,
32:2. They came to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and the princes of
the multitude, and said:
32:3. Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nemra, Hesebon, and
Eleale, and Saban, and Nebo, and Beon,
32:4. The land, which the Lord hath conquered in the sight of the
children of Israel, is a very fertile soil for the feeding of beasts: and we
thy servants have very much cattle:
32:5. And we pray thee, if we have found favour in thy sight, that
thou give it to us thy servants in possession, and make us not pass over
the Jordan.
32:6. And Moses answered them: What, shall your brethren go to
ight, and will you sit here?
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 32:7. Why do ye overturn the minds of the children of Israel, that

they may not dare to pass into the place which the Lord hath given
them?
32:8. Was it not thus your fathers did, when I sent from Cadesbarne
to view the land?
32:9. And when they were come as far as the valley of the cluster,
having viewed all the country, they overturned the hearts of the
children of Israel, that they should not enter into the coasts, which the
Lord gave them.
32:10. And he swore in his anger, saying:
32:11. If these men, that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years
old and upward, shall see the land, which I promised with an oath to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: because they would not follow me,
32:12. Except Caleb the son of Jephone the Cenezite, and Josue the
son of Nun: these have ful illed my will.
32:13. And the Lord being angry against Israel, led them about
through the desert forty years, until the whole generation, that had
done evil in his sight, was consumed.
32:14. And behold, said he, you are risen up instead of your fathers,
the increase and offspring of sinful men, to augment the fury of the
Lord against Israel.
32:15. For if you will not follow him, he will leave the people in the
wilderness, and you shall be the cause of the destruction of all.
32:16. But they coming near, said: We will make sheepfolds, and
stalls for our cattle, and strong cities for our children:
32:17. And we ourselves will go armed and ready for battle before
the children of Israel, until we bring them in unto their places. Our
little ones, and all we have, shall be in walled cities, for fear of the
ambushes of the inhabitants.
32:18. We will not return into our houses until the children of Israel
possess their inheritance:

 32:19. Neither will we seek any thing beyond the Jordan, because we
have already our possession on the east side thereof,
32:20. And Moses said to them: If you do what you promise, go on
well appointed for war before the Lord:
32:21. And let every ighting man pass over the Jordan, until the
Lord overthrow his enemies:
32:22. And all the land be brought under him, then shall you be
blameless before the Lord and before Israel, and you shall obtain the
countries that you desire, before the Lord.
32:23. But if you do not what you say, no man can doubt but you sin
against God: and know ye, that your sin shall overtake you.
32:24. Build therefore cities for your children, and folds and stalls
for your sheep and beasts, and accomplish what you have promised.
32:25. And the children of Gad and Ruben said to Moses: We are thy
servants, we will do what my lord commandeth.
32:26. We will leave our children, and our wives and sheep and
cattle, in the cities of Galaad:
32:27. And we thy servants all well appointed will march on to the
war, as thou, my lord, speakest.
32:28. Moses therefore commanded Eleazar the priest, and Josue the
son of Nun, and the princes of the families of all the tribes of Israel,
and said to them:
32:29. If the children of Gad, and the children of Ruben pass with
you over the Jordan, all armed for war before the Lord, and the land be
made subject to you: give them Galaad in possession.
32:30. But if they will not pass armed with you into the land of
Chanaan, let them receive places to dwell in among you.
32:31. And the children of Gad, and the children of Ruben answered:
As the Lord hath spoken to his servants, so will we do:

 32:32. We will go armed before the Lord into the land of Chanaan,
and we confess that we have already received our possession beyond
the Jordan.
32:33. Moses therefore gave to the children of Gad and of Ruben,
and to the half tribe of Manasses the son of Joseph, the kingdom of
Sehon king of the Amorrhites, and the kingdom of Og king of Basan,
and their land and the cities thereof round about.
32:34. And the sons of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,
32:35. And Etroth, and Sophan, and Jazer, and Jegbaa,
32:36. And Bethnemra, and Betharan, fenced cities, and folds for
their cattle.
32:37. But the children of Ruben built Hesebon, and Eleale, and
Cariathaim,
32:38. And Nabo, and Baalmeon (their names being changed) and
Sabama: giving names to the cities which they had built.
32:39. Moreover the children of Machir, the son of Manasses, went
into Galaad, and wasted it, cutting off the Amorrhites, the inhabitants
thereof.
32:40. And Moses gave the land of Galaad to Machir the son of
Manasses, and he dwelt in it.
32:41. And Jair the son of Manasses went, and took the villages
thereof, and he called them Havoth Jair, that is to say, the villages of
Jair.
32:42. Nobe also went, and took Canath with the villages thereof:
and he called it by his own name, Nobe.
Numbers Chapter 33

The mansions or journeys of the children of Israel towards the land of

promise.
33:1. These are the mansions of the children of Israel, who went out
of Egypt by their troops under the conduct of Moses and Aaron,

The mansions.... These mansions, or journeys of the children of Israel from Egypt
to the land of promise, were igures, according to the fathers, of the steps and
degrees by which Christians leaving sin are to advance from virtue to virtue, till
they come to the heavenly mansions, after this life, to see and enjoy God.
33:2. Which Moses wrote down according to the places of their
encamping, which they changed by the commandment of the Lord.
33:3. Now the children of Israel departed from Ramesses the irst
month, on the ifteenth day of the irst month, the day after the phase,
with a mighty hand, in the sight of all the Egyptians,
33:4. Who were burying their irstborn, whom the Lord had slain
(upon their gods also he had executed vengeance,)
33:5. And they camped in Soccoth.
33:6. And from Soccoth they came into Etham, which is in the
uttermost borders of the wilderness.
33:7. Departing from thence they came over against Phihahiroth,
which looketh towards Beelsephon, and they camped before
Magdalum.
33:8. And departing from Phihahiroth, they passed through the
midst of the sea into the wilderness: and having marched three days
through the desert of Etham, they camped in Mara.
33:9. And departing from Mara, they came into Elim, where there
were twelve fountains of waters, and seventy palm trees: and there
they camped.
33:10. But departing from thence also, they pitched their tents by
the Red Sea. And departing from the Red Sea,
33:11. They camped in the desert of Sin.
33:12. And they removed from thence, and came to Daphca.
33:13. And departing from Daphca, they camped in Alus.
33:14. And departing from Alus, they pitched their tents in
Raphidim, where the people wanted water to drink.

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 33:15. And departing from Raphidim, they camped in the desert of

Sinai.
33:16. But departing also from the desert of Sinai, they came to the
graves of lust.
33:17. And departing from the graves of lust, they camped in
Haseroth.
33:18. And from Haseroth they came to Rethma.
33:19. And departing from Rethma, they camped in
Remmomphares.
33:20. And they departed from thence and came to Lebna.
33:21. Removing from Lebna they camped in Ressa.
33:22. And departing from Ressa, they came to Ceelatha.
33:23. And they removed from thence and camped in the mountain
Sepher.
33:24. Departing from the mountain Sepher, they came to Arada,
33:25. From thence they went and camped in Maceloth.
33:26. And departing from Maceloth, they came to Thahath.
33:27. Removing from Thahath they camped in Thare.
33:28. And they departed from thence, and pitched their tents in
Methca.
33:29. And removing from Methca, they camped in Hesmona.
33:30. And departing from Hesmona, they came to Moseroth.
33:31. And removing from Moseroth, they camped in Benejaacan.
33:32. And departing from Benejaacan, they came to mount
Gadgad.
33:33. From thence they went and camped in Jetebatha.
33:34. And from Jetebatha they came to Hebrona.
33:35. And departing from Hebrona, they camped in Asiongaber.
33:36. They removed from thence and came into the desert of Sin,
which is Cades.

 33:37. And departing from Cades, they camped in mount Hor, in the
uttermost borders of the land of Edom.
33:38. And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the
commandment of the Lord: and there he died in the fortieth year of
the coming forth of the children of Israel out of Egypt, the ifth month,
the irst day of the month,
33:39. When he was a hundred and twenty-three years old.
33:40. And king Arad the Chanaanite, who dwelt towards the south,
heard that the children of Israel were come to the land of Chanaan.
33:41. And they departed from mount Hor, and camped in Salmona.
33:42. From whence they removed and came to Phunon.
33:43. And departing from Phunon, they camped in Oboth.
33:44. And from Oboth they came to Ijeabarim, which is in the
borders of the Moabites.
33:45. And departing from Ijeabarim they pitched their tents in
Dibongab.
33:46. From thence they went and camped in Helmondeblathaim.
33:47. And departing from Helmondeblathaim, they came to the
mountains of Abarim over against Nabo.
33:48. And departing from the mountains of Abarim, they passed to
the plains of Moab, by the Jordan, over against Jericho.
33:49. And there they camped from Bethsimoth even to Ablesatim in
the plains of the Moabites,
33:50. Where the Lord said to Moses:
33:51. Command the children of Israel, and say to them: When you
shall have passed over the Jordan, entering into the land of Chanaan,
33:52. Destroy all the inhabitants of that land: Beat down their
pillars, and break in pieces their statues, and waste all their high
places,
33:53. Cleansing the land, and dwelling in it. For I have given it you
for a possession.
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 33:54. And you shall divide it among you by lot. To the more you
shall give a larger part, and to the fewer a lesser. To every one as the
lot shall fall, so shall the inheritance be given. The possession shall be
divided by the tribes and the families.
33:55. But if you will not kill the inhabitants of the land: they that
remain, shall be unto you as nails in your eyes, and spears in your
sides, and they shall be your adversaries in the land of your habitation.
33:56. And whatsoever I had thought to do to them, I will do to you.
Numbers Chapter 34

The limits of Chanaan; with the names of the men that make the
division of it.
34:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
34:2. Command the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
When you are entered into the land of Chanaan, and it shall be fallen
into your possession by lot, it shall be bounded by these limits:
34:3. The south side shall begin from the wilderness of Sin, which is
by Edom: and shall have the most salt sea for its furthest limits
eastward:
The most salt sea.... The lake of Sodom, otherwise called the Dead Sea.
34:4. Which limits shall go round on the south side by the ascent of
the Scorpion and so into Senna, and reach toward the south as far as
Cadesbarne, from whence the frontiers shall go out to the town called
Adar, and shall reach as far as Asemona.
The Scorpion.... A mountain so called from having a great number of scorpions.
34:5. And the limits shall fetch a compass from Asemona to the
torrent of Egypt, and shall end in the shore of the great sea.
The great sea.... The Mediterranean.
34:6. And the west side shall begin from the great sea, and the same
shall be the end thereof.

 34:7. But toward the north side the borders shall begin from the
great sea, reaching to the most high mountain,
The most high mountain.... Libanus.
34:8. From which they shall come to Emath, as far as the borders of
Sedada:
34:9. And the limits shall go as far as Zephrona, and the village of
Enan. These shall be the borders on the north side.
34:10. From thence they shall mark out the bounds towards the east
side from the village of Enan unto Sephama.
34:11. And from Sephama the bounds shall go down to Rebla over
against the fountain of Daphnis: from thence they shall come eastward
to the sea of Cenereth,
Sea of Cenereth.... This is the sea of Galilee, illustrated by the miracles of our
Lord.
34:12. And shall reach as far as the Jordan, and at the last shall be
closed in by the most salt sea. This shall be your land with its borders
round about.
34:13. And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying: This
shall be the land which you shall possess by lot, and which the Lord
hath commanded to be given to the nine tribes, and to the half tribe.
34:14. For the tribe of the children of Ruben by their families, and
the tribe of the children of Gad according to the number of their
kindreds, and half of the tribe of Manasses,
34:15. That is, two tribes and a half, have received their portion
beyond the Jordan over against Jericho at the east side.
34:16. And the Lord said to Moses:
34:17. These are the names of the men, that shall divide the land
unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Josue the son of Nun,
34:18. And one prince of every tribe,
34:19. Whose names are these: Of the tribe of Juda, Caleb the son of
Jephone.

 34:20. Of the tribe of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammiud.

34:21. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chaselon.
34:22. Of the tribe of the children of Dan, Bocci the son of Jogli.
34:23. Of the children of Joseph of the tribe of Manasses, Hanniel the
son of Ephod.
34:24. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Camuel the son of Sephtan.
34:25. Of the tribe of Zabulon, Elisaphan the son of Pharnach.
34:26. Of the tribe of Issachar, Phaltiel the prince, the son of Ozan.
34:27. Of the tribe of Aser, Ahiud the son of Salomi.
34:28. Of the tribe of Nephtali: Phedael the son of Ammiud.
34:29. These are they Whom the Lord hath commanded to divide
the land of Chanaan to the children of Israel.
Numbers Chapter 35

Cities are appointed for the Levites. Of which six are to be the cities of
refuge.
35:1. And the Lord spoke these things also to Moses in the plains of
Moab by the Jordan, over against Jericho:
35:2. Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites
out of their possessions,
35:3. Cities to dwell in, and their suburbs round about: that they
may abide in the towns, and the suburbs may be for their cattle and
beasts:
35:4. Which suburbs shall reach from the walls of the cities
outward, a thousand paces on every side:
35:5. Toward the east shall be two thousand cubits: and toward the
south in like manner shall be two thousand cubits: toward the sea also,
which looketh to the west, shall be the same extent: and the north side
shall be bounded with the like limits. And the cities shall be in the
midst, and the suburbs without.

 35:6. And among the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, six
shall be separated for refuge to fugitives, that he who hath shed blood
may lee to them: and besides these there shall be other forty-two
cities,
35:7. That is, in all forty-eight with their suburbs.
35:8. And of these cities which shall be given out of the possessions
of the children of Israel, from them that have more, more shall be
taken: and from them that have less, fewer. Each shall give towns to
the Levites according to the extent of their inheritance.
35:9. The Lord said to Moses:
35:10. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
When you shall have passed over the Jordan into the land of Chanaan,
35:11. Determine what cities shall be for the refuge of fugitives, who
have shed blood against their will.
35:12. And when the fugitive shall be in them, the kinsman of him
that is slain may not have power to kill him, until he stand before the
multitude, and his cause be judged.
35:13. And of those cities, that are separated for the refuge of
fugitives,
35:14. Three shall be beyond the Jordan, and three in the land of
Chanaan,
35:15. As well for the children of Israel as for strangers and
sojourners, that he may lee to them, who hath shed blood against his
will.
35:16. If any man strike with iron, and he die that was struck: he
shall be guilty of murder, and he himself shall die.
35:17. If he throw a stone, and he that is struck die: he shall be
punished in the same manner.
35:18. If he that is struck with wood die: he shall be revenged by the
blood of him that struck him.

 35:19. The kinsman of him that was slain, shall kill the murderer: as
soon as he apprehendeth him, he shall kill him.
35:20. If through hatred any one push a man, or ling any thing at
him with ill design:
35:21. Or being his enemy, strike him with his hand, and he die: the
striker shall be guilty of murder: the kinsman of him that was slain as
soon as he indeth him, shall kill him.
35:22. But if by chance medley, and without hatred,
35:23. And enmity, he do any of these things,
35:24. And this be proved in the hearing of the people, and the cause
be debated between him that struck, and the next of kin:
35:25. The innocent shall be delivered from the hand of the
revenger, and shall be brought back by sentence into the city, to which
he had led, and he shall abide there until the death of the high priest,
that is anointed with the holy oil.
Until the death, etc.... This mystically signi ied that our deliverance was to be
effected by the death of Christ, the high priest and the anointed of God.
35:26. If the murderer be found without the limits of the cities that
are appointed for the banished,
35:27. And be struck by him that is the avenger of blood: he shall not
be guilty that killed him.
35:28. For the fugitive ought to have stayed in the city until the
death of the high priest: and after he is dead, then shall the manslayer
return to his own country.
35:29. These things shall be perpetual, and for an ordinance in all
your dwellings.
35:30. The murderer shall be punished by witnesses: none shall be
condemned upon the evidence of one man.
35:31. You shall not take money of him that is guilty of blood, but he
shall die forthwith.
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 35:32. The banished and fugitives before the death of the high priest
may by no means return into their own cities.
35:33. De ile not the land of your habitation, which is stained with
the blood of the innocent: neither can it otherwise be expiated, but by
his blood that hath shed the blood of another.
35:34. And thus shall your possession be cleansed, myself abiding
with you. For I am the Lord that dwell among the children of Israel.
Numbers Chapter 36

That the inheritances may not be alienated from one tribe to another,
all are to marry within their own tribes.
36:1. And the princes of the families of Galaad, the son of Machir, the
son of Manasses, of the stock of the children of Joseph, came and spoke
to Moses before the princes of Israel, and said:
36:2. The Lord hath commanded thee, my lord, that thou shouldst
divide the land by lot to the children of Israel, and that thou shouldst
give to the daughters of Salphaad our brother the possession due to
their father:
36:3. Now if men of another tribe take them to wives, their
possession will follow them, and being transferred to another tribe,
will be a diminishing of our inheritance.
36:4. And so it shall come to pass, that when the jubilee, that is, the
iftieth year of remission, is come, the distribution made by the lots
shall be confounded, and the possession of the one shall pass to the
others.
36:5. Moses answered the children of Israel, and said by the
command of the Lord: The tribe of the children of Joseph hath spoken
rightly.
36:6. And this is the law promulgated by the Lord touching the
daughters of Salphaad: Let them marry to whom they will, only so that
it be to men of their own tribe.
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 36:7. Lest the possession of the children of Israel be mingled from

tribe to tribe. For all men shall marry wives of their own tribe and
kindred:
36:8. And all women shall take husbands of the same tribe: that the
inheritance may remain in the families.
36:9. And that the tribes be not mingled one with another, but
remain so
36:10. As they were separated by the Lord. And the daughters of
Salphaad did as was commanded:
36:11. And Maala, and Thersa, and Hegla, and Melcha, and Noa
were married to the sons of their uncle by their father
36:12. Of the family of Manasses, who was the son of Joseph: and the
possession that had been allotted to them, remained in the tribe and
family of their father.
36:13. These are the commandments and judgment, which the Lord
commanded by the hand of Moses to the children of Israel, in the
plains of Moab upon the Jordan over against Jericho.

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

This Book is called DEUTERONOMY, which signi ies a SECOND LAW,

because it repeats and inculcates the ordinances formerly given on
mount Sinai, with other precepts not expressed before. The Hebrews,
from the irst words in the book, call it ELLE HADDEBARIM.
Deuteronomy Chapter 1

A repetition of what passed at Sinai and Cadesbarne: and of the

people’s murmuring and their punishment.

 1:1. These are the words, which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the
Jordan, in the plain wilderness, over against the Red Sea, between
Pharan and Thophel and Laban and Haseroth, where there is very
much gold.
1:2. Eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir to
Cadesbarne.
1:3. In the fortieth year, the eleventh month, the irst day of the
month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel all that the Lord had
commanded him to say to them:
1:4. After that he had slain Sehon king of the Amorrhites, who dwelt
in Hesebon: and Og king of Basan who abode in Astaroth, and in Edrai,
1:5. Beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab. And Moses began to
expound the law, and to say:
1:6. The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: You have stayed
long enough in this mountain:
1:7. Turn you, and come to the mountain of the Amorrhites, and to
the other places that are next to it, the plains and the hills and the
vales towards the south, and by the sea shore, the land of the
Chanaanites, and of Libanus, as far as the great river Euphrates.
1:8. Behold, said he, I have delivered it to you: go in and possess it,
concerning which the Lord swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, that he would give it to them, and to their seed after them.
1:9. And I said to you at that time:
1:10. I alone am not able to bear you: for the Lord your God hath
multiplied you, and you are this day as the stars of heaven, for
multitude.
1:11. (The Lord God of your fathers add to this number many
thousands, and bless you as he hath spoken.)
1:12. I alone am not able to bear your business, and the charge of
you and your differences.

 1:13. Let me have from among you wise and understanding men,
and such whose conversation is approved among your tribes, that I
may appoint them your rulers.
1:14. Then you answered me: The thing is good which thou meanest
to do.
1:15. And I took out of your tribes men wise and honourable, and
appointed them rulers, tribunes, and centurions, and of icers over
ifties, and over tens, who might teach you all things.
1:16. And I commanded them, saying: Hear them, and judge that
which is just: whether he be one of your country, or a stranger.
1:17. There shall be no difference of persons, you shall hear the little
as well as the great: neither shall you respect any man’s person,
because it is the judgment of God. And if any thing seem hard to you,
refer it to me, and I will hear it.
1:18. And I commanded you all things that you were to do.
1:19. And departing from Horeb, we passed through the terrible and
vast wilderness, which you saw, by the way of the mountain of the
Amorrhite, as the Lord our God had commanded us. And when we
were come into Cadesbarne,
1:20. I said to you: You are come to the mountain of the Amorrhite,
which the Lord our God will give to us.
1:21. See the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee: go up and
possess it, as the Lord our God hath spoken to thy fathers: fear not, nor
be any way discouraged.
1:22. And you came all to me, and said: Let us send men who may
view the land, and bring us word what way we shall go up, and to
what cities we shall go.
1:23. And because the saying pleased me, I sent of you twelve men,
one of every tribe:
1:24. Who, when they had set forward and had gone up to the
mountains, came as far as the valley of the cluster: and having viewed
the land,
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 1:25. Taking of the fruits thereof, to shew its fertility, they brought
them to us, and said: The land is good, which the Lord our God will
give us.
1:26. And you would not go up, but being incredulous to the word of
the Lord our God,
1:27. You murmured in your tents, and said: The Lord hateth us, and
therefore he hath brought us out of the land of Egypt, that he might
deliver us into the hand of the Amorrhite, and destroy us.
1:28. Whither shall we go up? the messengers have terri ied our
hearts, saying: The multitude is very great, and taller than we: the
cities are great, and walled up to the sky, we have seen the sons of the
Enacims there.
Walled up to the sky.... A igurative expression, signifying the walls to be very
high.
1:29. And I said to you: Fear not, neither be ye afraid of them:
1:30. The Lord God, who is your leader, himself will ight for you, as
he did in Egypt in the sight of all.
1:31. And in the wilderness (as thou hast seen) the Lord thy God
hath carried thee, as a man is wont to carry his little son, all the way
that you have come, until you came to this place.
1:32. And yet for all this you did not believe the Lord your God,
1:33. Who went before you in the way, and marked out the place,
wherein you should pitch your tents, in the night shewing you the way
by ire, and in the day by the pillar of a cloud.
1:34. And when the Lord had heard the voice of your words, he was
angry and swore, and said:
1:35. Not one of the men of this wicked generation shall see the
good land, which I promised with an oath to your fathers:
1:36. Except Caleb the son of Jephone: for he shall see it, and to him I
will give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children,
because he hath followed the Lord.
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 1:37. Neither is his indignation against the people to be wondered

at, since the Lord was angry with me also on your account, and said:
Neither shalt thou go in thither.
1:38. But Josue the son of Nun, thy minister, he shall go in for thee:
exhort and encourage him, and he shall divide the land by lot to Israel.
1:39. Your children, of whom you said that they should be led away
captives, and your sons who know not this day the difference of good
and evil, they shall go in: and to them I will give the land, and they
shall possess it.
1:40. But return you and go into the wilderness by the way of the
Red Sea.
1:41. And you answered me: We have sinned against the Lord: we
will go up and ight, as the Lord our God hath commanded. And when
you went ready armed unto the mountain,
1:42. The Lord said to me: Say to them: Go not up, and ight not, for
I am not with you: lest you fall before your enemies.
1:43. I spoke, and you hearkened not: but resisting the
commandment of the Lord, and swelling with pride, you went up into
the mountain.
1:44. And the Amorrhite that dwelt in the mountains coming out,
and meeting you, chased you, as bees do: and made slaughter of you
from Seir as far as Horma.
1:45. And when you returned and wept before the Lord, he heard
you not, neither would he yield to your voice.
1:46. So you abode in Cadesbarne a long time.
Deuteronomy Chapter 2

They are forbid to ight against the Edomites, Moabites, and

Ammonites. Their victory over Sehon king of Hesebon.

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 2:1. And departing from thence we came into the wilderness that
leadeth to the Red Sea, as the Lord had spoken to me: and we
compassed mount Seir a long time.
2:2. And the Lord said to me:
2:3. You have compassed this mountain long enough: go toward the
north:
2:4. And command thou the people, saying: You shall pass by the
borders of your brethren the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and
they will be afraid of you.
2:5. Take ye then good heed that you stir not against them. For I will
not give you of their land so much as the step of one foot can tread
upon, because I have given mount Seir to Esau, for a possession.
2:6. You shall buy meats of them for money and shall eat: you shall
draw waters for money, and shall drink.
2:7. The Lord thy God hath blessed thee in every work of thy hands:
the Lord thy God dwelling with thee, knoweth thy journey, how thou
hast passed through this great wilderness, for forty years, and thou
hast wanted nothing.
2:8. And when we had passed by our brethren the children of Esau,
that dwelt in Seir, by the way of the plain from Elath and from
Asiongaber, we came to the way that leadeth to the desert of Moab.
2:9. And the Lord said to me: Fight not against the Moabites, neither
go to battle against them: for I will not give thee any of their land,
because I have given Ar to the children of Lot in possession.
2:10. The Emims irst were the inhabitants thereof, a people great,
and strong, and so tall, that like the race of the Enacims,
2:11. They were esteemed as giants, and were like the sons of the
Enacims. But the Moabites call them Emims.
2:12. The Horrhites also formerly dwelt in Seir: who being driven
out and destroyed, the children of Esau dwelt there, as Israel did in the
land of his possession, which the Lord gave him.

 2:13. Then rising up to pass the torrent Zared, we came to it.

2:14. And the time that we journeyed from Cadesbarne till we
passed over the torrent Zared, was thirty-eight years: until all the
generation of the men that were it for war was consumed out of the
camp, as the Lord had sworn:
2:15. For his hand was against them, that they should perish from
the midst of the camp.
2:16. And after all the ighting men were dead,
2:17. The Lord spoke to me, saying:
2:18. Thou shalt pass this day the borders of Moab, the city named
Ar:
2:19. And when thou comest nigh the frontiers of the children of
Ammon, take heed thou ight not against them, nor once move to
battle: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon,
because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.
2:20. It was accounted a land of giants: and giants formerly dwelt in
it, whom the Ammonites call Zomzommims,
2:21. A people great and many, and of tall stature, like the Enacims
whom the Lord destroyed before their face: and he made them to dwell
in their stead,
2:22. As he had done in favour of the children of Esau, that dwell in
Seir, destroying the Horrhites, and delivering their land to them, which
they possess to this day.
2:23. The Hevites also, that dwelt in Haserim as far as Gaza, were
expelled by the Cappadocians: who came out of Cappadocia, and
destroyed them and dwelt in their stead.
2:24. Arise ye, and pass the torrent Arnon: Behold I have delivered
into thy hand Sehon king of Hesebon the Amorrhite, and begin thou to
possess his land and make war against him.
2:25. This day will I begin to send the dread and fear of thee upon
the nations that dwell under the whole heaven: that when they hear

 thy name they may fear and tremble, and be in pain like women in
travail.
2:26. So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Cademoth to
Sehon the king of Hesebon with peaceable words, saying:
2:27. We will pass through thy land, we will go along by the
highway: we will not turn aside neither to the right hand nor to the
left.
2:28. Sell us meat for money, that we may eat: give us water for
money and so we will drink. We only ask that thou wilt let us pass
through,
2:29. As the children of Esau have done, that dwell in Seir, and the
Moabites, that abide in Ar: until we come to the Jordan, and pass to the
land which the Lord our God will give us.
2:30. And Sehon the king of Hesebon would not let us pass: because
the Lord thy God had hardened his spirit, and ixed his heart, that he
might be delivered into thy hands, as now thou seest.
Hardened, etc.... That is, in punishment of his past sins he left him to his own
stubborn and perverse disposition, which drew him to his ruin. See the note on
Ex. 7.3.
2:31. And the Lord said to me: Behold I have begun to deliver unto
thee Sehon and his land, begin to possess it.
2:32. And Sehon came out to meet us with all his people to ight at
Jasa.
2:33. And the Lord our God delivered him to us: and we slew him
with his sons and all his people.
2:34. And we took all his cities at that time, killing the inhabitants of
them, men and women and children. We left nothing of them:
2:35. Except the cattle which came to the share of them that took
them: and the spoils of the cities, which we took:
2:36. From Aroer, which is upon the bank of the torrent Arnon, a
town that is situate in a valley, as far as Galaad. There was not a

 village or city, that escaped our hands: the Lord our God delivered all
unto us:
2:37. Except the land of the children of Ammon, to which we
approached not: and all that border upon the torrent Jeboc, and the
cities in the mountains, and all the places which the Lord our God
forbade us.
Deuteronomy Chapter 3

The victory over Og king of Basan. Ruben, Gad, and half the tribe of
Manasses receive their possession on the other side of Jordan.
3:1. Then we turned and went by the way of Basan: and Og the king
of Basan came out to meet us with his people to ight in Edrai.
3:2. And the Lord said to me: Fear him not: because he is delivered
into thy hand, with all his people and his land: and thou shalt do to
him as thou hast done to Sehon king of the Amorrhites, that dwelt in
Hesebon.
3:3. So the Lord our God delivered into our hands, Og also, the king
of Basan, and all his people: and we utterly destroyed them,
3:4. Wasting all his cities at one time, there was not a town that
escaped us: sixty cities, all the country of Argob the kingdom of Og in
Basan.
3:5. All the cities were fenced with very high walls, and with gates
and bars, besides innumerable towns that had no walls.
3:6. And we utterly destroyed them, as we had done to Sehon the
king of Hesebon, destroying every city, men and women and children:
3:7. But the cattle and the spoils of the cities we took for our prey.
3:8. And we took at that time the land out of the hand of the two
kings of the Amorrhites, that were beyond the Jordan: from the torrent
Arnon unto the mount Hermon,
3:9. Which the Sidonians call Sarion, and the Amorrhites Sanir:

 3:10. All the cities that are situate in the plain, and all the land of
Galaad and Basan as far as Selcha and Edrai, cities of the kingdom of
Og in Basan.
3:11. For only Og king of Basan remained of the race of the giants.
His bed of iron is shewn, which is in Rabbath of the children of Ammon,
being nine cubits long, and four broad after the measure of the cubit of
a man’s hand.
3:12. And we possessed the land at that time from Aroer, which is
upon the bank of the torrent Arnon, unto the half of mount Galaad:
and I gave the cities thereof to Ruben and Gad.
3:13. And I delivered the other part of Galaad, and all Basan the
kingdom of Og to the half tribe of Manasses, all the country of Argob:
and all Basan is called the Land of giants.
3:14. Jair the son of Manasses possessed all the country of Argob
unto the borders of Gessuri, and Machati. And he called Basan by his
own name, Havoth Jair, that is to say, the towns of Jair, until this
present day.
3:15. To Machir also I gave Galaad.
3:16. And to the tribes of Ruben and Gad I gave of the land of Galaad
as far as the torrent Arnon, half the torrent, and the con ines even
unto the torrent Jeboc, which is the border of the children of Ammon:
3:17. And the plain of the wilderness, and the Jordan, and the
borders of Cenereth unto the sea of the desert, which is the most salt
sea, to the foot of mount Phasga eastward.
3:18. And I commanded you at that time, saying: The Lord your God
giveth you this land for an inheritance, go ye well appointed before
your brethren the children of Israel, all the strong men of you.
3:19. Leaving your wives and children and cattle. For I know you
have much cattle, and they must remain in the cities, which I have
delivered to you.
3:20. Until the Lord give rest to your brethren, as he hath given to
you: and they also possess the land, which he will give them beyond the

 Jordan: then shall every man return to his possession, which I have
given you.
3:21. I commanded Josue also at that time, saying: Thy eyes have
seen what the Lord your God hath done to these two kings: so will he
do to all the kingdoms to which thou shalt pass.
3:22. Fear them not: for the Lord your God will ight for you.
3:23. And I besought the Lord at that time, saying:
3:24. Lord God, thou hast begun to shew unto thy servant thy
greatness, and most mighty hand, for there is no other God either in
heaven or earth, that is able to do thy works, or to be compared to thy
strength.
3:25. I will pass over therefore, and will see this excellent land
beyond the Jordan, and this goodly mountain, and Libanus.
3:26. And the Lord was angry with me on your account and heard
me not, but said to me: It is enough: speak no more to me of this
matter.
3:27. Go up to the top of Phasga, and cast thy eyes round about to
the west, and to the north, and to the south, and to the east, and
behold it, for thou shalt not pass this Jordan.
3:28. Command Josue, and encourage and strengthen him: for he
shall go before this people, and shall divide unto them the land which
thou shalt see.
3:29. And we abode in the valley over against the temple of Phogor.
Deuteronomy Chapter 4

Moses exhorteth the people to keep God’s commandments: particularly

to ly idolatry. Appointeth three cities of refuge, on that side of the
Jordan.
4:1. And now, O Israel, hear the commandments and judgments
which I teach thee: that doing them, thou mayst live, and entering in
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 mayst possess the land which the Lord the God of your fathers will give
you.
4:2. You shall not add to the word that I speak to you, neither shall
you take away from it: keep the commandments of the Lord your God
which I command you.
4:3. Your eyes have seen all that the Lord hath done against
Beelphegor, how he hath destroyed all his worshippers from among
you.
4:4. But you that adhere to the Lord your God, are all alive until this
present day.
4:5. You know that I have taught you statutes and justices, as the
Lord my God hath commanded me: so shall you do them in the land
which you shall possess:
4:6. And you shall observe, and ful il them in practice. For this is
your wisdom, and understanding in the sight of nations, that hearing
all these precepts, they may say: Behold a wise and understanding
people, a great nation.
4:7. Neither is there any other nation so great, that hath gods so
nigh them, as our God is present to all our petitions.
4:8. For what other nation is there so renowned that hath
ceremonies, and just judgments, and all the law, which I will set forth
this day before our eyes?
4:9. Keep thyself therefore, and thy soul carefully. Forget not the
words that thy eyes have seen, and let them not go out of thy heart all
the days of thy life. Thou shalt teach them to thy sons and to thy
grandsons,
4:10. From the day in which thou didst stand before the Lord thy
God in Horeb, when the Lord spoke to me, saying: Call together the
people unto me, that they may hear my words, and may learn to fear
me all the time that they live on the earth, and may teach their
children.

 4:11. And you came to the foot of the mount, which burned even
unto heaven: and there was darkness, and a cloud and obscurity in it.
4:12. And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the ire. You heard
the voice of his words, but you saw not any form at all.
4:13. And he shewed you his covenant, which he commanded you to
do, and the ten words that he wrote in two tables of stone.
4:14. And he commanded me at that time that I should teach you
the ceremonies and judgments which you shall do in the land, that you
shall possess.
4:15. Keep therefore your souls carefully. You saw not any similitude
in the day that the Lord God spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of
the ire:
4:16. Lest perhaps being deceived you might make you a graven
similitude, or image of male or female,
4:17. The similitude of any beasts, that are upon the earth, or of
birds, that ly under heaven,
4:18. Or of creeping things, that move on the earth, or of ishes, that
abide in the waters under the earth:
4:19. Lest perhaps lifting up thy eyes to heaven, thou see the sun and
the moon, and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error thou
adore and serve them, which the Lord thy God created for the service
of all the nations, that are under heaven.
4:20. But the Lord hath taken you and brought you out of the iron
furnaces of Egypt, to make you his people of inheritance, as it is this
present day.
4:21. And the Lord was angry with me for your words, and he swore
that I should not pass over the Jordan, nor enter into the excellent
land, which he will give you.
4:22. Behold I die in this land, I shall not pass over the Jordan: you
shall pass, and possess the goodly land.
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 4:23. Beware lest thou ever forget the covenant of the Lord thy God,
which he hath made with thee: and make to thyself a graven likeness
of those things which the Lord hath forbid to be made:
4:24. Because the Lord thy God is a consuming ire, a jealous God.
4:25. If you shall beget sons and grandsons, and abide in the land,
and being deceived, make to yourselves any similitude, committing evil
before the Lord your God, to provoke him to wrath:
4:26. I call this day heaven and earth to witness, that you shall
quickly perish out of the land, which, when you have passed over the
Jordan, you shall possess. You shall not dwell therein long, but the Lord
will destroy you,
4:27. And scatter you among all nations, and you shall remain a few
among the nations, to which the Lord shall lead you.
4:28. And there you shall serve gods, that were framed with men’s
hands: wood and stone, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
4:29. And when thou shalt seek there the Lord thy God, thou shalt
ind him: yet so, if thou seek him with all thy heart, and all the
af liction of thy soul.
4:30. After all the things aforesaid shall ind thee, in the latter time
thou shalt return to the Lord thy God, and shalt hear his voice.
4:31. Because the Lord thy God is a merciful God: he will not leave
thee, nor altogether destroy thee, nor forget the covenant, by which he
swore to thy fathers.
4:32. Ask of the days of old, that have been before thy time from the
day that God created man upon the earth, from one end of heaven to
the other end thereof, if ever there was done the like thing, or it hath
been known at any time,
4:33. That a people should hear the voice of God speaking out of the
midst of ire, as thou hast heard, and lived:
4:34. If God ever did so as to go, and take to himself a nation out of
the midst of nations by temptations, signs, and wonders, by ight, and
a strong hand, and stretched out arm, and horrible visions according
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 to all the things that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, before thy
eyes.
4:35. That thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, and there is
no other besides him.
4:36. From heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might
teach thee. And upon earth he shewed thee his exceeding great ire,
and thou didst hear his words out of the midst of the ire,
4:37. Because he loved thy fathers, and chose their seed after them.
And he brought thee out of Egypt, going before thee with his great
power,
4:38. To destroy at thy coming very great nations, and stronger than
thou art, and to bring thee in, and give thee their land for a possession,
as thou seest at this present day.
4:39. Know therefore this day, and think in thy heart that the Lord
he is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no
other.
4:40. Keep his precepts and commandments, which I command thee:
that it may be well with thee, and thy children after thee, and thou
mayst remain a long time upon the land, which the Lord thy God will
give thee.
4:41. Then Moses set aside three cities beyond the Jordan at the east
side,
4:42. That any one might lee to them who should kill his neighbour
unwillingly, and was not his enemy a day or two before, and that he
might escape to some one of these cities:
4:43. Bosor in the wilderness, which is situate in the plains of the
tribe of Ruben: and Ramoth in Galaad, which is in the tribe of Gad: and
Golan in Basan, which is in the tribe of Manasses.
4:44. This is the law, that Moses set before the children of Israel,
4:45. And these are the testimonies and ceremonies and judgments,
which he spoke to the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt,

 4:46. Beyond the Jordan in the valley over against the temple of
Phogor, in the land of Sehon king of the Amorrhites, that dwelt in
Hesebon, whom Moses slew. And the children of Israel coming out of
Egypt,
4:47. Possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Basan, of the two
kings of the Amorrhites, who were beyond the Jordan towards the
rising of the sun:
4:48. From Aroer, which is situate upon the bank of the torrent
Arnon, unto mount Sion, which is also called Hermon,
4:49. All the plain beyond the Jordan at the east side, unto the sea of
the wilderness, and unto the foot of mount Phasga.
Deuteronomy Chapter 5

The ten commandments are repeated and explained.

5:1. And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the
ceremonies and judgments, which I speak in your ears this day: learn
them, and ful il them in work.
5:2. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
5:3. He made not the covenant with our fathers, but with us, who
are now present and living.
5:4. He spoke to us face to face in the mount out of the midst of ire.
5:5. I was the mediator and stood between the Lord and you at that
time, to shew you his words, for you feared the ire, and went not up
into the mountain, and he said:
5:6. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
5:7. Thou shalt not have strange gods in my sight.
5:8. Thou shalt not make to thy self a graven thing, nor the likeness
of any things, that are in heaven above, or that are in the earth
beneath, or that abide in the waters under the earth.

 5:9. Thou shalt not adore them, and thou shalt not serve them. For I
am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon their children unto the third and fourth generation, to them that
hate me,
5:10. And shewing mercy unto many thousands, to them that love
me, and keep my commandments.
5:11. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for
he shall not be unpunished that taketh his name upon a vain thing.
5:12. Observe the day of the sabbath, to sanctify it, as the Lord thy
God hath commanded thee.
5:13. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works.
5:14. The seventh is the day of the sabbath, that is, the rest of the
Lord thy God. Thou shalt not do any work therein, thou nor thy son nor
thy daughter, nor thy manservant nor thy maidservant, nor thy ox, nor
thy ass, nor any of thy beasts, nor the stranger that is within thy gates:
that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest, even as thyself.
5:15. Remember that thou also didst serve in Egypt, and the Lord
thy God brought thee out from thence with a strong hand, and a
stretched out arm. Therefore hath he commanded thee that thou
shouldst observe the sabbath day.
5:16. Honour thy father and mother, as the Lord thy God hath
commanded thee, that thou mayst live a long time, and it may be well
with thee in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee.
5:17. Thou shalt not kill.
5:18. Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
5:19. And thou shalt not steal.
5:20. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
5:21. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife: nor his house, nor
his ield, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his
ass, nor any thing that is his.
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 5:22. These words the Lord spoke to all the multitude of you in the
mountain, out of the midst of the ire and the cloud, and the darkness,
with a loud voice, adding nothing more: and he wrote them in two
tables of stone, which he delivered unto me.
5:23. But you, after you heard the voice out of the midst of the
darkness, and saw the mountain burn, came to me, all the princes of
the tribes and the elders, and you said:
5:24. Behold the Lord our God hath shewn us his majesty and his
greatness, we have heard his voice out of the midst of the ire, and
have proved this day that God speaking with man, man hath lived.
5:25. Why shall we die therefore, and why shall this exceeding great
ire comsume us: for if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more,
we shall die.
5:26. What is all lesh, that it should hear the voice of the living God,
who speaketh out of the midst of the ire, as we have heard, and be
able to live?
5:27. Approach thou rather: and hear all things that the Lord our
God shall say to thee, and thou shalt speak to us, and we will hear and
will do them.
5:28. And when the Lord had heard this, he said to me: I have heard
the voice of the words of this people, which they spoke to thee: they
have spoken all things well.
5:29. Who shall give them to have such a mind, to fear me, and to
keep all my commandments at all times, that it may be well with them
and with their children for ever?
5:30. Go and say to them: Return into your tents.
5:31. But stand thou here with me, and I will speak to thee all my
commandments, and ceremonies and judgments: which thou shalt
teach them, that they may do them in the land, which I will give them
for a possession.
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 5:32. Keep therefore and do the things which the Lord God hath
commanded you: you shall not go aside neither to the right hand, nor
to the left.
5:33. But you shall walk in the way that the Lord your God hath
commanded, that you may live, and it may be well with you, and your
days may be long in the land of your possession.
Deuteronomy Chapter 6

An exhortation to the love of God, and obedience to his law.

6:1. These are the precepts, and ceremonies, and judgments, which
the Lord your God commanded that I should teach you, and that you
should do them in the land into which you pass over to possess it:
6:2. That thou mayst fear the Lord thy God, and keep all his
commandments and precepts, which I command thee, and thy sons,
and thy grandsons, all the days of thy life, that thy days may be
prolonged.
6:3. Hear, O Israel, and observe to do the things which the Lord hath
commanded thee, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayst be
greatly multiplied, as the Lord the God of thy fathers hath promised
thee a land lowing with milk and honey.
6:4. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
6:5. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with
thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength.
6:6. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy
heart:
6:7. And thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt
meditate upon them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey,
sleeping and rising.
6:8. And thou shalt bind them as a sign on thy hand, and they shall
be and shall move between thy eyes.

 6:9. And thou shalt write them in the entry, and on the doors of thy
house.
6:10. And when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the
land, for which he swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: and
shall have given thee great and goodly cities, which thou didst not
build,
6:11. Houses full of riches, which thou didst not set up, cisterns
which thou didst not dig, vineyards and oliveyards, which thou didst
not plant,
6:12. And thou shalt have eaten and be full:
6:13. Take heed diligently lest thou forget the Lord, who brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt
fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve him only, and thou shalt swear
by his name.
6:14. You shall not go after the strange gods of all the nations, that
are round about you:
6:15. Because the Lord thy God is a jealous God in the midst of thee:
lest at any time the wrath of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee,
and take thee away from the face of the earth.
6:16. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as thou temptedst him
in the place of temptation.
6:17. Keep the precepts of the Lord thy God, and the testimonies and
ceremonies which he hath commanded thee.
6:18. And do that which is pleasing and good in the sight of the
Lord, that it may be well with thee: and going in thou mayst possess
the goodly land, concerning which the Lord swore to thy fathers,
6:19. That he would destroy all thy enemies before thee, as he hath
spoken.
6:20. And when thy son shall ask thee to morrow, saying: What
mean these testimonies, and ceremonies and judgments, which the
Lord our God hath commanded us?

 6:21. Thou shalt say to him: We were bondmen of Pharao in Egypt,

and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.
6:22. And he wrought signs and wonders great and very grievous in
Egypt against Pharao, and all his house, in our sight,
6:23. And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in
and give us the land, concerning which he swore to our fathers.
6:24. And the Lord commanded that we should do all these
ordinances, and should fear the Lord our God, that it might be well
with us all the days of our life, as it is at this day.
6:25. And he will be merciful to us, if we keep and do all his precepts
before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.
Deuteronomy Chapter 7

No league nor fellowship to be made with the Chanaanites: God

promiseth his people his blessing and assistance, if they keep his
commandments.
7:1. When the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land,
which thou art going in to possess, and shall have destroyed many
nations before thee, the Hethite, and the Gergezite, and the Amorrhite,
and the Chanaanite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the
Jebusite, seven nations much more numerous than thou art, and
stronger than thou:
7:2. And the Lord thy God shall have delivered them to thee, thou
shalt utterly destroy them. Thou shalt make no league with them, nor
shew mercy to them:
7:3. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them. Thou shalt not
give thy daughter to his son, nor take his daughter for thy son:
7:4. For she will turn away thy son from following me, that he may
rather serve strange gods, and the wrath of the Lord will be kindled,
and will quickly destroy thee.

 7:5. But thus rather shall you deal with them: Destroy their altars,
and break their statues, and cut down their groves, and burn their
graven things.
7:6. Because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God. The Lord
thy God hath chosen thee, to be his peculiar people of all peoples that
are upon the earth.
7:7. Not because you surpass all nations in number, is the Lord
joined unto you, and hath chosen you, for you are the fewest of any
people:
7:8. But because the Lord hath loved you, and hath kept his oath,
which he swore to your fathers: and hath brought you out with a
strong hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, out of the
hand of Pharao the king of Egypt.
7:9. And thou shalt know that the Lord thy God, he is a strong and
faithful God, keeping his covenant and mercy to them that love him,
and to them that keep his commandments, unto a thousand
generations:
7:10. And repaying forthwith them that hate him, so as to destroy
them, without further delay immediately rendering to them what they
deserve.
7:11. Keep therefore the precepts and ceremonies and judgments,
which I command thee this day to do.
7:12. If after thou hast heard these judgments, thou keep and do
them, the Lord thy God will also keep his covenant to thee, and the
mercy which he swore to thy fathers:
7:13. And he will love thee and multiply thee, and will bless the fruit
of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy vintage, thy
oil, and thy herds, and the locks of thy sheep upon the land, for which
he swore to thy fathers that he would give it thee.
7:14. Blessed shalt thou be among all people. No one shall be barren
among you of either sex, neither of men nor cattle.

 7:15. The Lord will take away from thee all sickness: and the
grievous in irmities of Egypt, which thou knowest, he will not bring
upon thee, but upon thy enemies.
7:16. Thou shalt consume all the people, which the Lord thy God will
deliver to thee. Thy eye shall not spare them, neither shalt thou serve
their gods, lest they be thy ruin.
7:17. If thou say in thy heart: These nations are more than I, how
shall I be able to destroy them?
7:18. Fear not, but remember what the Lord thy God did to Pharao
and to all the Egyptians,
7:19. The exceeding great plagues, which thy eyes saw, and the signs
and wonders, and the strong hand, and the stretched out arm, with
which the Lord thy God brought thee out: so will he do to all the
people, whom thou fearest.
7:20. Moreover the Lord thy God will send also hornets among them,
until he destroy and consume all that have escaped thee, and could
hide themselves.
7:21. Thou shalt not fear them, because the Lord thy God is in the
midst of thee, a God mighty and terrible:
7:22. He will consume these nations in thy sight by little and little
and by degrees. Thou wilt not be able to destroy them altogether: lest
perhaps the beasts of the earth should increase upon thee.
7:23. But the Lord thy God shall deliver them in thy sight: and shall
slay them until they be utterly destroyed.
7:24. And he shall deliver their kings into thy hands, and thou shalt
destroy their names from under Heaven: no man shall be able to resist
thee, until thou destroy them.
7:25. Their graven things thou shalt burn with ire: thou shalt not
covet the silver and gold of which they are made, neither shalt thou
take to thee any thing thereof, lest thou offend, because it is an
abomination to the Lord thy God.
Graven things.... Idols, so called by contempt.
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 7:26. Neither shalt thou bring any thing of the idol into thy house,
lest thou become an anathema, like it. Thou shalt detest it as dung,
and shalt utterly abhor it as uncleanness and ilth, because it is an
anathema.
Deuteronomy Chapter 8

The people is put in mind of God’s dealings with them, to the end that
they may love him and serve him.
8:1. All the commandments, that I command thee this day, take
great care to observe: that you may live, and be multiplied, and going
in may possess the land, for which the Lord swore to your fathers.
8:2. And thou shalt remember all the way through which the Lord
thy God hath brought thee for forty years through the desert, to af lict
thee and to prove thee, and that the things that were in thy heart
might be made known, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments
or no.
8:3. He af licted thee with want, and gave thee manna for thy food,
which neither thou nor thy fathers knew: to shew that not in bread
alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the
mouth of God.
Not in bread alone, etc.... That is, that God is able to make food of what he
pleases for the support of man.
8:4. Thy raiment, with which thou wast covered, hath not decayed
for age, and thy foot is not worn, lo this is the fortieth year,
8:5. That thou mayst consider in thy heart, that as a man traineth
up his son, so the Lord thy God hath trained thee up.
8:6. That thou shouldst keep the commandments of the Lord thy
God, and walk in his ways, and fear him.
8:7. For the Lord thy God will bring thee into a good land, of brooks
and of waters, and of fountains: in the plains of which and the hills
deep rivers break out:

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 8:8. A land of wheat, and barley, and vineyards, wherein ig trees
and pomegranates, and oliveyards grow: a land of oil and honey.
8:9. Where without any want thou shalt eat thy bread, and enjoy
abundance of all things: where the stones are iron, and out of its hills
are dug mines of brass:
8:10. That when thou hast eaten, and art full, thou mayst bless the
Lord thy God for the excellent land which he hath given thee.
8:11. Take heed, and beware lest at any time thou forget the Lord
thy God, and neglect his commandments and judgments and
ceremonies, which I command thee this day:
8:12. Lest after thou hast eaten and art illed, hast built goodly
houses, and dwelt in them,
8:13. And shalt have herds of oxen and locks of sheep, and plenty of
gold and of silver, and of all things,
8:14. Thy heart be lifted up, and thou remember not the Lord thy
God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage:
8:15. And was thy leader in the great and terrible wilderness,
wherein there was the serpent burning with his breath, and the
scorpion and the dipsas, and no waters at all: who brought forth
streams out of the hardest rock,
The Dipsas.... A serpent whose bite causeth a violent thirst; from whence it has its
name, for in Greek dipsa signi ies thirst.
8:16. And fed thee in the wilderness with manna which thy fathers
knew not. And after he had af licted and proved thee, at the last he
had mercy on thee,
8:17. Lest thou shouldst say in thy heart: My own might, and the
strength of my own hand have achieved all these things for me.
8:18. But remember the Lord thy God, that he hath given thee
strength, that he might ful il his covenant, concerning which he swore
to thy fathers, as this present day sheweth.

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 8:19. But if thou forget the Lord thy God, and follow strange gods,
and serve and adore them: behold now I foretell thee that thou shalt
utterly perish.
8:20. As the nations, which the Lord destroyed at thy entrance, so
shall you also perish, if you be disobedient to the voice of the Lord your
God.
Deuteronomy Chapter 9

Lest they should impute their victories to their own merits, they are
put in mind of their manifold rebellions and other sins, for which they
should have been destroyed, but God spared them for his promise
made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
9:1. Hear, O Israel: Thou shalt go over the Jordan this day; to possess
nations very great, and stronger than thyself, cities great, and walled
up to the sky,
9:2. A people great and tall, the sons of the Enacims, whom thou
hast seen, and heard of, against whom no man is able to stand.
9:3. Thou shalt know therefore this day that the Lord thy God
himself will pass over before thee, a devouring and consuming ire, to
destroy and extirpate and bring them to nothing before thy face
quickly, as he hath spoken to thee.
9:4. Say not in thy heart, when the Lord thy God shall have
destroyed them in thy sight: For my justice hath the Lord brought me
in to possess this land, whereas these nations are destroyed for their
wickedness.
9:5. For it is not for thy justices, and the uprightness of thy heart
that thou shalt go in to possess their lands: but because they have
done wickedly, they are destroyed at thy coming in: and that the Lord
might accomplish his word, which he promised by oath to thy fathers
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

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 9:6. Know therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this
excellent land in possession for thy justices, for thou art a very
stiffnecked people.
9:7. Remember, and forget not how thou provokedst the Lord thy
God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that thou camest out of
Egypt unto this place, thou hast always strove against the Lord.
9:8. For in Horeb, also thou didst provoke him, and he was angry,
and would have destroyed thee,
9:9. When I went up into the mount to receive the tables of stone,
the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you: and I
continued in the mount forty days and nights, neither eating bread,
nor drinking water.
9:10. And the Lord gave me two tables of stone written with the
inger of God, and containing all the words that he spoke to you in the
mount from the midst of the ire, when the people were assembled
together.
9:11. And when forty days were passed, and as many nights, the
Lord gave me the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant,
9:12. And said to me: Arise, and go down from hence quickly: for thy
people, which thou hast brought out of Egypt, have quickly forsaken
the way that thou hast shewn them, and have made to themselves a
molten idol.
9:13. And again the Lord said to me: I see that this people is
stiffnecked:
9:14. Let me alone that I may destroy them, and abolish their name
from under heaven, and set thee over a nation, that is greater and
stronger than this.
9:15. And when I came down from the burning mount, and held the
two tables of the covenant with both hands,
9:16. And saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God, and
had made to yourselves a molten calf, and had quickly forsaken his
way, which he had shewn you:
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 9:17. I cast the tables out of my hands, and broke them in your sight.
9:18. And I fell down before the Lord as before, forty days and nights
neither eating bread, nor drinking water, for all your sins, which you
had committed against the Lord, and had provoked him to wrath:
9:19. For I feared his indignation and anger, wherewith being
moved against you, he would have destroyed you. And the Lord heard
me this time also.
9:20. And he was exceeding angry against Aaron also, and would
have destroyed him, and I prayed in like manner for him.
9:21. And your sin that you had committed, that is, the calf, I took,
and burned it with ire, and breaking it into pieces, until it was as
small as dust, I threw it into the torrent, which cometh down from the
mountain.
9:22. At the burning also, and at the place of temptation, and at the
graves of lust you provoked the Lord:
9:23. And when he sent you from Cadesbarne, saying: Go up, and
possess the land that I have given you, and you slighted the
commandment of the Lord your God, and did not believe him, neither
would you hearken to his voice:
9:24. But were always rebellious from the day that I began to know
you.
9:25. And I lay prostrate before the Lord forty days and nights, in
which I humbly besought him, that he would not destroy you as he had
threatened:
9:26. And praying, I said: O Lord God, destroy not thy people, and
thy inheritance, which thou hast redeemed in thy greatness, whom
thou hast brought out of Egypt with a strong hand.
9:27. Remember thy servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: look not
on the stubbornness of this people, nor on their wickedness and sin:
9:28. Lest perhaps the inhabitants of the land, out of which thou
hast brought us, say: The Lord could not bring them into the land that

 he promised them, and he hated them: therefore he brought them out,

that he might kill them in the wilderness,
9:29. Who are thy people and thy inheritance, whom thou hast
brought out by thy great strength, and in thy stretched out arm.
Deuteronomy Chapter 10

God giveth the second tables of the law: a further exhortation to fear
and serve the Lord.
10:1. At that time the Lord said to me: Hew thee two tables of stone
like the former, and come up to me into the mount: and thou shalt
make an ark of wood,
10:2. And I will write on the tables the words that were in them,
which thou brokest before, and thou shalt put them in the ark.
10:3. And I made an ark of setim wood. And when I had hewn two
tables of stone like the former, I went up into the mount, having them
in my hands.
10:4. And he wrote in the tables, according as he had written before,
the ten words, which the Lord spoke to you in the mount from the
midst of the ire, when the people were assembled: and he gave them
to me.
10:5. And returning from the mount, I came down, and put the
tables into the ark, that I had made, and they are there till this
present, as the Lord commanded me.
10:6. And the children of Israel removed their camp from Beroth, of
the children of Jacan into Mosera, where Aaron died and was buried,
and Eleazar his son succeeded him in the priestly of ice.
Mosera.... By mount Hor, for there Aaron died, Num. 20. This and the following
verses seem to be inserted by way of parenthesis.
10:7. From thence they came to Gadgad, from which place they
departed, and camped in Jetebatha, in a land of waters and torrents.

 10:8. At that time he separated the tribe of Levi, to carry the ark of
the covenant of the Lord, and to stand before him in the ministry, and
to bless in his name until this present day.
10:9. Wherefore Levi hath no part nor possession with his brethren:
because the Lord himself is his possession, as the Lord thy God
promised him.
10:10. And I stood in the mount, as before, forty days and nights:
and the Lord heard me this time also, and would not destroy thee.
10:11. And he said to me: Go, and walk before the people, that they
may enter, and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers that I
would give them.
10:12. And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee,
but that thou fear the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and love
him, and serve the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul:
10:13. And keep the commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies,
which I command thee this day, that it may be well with thee?
10:14. Behold heaven is the Lord’s thy God, and the heaven of
heaven, the earth and all things that are therein.
10:15. And yet the Lord hath been closely joined to thy fathers, and
loved them and chose their seed after them, that is to say, you, out of
all nations, as this day it is proved.
10:16. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and stiffen
your neck no more.
10:17. Because the Lord your God he is the God of gods, and the Lord
of lords, a great God and mighty and terrible, who accepteth no person
nor taketh bribes.
10:18. He doth judgment to the fatherless and the widow, loveth the
stranger, and giveth him food and raiment.
10:19. And do you therefore love strangers, because you also were
strangers in the land of Egypt.

 10:20. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him only: to him
thou shalt adhere, and shalt swear by his name.
10:21. He is thy praise, and thy God, that hath done for thee these
great and terrible things, which thy eyes have seen.
10:22. In seventy souls thy fathers went down into Egypt: and
behold now the Lord thy God hath multiplied thee as the stars of
heaven.
Deuteronomy Chapter 11

The love and service of God are still inculcated, with a blessing to them
that serve him, and threats of punishment if they forsake his law.
11:1. Therefore love the Lord thy God and observe his precepts and
ceremonies, his judgments and commandments at all times.
11:2. Know this day the things that your children know not, who
saw not the chastisements of the Lord your God, his great doings and
strong hand, and stretched out arm,
11:3. The signs and works which he did in the midst of Egypt to king
Pharao, and to all his land,
11:4. And to all the host of the Egyptians, and to their horses and
chariots: how the waters of the Red Sea covered them, when they
pursued you, and how the Lord destroyed them until this present day:
11:5. And what he hath done to you in the wilderness, til you came
to this place:
11:6. And to Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab, who was the son
of Ruben: whom the earth, opening her mouth swallowed up with their
households and tents, and all their substance, which they had in the
midst of Israel.
11:7. Your eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord, that he
hath done,

 11:8. That you may keep all his commandments, which I command
you this day, and may go in, and possess the land, to which you are
entering,
11:9. And may live in it a long time: which the Lord promised by
oath to your fathers, and to their seed, a land which loweth with milk
and honey.
11:10. For the land, which thou goest to possess, is not like the land
of Egypt, from whence thou camest out, where, when the seed is sown,
waters are brought in to water it after the manner of gardens.
11:11. But it is a land of hills and plains, expecting rain from heaven.
11:12. And the Lord thy God doth always visit it, and his eyes are on
it from the beginning of the year unto the end thereof.
11:13. If then you obey my commandments, which I command you
this day, that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your
heart, and with all your soul:
11:14. He will give to your land the early rain and the latter rain,
that you may gather in your corn, and your wine, and your oil,
11:15. And your hay out of the ields to feed your cattle, and that
you may eat and be illed.
11:16. Beware lest perhaps your heart be deceived, and you depart
from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them:
11:17. And the Lord being angry shut up heaven, that the rain come
not down, nor the earth yield her fruit, and you perish quickly from the
excellent land, which the Lord will give you.
11:18. Lay up these words in your hearts and minds, and hang them
for a sign on your hands, and place them between your eyes.
11:19. Teach your children that they meditate on them, when thou
sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest on the way, and when thou
liest down and risest up.
11:20. Thou shalt write them upon the posts and the doors of thy
house:

 11:21. That thy days may be multiplied, and the days of thy children
in the land which the Lord swore to thy fathers, that he would give
them as long as the heaven hangeth over the earth.
11:22. For if you keep the commandments which I command you,
and do them, to love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways,
cleaving unto him,
11:23. The Lord will destroy all these nations before your face, and
you shall possess them, which are greater and stronger than you.
11:24. Every place, that your foot shall tread upon, shall be yours.
From the desert, and from Libanus, from the great river Euphrates
unto the western sea shall be your borders.
11:25. None shall stand against you: the Lord your God shall lay the
dread and fear of you upon all the land that you shall tread upon, as
he hath spoken to you.
11:26. Behold I set forth in your sight this day a blessing and a
curse:
11:27. A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your
God, which I command you this day:
11:28. A curse, if you obey not the commandments of the Lord your
God, but revolt from the way which now I shew you, and walk after
strange gods which you know not.
11:29. And when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the
land, whither thou goest to dwell, thou shalt put the blessing upon
mount Garizim, the curse upon mount Hebal:
Put the blessing, et.... See Deut. 27.12, etc. and Josue 8.33, etc.
11:30. Which are beyond the Jordan, behind the way that goeth to
the setting of the sun, in the land of the Chanaanite who dwelleth in
the plain country over against Galgala, which is near the valley that
reacheth and entereth far.
11:31. For you shall pass over the Jordan, to possess the land, which
the Lord your God will give you, that you may have it and possess it.

 11:32. See therefore that you ful il the ceremonies and judgments,
which I shall set this day before you.
Deuteronomy Chapter 12

All idolatry must be extirpated: sacri ices, tithes, and irstfruits must
be offered in one only place: all eating of blood is prohibited.
12:1. These are the precepts and judgments, that you must do in the
land, which the Lord the God of thy fathers will give thee, to possess it
all the days that thou shalt walk upon the earth.
12:2. Destroy all the places in which the nations, that you shall
possess, worshipped their gods upon high mountains, and hills, and
under every shady tree:
12:3. Overthrow their altars, and break down their statues, burn
their groves with ire, and break their idols in pieces: destroy their
names out of those places.
12:4. You shall not do so to the Lord your God:
12:5. But you shall come to the place, which the Lord your God shall
choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, and to dwell in it:
12:6. And you shall offer in that place your holocausts and victims,
the tithes and irstfruits of your hands and your vows and gifts, the
irstborn of your herds and your sheep.
12:7. And you shall eat there in the sight of the Lord your God: and
you shall rejoice in all things, whereunto you shall put your hand, you
and your houses wherein the Lord your God hath blessed you.
12:8. You shall not do there the things we do here this day, every
man that which seemeth good to himself.
12:9. For until this present time you are not come to rest, and to the
possession, which the Lord your God will give you.
12:10. You shall pass over the Jordan, and shall dwell in the land
which the Lord your God will give you, that you may have rest from all
enemies round about: and may dwell without any fear,
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 12:11. In the place, which the Lord your God shall choose, that his
name may be therein. Thither shall you bring all the things that I
command you, holocausts, and victims, and tithes, and the irstfruits of
your hands: and whatsoever is the choicest in the gifts which you shall
vow to the Lord.
12:12. There shall you feast before the Lord your God, you and your
sons and your daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the
Levite that dwelleth in your cities. For he hath no other part and
possession among you.
12:13. Beware lest thou offer thy holocausts in every place that thou
shalt see:
12:14. But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy
tribes shalt thou offer sacri ices, and shalt do all that I command thee.
12:15. But if thou desirest to eat, and the eating of lesh delight thee,
kill, and eat according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he
hath given thee, in thy cities: whether it be unclean, that is to say,
having blemish or defect: or clean, that is to say, sound and without
blemish, such as may be offered, as the roe, and the hart, shalt thou eat
it:
12:16. Only the blood thou shalt not eat, but thou shalt pour it out
upon the earth as water.
12:17. Thou mayst not eat in thy towns the tithes of thy corn, and
thy wine, and thy oil, the irstborn of thy herds and thy cattle, nor any
thing that thou vowest, and that thou wilt offer voluntarily, and the
irstfruits of thy hands:
12:18. But thou shalt eat them before the Lord thy God in the place
which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou and thy son and thy
daughter, and thy manservant, and maidservant, and the Levite that
dwelleth in thy cities: and thou shalt rejoice and be refreshed before
the Lord thy God in all things, whereunto thou shalt put thy hand.
12:19. Take heed thou forsake not the Levite all the time that thou
livest in the land.
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 12:20. When the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he
hath spoken to thee, and thou wilt eat the lesh that thy soul desireth:
12:21. And if the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his
name should be there, be far off, thou shalt kill of thy herds and of thy
locks, as I have commanded thee, and shalt eat in thy towns, as it
pleaseth thee.
12:22. Even as the roe and the hart is eaten, so shalt thou eat them:
both the clean and unclean shall eat of them alike.
12:23. Only beware of this, that thou eat not the blood, for the blood
is for the soul: and therefore thou must not eat the soul with the lesh:
12:24. But thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water,
12:25. That it may be well with thee and thy children after thee,
when thou shalt do that which is pleasing in the sight of the Lord.
12:26. But the things which thou hast sancti ied and vowed to the
Lord, thou shalt take, and shalt come to the place which the Lord shall
choose:
12:27. And shalt offer thy oblations, the lesh and the blood upon the
altar of the Lord thy God: the blood of thy victims thou shalt pour on
the altar: and the lesh thou thyself shalt eat.
12:28. Observe and hear all the things that I command thee, that it
may be well with thee and thy children after thee for ever, when thou
shalt do what is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy God.
12:29. When the Lord thy God shall have destroyed before thy face
the nations, which thou shalt go in to possess, and when thou shalt
possess them, and dwell in their land:
12:30. Beware lest thou imitate them, after they are destroyed at
thy coming in, and lest thou seek after their ceremonies, saying: As
these nations have worshipped their gods, so will I also worship.
12:31. Thou shalt not do in like manner to the Lord thy God. For
they have done to their gods all the abominations which the Lord
abhorreth, offering their sons and daughters, and burning them with
ire.
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 12:32. What I command thee, that only do thou to the Lord: neither
add any thing, nor diminish.
That only do thou, etc.... They are forbid here to follow the ceremonies of the
heathens; or to make any alterations in the divine ordinances.
Deuteronomy Chapter 13

False prophets must be slain, and idolatrous cities destroyed.

13:1. If there rise in the midst of thee a prophet or one that saith he
hath dreamed a dream, and he foretell a sign and a wonder,
13:2. And that come to pass which he spoke, and he say to thee: Let
us go and follow strange gods, which thou knowest not, and let us
serve them:
13:3. Thou shalt not hear the words of that prophet or dreamer: for
the Lord your God trieth you, that it may appear whether you love him
with all your heart, and with all your soul, or not.
13:4. Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his
commandments, and hear his voice: him you shall serve, and to him
you shall cleave.
13:5. And that prophet or forger of dreams shall be slain: because he
spoke to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out
of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage: to
make thee go out of the way, which the Lord thy God commanded thee:
and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee.
13:6. If thy brother the son of thy mother, or thy son, or daughter, or
thy wife that is in thy bosom, or thy friend, whom thou lovest as thy
own soul, would persuade thee secretly, saying: Let us go, and serve
strange gods, which thou knowest not, nor thy fathers,
13:7. Of all the nations round about, that are near or afar off, from
one end of the earth to the other,
13:8. Consent not to him, hear him not, neither let thy eye spare him
to pity and conceal him,

 13:9. But thou shalt presently put him to death. Let thy hand be irst
upon him, and afterwards the hands of all the people.
Presently put him to death.... Not by killing him by private authority, but by
informing the magistrate, and proceeding by order of justice.
13:10. With stones shall he be stoned to death: because he would
have withdrawn thee from the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of
the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage:
13:11. That all Israel hearing may fear, and may do no more any
thing like this.
13:12. If in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God shall give thee
to dwell in, thou hear some say:
13:13. Children of Belial are gone out of the midst of thee, and have
withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, and have said: Let us go, and
serve strange gods which you know not:
Belial.... That is, without yoke. Hence the wicked, who refuse to be subject to the
divine law, are called in scripture the children of Belial.
13:14. Inquire carefully and diligently, the truth of the thing by
looking well into it, and if thou ind that which is said to be certain,
and that this abomination hath been really committed,
13:15. Thou shalt forthwith kill the inhabitants of that city with the
edge of the sword, and shalt destroy it and all things that are in it,
even the cattle.
13:16. And all the household goods that are there, thou shalt gather
together in the midst of the streets thereof, and shall burn them with
the city itself, so as to comsume all for the Lord thy God, and that it be
a heap for ever: it shall be built no more.
13:17. And there shall nothing of that anathema stick to thy hand:
that the Lord may turn from the wrath of his fury, and may have
mercy on thee, and multiply thee as he swore to thy fathers,
13:18. When thou shalt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, keeping
all his precepts, which I command thee this day, that thou mayst do
what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy God.

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 Deuteronomy Chapter 14

In mourning for the dead they are not to follow the ways of the
Gentiles: the distinction of clean and unclean meats: ordinances
concerning tithes, and irstfruits.
14:1. Be ye children of the Lord your God: you shall not cut
yourselves, nor make any baldness for the dead;
14:2. Because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God: and he
chose thee to be his peculiar people of all nations that are upon the
earth.
14:3. Eat not the things that are unclean.
Unclean.... See the annotations on Lev. 11.
14:4. These are the beasts that you shall eat, the ox, and the sheep,
and the goat,
14:5. The hart and the roe, the buf le, the chamois, the pygarg, the
wild goat, the camelopardalus.
14:6. Every beast that divideth the hoof in two parts, and cheweth
the cud, you shall eat.
14:7. But of them that chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, you
shall not eat, such as the camel, the hare, and the cherogril: because
they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, they shall be unclean to
you.
14:8. The swine also, because it divideth the hoof, but cheweth not
the cud, shall be unclean, their lesh you shall not eat, and their
carcasses you shall not touch.
14:9. These shall you eat of all that abide in the waters: All that
have ins and scales, you shall eat.
14:10. Such as are without ins and scales, you shall not eat, because
they are unclean.
14:11. All birds that are clean you shall eat.

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 14:12. The unclean eat not: to wit, the eagle, and the grype, and the
osprey,
14:13. The ringtail, and the vulture, and the kite according to their
kind:
14:14. And all of the raven’s kind:
14:15. And the ostrich, and the owl, and the larus, and the hawk
according to its kind:
14:16. The heron, and the swan, and the stork,
14:17. And the cormorant, the porphirion, and the night crow,
14:18. The bittern, and the charadrion, every one in their kind: the
houp also and the bat.
14:19. Every thing that creepeth, and hath little wings, shall be
unclean, and shall not be eaten.
14:20. All that is clean, you shall eat.
14:21. But whatsoever is dead of itself, eat not thereof. Give it to the
stranger, that is within thy gates, to eat, or sell it to him: because thou
art the holy people of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in the
milk of his dam.
14:22. Every year thou shalt set aside the tithes of all thy fruits that
the earth bringeth forth,
14:23. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God in the place which
he shall choose, that his name may be called upon therein, the tithe of
thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil, and the irstborn of thy herds and
thy sheep: that thou mayst learn to fear the Lord thy God at all times.
14:24. But when the way and the place which the Lord thy God shall
choose, are far off, and he hath blessed thee, and thou canst not carry
all these things thither,
14:25. Thou shalt sell them all, and turn them into money, and shalt
carry it in thy hand, and shalt go to the place which the Lord shall
choose:

 14:26. And thou shalt buy with the same money whatsoever
pleaseth thee, either of the herds or of sheep, wine also and strong
drink, and all that thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat before the Lord
thy God, and shalt feast, thou and thy house:
14:27. And the Levite that is within thy gates, beware thou forsake
him not, because he hath no other part in thy possession.
14:28. The third year thou shalt separate another tithe of all things
that grow to thee at that time, and shalt lay it up within thy gates.
14:29. And the Levite that hath no other part nor possession with
thee, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are
within thy gates, shall come and shall eat and be illed: that the Lord
thy God may bless thee in all the works of thy hands that thou shalt do.
Deuteronomy Chapter 15

The law of the seventh year of remission. The irstlings of cattle are to
be sancti ied to the Lord.
15:1. In the seventh year thou shalt make a remission,
15:2. Which shall be celebrated in this order. He to whom any thing
is owing from his friend or neighbour or brother, cannot demand it
again, because it is the year of remission of the Lord.
15:3. Of the foreigner or stranger thou mayst exact it: of thy
countryman and neighbour thou shalt not have power to demand it
again.
15:4. And there shall be no poor nor beggar among you: that the
Lord thy God may bless thee in the land which he will give thee in
possession.
There shall be no poor, etc.... It is not to be understood as a promise, that there
should be no poor in Israel, as appears from ver. 11, where we learn that God’s
people would never be at a loss to ind objects for their charity: but it is an
ordinance that all should do their best endeavours to prevent any of their
brethren from suffering the hardships of poverty and want.

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 15:5. Yet so if thou hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep all
things that he hath ordained, and which I command thee this day, he
will bless thee, as he hath promised.
15:6. Thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt borrow of no
man. Thou shalt have dominion over very many nations, and no one
shall have dominion over thee.
15:7. If one of thy brethren that dwelleth within thy gates of thy city
in the land which the Lord thy God will give thee, come to poverty:
thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor close thy hand,
15:8. But shalt open it to the poor man, thou shalt lend him, that
which thou perceivest he hath need of.
15:9. Beware lest perhaps a wicked thought steal in upon thee, and
thou say in thy heart: The seventh year of remission draweth nigh; and
thou turn away thy eyes from thy poor brother, denying to lend him
that which he asketh: lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it
become a sin unto thee.
15:10. But thou shalt give to him: neither shalt thou do any thing
craftily in relieving his necessities: that the Lord thy God may bless
thee at all times, and in all things to which thou shalt put thy hand.
15:11. There will not be wanting poor in the land of thy habitation:
therefore I command thee to open thy hand to thy needy and poor
brother, that liveth in the land.
15:12. When thy brother a Hebrew man, or Hebrew woman is sold
to thee, and hath served thee six years, in the seventh year thou shalt
let him go free:
15:13. And when thou sendest him out free, thou shalt not let him go
away empty:
15:14. But shall give him for his way out of thy locks, and out of thy
barn loor, and thy winepress, wherewith the Lord thy God shall bless
thee.

 15:15. Remember that thou also wast a bondservant in the land of

Egypt, and the Lord thy God made thee free, and therefore I now
command thee this.
15:16. But if he say: I will not depart: because he loveth thee, and
thy house, and indeth that he is well with thee:
15:17. Thou shalt take an awl, and bore through his ear in the door
of thy house, and he shall serve thee for ever: thou shalt do in like
manner to thy womanservant also.
15:18. Turn not away thy eyes from them when thou makest them
free: because he hath served thee six years according to the wages of a
hireling: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works that
thou dost.
15:19. Of the irstlings, that come of thy herds and thy sheep, thou
shalt sanctify to the Lord thy God whatsoever is of the male sex. Thou
shalt not work with the irstling of a bullock, and thou shalt not shear
the irstlings of thy sheep.
15:20. In the sight of the Lord thy God shalt thou eat them every
year, in the place that the Lord shall choose, thou and thy house.
15:21. But if it have a blemish, or be lame, or blind, or in any part
dis igured or feeble, it shall not be sacri iced to the Lord thy God.
15:22. But thou shalt eat it within the gates of thy city: the clean
and the unclean shall eat them alike, as the roe and as the hart.
15:23. Only thou shalt take heed not to eat their blood, but pour it
out on the earth as water.
Deuteronomy Chapter 16

The three principal solemnities to be observed: just judges to be

appointed in every city: all occasions of idolatry to be avoided.
16:1. Observe the month of new corn, which is the irst of the spring,
that thou mayst celebrate the phase to the Lord thy God: because in
this month the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night.
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 16:2. And thou shalt sacri ice the phase to the Lord thy God, of
sheep, and of oxen, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,
that his name may dwell there.
16:3. Thou shalt not eat with it leavened bread: seven days shalt
thou eat without leaven, the bread of af liction, because thou camest
out of Egypt in fear: that thou mayst remember the day of thy coming
out of Egypt, all the days of thy life.
16:4. No leaven shall be seen in all thy coasts for seven days, neither
shall any of the lesh of that which was sacri iced the irst day in the
evening remain until morning.
16:5. Thou mayst not immolate the phase in any one of thy cities,
which the Lord thy God will give thee:
16:6. But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his
name may dwell there: thou shalt immolate the phase in the evening,
at the going down of the sun, at which time thou camest out of Egypt.
16:7. And thou shalt dress, and eat it in the place which the Lord thy
God shall choose, and in the morning rising up thou shalt go into thy
dwellings.
16:8. Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh
day, because it is the assembly of the Lord thy God, thou shalt do no
work.
16:9. Thou shalt number unto thee seven weeks from that day,
wherein thou didst put the sickle to the corn.
16:10. And thou shalt celebrate the festival of weeks to the Lord thy
God, a voluntary oblation of thy hand, which thou shalt offer
according to the blessing of the Lord thy God.
16:11. And thou shalt feast before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy
son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and
the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger and the fatherless,
and the widow, who abide with you: in the place which the Lord thy
God shall choose, that his name may dwell there:

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 16:12. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt:
and thou shalt keep and do the things that are commanded.
16:13. Thou shalt celebrate the solemnity also of tabernacles seven
days, when thou hast gathered in thy fruit of the barn loor and of the
winepress.
16:14. And thou shalt make merry in thy festival time, thou, thy son,
and thy daughter, thy manservant, and thy maidservant, the Levite
also and the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow that are
within thy gates.
16:15. Seven days shalt thou celebrate feasts to the Lord thy God in
the place which the Lord shall choose: and the Lord thy God will bless
thee in all thy fruits, and in every work of thy hands, and thou shalt be
in joy.
16:16. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the
Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of
unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.
No one shall appear with his hands empty before the Lord:
16:17. But every one shall offer according to what he hath,
according to the blessing of the Lord his God, which he shall give him.
16:18. Thou shalt appoint judges and magistrates in all thy gates,
which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in all thy tribes: that they may
judge the people with just judgment,
16:19. And not go aside to either part. Thou shalt not accept person
nor gifts: for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and change the words of
the just.
16:20. Thou shalt follow justly after that which is just: that thou
mayst live and possess the land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee.
16:21. Thou shalt plant no grove, nor any tree near the altar of the
Lord thy God:
16:22. Neither shalt thou make nor set up to thyself a statue: which
things the Lord thy God hateth.

 Deuteronomy Chapter 17

Victims must be without blemish. Idolaters are to be slain.

Controversies are to be decided by the high priest and council, whose
sentence must be obeyed under pain of death. The duty of a king, who
is to receive the law of God at the priest’s hands.
17:1. Thou shalt not sacri ice to the Lord thy God a sheep, or an ox,
wherein there is blemish, or any fault: for that is an abomination to
the Lord thy God.
17:2. When there shall be found among you within any of thy gates,
which the Lord thy God shall give thee, man or woman that do evil in
the sight of the Lord thy God, and transgress his covenant,
17:3. So as to go and serve strange gods, and adore them, the sun
and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which I have not
commanded:
The host of heaven.... That is, the stars.
17:4. And this is told thee, and hearing it thou hast inquired
diligently, and found it to be true, and that the abomination is
committed in Israel:
17:5. Thou shalt bring forth the man or the woman, who have
committed that most wicked thing, to the gates of thy city, and they
shall be stoned.
17:6. By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he die that is to
be slain. Let no man be put to death, when only one beareth witness
against him.
17:7. The hands of the witnesses shall be irst upon him to kill him,
and afterwards the hands of the rest of the people: that thou mayst
take away the evil out of the midst of thee.
17:8. If thou perceive that there be among you a hard and doubtful
matter in judgment between blood and blood, cause and cause, leprosy
and leprosy: and thou see that the words of the judges within thy gates

 do vary: arise, and go up to the place, which the Lord thy God shall
choose.
If thou perceive, etc.... Here we see what authority God was pleased to give to the
church guides of the Old Testament, in deciding, without appeal, all
controversies relating to the law; promising that they should not err therein; and
surely he has not done less for the church guides of the New Testament.
17:9. And thou shalt come to the priests of the Levitical race, and to
the judge, that shall be at that time: and thou shalt ask of them, and
they shall shew thee the truth of the judgment.
17:10. And thou shalt do whatsoever they shall say, that preside in
the place, which the Lord shall choose, and what they shall teach thee,
17:11. According to his law; and thou shalt follow their sentence:
neither shalt thou decline to the right hand nor to the left hand.
17:12. But he that will be proud, and refuse to obey the
commandment of the priest, who ministereth at that time to the Lord
thy God, and the decree of the judge, that man shall die, and thou shalt
take away the evil from Israel:
17:13. And all the people hearing it shall fear, that no one
afterwards swell with pride.
17:14. When thou art come into the land, which the Lord thy God
will give thee, and possessest it, and shalt say: I will set a king over me,
as all nations have that are round about:
17:15. Thou shalt set him whom the Lord thy God shall choose out of
the number of thy brethren. Thou mayst not make a man of another
nation king, that is not thy brother.
17:16. And when he is made king, he shall not multiply horses to
himself, nor lead back the people into Egypt, being lifted up with the
number of his horsemen, especially since the Lord hath commanded
you to return no more the same way.
17:17. He shall not have many wives, that may allure his mind, nor
immense sums of silver and gold.

 17:18. But after he is raised to the throne of his kingdom, he shall

copy out to himself the Deuteronomy of this law in a volume, taking
the copy of the priests of the Levitical tribe,
17:19. And he shall have it with him, and shall read it all the days of
his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and keep his words
and ceremonies, that are commanded in the law;
17:20. And that his heart be not lifted up with pride over his
brethren, nor decline to the right or to the left, that he and his sons
may reign a long time over Israel.
Deuteronomy Chapter 18

The Lord is the inheritance of the priests and Levites. Heathenish

abominations are to be avoided. The great PROPHET CHRIST is
promised. False prophets must be slain.
18:1. The priests and Levites, and all that are of the same tribe, shall
have no part nor inheritance with the rest of Israel, because they shall
eat the sacri ices of the Lord, and his oblations,
18:2. And they shall receive nothing else of the possession of their
brethren: for the Lord himself is their inheritance, as he hath said to
them.
18:3. This shall be the priest’s due from the people, and from them
that offer victims: whether they sacri ice an ox, or a sheep, they shall
give to the priest the shoulder and the breast:
18:4. The irstfruits also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and a part of the
wool from the shearing of their sheep.
18:5. For the Lord thy God hath chosen him of all thy tribes, to stand
and to minister to the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever.
18:6. If a Levite go out of any one of the cities throughout all Israel,
in which he dwelleth, and have a longing mind to come to the place
which the Lord shall choose,
18:7. He shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as all his
brethren the Levites do, that shall stand at that time before the Lord.

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 18:8. He shall receive the same portion of food that the rest do:
besides that which is due to him in his own city, by succession from his
fathers.
18:9. When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God shall
give thee, beware lest thou have a mind to imitate the abominations of
those nations.
18:10. Neither let there be found among you any one that shall
expiate his son or daughter, making them to pass through the ire: or
that consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens, neither
let there be any wizard,
18:11. Nor charmer, nor any one that consulteth pythonic spirits, or
fortune tellers, or that seeketh the truth from the dead.
18:12. For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these
abominations he will destroy them at thy coming.
18:13. Thou shalt be perfect, and without spot before the Lord thy
God.
18:14. These nations, whose land thou shalt possess, hearken to
soothsayers and diviners: but thou art otherwise instructed by the
Lord thy God.
18:15. The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a PROPHET of thy
nation and of thy brethren like unto me: him thou shalt hear:
18:16. As thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the
assembly was gathered together, and saidst: Let me not hear any more
the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see any more this
exceeding great ire, lest I die.
18:17. And the Lord said to me: They have spoken all things well.
18:18. I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their
brethren like to thee: and I will put my words in his mouth, and he
shall speak to them all that I shall command him.
18:19. And he that will not hear his words, which he shall speak in
my name, I will be the revenger.

 18:20. But the prophet, who being corrupted with pride, shall speak
in my name things that I did not command him to say, or in the name
of strange gods, shall be slain.
18:21. And if in silent thought thou answer: How shall I know the
word that the Lord hath not spoken?
18:22. Thou shalt have this sign: Whatsoever that same prophet
foretelleth in the name of the Lord, and it cometh not to pass: that
thing the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath forged it by the
pride of his mind: and therefore thou shalt not fear him.
Deuteronomy Chapter 19

The cities of refuge. Wilful murder, and false witnesses must be

punished.
19:1. When the Lord thy God hath destroyed the nations, whose land
he will deliver to thee, and thou shalt possess it, and shalt dwell in the
cities and houses thereof:
19:2. Thou shalt separate to thee three cities in the midst of the
land, which the Lord will give thee in possession,
19:3. Paving diligently the way: and thou shalt divide the whole
province of thy land equally into three parts: that he who is forced to
lee for manslaughter, may have near at hand whither to escape.
19:4. This shall be the law of the slayer that leeth, whose life is to be
saved: He that killeth his neighbor ignorantly, and who is proved to
have had no hatred against him yesterday and the day before:
19:5. But to have gone with him to the wood to hew wood, and in
cutting down the tree the axe slipped out of his hand, and the iron
slipping from the handle struck his friend, and killed him: he shall lee
to one of the cities aforesaid, and live:
19:6. Lest perhaps the next kinsman of him whose blood was shed,
pushed on by his grief should pursue, and apprehend him, if the way be
too long, and take away the life of him who is not guilty of death,
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 because he is proved to have had no hatred before against him that
was slain.
19:7. Therefore I command thee, that thou separate three cities at
equal distance one from another.
19:8. And when the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as
he swore to thy fathers, and shall give thee all the land that he
promised them,
19:9. (Yet so, if thou keep his commandments, and do the things
which I command thee this day, that thou love the Lord thy God, and
walk in his ways at all times) thou shalt add to thee other three cities,
and shalt double the number of the three cities aforesaid:
19:10. That innocent blood may not be shed in the midst of the land
which the Lord thy God will give thee to possess, lest thou be guilty of
blood.
19:11. But if any man hating his neighbour, lie in wait for his life,
and rise and strike him, and he die, and he lee to one of the cities
aforesaid,
19:12. The ancients of his city shall send, and take him out of the
place of refuge, and shall deliver him into the hand of the kinsman of
him whose blood was shed, and he shall die.
19:13. Thou shalt not pity him, and thou shalt take away the guilt of
innocent blood out of Israel, that it may be well with thee.
19:14. Thou shalt not take nor remove thy neighbour’s landmark,
which thy predecessors have set in thy possession, which the Lord thy
God will give thee in the land that thou shalt receive to possess.
19:15. One witness shall not rise up against any man, whatsoever
the sin or wickedness be: but in the mouth of two or three witnesses
every word shall stand.
19:16. If a lying witness stand against a man, accusing him of
transgression,

 19:17. Both of them, between whom the controversy is, shall stand
before the Lord in the sight of the priests and the judges that shall be
in those days.
19:18. And when after most diligent inquisition, they shall ind that
the false witness hath told a lie against his brother:
19:19. They shall render to him as he meant to do to his brother, and
thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee:
19:20. That others hearing may fear, and may not dare to do such
things.
19:21. Thou shalt not pity him, but shalt require life for life, eye for
eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Deuteronomy Chapter 20

Laws relating to war.

20:1. If thou go out to war against thy enemies, and see horsemen
and chariots, and the numbers of the enemy’s army greater than thine,
thou shalt not fear them: because the Lord thy God is with thee, who
brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
20:2. And when the battle is now at hand, the priest shall stand
before the army, and shall speak to the people in this manner:
20:3. Hear, O Israel, you join battle this day against your enemies, let
not your heart be dismayed, be not afraid, do not give back, fear ye
them not:
20:4. Because the Lord your God is in the midst of you, and will ight
for you against your enemies, to deliver you from danger.
20:5. And the captains shall proclaim through every band in the
hearing of the army: What man is there, that hath built a new house,
and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he
die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
20:6. What man is there, that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not
as yet made it to be common, whereof all men may eat? let him go, and

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 return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man execute
his of ice.
20:7. What man is there, that hath espoused a wife, and not taken
her? let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and
another man take her.
20:8. After these things are declared they shall add the rest, and
shall speak to the people: What man is there that is fearful, and faint
hearted? let him go, and return to his house, lest he make the hearts of
his brethren to fear, as he himself is possessed with fear.
20:9. And when the captains of the army shall hold their peace, and
have made an end of speaking, every man shall prepare their bands to
ight.
20:10. If at any time thou come to ight against a city, thou shalt
irst offer it peace.
20:11. If they receive it, and open the gates to thee, all the people
that are therein, shall be saved, and shall serve thee paying tribute.
20:12. But if they will not make peace, and shall begin war against
thee, thou shalt besiege it.
20:13. And when the Lord thy God shall deliver it into thy hands,
thou shalt slay all that are therein of the male sex, with the edge of the
sword,
20:14. Excepting women and children, cattle and other things, that
are in the city. And thou shalt divide all the prey to the army, and thou
shalt eat the spoils of thy enemies, which the Lord thy God shall give
thee.
20:15. So shalt thou do to all cities that are at a great distance from
thee, and are not of these cities which thou shalt receive in possession.
20:16. But of those cities that shall be given thee, thou shalt suffer
none at all to live:
20:17. But shalt kill them with the edge of the sword, to wit, the
Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, and the
Hevite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:
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 20:18. Lest they teach you to do all the abominations which they
have done to their gods: and you should sin against the Lord your God.
20:19. When thou hast besieged a city a long time, and hath
compassed it with bulwarks, to take it, thou shalt not cut down the
trees that may be eaten of, neither shalt thou spoil the country round
about with axes: for it is a tree, and not a man, neither can it increase
the number of them that ight against thee.
20:20. But if there be any trees that are not fruitful, but wild, and it
for other uses, cut them down, and make engines, until thou take the
city, which ighteth against thee.
Deuteronomy Chapter 21

The expiation of a secret murder. The marrying a captive. The eldest

son must not be deprived of his birthright for hatred of his mother. A
stubborn son is to be stoned to death. When one is hanged on a gibbet,
he must be taken down the same day and buried.
21:1. When there shall be found in the land, which the Lord thy God
will give thee, the corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is
guilty of the murder,
21:2. Thy ancients and judges shall go out, and shall measure from
the place where the body lieth the distance of every city round about:
21:3. And the ancients of that city which they shall perceive to be
nearer than the rest, shall take a heifer of the herd, that hath not
drawn in the yoke, nor ploughed the ground,
21:4. And they shall bring her into a rough and stony valley, that
never was ploughed, nor sown: and there they shall strike off the head
of the heifer:
21:5. And the priests the sons of Levi shall come, whom the Lord thy
God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and that
by their word every matter should be decided, and whatsoever is clean
or unclean should be judged.
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 21:6. And the ancients of that city shall come to the person slain,
and shall wash their hands over the heifer that was killed in the valley,
21:7. And shall say: Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our
eyes see it.
21:8. Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O
Lord, and lay not innocent blood to their charge, in the midst of thy
people Israel. And the guilt of blood shall be taken from them:
21:9. And thou shalt be free from the innocent’s blood, that was
shed, when thou shalt have done what the Lord hath commanded thee.
21:10. If thou go out to ight against thy enemies, and the Lord thy
God deliver them into thy hand, and thou lead them away captives,
21:11. And seest in the number of the captives a beautiful woman,
and lovest her, and wilt have her to wife,
21:12. Thou shalt bring her into thy house: and she shall shave her
hair, and pare her nails,
21:13. And shall put off the raiment, wherein she was taken: and
shall remain in thy house, and mourn for her father and mother one
month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and shalt sleep with
her, and she shall be thy wife.
21:14. But if afterwards she please thee not, thou shalt let her go
free, but thou mayst not sell her for money nor oppress her by might
because thou hast humbled her.
21:15. If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated,
and they have had children by him, and the son of the hated be the
irstborn,
21:16. And he meaneth to divide his substance among his sons: he
may not make the son of the beloved the irstborn, and prefer him
before the son of the hated.
21:17. But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the
irstborn, and shall give him a double portion of all he hath: for this is
the irst of his children, and to him are due the irst birthrights.
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 21:18. If a man have a stubborn and unruly son, who will not hear
the commandments of his father or mother, and being corrected,
slighteth obedience:
21:19. They shall take him and bring him to the ancients of the city,
and to the gate of judgment,
21:20. And shall say to them: This our son is rebellious and
stubborn, he slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself to
revelling, and to debauchery and banquetings:
21:21. The people of the city shall stone him: and he shall die, that
you may take away the evil out of the midst of you, and all Israel
hearing it may be afraid.
21:22. When a man hath committed a crime for which he is to be
punished with death, and being condemned to die is hanged on a
gibbet:
21:23. His body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried
the same day: for he is accursed of God that hangeth on a tree: and
thou shalt not de ile thy land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee in
possession.
Deuteronomy Chapter 22

Humanity towards neighbours. Neither sex may use the apparel of the
other. Cruelty to be avoided even to birds. Battlements about the roof
of a house. Things of divers kinds not to be mixed. The punishment of
him that slandereth his wife, as also of adultery and rape.
22:1. Thou shalt not pass by if thou seest thy brother’s ox, or his
sheep go astray: but thou shalt bring them back to thy brother.
22:2. And if thy brother be not nigh, or thou know him not: thou
shalt bring them to thy house, and they shall be with thee until thy
brother seek them, and receive them.
22:3. Thou shalt do in like manner with his ass, and with his
raiment, and with every thing that is thy brother’s, which is lost: if
thou ind it, neglect it not as pertaining to another.
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 22:4. If thou see thy brother’s ass or his ox to be fallen down in the
way, thou shalt not slight it, but shalt lift it up with him.
22:5. A woman shall not be clothed with man’s apparel, neither
shall a man use woman’s apparel: for he that doth these things is
abominable before God.
22:6. If thou ind as thou walkest by the way, a bird’s nest in a tree,
or on the ground, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the
eggs: thou shalt not take her with her young:
Thou shalt not take, etc. This was to shew them to exercise a certain mercy even
to irrational creatures; and by that means to train them up to a horror of
cruelty; and to the exercise of humanity and mutual charity one to another.
22:7. But shalt let her go, keeping the young which thou hast
caught: that it may be well with thee, and thou mayst live a long time.
22:8. When thou buildest a new house, thou shalt make a
battlement to the roof round about: lest blood be shed in thy house,
and thou be guilty, if any one slip, and fall down headlong.
Battlement.... This precaution was necessary, because all their houses had lat
tops, and it was usual to walk and to converse together upon them.
22:9. Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest both
the seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of the vineyard, be
sancti ied together.
22:10. Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together.
22:11. Thou shalt not wear a garment that is woven of woollen and
linen together.
22:12. Thou shalt make strings in the hem at the four corners of thy
cloak, wherewith thou shalt be covered.
22:13. If a man marry a wife, and afterwards hate her,
22:14. And seek occasions to put her away, laying to her charge a
very ill name, and say: I took this woman to wife, and going in to her, I
found her not a virgin:
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 22:15. Her father and mother shall take her, and shall bring with
them the tokens of her virginity to the ancients of the city that are in
the gate:
22:16. And the father shall say: I gave my daughter unto this man to
wife: and because he hateth her,
22:17. He layeth to her charge a very ill name, so as to say: I found
not thy daughter a virgin: and behold these are the tokens of my
daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the
ancients of the city:
22:18. And the ancients of that city shall take that man, and beat
him,
22:19. Condemning him besides in a hundred sicles of silver, which
he shall give to the damsel’s father, because he hath defamed by a very
ill name a virgin of Israel: and he shall have her to wife, and may not
put her away all the days of his life.
22:20. But if what he charged her with be true, and virginity be not
found in the damsel:
22:21. They shall cast her out of the doors of her father’s house, and
the men of the city shall stone her to death, and she shall die: because
she hath done a wicked thing in Israel, to play the whore in her
father’s house: and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of
thee.
22:22. If a man lie with another man’s wife, they shall both die, that
is to say, the adulterer and the adulteress: and thou shalt take away
the evil out of Israel.
22:23. If a man have espoused a damsel that is a virgin, and some
one ind her in the city, and lie with her,
22:24. Thou shalt bring them both out to the gate of that city, and
they shall be stoned: the damsel, because she cried not out, being in
the city: the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife. And
thou shalt take away the evil from the midst of thee.
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 22:25. But if a man ind a damsel that is betrothed, in the ield, and
taking hold of her, lie with her, he alone shall die:
22:26. The damsel shall suffer nothing, neither is she guilty of death:
for as a robber riseth against his brother, and taketh away his life, so
also did the damsel suffer:
22:27. She was alone in the ield: she cried, and there was no man to
help her.
22:28. If a man ind a damsel that is a virgin, who is not espoused,
and taking her, lie with her, and the matter come to judgment:
22:29. He that lay with her shall give to the father of the maid ifty
sicles of silver, and shall have her to wife, because he hath humbled
her: he may not put her away all the days of his life.
22:30. No man shall take his father’s wife, nor remove his covering.
Deuteronomy Chapter 23

Who may and who may not enter into the church: uncleanness to be
avoided: other precepts concerning fugitives, fornication, usury, vows,
and eating other men’s grapes and corn.
23:1. An eunuch, whose testicles are broken or cut away, or yard cut
off, shall not enter into the church of the Lord.
Eunuch.... By these are meant, in the spiritual sense, such as are barren in good
works. Ibid. Into the church.... That is, into the assembly or congregation of
Israel, so as to have the privilege of an Israelite, or to be capable of any place or
of ice among the people of God.
23:2. A mamzer, that is to say, one born of a prostitute, shall not
enter into the church of the Lord, until the tenth generation.
23:3. The Ammonite and the Moabite, even after the tenth
generation shall not enter into the church of the Lord for ever:
23:4. Because they would not meet you with bread and water in the
way, when you came out of Egypt: and because they hired against thee
Balaam, the son of Beor, from Mesopotamia in Syria, to curse thee.
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 23:5. And the Lord thy God would not hear Balaam, and he turned
his cursing into thy blessing, because he loved thee.
23:6. Thou shalt not make peace with them, neither shalt thou seek
their prosperity all the days of thy life for ever.
23:7. Thou shalt not abhor the Edomite, because he is thy brother:
nor the Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land.
23:8. They that are born of them, in the third generation shall enter
into the church of the Lord.
23:9. When thou goest out to war against thy enemies, thou shalt
keep thyself from every evil thing.
23:10. If there be among you any man, that is de iled in a dream by
night, he shall go forth out of the camp,
23:11. And shall not return, before he be washed with water in the
evening: and after sunset he shall return into the camp.
23:12. Thou shalt have a place without the camp, to which thou
mayst go for the necessities of nature,
23:13. Carrying a paddle at thy girdle. And when thou sittest down,
thou shalt dig round about, and with the earth that is dug up thou
shalt cover
23:14. That which thou art eased of: (for the Lord thy God walketh
in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thy enemies to
thee:) and let thy camp be holy, and let no uncleanness appear therein,
lest he go away from thee.
No uncleanness.... This caution against suffering any ilth in the camp, was to
teach them to ly the ilth of sin, which driveth God away from the soul.
23:15. Thou shalt not deliver to his master the servant that is led to
thee.
23:16. He shall dwell with thee in the place that shall please him,
and shall rest in one of thy cities: give him no trouble.
23:17. There shall be no whore among the daughters of Israel, nor
whoremonger among the sons of Israel.

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 23:18. Thou shalt not offer the hire of a strumpet, nor the price of a
dog, in the house of the Lord thy God, whatsoever it be that thou hast
vowed: because both these are an abomination to the Lord thy God.
23:19. Thou shalt not lend to thy brother money to usury, nor corn,
nor any other thing:
23:20. But to the stranger. To thy brother thou shalt lend that which
he wanteth, without usury: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all
thy works in the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.
To the stranger.... This was a dispensation granted by God to his people, who
being the Lord of all things, can give a right and title to one upon the goods of
another. Otherwise the scripture everywhere condemns usury, as contrary to the
law of God, and a crying sin. See Ex. 22.25; Lev. 25.36, 37; 2 Esd. 5.7; Ps. 14.5;
Ezech. 18.8, 13, etc.
23:21. When thou hast made a vow to the Lord thy God, thou shalt
not delay to pay it: because the Lord thy God will require it. And if thou
delay, it shall be imputed to thee for a sin.
23:22. If thou wilt not promise, thou shalt be without sin.
23:23. But that which is once gone out of thy lips, thou shalt
observe, and shalt do as thou hast promised to the Lord thy God, and
hast spoken with thy own will and with thy own mouth.
23:24. Going into thy neighbour’s vineyard, thou mayst eat as many
grapes as thou pleasest: but must carry none out with thee:
23:25. If thou go into thy friend’s corn, thou mayst break the ears,
and rub them in thy hand: but not reap them with a sickle.
Deuteronomy Chapter 24

Divorce permitted to avoid greater evil: the newly married must not
go to war: of men stealers, of leprosy, of pledges, of labourers’ hire, of
justice, and of charity to the poor.
24:1. If a man take a wife, and have her, and she ind not favour in
his eyes, for some uncleanness: he shall write a bill of divorce, and shall
give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

 24:2. And when she is departed, and marrieth another husband,

24:3. And he also hateth her, and hath given her a bill of divorce,
and hath sent her out of his house or is dead:
24:4. The former husband cannot take her again to wife: because
she is de iled, and is become abominable before the Lord: lest thou
cause thy land to sin, which the Lord thy God shall give thee to possess.
24:5. When a man hath lately taken a wife, he shall not go out to
war, neither shall any public business be enjoined him, but he shall be
free at home without fault, that for one year he may rejoice with his
wife.
24:6. Thou shalt not take the nether, nor the upper millstone to
pledge: for he hath pledged his life to thee.
24:7. If any man be found soliciting his brother of the children of
Israel, and selling him shall take a price, he shall be put to death, and
thou shalt take away the evil from the midst of thee.
24:8. Observe diligently that thou incur not the stroke of the leprosy,
but thou shalt do whatsoever the priests of the Levitical race shall
teach thee, according to what I have commanded them, and ful il thou
it carefully.
24:9. Remember what the Lord your God did to Mary, in the way
when you came out of Egypt.
24:10. When thou shalt demand of thy neighbour any thing that he
oweth thee, thou shalt not go into his house to take away a pledge:
24:11. But thou shalt stand without, and he shall bring out to thee
what he hath.
24:12. But if he be poor, the pledge shall not lodge with thee that
night,
24:13. But thou shalt restore it to him presently before the going
down of the sun: that he may sleep in his own raiment and bless thee,
and thou mayst have justice before the Lord thy God.

 24:14. Thou shalt not refuse the hire of the needy, and the poor,
whether he be thy brother, or a stranger that dwelleth with thee in the
land, and is within thy gates:
24:15. But thou shalt pay him the price of his labour the same day,
before the going down of the sun, because he is poor, and with it
maintaineth his life: lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it be
reputed to thee for a sin.
24:16. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the
children for the fathers, but every one shall die for his own sin,
24:17. Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger nor of
the fatherless, neither shalt thou take away the widow’s raiment for a
pledge.
24:18. Remember that thou wast a slave in Egypt, and the Lord thy
God delivered thee from thence. Therefore I command thee to do this
thing.
24:19. When thou hast reaped the corn in thy ield, and hast forgot
and left a sheaf, thou shalt not return to take it away: but thou shalt
suffer the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow to take it away:
that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works of thy hands.
24:20. If thou have gathered the fruit of thy olive trees, thou shalt
not return to gather whatsoever remaineth on the trees: but shalt
leave it for the stranger, for the fatherless, and the widow.
24:21. If thou make the vintage of thy vineyard, thou shalt not
gather the clusters that remain, but they shall be for the stranger, the
fatherless, and the widow.
24:22. Remember that thou also wast a bondman in Egypt, and
therefore I command thee to do this thing.
Deuteronomy Chapter 25

Stripes must not exceed forty. The ox is not to be muzzled. Of raising

seed to the brother. Of the immodest woman. Of unjust weight. Of
destroying the Amalecites.

 25:1. If there be a controversy between men, and they call upon the
judges: they shall give the prize of justice to him whom they perceive
to be just: and him whom they ind to be wicked, they shall condemn of
wickedness.
25:2. And if they see that the offender be worthy of stripes: they
shall lay him down, and shall cause him to be beaten before them.
According to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the
stripes be:
25:3. Yet so, that they exceed not the number of forty: lest thy
brother depart shamefully torn before thy eyes.
25:4. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out thy corn on the
loor.
Not muzzle, etc.... St. Paul understands this of the spiritual labourer in the church
of God, who is not to be denied his maintenance. 1 Cor. 9.8, 9, 10.
25:5. When brethren dwell together, and one of them dieth without
children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another: but his
brother shall take her, and raise up seed for his brother:
25:6. And the irst son he shall have of her he shall call by his name,
that his name be not abolished out of Israel.
25:7. But if he will not take his brother’s wife, who by law belongeth
to him, the woman shall go to the gate of the city, and call upon the
ancients, and say: My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up his
brother’s name in Israel: and will not take me to wife.
25:8. And they shall cause him to be sent for forthwith, and shall ask
him. If he answer: I will not take her to wife:
25:9. The woman shall come to him before the ancients, and shall
take off his shoe from his foot, and spit in his face, and say: So shall it
be done to the man that will not build up his brother’s house:
25:10. And his name shall be called in Israel, the house of the
unshod.
25:11. If two men have words together, and one begin to ight
against the other, and the other’s wife willing to deliver her husband
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 out of the hand of the stronger, shall put forth her hand, and take him
by the secrets,
25:12. Thou shalt cut off her hand, neither shalt thou be moved with
any pity in her regard.
25:13. Thou shalt not have divers weights in thy bag, a greater and
a less:
25:14. Neither shall there be in thy house a greater bushel and a
less.
25:15. Thou shalt have a just and a true weight, and thy bushel shall
be equal and true: that thou mayest live a long time upon the land
which the Lord thy God shall give thee.
25:16. For the Lord thy God abhorreth him that doth these things,
and he hateth all injustice.
25:17. Remember what Amalec did to thee in the way when thou
camest out of Egypt:
Amalec.... This order for destroying the Amalecites, in the mystical sense, sheweth
how hateful they are to God, and what punishments they are to look for from his
justice, who attack and discourage his servants when they are but just come out,
as it were, of the Egypt of this wicked world and being yet weak and
fainthearted, are but beginning their journey to the land of promise.
25:18. How he met thee: and slew the hindmost of the army, who sat
down, being weary, when thou wast spent with hunger and labour,
and he feared not God.
25:19. Therefore when the Lord thy God shall give thee rest, and
shall have subdued all the nations round about in the land which he
hath promised thee: thou shalt blot out his name from under heaven.
See thou forget it not.
Deuteronomy Chapter 26

The form of words with which the irstfruits and tithes are to be
offered. God’s covenant.

 26:1. And when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God
will give thee to possess, and hast conquered it, and dwellest in it:
26:2. Thou shalt take the irst of all thy fruits, and put them in a
basket, and shalt go to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,
that his name may be invocated there:
26:3. And thou shalt go to the priest that shall be in those days, and
say to him: I profess this day before the Lord thy God, that I am come
into the land, for which he swore to our fathers, that he would give it
us.
26:4. And the priest taking the basket at thy hand, shall set it before
the altar of the Lord thy God:
26:5. And thou shalt speak thus in the sight of the Lord thy God: The
Syrian pursued my father, who went down into Egypt, and sojourned
there in a very small number, and grew into a nation great and strong
and of an in inite multitude.
The Syrian.... Laban. See Gen. 27.
26:6. And the Egyptians af licted us, and persecuted us, laying on us
most grievous burdens:
26:7. And we cried to the Lord God of our fathers: who heard us, and
looked down upon our af liction, and labour, and distress:
26:8. And brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand, and a
stretched out arm, with great terror, with signs and wonders:
26:9. And brought us into this place, and gave us this land lowing
with milk and honey.
26:10. And therefore now I offer the irstfruits of the land which the
Lord hath given me. And thou shalt leave them in the sight of the Lord
thy God, adoring the Lord thy God.
26:11. And thou shalt feast in all the good things which the Lord thy
God hath given thee, and thy house, thou and the Levite, and the
stranger that is with thee.

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 26:12. When thou hast made an end of tithing all thy fruits, in the
third year of tithes thou shalt give it to the Levite, and to the stranger,
and to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within thy
gates, and be illed:
26:13. And thou shalt speak thus in the sight of the Lord thy God: I
have taken that which was sancti ied out of my house, and I have given
it to the Levite, and to the stranger, and to the fatherless, and to the
widow, as thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy
commandments nor forgotten thy precepts.
26:14. I have not eaten of them in my mourning, nor separated them
for any uncleanness, nor spent any thing of them in funerals. I have
obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done all things as thou
hast commanded me.
26:15. Look from thy sanctuary, and thy high habitation of heaven,
and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as
thou didst swear to our fathers, a land lowing with milk and honey.
26:16. This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these
commandments and judgments: and to keep and ful il them with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul.
26:17. Thou hast chosen the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk
in his ways and keep his ceremonies, and precepts, and judgments, and
obey his command.
26:18. And the Lord hath chosen thee this day, to be his peculiar
people, as he hath spoken to thee, and to keep all his commandments:
26:19. And to make thee higher than all nations which he hath
created, to his own praise, and name, and glory: that thou mayst be a
holy people of the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.
Deuteronomy Chapter 27

The commandments must be written on stones: and an altar erected,

and sacri ices offered. The observers of the commandments are to be
blessed, and the transgressors cursed.
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 27:1. And Moses with the ancients of Israel commanded the people,
saying: Keep every commandment that I command you this day.
27:2. And when you are passed over the Jordan into the land which
the Lord thy God will give thee, thou shalt set up great stones, and
shalt plaster them over with plaster,
27:3. That thou mayst write on them all the words of this law, when
thou art passed over the Jordan: that thou mayst enter into the land
which the Lord thy God will give thee, a land lowing with milk and
honey, as he swore to thy fathers.
27:4. Therefore when you are passed over the Jordan, set up the
stones which I command you this day, in mount Hebal, and thou shalt
plaster them with plaster:
27:5. And thou shalt build there an altar to the Lord thy God, of
stones which iron hath not touched,
27:6. And of stones not fashioned nor polished: and thou shalt offer
upon it holocausts to the Lord thy God:
27:7. And shalt immolate peace victims, and eat there, and feast
before the Lord thy God.
27:8. And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law
plainly and clearly.
27:9. And Moses and the priests of the race of Levi said to all Israel:
Attend, and hear, O Israel: This day thou art made the people of the
Lord thy God:
27:10. Thou shalt hear his voice, and do the commandments and
justices which I command thee.
27:11. And Moses commanded the people in that day, saying:
27:12. These shall stand upon mount Garizim to bless the people,
when you are passed the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, Joseph,
and Benjamin.
27:13. And over against them shall stand on mount Hebal to curse:
Ruben, Gad, and Aser, and Zabulon, Dan, and Nephtali.

 27:14. And the Levites shall pronounce, and say to all the men of
Israel with a loud voice:
27:15. Cursed be the man that maketh a graven and molten thing,
the abomination of the Lord, the work of the hands of arti icers, and
shall put it in a secret place: and all the people shall answer and say:
Amen.
27:16. Cursed be he that honoureth not his father and mother: and
all the people shall say: Amen.
27:17. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmarks: and
all the people shall say: Amen.
27:18. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of his way:
and all the people shall say: Amen.
27:19. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, of
the fatherless and the widow: and all the people shall say: Amen.
27:20. Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife, and uncovereth
his bed: and all the people shall say: Amen.
27:21. Cursed be he that lieth with any beast: and all the people
shall say: Amen.
27:22. Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his
father, or of his mother: and all the people shall say: Amen.
27:23. Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law: and all the
people shall say: Amen.
27:24. Cursed be he that secretly killeth his neighbour: and all the
people shall say: Amen.
27:25. Cursed be he that taketh gifts, to slay an innocent person:
and all the people shall say: Amen.
27:26. Cursed be he that abideth not in the words of this law, and
ful illeth them not in work: and all the people shall say: Amen.
Deuteronomy Chapter 28

Many blessings are promised to observers of God’s commandments:

and curses threatened to transgressors.
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 28:1. Now if thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to do and
keep all his commandments, which I command thee this day, the Lord
thy God will make thee higher than all the nations that are on the
earth.
28:2. And all these blessings shall come upon thee and overtake
thee: yet so if thou hear his precepts.
All these blessings, etc.... In the Old Testament, God promised temporal blessings
to the keepers of his law, heaven not being opened as yet; and that gross and
sensual people being more moved with present and sensible things. But in the
New Testament the goods that are promised us are spiritual and eternal; and
temporal evils are turned into blessings.
28:3. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed in the ield.
28:4. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy
ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the droves of thy herds, and the
folds of thy sheep.
28:5. Blessed shall be thy barns and blessed thy stores.
28:6. Blessed shalt thou be coming in and going out.
28:7. The Lord shall cause thy enemies, that rise up against thee, to
fall down before thy face: one way shall they come out against thee,
and seven ways shall they lee before thee.
28:8. The Lord will send forth a blessing upon thy storehouses, and
upon all the works of thy hands: and will bless thee in the land that
thou shalt receive.
28:9. The Lord will raise thee up to be a holy people to himself, as he
swore to thee: if thou keep the commandments of the Lord thy God,
and walk in his ways.
28:10. And all the people of the earth shall see that the name of the
Lord is invocated upon thee, and they shall fear thee.
28:11. The Lord will make thee abound with all goods, with the fruit
of thy womb, and the fruit of thy cattle, with the fruit of thy land,
which the Lord swore to thy fathers that he would give thee.

 28:12. The Lord will open his excellent treasure, the heaven, that it
may give rain in due season: and he will bless all the works of thy
hands. And thou shalt lend to many nations, and shalt not borrow of
any one.
28:13. And the Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail: and
thou shalt be always above, and not beneath: yet so if thou wilt hear
the commandments of the Lord thy God which I command thee this
day, and keep and do them,
28:14. And turn not away from them neither to the right hand, nor
to the left, nor follow strange gods, nor worship them.
28:15. But if thou wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep
and to do all his commandments and ceremonies, which I command
thee this day, all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.
All these curses, etc.... Thus God dealt with the transgressors of his law in the Old
Testament: but now he often suffers sinners to prosper in this world, rewarding
them for some little good they have done, and reserving their punishment for the
other world.
28:16. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, cursed in the ield.
28:17. Cursed shall be thy barn, and cursed thy stores.
28:18. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy
ground, the herds of thy oxen, and the locks of thy sheep.
28:19. Cursed shalt thou be coming in, and cursed going out.
28:20. The Lord shall send upon thee famine and hunger, and a
rebuke upon all the works which thou shalt do: until he consume and
destroy thee quickly, for thy most wicked inventions, by which thou
hast forsaken me.
28:21. May the Lord set the pestilence upon thee, until he consume
thee out of the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.
28:22. May the Lord af lict thee with miserable want, with the fever
and with cold, with burning and with heat, and with corrupted air and
with blasting, and pursue thee till thou perish.

 28:23. Be the heaven, that is over thee, of brass: and the ground
thou treadest on, of iron.
28:24. The Lord give thee dust for rain upon thy land, and let ashes
come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be consumed.
28:25. The Lord make thee to fall down before thy enemies, one way
mayst thou go out against them, and lee seven ways, and be scattered
throughout all the kingdoms of the earth.
28:26. And be thy carcass meat for all the fowls of the air, and the
beasts of the earth, and be there none to drive them away.
28:27. The Lord strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part of
thy body, by which the dung is cast out, with the scab and with the
itch: so that thou canst not be healed.
28:28. The Lord strike thee with madness and blindness and fury of
mind.
28:29. And mayst thou grope at midday as the blind is wont to grope
in the dark, and not make straight thy ways. And mayst thou at all
times suffer wrong, and be oppressed with violence, and mayst thou
have no one to deliver thee.
28:30. Mayst thou take a wife, and another sleep with her. Mayst
thou build a house, and not dwell therein. Mayest thou plant a
vineyard and not gather the vintage thereof.
28:31. May thy ox be slain before thee, and thou not eat thereof. May
thy ass be taken away in thy sight, and not restored to thee. May thy
sheep be given to thy enemies, and may there be none to help thee.
28:32. May thy sons and thy daughters be given to another people,
thy eyes looking on, and languishing at the sight of them all the day,
and may there be no strength in thy hand.
28:33. May a people which thou knowest not, eat the fruits of thy
land, and all thy labours: and mayst thou always suffer oppression,
and be crushed at all times.
28:34. And be astonished at the terror of those things which thy eyes
shall see:

 28:35. May the Lord strike thee with a very sore ulcer in the knees
and in the legs, and be thou incurable from the sole of the foot to the
top of the head.
28:36. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king, whom thou shalt
have appointed over thee, into a nation which thou and thy fathers
know not: and there thou shalt serve strange gods, wood and stone.
28:37. And thou shalt be lost, as a proverb and a byword to all
people, among whom the Lord shall bring thee in.
28:38. Thou shalt cast much seed into the ground, and gather little:
because the locusts shall consume all.
28:39. Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dig it, and shalt not drink
the wine, nor gather any thing thereof: because it shall be wasted with
worms.
28:40. Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy borders, and shalt not be
anointed with the oil: for the olives shall fall off and perish.
28:41. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, and shalt not enjoy
them: because they shall be led into captivity.
28:42. The blast shall consume all the trees and the fruits of thy
ground.
28:43. The stranger that liveth with thee in the land, shall rise up
over thee, and shall be higher: and thou shalt go down, and be lower.
28:44. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him. He shall
be as the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
28:45. And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue
and overtake thee, till thou perish: because thou heardst not the voice
of the Lord thy God, and didst not keep his commandments and
ceremonies which he commanded thee.
28:46. And they shall be as signs and wonders on thee, and on thy
seed for ever.
28:47. Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joy and
gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things:

 28:48. Thou shalt serve thy enemy, whom the Lord will send upon
thee, in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and in want of all things:
and he shall put an iron yoke upon thy neck, till he consume thee.
28:49. The Lord will bring upon thee a nation from afar, and from
the uttermost ends of the earth, like an eagle that lyeth swiftly, whose
tongue thou canst not understand,
28:50. A most insolent nation, that will shew no regard to the
ancients, nor have pity on the infant,
28:51. And will devour the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruits of thy
land: until thou be destroyed, and will leave thee no wheat, nor wine,
nor oil, nor herds of oxen, nor locks of sheep: until he destroy thee.
28:52. And consume thee in all thy cities, and thy strong and high
wall be brought down, wherein thou trustedst in all thy land. Thou
shalt be besieged within thy gates in all thy land which the Lord thy
God will give thee:
28:53. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy womb, and the lesh of thy
sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in
the distress and extremity wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee.
28:54. The man that is nice among you, and very delicate, shall envy
his own brother, and his wife, that lieth in his bosom,
28:55. So that he will not give them of the lesh of his children,
which he shall eat: because he hath nothing else in the siege and the
want, wherewith thy enemies shall distress thee within all thy gates.
28:56. The tender and delicate woman, that could not go upon the
ground, nor set down her foot for over much niceness and tenderness,
will envy her husband who lieth in her bosom, the lesh of her son, and
of her daughter,
28:57. And the ilth of the afterbirths, that come forth from between
her thighs, and the children that are born the same hour. For they
shall eat them secretly for the want of all things, in the siege and
distress, wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee within thy gates.
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 28:58. If thou wilt not keep, and ful il all the words of this law, that
are written in this volume, and fear his glorious and terrible name:
that is, The Lord thy God:
28:59. The Lord shall increase thy plagues, and the plagues of thy
seed, plagues great and lasting, in irmities grievous and perpetual.
28:60. And he shall bring back on thee all the af lictions of Egypt,
which thou wast afraid of, and they shall stick fast to thee.
28:61. Moreover the Lord will bring upon thee all the diseases, and
plagues, that are not written in the volume of this law till he consume
thee:
28:62. And you shall remain few in number, who before were as the
stars of heaven for multitude, because thou heardst not the voice of
the Lord thy God.
28:63. And as the Lord rejoiced upon you before doing good to you,
and multiplying you: so he shall rejoice destroying and bringing you to
nought, so that you shall be taken away from the land which thou
shalt go in to possess.
28:64. The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the
farthest parts of the earth to the ends thereof: and there thou shalt
serve strange gods, which both thou art ignorant of and thy fathers,
wood and stone.
28:65. Neither shalt thou be quiet, even in those nations, nor shall
there be any rest for the sole of thy foot. For the Lord will give thee a
fearful heart, and languishing eyes, and a soul consumed with
pensiveness:
28:66. And thy life shall be as it were hanging before thee. Thou
shalt fear night and day, neither shalt thou trust thy life.
28:67. In the morning thou shalt say: Who will grant me evening?
and at evening: Who will grant me morning? for the fearfulness of thy
heart, wherewith thou shalt be terri ied, and for those things which
thou shalt see with thy eyes.

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 28:68. The Lord shall bring thee again with ships into Egypt, by the
way whereof he said to thee that thou shouldst see it no more. There
shalt thou be set to sale to thy enemies for bondmen and bondwomen,
and no man shall buy you.
Deuteronomy Chapter 29

The covenant is solemnly con irmed between God and his people.
Threats against those that shall break it.
29:1. These are the words of the covenant which the Lord
commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of
Moab: beside that covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
29:2. And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: You have seen all
the things that the Lord did before you in the land of Egypt to Pharao,
and to all his servants, and to his whole land.
29:3. The great temptations, which thy eyes have seen, those mighty
signs and wonders,
29:4. And the Lord hath not given you a heart to understand, and
eyes to see, and ears that may hear, unto this present day.
Hath not given you, etc.... Through your own fault and because you resisted his
grace.
29:5. He hath brought you forty years through the desert: your
garments are not worn out, neither are the shoes of your feet
consumed with age.
29:6. You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong
drink: that you might know that I am the Lord your God.
29:7. And you came to this place: and Sehon king of Hesebon, and Og
king of Basan, came out against us to ight. And we slew them.
29:8. And took their land, and delivered it for a possession to Ruben
and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses.
29:9. Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and ful il them: that
you may understand all that you do.

 29:10. You all stand this day before the Lord your God, your princes,
and tribes, and ancients, and doctors, all the people of Israel,
29:11. Your children and your wives, and the stranger that abideth
with thee in the camp, besides the hewers of wood, and them that
bring water:
29:12. That thou mayst pass in the covenant of the Lord thy God,
and in the oath which this day the Lord thy God maketh with thee.
29:13. That he may raise thee up a people to himself, and he may be
thy God as he hath spoken to thee, and as he swore to thy fathers
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
29:14. Neither with you only do I make this covenant, and con irm
these oaths,
29:15. But with all that are present and that are absent.
29:16. For you know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we
have passed through the midst of nations, and passing through them,
29:17. You have seen their abominations and ilth, that is to say,
their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which they worshipped.
29:18. Lest perhaps there should be among you a man or a woman,
a family or a tribe, whose heart is turned away this day from the Lord
our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations: and there should be
among you a root bringing forth gall and bitterness.
29:19. And when he shall hear the words of this oath, he should bless
himself in his heart saying: I shall have peace, and will walk on in the
naughtiness of my heart: and the drunken may consume the thirsty,
The drunken, etc., absumat ebria sitientem.... It is a proverbial expression, which
may either be understood, as spoken by the sinner, blessing, that is, lattering
himself in his sins with the imagination of peace, and so great an abundance as
may satisfy, and as it were, consume all thirst and want: or it may be referred to
the root of bitterness, spoken of before, which being drunken with sin may
attract, and by that means consume, such as thirst after the like evils.
29:20. And the Lord should not forgive him: but his wrath and
jealousy against that man should be exceedingly enkindled at that

 time, and all the curses that are written in this volume should light
upon him: and the Lord should blot out his name from under heaven,
29:21. And utterly destroy him out of all the tribes of Israel,
according to the curses that are contained in the book of this law and
covenant:
29:22. And the following generation shall say, and the children that
shall be born hereafter, and the strangers that shall come from afar,
seeing the plagues of that land and the evils wherewith the Lord hath
af licted it,
29:23. Burning it with brimstone, and the heat of salt, so that it
cannot be sown any more, nor any green thing grow therein, after the
example of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha, Adama and
Seboim, which the Lord destroyed in his wrath and indignation:
29:24. And all the nations shall say: Why hath the Lord done thus to
this land? what meaneth this exceeding great heat of his wrath?
29:25. And they shall answer: Because they forsook the covenant of
the Lord, which he made with their fathers, when he brought them out
of the land of Egypt:
29:26. And they have served strange gods, and adored them, whom
they knew not, and for whom they had not been assigned:
29:27. Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against this
land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this volume:
29:28. And he hath cast them out of their land, in anger and in
wrath, and in very great indignation, and hath thrown them into a
strange land, as it is seen this day.
29:29. Secret things to the Lord our God: things that are manifest, to
us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this
law.
Secret things, etc.... As much as to say, secret things belong to, and are known to,
God alone; our business must be to observe what he has revealed and manifested
to us, and to direct our lives accordingly.
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 Deuteronomy Chapter 30

Great mercies are promised to the penitent: God’s commandment is

feasible. Life and death are set before them.
30:1. Now when all these things shall be come upon thee, the
blessing or the curse, which I have set forth before thee, and thou shalt
be touched with repentance of thy heart among all the nations, into
which the Lord thy God shall have scattered thee,
30:2. And shalt return to him, and obey his commandments, as I
command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul:
30:3. The Lord thy God will bring back again thy captivity, and will
have mercy on thee, and gather thee again out of all the nations, into
which he scattered thee before.
30:4. If thou be driven as far as the poles of heaven, the Lord thy God
will fetch thee back from hence,
30:5. And will take thee to himself, and bring thee into the land
which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it: and blessing
thee, he will make thee more numerous than were thy fathers.
30:6. The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of
thy seed: that thou mayst love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and
with all thy soul, that thou mayst live.
30:7. And he will turn all these curses upon thy enemies, and upon
them that hate and persecute thee.
30:8. But thou shalt return, and hear the voice of the Lord thy God,
and shalt do all the commandments which I command thee this day:
30:9. And the Lord thy God will make thee abound in all the works of
thy hands, in the fruit of thy womb, and in the fruit of thy cattle, in the
fruitfulness of thy land, and in the plenty of all things. For the Lord will
return to rejoice over thee in all good things, as he rejoiced in thy
fathers:

 30:10. Yet so if thou hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep his
precepts and ceremonies, which are written in this law: and return to
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.
30:11. This commandment, that I command thee this day is not
above thee, nor far off from thee:
30:12. Nor is it in heaven, that thou shouldst say: Which of us can go
up to heaven to bring it unto us, and we may hear and ful il it in work?
30:13. Nor is it beyond the sea: that thou mayst excuse thyself, and
say: Which of us can cross the sea, and bring it unto us: that we may
hear, and do that which is commanded?
30:14. But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy
heart, that thou mayst do it.
30:15. Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good,
and on the other hand death and evil:
30:16. That thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways,
and keep his commandments and ceremonies and judgments, and thou
mayst live, and he may multiply thee, and bless thee in the land, which
thou shalt go in to possess.
30:17. But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear,
and being deceived with error thou adore strange gods, and serve
them:
30:18. I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shalt
remain but a short time in the land, to which thou shalt pass over the
Jordan, and shalt go in to possess it.
30:19. I call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set
before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose therefore life,
that both thou and thy seed may live:
30:20. And that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his
voice, and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days,)
that thou mayst dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy
fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give it them.

 Deuteronomy Chapter 31

Moses encourageth the people, and Josue, who is appointed to succeed

him. He delivereth the law to the priests. God foretelleth that the
people will often forsake him, and that he will punish them. He
commandeth Moses to write a canticle, as a constant remembrancer of
the law.
31:1. And Moses went, and spoke all these words to all Israel,
31:2. And he said to them: I am this day a hundred and twenty years
old, I can no longer go out and come in, especially as the Lord also
hath said to me: Thou shalt not pass over this Jordan.
31:3. The Lord thy God then will pass over before thee: he will
destroy all these nations in thy sight, and thou shalt possess them: and
this Josue shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.
31:4. And the Lord shall do to them as he did to Sehon and Og the
kings of the Amorrhites, and to their land, and shall destroy them.
31:5. Therefore when the Lord shall have delivered these also to you,
you shall do in like manner to them as I have commanded you.
31:6. Do manfully and be of good heart: fear not, nor be ye dismayed
at their sight: for the Lord thy God he himself is thy leader, and will not
leave thee nor forsake thee.
31:7. And Moses called Josue, and said to him before all Israel: Take
courage, and be valiant: for thou shalt bring this people into the land
which the Lord swore he would give to their fathers, and thou shalt
divide it by lot.
31:8. And the Lord who is your leader, he himself will be with thee:
he will not leave thee, nor forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
31:9. And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests the
sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all
the ancients of Israel.
31:10. And he commanded them, saying: After seven years, in the
year of remission, in the feast of tabernacles,

 31:11. When all Israel come together, to appear in the sight of the
Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou shalt read
the words of this law before all Israel, in their hearing.
31:12. And the people being all assembled together, both men and
women, children and strangers, that are within thy gates: that hearing
they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and keep, and ful il all the
words of this law:
31:13. That their children also, who now are ignorant, may hear,
and fear the Lord their God, all the days that they live in the land
whither you are going over the Jordan to possess it.
31:14. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold the days of thy death are
nigh: call Josue, and stand ye in the tabernacle of the testimony, that I
may give him a charge. So Moses and Josue went and stood in the
tabernacle of the testimony:
31:15. And the Lord appeared there in the pillar of a cloud, which
stood in the entry of the tabernacle.
31:16. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold thou shalt sleep with thy
fathers, and this people rising up will go a fornicating after strange
gods in the land, to which it goeth in to dwell: there will they forsake
me, and will make void the covenant, which I have made with them,
31:17. And my wrath shall be kindled against them in that day: and
I will forsake them, and will hide my face from them, and they shall be
devoured: all evils and af lictions shall ind them, so that they shall say
in that day: In truth it is because God is not with me, that these evils
have found me.
31:18. But I will hide, and cover my face in that day, for all the evils
which they have done, because they have followed strange gods.
31:19. Now therefore write you this canticle, and teach the children
of Israel: that they may know it by heart, and sing it by mouth, and
this song may be unto me for a testimony among the children of Israel.
31:20. For I will bring them into the land, for which I swore to their
fathers, that loweth with milk and honey. And when they have eaten,
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and are full and fat, they will turn away after strange gods, and will
serve them: and will despise me, and make void my covenant.
31:21. And after many evils and af lictions shall have come upon
them, this canticle shall answer them for a testimony, which no
oblivion shall take away out of the mouth of their seed. For I know
their thoughts, and what they are about to do this day, before that I
bring them into the land which I have promised them.
31:22. Moses therefore wrote the canticle, and taught it to the
children of Israel.
31:23. And the Lord commanded Josue the son of Nun, and said:
Take courage, and be valiant: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel
into the land which I have promised, and I will be with thee.
31:24. Therefore after Moses had wrote the words of this law in a
volume, and inished it:
31:25. He commanded the Levites, who carried the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, saying:
31:26. Take this book, and put it in the side of the ark of the
covenant of the Lord your God: that it may be there for a testimony
against thee.
31:27. For I know thy obstinacy, and thy most stiff neck. While I am
yet living, and going in with you, you have always been rebellious
against the Lord: how much more when I shall be dead?
31:28. Gather unto me all the ancients of your tribes, and your
doctors, and I will speak these words in their hearing, and will call
heaven and earth to witness against them.
31:29. For I know that, after my death, you will do wickedly, and will
quickly turn aside from the way that I have commanded you: and evils
shall come upon you in the latter times, when you shall do evil in the
sight of the Lord, to provoke him by the works of your hands.
31:30. Moses therefore spoke, in the hearing of the whole assembly
of Israel, the words of this canticle, and inished it even to the end.
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 Deuteronomy Chapter 32

A canticle for the remembrance of the law. Moses is commanded to go

up into a mountain, from whence he shall see the promised land but
not enter into it.
32:1. Hear, O ye heavens, the things I speak, let the earth give ear to
the words of my mouth.
32:2. Let my doctrine gather as the rain, let my speech distil as the
dew, as a shower upon the herb, and as drops upon the grass.
32:3. Because I will invoke the name of the Lord: give ye
magni icence to our God.
32:4. The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments:
God is faithful and without any iniquity, he is just and right.
32:5. They have sinned against him, and are none of his children in
their ilth: they are a wicked and perverse generation.
32:6. Is this the return thou makest to the Lord, O foolish and
senseless people? Is not he thy father, that hath possessed thee, and
made thee, and created thee?
32:7. Remember the days of old, think upon every generation: ask
thy father, and he will declare to thee: thy elders and they will tell thee.
32:8. When the Most High divided the nations: when he separated
the sons of Adam, he appointed the bounds of people according to the
number of the children of Israel.
32:9. But the Lord’s portion is his people: Jacob the lot of his
inheritance.
32:10. He found him in a desert land, in a place of horror, and of
vast wilderness: he led him about, and taught him: and he kept him as
the apple of his eye.
32:11. As the eagle enticing her young to ly, and hovering over
them, he spread his wings, and hath taken him and carried him on his
shoulders.
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 32:12. The Lord alone was his leader: and there was no strange god
with him.
32:13. He set him upon high land: that he might eat the fruits of the
ields, that he might suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the
hardest stone,
32:14. Butter of the herd, and milk of the sheep with the fat of
lambs, and of the rams of the breed of Basan: and goats with the
marrow of wheat, and might drink the purest blood of the grape.
32:15. The beloved grew fat, and kicked: he grew fat, and thick and
gross, he forsook God who made him, and departed from God his
saviour.
32:16. They provoked him by strange gods, and stirred him up to
anger, with their abominations.
32:17. They sacri iced to devils and not to God: to gods whom they
knew not: that were newly come up, whom their fathers worshipped
not.
32:18. Thou hast forsaken the God that begot thee, and hast
forgotten the Lord that created thee.
32:19. The Lord saw, and was moved to wrath: because his own sons
and daughters provoked him.
32:20. And he said: I will hide my face from them, and will consider
what their last end shall be: for it is a perverse generation, and
unfaithful children.
32:21. They have provoked me with that which was no god, and
have angered me with their vanities: and I will provoke them with that
which is no people, and will vex them with a foolish nation.
32:22. A ire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the
lowest hell: and shall devour the earth with her increase, and shall
burn the foundations of the mountains.
32:23. I will heap evils upon them, and will spend my arrows among
them.
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 32:24. They shall be consumed with famine, and birds shall devour
them with a most bitter bite: I will send the teeth of beasts upon them,
with the fury of creatures that trail upon the ground, and of serpents.
32:25. Without, the sword shall lay them waste, and terror within,
both the young man and the virgin, the sucking child with the man in
years.
32:26. I said: Where are they? I will make the memory of them to
cease from among men.
32:27. But for the wrath of the enemies I have deferred it: lest
perhaps their enemies might be proud, and should say: Our mighty
hand, and not the Lord, hath done all these things.
32:28. They are a nation without counsel, and without wisdom.
32:29. O that they would be wise and would understand, and would
provide for their last end.
32:30. How should one pursue after a thousand, and two chase ten
thousand? Was it not, because their God had sold them, and the Lord
had shut them up?
32:31. For our God is not as their gods: our enemies themselves are
judges.
32:32. Their vines are of the vineyard of Sodom, and of the suburbs
of Gomorrha: their grapes are grapes of gall, and their clusters most
bitter.
32:33. Their wine is the gall of dragons, and the venom of asps,
which is incurable.
32:34. Are not these things stored up with me, and sealed up in my
treasures?
32:35. Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time, that their
foot may slide: the day of destruction is at hand, and the time makes
haste to come.

 32:36. The Lord will judge his people, and will have mercy on his
servants: he shall see that their hand is weakened, and that they who
were shut up have also failed, and they that remained are consumed.
32:37. And he shall say: Where are their gods, in whom they trusted?
32:38. Of whose victims they ate the fat, and drank the wine of their
drink offerings: let them arise and help you, and protect you in your
distress.
32:39. See ye that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me: I
will kill and I will make to live: I will strike, and I will heal, and there is
none that can deliver out of my hand.
32:40. I will lift up my hand to heaven, and I will say: I live for ever.
32:41. If I shall whet my sword as the lightning, and my hand take
hold on judgment: I will render vengeance to my enemies, and repay
them that hate me.
32:42. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall
devour lesh, of the blood of the slain and of the captivity, of the bare
head of the enemies.
32:43. Praise his people, ye nations, for he will revenge the blood of
his servants: and will render vengeance to their enemies, and he will
be merciful to the land of his people.
32:44. So Moses came and spoke all the words of this canticle in the
ears of the people, and Josue the son of Nun.
32:45. And he ended all these words, speaking to all Israel.
32:46. And he said to them: Set your hearts on all the words, which I
testify to you this day: which you shall command your children to
observe and to do, and to ful il all that is written in this law:
32:47. For they are not commanded you in vain, but that every one
should live in them, and that doing them you may continue a long time
in the land whither you are going over the Jordan to possess it.
32:48. And the Lord spoke to Moses the same day, saying:
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 32:49. Go up into this mountain Abarim, (that is to say, of passages,)

unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab over against Jericho:
and see the land of Chanaan, which I will deliver to the children of
Israel to possess, and die thou in the mountain.
32:50. When thou art gone up into it thou shalt be gathered to thy
people, as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered to
his people:
32:51. Because you trespassed against me in the midst of the
children of Israel, at the waters of contradiction, in Cades of the desert
of Sin: and you did not sanctify me among the children of Israel.
32:52. Thou shalt see the land before thee, which I will give to the
children of Israel, but thou shalt not enter into it.
Deuteronomy Chapter 33

Moses before his death blesseth the tribes of Israel.

33:1. This is the blessing, wherewith the man of God, Moses, blessed
the children of Israel, before his death.
33:2. And he said: The Lord came from Sinai, and from Seir he rose
up to us: he hath appeared from mount Pharan, and with him
thousands of saints. In his right hand a iery law.
33:3. He hath loved the people, all the saints are in his hand: and
they that approach to his feet, shall receive of his doctrine.
33:4. Moses commanded us a law, the inheritance of the multitude
of Jacob.
33:5. He shall be king with the most right, the princes of the people,
being assembled with the tribes of Israel.
33:6. Let Ruben live, and not die, and be he small in number.
33:7. This is the blessing of Juda. Hear, O Lord, the voice of Juda, and
bring him in unto his people: his hands shall ight for him, and he shall
be his helper against his enemies.

 33:8. To Levi also he said: Thy perfection, and thy doctrine be to thy
holy man, whom thou hast proved in the temptation, and judged at the
waters of contradiction:
Holy man.... Aaron and his successors in the priesthood.
33:9. Who hath said to his father, and to his mother: I do not know
you; and to his brethren: I know you not: and their own children they
have not known. These have kept thy word, and observed thy covenant,
Who hath said, etc.... It is the duty of the priestly tribe to prefer God’s honour and
service before all considerations of lesh and blood: in such manner as to behave
as strangers to their nearest akin, when these would withdraw them from the
business of their calling.
33:10. Thy judgments, O Jacob, and thy law, O Israel: they shall put
incense in thy wrath and holocaust upon thy altar.
33:11. Bless, O Lord, his strength, and receive the works of his hands.
Strike the backs of his enemies, and let not them that hate him rise.
33:12. And to Benjamin he said: The best beloved of the Lord shall
dwell con idently in him: as in a bride chamber shall he abide all the
day long, and between his shoulders shall be rest.
Shall dwell, etc.... This seems to allude to the temple being built in the con ines of
the tribe of Benjamin.
33:13. To Joseph also he said: Of the blessing of the Lord be his land,
of the fruits of heaven, and of the dew, and of the deep that lieth
beneath.
33:14. Of the fruits brought forth by the sun and by the moon.
33:15. Of the tops of the ancient mountains, of the fruits of the
everlasting hills:
33:16. And of the fruits of the earth, and of the fulness thereof. The
blessing of him that appeared in the bush, come upon the head of
Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.
The Nazarite.... See the note on Gen. 49.26.
33:17. His beauty as of the irstling of a bullock, his horns as the
horns of a rhinoceros: with them shall he push the nations even to the

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 ends of the earth. These are the multitudes of Ephraim and these the
thousands of Manasses.
33:18. And to Zabulon he said: Rejoice, O Zabulon, in thy going out;
and Issachar in thy tabernacles.
33:19. They shall call the people to the mountain: there shall they
sacri ice the victims of justice. Who shall suck as milk the abundance
of the sea, and the hidden treasures of the sands.
33:20. And to Gad he said: Blessed be Gad in his breadth: he hath
rested as a lion, and hath seized upon the arm and the top of the head.
33:21. And he saw his pre-eminence, that in his portion the teacher
was laid up: who was with the princes of the people, and did the
justices of the Lord, and his judgment with Israel.
He saw, etc.... The pre-eminence of the tribe of Gad, to which this alludeth, was
their having the lawgiver Moses buried in their borders; though the particular
place was not known.
33:22. To Dan also he said: Dan is a young lion, he shall low
plentifully from Basan.
33:23. And To Nephtali he said: Nephtali shall enjoy abundance, and
shall be full of the blessings of the Lord: he shall possess the sea and
the south.
The sea.... The lake of Genesareth.
33:24. To Aser also he said: Let Aser be blessed with children, let him
be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.
33:25. His shoe shall be iron and brass. As the days of thy youth, so
also shall thy old age be.
33:26. There is no other god like the God of the rightest: he that is
mounted upon the heaven is thy helper. By his magni icence the clouds
run hither and thither.
33:27. His dwelling is above, and underneath are the everlasting
arms: he shall cast out the enemy from before thee, and shall say: Be
thou brought to nought.
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Underneath are the everlasting arms.... Though the dwelling of God be above in
heaven, his arms are always stretched out to help us here below.
33:28. Israel shall dwell in safety, and alone. The eye of Jacob in a
land of corn and wine, and the heavens shall be misty with dew.
33:29. Blessed art thou, Israel: who is like to thee, O people, that art
saved by the Lord? the shield of thy help, and the sword of thy glory:
thy enemies shall deny thee, and thou shalt tread upon their necks.
Deuteronomy Chapter 34

Moses seeth the promised land, but is not suffered to go into it. He
dieth at the age of 120 years. God burieth his body secretly, and all
Israel mourn for him thirty days. Josue, replenished (by imposition of
Moses’s hands) with the spirit of God, succeedeth. But Moses, for his
special familiarity with God, and for most wonderful miracles, is
commended above all other prophets.
34:1. Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab upon mount
Nebo, to the top of Phasga over against Jericho: and the Lord shewed
him all the land of Galaad as far as Dan.
34:2. And all Nephtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasses, and
all the land of Juda unto the furthermost sea,
34:3. And the south part, and the breadth of the plain of Jericho the
city of palm trees as far as Segor.
34:4. And the Lord said to him: This is the land, for which I swore to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to thy seed. Thou hast
seen it with thy eyes, and shalt not pass over to it.
34:5. And Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of
Moab, by the commandment of the Lord:
Died there.... This last chapter of Deuteronomy, in which the death of Moses is
related, was written by Josue, or by some of the prophets.
34:6. And he buried him in the valley of the land of Moab over
against Phogor: and no man hath known of his sepulchre until this
present day.

 He buried him, viz.... by the ministry of angels, and would have the place of his
burial to be unknown, lest the Israelites, who were so prone to idolatry, might
worship him with divine honours.
34:7. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his
eye was not dim, neither were his teeth moved.
34:8. And the children of Israel mourned for him in the plains of
Moab thirty days: and the days of their mourning in which they
mourned Moses were ended.
34:9. And Josue the son of Nun was illed with the spirit of wisdom,
because Moses had laid his hands upon him. And the children of Israel
obeyed him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.
34:10. And there arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses,
whom the Lord knew face to face,
34:11. In all the signs and wonders, which he sent by him, to do in
the land of Egypt to Pharao, and to all his servants, and to his whole
land,
34:12. And all the mighty hand, and great miracles, which Moses did
before all Israel.

THE BOOK OF JOSUE

This Book is called JOSUE, because it contains the history of what

passed under him, and according to the common opinion was written
by him. The Greeks call him Jesus: for Josue and Jesus in the Hebrew,
are the same name, and have the same signi ication, viz., A SAVIOUR.
And it was not without a mystery that he who was to bring the people
into the land of promise should have his name changed from OSEE (for
so he was called before, Num. 13.17,) to JOSUE or JESUS, to give us to
understand, that Moses by his law could only bring the people within

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 sight of the promised inheritance, but that our Saviour JESUS was to
bring us into it.
Josue Chapter 1

Josue, encouraged by the Lord, admonisheth the people to prepare

themselves to pass over the Jordan.
1:1. Now it came to pass after the death of Moses, the servant of the
Lord, that the Lord spoke to Josue, the son of Nun, the minister of
Moses, and said to him:
1:2. Moses my servant is dead: arise, and pass over this Jordan, thou
and thy people with thee, into the land which I will give to the children
of Israel.
1:3. I will deliver to you every place that the sole of your foot shall
tread upon, as I have said to Moses.
1:4. From the desert, and from Libanus unto the great river
Euphrates, all the land of the Hethites, unto the great sea toward the
going down of the sun, shall be your border.
1:5. No man shall be able to resist you all the days of thy life: as I
have been with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not leave thee, nor
forsake thee.
1:6. Take courage, and be strong: for thou shalt divide by lot to this
people the land for which I swore to their fathers, that I would deliver
it to them.
1:7. Take courage therefore, and be very valiant: that thou mayst
observe and do all the law, which Moses my servant hath commanded
thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayst
understand all things which thou dost.
1:8. Let not the book of this law depart from thy mouth: but thou
shalt meditate on it day and night, that thou mayst observe and do all
things that are written in it: then shalt thou direct thy way, and
understand it.

 1:9. Behold I command thee, take courage, and be strong. Fear not,
and be not dismayed: because the Lord thy God is with thee in all
things whatsoever thou shalt go to.
1:10. And Josue commanded the princes of the people, saying: Pass
through the midst of the camp, and command the people, and say:
1:11. Prepare your victuals: for after the third day you shall pass
over the Jordan, and shall go in to possess the land, which the Lord
your God will give you.
1:12. And he said to the Rubenites, and the Gadites, and the half
tribe of Manasses:
1:13. Remember the word, which Moses the servant of the Lord
commanded you, saying: The Lord your God hath given you rest, and
all this land.
1:14. Your wives, and children; and cattle, shall remain in the land
which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan: but pass you over
armed before your brethren all of you that are strong of hand, and
ight for them,
1:15. Until the Lord give rest to your brethren, as he hath given you,
and they also possess the land which the Lord your God will give them:
and so you shall return into the land of your possession, and you shall
dwell in it, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the
Jordan, toward the rising of the sun.
1:16. And they made answer to Josue, and said: All that thou hast
commanded us, we will do: and whither soever thou shalt send us, we
will go.
1:17. As we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey thee also:
only be the Lord thy God with thee, as he was with Moses.
1:18. He that shall gainsay thy mouth, and not obey all thy words,
that thou shalt command him, let him die: only take thou courage, and
do manfully.
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 Josue Chapter 2

Two spies are sent to Jericho, who are received and concealed by
Rahab.
2:1. And Josue, the son of Nun, sent from Setim two men, to spy
secretly: and said to them: Go, and view the land, and the city of
Jericho. They went, and entered into the house of a woman that was a
harlot, named Rahab, and lodged with her.
2:2. And it was told the king of Jericho, and was said: Behold there
are men come in hither, by night, of the children of Israel, to spy the
land.
2:3. And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying: Bring forth the
men that came to thee, and are entered into thy house: for they are
spies, and are come to view all the land.
2:4. And the woman taking the men, hid them, and said: I confess
they came to me, but I knew not whence they were:
2:5. And at the time of shutting the gate in the dark, they also went
out together. I know not whither they are gone: pursue after them
quickly, and you will overtake them.
2:6. But she made the men go up to the top of her house, and
covered them with the stalks of lax, which was there.
2:7. Now they that were sent, pursued after them, by the way that
leadeth to the fords of the Jordan: and as soon as they were gone out,
the gate was presently shut.
2:8. The men that were hid were not yet asleep, when behold the
woman went up to them, and said:
2:9. I know that the Lord hath given this land to you: for the dread
of you is fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land have lost all
strength.
2:10. We have heard that the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea,
at your going in, when you came out of Egypt: and what things you did

 to the two kings of the Amorrhites, that were beyond the Jordan, Sehon
and Og whom you slew.
2:11. And at the hearing these things, we were affrighted, and our
heart fainted away, neither did there remain any spirit in us, at your
coming in: for the Lord your God he is God in heaven above, and in the
earth beneath.
2:12. Now, therefore, swear ye to me by the Lord, that as I have
shewed mercy to you, so you also will shew mercy to my father’s house:
and give me a true token.
2:13. That you will save my father and mother, my brethren and
sisters, and all things that are theirs, and deliver our souls from death.
2:14. They answered her: Be our lives for you unto death, only if
thou betray us not. And when the Lord shall have delivered us the land,
we will shew thee mercy and truth.
2:15. Then she let them down with a cord out of a window: for her
house joined close to the wall.
2:16. And she said to them: Get ye up to the mountains, lest perhaps
they meet you as they return: and there lie ye hid three days, till they
come back, and so you shall go on your way.
2:17. And they said to her: We shall be blameless of this oath, which
thou hast made us swear,
2:18. If, when we come into the land, this scarlet cord be a sign, and
thou tie it in the window, by which thou hast let us down: and gather
together thy father and mother, and brethren, and all thy kindred into
thy house.
2:19. Whosoever shall go out of the door of thy house, his blood shall
be upon his own head, and we shall be quit. But the blood of all that
shall be with thee in the house, shall light upon our head, if any man
touch them.
2:20. But if thou wilt betray us, and utter this word abroad, we shall
be quit of this oath, which thou hast made us swear.

 2:21. And she answered: As you have spoken, so be it done: and

sending them on their way, she hung the scarlet cord in the window.
2:22. But they went and came to the mountains, and stayed there
three days, till they that pursued them were returned. For having
sought them through all the way, they found them not.
2:23. And when they were gone back into the city, the spies returned,
and came down from the mountain: and passing over the Jordan, they
came to Josue, the son of Nun, and told him all that befel them,
2:24. And said: the Lord hath delivered all this land into our hands,
and all the inhabitants thereof are overthrown with fear.
Josue Chapter 3

The river Jordan is miraculously dried up for the passage of the

children of Israel.
3:1. And Josue rose before daylight, and removed the camp: and they
departed from Setim, and came to the Jordan: he, and all the children
of Israel, and they abode there for three days.
3:2. After which, the heralds went through the midst of the camp,
3:3. And began to proclaim: When you shall see the ark of the
covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests of the race of Levi
carrying it, rise you up also, and follow them as they go before:
3:4. And let there be between you and the ark the space of two
thousand cubits: that you may see it afar off, and know which way you
must go: for you have not gone this way before: and take care you
come not near the ark.
3:5. And Josue said to the people: Be ye sancti ied: for tomorrow the
Lord will do wonders among you.
3:6. And he said to the priests: Take up the ark of the covenant, and
go before the people. And they obeyed his commands, and took it up,
and walked before them.

 3:7. And the Lord said to Josue: This day will I begin to exalt thee
before Israel: that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I am
with thee also.
3:8. And do thou command the priests, that carry the ark of the
covenant, and say to them: When you shall have entered into part of
the water of the Jordan, stand in it.
3:9. And Josue said to the children of Israel: Come hither, and hear
the word of the Lord your God.
3:10. And again he said: By this you shall know, that the Lord, the
living God, is in the midst of you, and that he shall destroy, before your
sight, the Chanaanite and the Hethite, the Hevite and the Pherezite,
the Gergesite also, and the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite.
3:11. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth
shall go before you into the Jordan.
3:12. Prepare ye twelve men of the tribes of Israel, one of every tribe.
3:13. And when the priests, that carry the ark of the Lord the God of
the whole earth, shall set the soles of their feet in the waters of the
Jordan, the waters that are beneath shall run down and go off: and
those that come from above, shall stand together upon a heap.
3:14. So the people went out of their tents, to pass over the Jordan:
and the priests that carried the ark of the covenant, went on before
them.
3:15. And as soon as they came into the Jordan, and their feet were
dipped in part of the water, (now the Jordan, it being harvest time, had
illed the banks of its channel,)
3:16. The waters that came down from above stood in one place,
and swelling up like a mountain, were seen afar off, from the city that
is called Adom, to the place of Sarthan: but those that were beneath,
ran down into the sea of the wilderness, (which now is called the Dead
Sea) until they wholly failed.
3:17. And the people marched over against Jericho: and the priests
that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, stood girded upon the
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 dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the people passed over,
through the channel that was dried up.
Josue Chapter 4

Twelve stones are taken out of the river to be set up for a monument of
the miracle; and other twelve are placed in the midst of the river.
4:1. And when they were passed over, the Lord said to Josue:
4:2. Choose twelve men, one of every tribe:
4:3. And command them to take out of the midst of the Jordan,
where the feet of the priests stood, twelve very hard stones, which you
shall set in the place of the camp, where you shall pitch your tents this
night.
4:4. And Josue called twelve men, whom he had chosen out of the
children of Israel, one out of every tribe,
4:5. And he said to them: Go before the ark of the Lord your God to
the midst of the Jordan, and carry from thence every man a stone on
your shoulders, according to the number of the children of Israel,
4:6. That it may be a sign among you: and when your children shall
ask you tomorrow, saying: What means these stones?
4:7. You shall answer them: The waters of the Jordan ran off before
the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over the same:
therefore were these stones set for a monument of the children of
Israel forever.
4:8. The children of Israel therefore did as Josue commanded them,
carrying out of the channel of the Jordan twelve stones, as the Lord
had commanded him according to the number of the children of Israel
unto the place wherein they camped, and there they set them.
4:9. And Josue put other twelve stones in the midst of the channel of
the Jordan, where the priests stood that carried the ark of the
covenant: and they are there until this present day.

 4:10. Now the priests that carried the ark, stood in the midst of the
Jordan, till all things were accomplished, which the Lord had
commanded Josue to speak to the people, and Moses had said to him.
And the people made haste, and passed over.
4:11. And when they had all passed over, the ark also of the Lord
passed over, and the priests went before the people.
4:12. The children of Ruben also, and Gad, and half the tribe of
Manasses, went armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had
commanded them.
4:13. And forty thousand ighting men by their troops and bands,
marched through the plains and ields of the city of Jericho.
4:14. In that day the Lord magni ied Josue in the sight of all Israel,
that they should fear him, as they had feared Moses, while he lived.
4:15. And he said to him:
4:16. Command the priests, that carry the ark of the covenant, to
come up out of the Jordan.
4:17. And he commanded them, saying: Come ye up out of the
Jordan.
4:18. And when they that carried the ark of the covenant of the
Lord, were come up, and began to tread on the dry ground, the waters
returned into their channel, and ran as they were wont before.
4:19. And the people came up out of the Jordan, the tenth day of the
irst month, and camped in Galgal, over against the east side of the
city of Jericho.
4:20. And the twelve stones, which they had taken out of the channel
of the Jordan, Josue pitched in Galgal,
4:21. And said to the children of Israel: When your children shall ask
their fathers tomorrow, and shall say to them: What mean these
stones?
4:22. You shall teach them, and say: Israel passed over this Jordan
through the dry channel,
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 4:23. The Lord your God drying up the waters thereof in your sight,
until you passed over:
4:24. As he had done before in the Red Sea, which he dried up till we
passed through:
4:25. That all the people of the earth may learn the most mighty
hand of the Lord, that you also may fear the Lord your God for ever.
Josue Chapter 5

The people are circumcised: they keep the pasch. The manna ceaseth.
An angel appeareth to Josue.
5:1. Now when all the kings of the Amorrhites, who dwelt beyond
the Jordan, westward, and all the kings of Chanaan, who possessed the
places near the great sea, had heard that the Lord had dried up the
waters of the Jordan before the children of Israel, till they passed over,
their heart failed them, and there remained no spirit in them, fearing
the coming in of the children of Israel.
5:2. At that time the Lord said to Josue: Make thee knives of stone,
and circumcise the second time the children of Israel.
The second time.... Not that such as had been circumcised before were to be
circumcised again; but that they were now to renew, and take up again the
practice of circumcision; which had been omitted during their forty years’
sojourning in the wilderness; by reason of their being always uncertain when
they should be obliged to march.
5:3. He did what the Lord had commanded, and he circumcised the
children of Israel in the hill of the foreskins.
5:4. Now this is the cause of the second circumcision: All the people
that came out of Egypt that were males, all the men it for war, died in
the desert, during the time of the long going about in the way:
5:5. Now these were all circumcised. But the people that were born
in the desert,
5:6. During the forty years of the journey in the wide wilderness,
were uncircumcised: till all they were consumed that had not heard

 the voice of the Lord, and to whom he had sworn before, that he would
not shew them the land lowing with milk and honey.
5:7. The children of these succeeded in the place of their fathers, and
were circumcised by Josue: for they were uncircumcised even as they
were born, and no one had circumcised them in the way.
5:8. Now after they were all circumcised, they remained in the same
place of the camp, until they were healed.
5:9. And the Lord said to Josue: This day have I taken away from you
the reproach of Egypt. And the name of that place was called Galgal,
until this present day.
5:10. And the children of Israel abode in Galgal, and they kept the
phase, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, in the plains of
Jericho:
5:11. And they ate on the next day unleavened bread of the corn of
the land, and frumenty of the same year.
5:12. And the manna ceased after they ate of the corn of the land,
neither did the children of Israel use that food any more, but they ate
of the corn of the present year of the land of Chanaan.
5:13. And when Josue was in the ield of the city of Jericho, he lifted
up his eyes, and saw a man standing over against him, holding a
drawn sword, and he went to him, and said: Art thou one of ours, or of
our adversaries?
5:14. And he answered: No: but I am prince of the host of the Lord,
and now I am come.
Prince of the host of the Lord, etc.... St. Michael, who is called prince of the people
of Israel, Dan. 10.21.
5:15. Josue fell on his face to the ground. And worshipping, said:
What saith my lord to his servant?
Worshipping.... Not with divine honour, but with a religious veneration of an
inferior kind, suitable to the dignity of his person.
5:16. Loose, saith he, thy shoes from off thy feet: for the place
whereon thou standest is holy. And Josue did as was commanded him.

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 Josue Chapter 6

After seven days’ processions, the priests sounding the trumpets, the
walls of Jericho fall down: and the city is taken and destroyed.
6:1. Now Jericho was close shut up and fenced, for fear of the
children of Israel, and no man durst go out or come in.
6:2. And the Lord said to Josue: Behold I have given into thy hands
Jericho, and the king thereof, and all the valiant men.
6:3. Go round about the city all ye ighting men once a day: so shall
ye do for six days.
6:4. And on the seventh day the priests shall take the seven
trumpets, which are used in the jubilee, and shall go before the ark of
the covenant: and you shall go about the city seven times, and the
priests shall sound the trumpets.
6:5. And when the voice of the trumpet shall give a longer and
broken tune, and shall sound in your ears, all the people shall shout
together with a very great shout, and the walls of the city shall fall to
the ground, and they shall enter in every one at the place against
which they shall stand.
6:6. Then Josue, the son of Nun, called the priests, and said to them:
Take the ark of the covenant: and let seven other priests take the seven
trumpets of the jubilee, and march before the ark of the Lord.
6:7. And he said to the people: Go, and compass the city, armed,
marching before the ark of the Lord.
6:8. And when Josue had ended his words, and the seven priests blew
the seven trumpets before the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
6:9. And all the armed men went before, the rest of the common
people followed the ark, and the sound of the trumpets was heard on
all sides.
6:10. But Josue had commanded the people, saying: You shall not
shout, nor shall your voice be heard, nor any word go out of your
mouth: until the day come wherein I shall say to you: Cry, and shout.

 6:11. So the ark of the Lord went about the city once a day, and
returning into the camp, abode there.
6:12. And Josue rising before day, the priests took the ark of the
Lord,
6:13. And seven of them seven trumpets, which are used in the
jubilee: and they went before the ark of the Lord, walking and
sounding the trumpets: and the armed men went before them, and the
rest of the common people followed the ark, and they blew the
trumpets.
6:14. And they went round about the city the second day once, and
returned into the camp. So they did six days.
6:15. But the seventh day, rising up early, they went about the city,
as it was ordered, seven times.
6:16. And when in the seventh going about the priests sounded with
the trumpets, Josue said to all Israel: Shout: for the Lord hath delivered
the city to you:
6:17. And let this city be an anathema, and all things that are in it,
to the Lord. Let only Rahab, the harlot, live, with all that are with her
in the house: for she hid the messengers whom we sent.
6:18. But beware ye lest you touch ought of those things that are
forbidden, and you be guilty of transgression, and all the camp of
Israel be under sin, and be troubled.
6:19. But whatsoever gold or silver there shall be, or vessels of brass
and iron, let it be consecrated to the Lord, laid up in his treasures.
6:20. So all the people making a shout, and the trumpets sounding,
when the voice and the sound thundered in the ears of the multitude,
the walls forthwith fell down: and every man went up by the place that
was over against him: and they took the city,
6:21. And killed all that were in it, man and woman, young and old.
The oxen also, and the sheep, and the asses, they slew with the edge of
the sword.

 6:22. But Josue said to the two men that had been sent for spies: Go
into the harlot’s house, and bring her out, and all things that are hers,
as you assured her by oath.
6:23. And the young men went in, and brought out Rahab, and her
parents, her brethren also, and all her goods, and her kindred, and
made them to stay without the camp.
6:24. But they burned the city, and all things that were therein;
except the gold and silver, and vessels of brass and iron, which they
consecrated unto the treasury of the Lord.
6:25. But Josue saved Rahab the harlot, and her father’s house, and
all she had, and they dwelt in the midst of Israel until this present day:
because she hid the messengers whom he had sent to spy out Jericho.
At that time, Josue made an imprecation, saying:
6:26. Cursed be the man before the Lord, that shall raise up and
build the city of Jericho. In his irstborn may he lay the foundation
thereof, and in the last of his children set up its gates.
Cursed, etc.... Jericho, in the mystical sense, signi ies iniquity: the sounding of the
trumpets by the priests, the preaching of the word of God; by which the walls of
Jericho are thrown down, when sinners are converted; and a dreadful curse will
light on them who build them up again.
6:27. And the Lord was with Josue, and his name was noised
throughout all the land.
Josue Chapter 7

For the sins of Achan, the Israelites are defeated at Hai. The offender is
found out; and stoned to death, and God’s wrath is turned from them.
7:1. But the children of Israel transgressed the commandment, and
took to their own use of that which was accursed. For Achan, the son of
Charmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zare, of the tribe of Juda, took
something of the anathema: and the Lord was angry against the
children of Israel.

 7:2. And when Josue sent men from Jericho against Hai, which is
beside Bethaven, on the east side of the town of Bethel, he said to
them: Go up, and view the country: and they ful illed his command,
and viewed Hai.
7:3. And returning, they said to him: Let not all the people go up, but
let two or three thousand men go, and destroy the city: why should all
the people be troubled in vain, against enemies that are very few?
7:4. There went up therefore three thousand ighting men: who
immediately turned their backs,
7:5. And were defeated by the men of the city of Hai, and there fell of
them six and thirty men: and the enemies pursued them from the gate
as far as Sabarim, and they slew them as they led by the descent: and
the heart of the people was struck with fear, and melted like water.
7:6. But Josue rent his garments, and fell lat on the ground, before
the ark of the Lord, until the evening, both he and all the ancients of
Israel: and they put dust upon their heads.
7:7. And Josue said: Alas, O Lord God, why wouldst thou bring this
people over the river Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the
Amorrhite, and to destroy us? would God we had stayed beyond the
Jordan, as we began.
7:8. My Lord God, what shall I say, seeing Israel turning their backs
to their enemies?
7:9. The Chanaanites, and all the inhabitants of the land, will hear
of it, and being gathered together will surround us, and cut off our
name from the earth: and what wilt thou do to thy great name?
7:10. And the Lord said to Josue: Arise, why liest thou lat on the
ground?
7:11. Israel hath sinned, and transgressed my covenant: and they
have taken of the anathema, and have stolen and lied, and have hid it
among their goods.

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 7:12. Neither can Israel stand before his enemies, but he shall lee
from them: because he is de iled with the anathema. I will be no more
with you, till you destroy him that is guilty of this wickedness.
7:13. Arise, sanctify the people, and say to them: Be ye sancti ied
against tomorrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel: The curse is in
the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thy enemies, till
he be destroyed out of thee, that is de iled with this wickedness.
7:14. And you shall come in the morning, every one by your tribes:
and what tribe soever the lot shall ind, it shall come by its kindreds,
and the kindred by its houses and the house by the men.
7:15. And whosoever he be that shall be found guilty of this fact, he
shall be burnt with ire, with all his substance, because he hath
transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and hath done wickedness in
Israel.
7:16. Josue, therefore, when he rose in the morning, made Israel to
come by their tribes, and the tribe of Juda was found.
7:17. Which being brought by in families, it was found to be the
family of Zare. Bringing that also by the houses, he found it to be
Zabdi:
7:18. And bringing his house man by man, he found Achan, the son
of Charmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zare, of the tribe of Juda.
7:19. And Josue said to Achan: My son, give glory to the Lord God of
Israel, and confess, and tell me what thou hast done, hide it not.
7:20. And Achan answered Josue, and said to him: Indeed I have
sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I
done.
7:21. For I saw among the spoils a scarlet garment, exceeding good,
and two hundred sicles of silver, and a golden rule of ifty sicles: and I
coveted them, and I took them away, and hid them in the ground in the
midst of my tent, and the silver I covered with the earth that I dug up.
7:22. Josue therefore sent ministers: who running to his tent, found
all hid in the same place, together with the silver.

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 7:23. And taking them away out of the tent, they brought them to
Josue, and to all the children of Israel, and threw them down before the
Lord.
7:24. Then Josue, and all Israel with him, took Achan, the son of
Zare, and the silver, and the garment, and the golden rule, his sons
also, and his daughters, his oxen, and asses, and sheep, the tent also,
and all the goods: and brought them to the valley of Achor:
His sons, etc.... Probably conscious to, or accomplices of, the crime of their father.
7:25. Where Josue said: Because thou hast troubled us, the Lord
trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him: and all things that
were his, were consumed with ire.
7:26. And they gathered together upon him a great heap of stones,
which remaineth until this present day And the wrath of the Lord was
turned away from them. And the name of that place was called the
Valley of Achor, until this day.
Achor.... That is, trouble.
Josue Chapter 8

Hai is taken and burnt, and all the inhabitants slain. An altar is built,
and sacri ices offered. The law is written on stones, and the blessings
and cursings are read before all the people.
8:1. And the Lord said to Josue: Fear not, nor be thou dismayed: take
with thee all the multitude of ighting men, arise, and go up to the
town of Hai: Behold I have delivered into thy hand the king thereof,
and the people, and the city, and the land.
8:2. And thou shalt do to the city of Hai, and to the king thereof, as
thou hast done to Jericho, and to the king thereof: but the spoils, and
all the cattle, you shall take for a prey to yourselves: lay an ambush for
the city behind it.
8:3. And Josue arose, and all the army of the ighting men with him,
to go up against Hai: and he sent thirty thousand chosen valiant men
in the night,

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 8:4. And commanded them, saying: Lay an ambush behind the city:
and go not very far from it: and be ye all ready.
8:5. But I, and the rest of the multitude which is with me, will
approach on the contrary side against the city. And when they shall
come out against us, we will lee, and turn our backs, as we did before:
8:6. Till they pursuing us be drawn farther from the city: for they
will think that we lee as before.
8:7. And whilst we are leeing, and they pursuing, you shall rise out
of the ambush, and shall destroy the city: and the Lord your God will
deliver it into your hands.
8:8. And when you shall have taken it, set it on ire, and you shall do
all things so as I have commanded.
8:9. And he sent them away, and they went on to the place of the
ambush, and abode between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the
city of Hai. But Josue staid that night in the midst of the people,
8:10. And rising early in the morning, he mustered his soldiers, and
went up with the ancients in the front of the army, environed with the
aid of the ighting men.
8:11. And when they were come, and were gone up over against the
city, they stood on the north side of the city, between which and them
there was a valley in the midst.
8:12. And he had chosen ive thousand men, and set them to lie in
ambush between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the same city:
Five thousand.... These were part of the thirty thousand mentioned above, ver. 3.
8:13. But all the rest of the army went in battle array on the north
side, so that the last of that multitude reached to the west side of the
city. So Josue went that night, and stood in the midst of the valley.
8:14. And when the king of Hai saw this, he made haste in the
morning, and went out with all the army of the city, and set it in battle
array, toward the desert, not knowing that there lay an ambush
behind his back.
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 8:15. But Josue, and all Israel gave back, making as if they were
afraid, and leeing by the way of the wilderness.
8:16. But they shouting together, and encouraging one another,
pursued them. And when they were come from the city,
8:17. And not one remained in the city of Hai and of Bethel, that did
not pursue after Israel, leaving the towns open as they had rushed out,
8:18. The Lord said to Josue: Lift up the shield that is in thy hand,
towards the city of Hai, for I will deliver it to thee.
8:19. And when he had lifted up his shield towards the city, the
ambush, that lay hid, rose up immediately: and going to the city, took
it, and set it on ire.
8:20. And the men of the city, that pursued after Josue, looking back,
and seeing the smoke of the city rise up to heaven, had no more power
to lee this way or that way: especially as they that had counterfeited
light, and were going toward the wilderness, turned back most
valiantly against them that pursued.
8:21. So Josue, and all Israel, seeing that the city was taken, and that
the smoke of the city rose up, returned, and slew the men of Hai.
8:22. And they also that had taken and set the city on ire, issuing
out of the city to meet their own men, began to cut off the enemies
who were surrounded by them. So that the enemies being cut off on
both sides, not one of so great a multitude was saved.
8:23. And they took the king of the city of Hai alive and brought him
to Josue.
8:24. So all being slain that had pursued after Israel, in his light to
the wilderness, and falling by the sword in the same place, the children
of Israel returned and laid waste the city.
8:25. And the number of them that fell that day, both of men and
women, was twelve thousand persons, all of the city of Hai.
8:26. But Josue drew not back his hand, which he had stretched out
on high, holding the shield, till all the inhabitants of Hai were slain.
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 8:27. And the children of Israel divided among them, the cattle and
the prey of the city, as the Lord had commanded Josue.
8:28. And he burnt the city, and made it a heap forever:
8:29. And he hung the king thereof on a gibbet, until the evening
and the going down of the sun. Then Josue commanded, and they took
down his carcass from the gibbet: and threw it in the very entrance of
the city, heaping upon it a great heap of stones, which remaineth until
this present day.
8:30. Then Josue built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, in
Mount Hebal,
8:31. As Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the
children of Israel, and it is written in the book of the law of Moses: an
altar of unhewn stones, which iron had not touched: and he offered
upon it holocausts to the Lord, and immolated victims of peace
offerings.
8:32. And he wrote upon stones, the Deuteronomy of the law of
Moses, which he had ordered before the children of Israel.
8:33. And all the people, and the ancients, and the princes, and
judges, stood on both sides of the ark, before the priests that carried
the ark of the covenant of the Lord, both the stranger and he that was
born among them, half of them by Mount Garizim, and half by Mount
Hebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord, had commanded. And irst he
blessed the people of Israel.
8:34. After this, he read all the words of the blessing and the cursing,
and all things that were written in the book of the law.
8:35. He left out nothing of those things which Moses had
commanded, but he repeated all before all the people of Israel, with
the women and children, and strangers, that dwelt among them.
Josue Chapter 9

Josue is deceived by the Gabaonites: who being detected are

condemned to be perpetual servants.

 9:1. Now when these things were heard of, all the kings beyond the
Jordan, that dwelt in the mountains, and in the plains, in the places
near the sea, and on the coasts of the great sea, they also that dwell by
Libanus, the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, the Chanaanite, the Pherezite,
and the Hevite, and the Jebusite,
9:2. Gathered themselves together, to ight against Josue and Israel
with one mind, and one resolution.
9:3. But they that dwelt in Gabaon, hearing all that Josue had done
to Jericho and Hai:
9:4. Cunningly devising took for themselves provisions, laying old
sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles rent and sewed up again,
9:5. And very old shoes, which for a show of age were clouted with
patches, and old garments upon them: the loaves also, which they
carried for provisions by the way, were hard, and broken into pieces:
9:6. And they went to Josue, who then abode in the camp at Galgal,
and said to him, and to all Israel with him: We are come from a far
country, desiring to make peace with you. And the children of Israel
answered them, and said:
9:7. Perhaps you dwell in the land which falls to our lot; if so, we can
make no league with you.
9:8. But they said to Josue: We are thy servants. Josue said to them:
Who are you? and whence came you?
9:9. They answered: From a very far country thy servants are come
in the name of the Lord thy God. For we have heard the fame of his
power, all the things that he did in Egypt.
9:10. And to the two kings of the Amorrhites, that were beyond the
Jordan, Sehon, king of Hesebon, and Og, king of Basan, that was in
Astaroth:
9:11. And our ancients, and all the inhabitants of our country, said
to us: Take with you victuals for a long way, and go meet them, and
say: We are your servants, make ye a league with us.

 9:12. Behold, these loaves we took hot, when we set out from our
houses to come to you, now they are become dry, and broken in pieces
by being exceeding old.
9:13. These bottles of wine when we illed them were new, now they
are rent and burst. These garments we have on, and the shoes we have
on our feet, by reason of the very long journey, are worn out, and
almost consumed.
9:14. They took therefore of their victuals, and consulted not the
mouth of the Lord.
9:15. And Josue made peace with them, and entering into a league,
promised that they should not be slain: the princes also of the
multitude swore to them.
9:16. Now three days after the league was made, they heard that
they dwelt nigh, and they should be among them.
9:17. And the children of Israel removed the camp, and came into
their cities on the third day, the names of which are, Gabaon, and
Caphira, and Beroth, and Cariathiarim.
9:18. And they slew them not, because the princes of the multitude
had sworn in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. Then all the
common people murmured against the princes.
9:19. And they answered them: We have sworn to them in the name
of the Lord, the God of Israel, and therefore we may not touch them.
9:20. But this we will do to them: Let their lives be saved, lest the
wrath of the Lord be stirred up against us, if we should be forsworn:
9:21. But so let them live, as to serve the whole multitude in hewing
wood, and bringing in water. As they were speaking these things,
9:22. Josue called the Gabaonites, and said to them: Why would you
impose upon us, saying: We dwell very far off from you, whereas you
are in the midst of us?
9:23. Therefore you shall be under a curse, and your race shall
always be hewers of wood, and carriers of water, into the house of my
God.

 9:24. They answered: It was told us, thy servants, that the Lord thy
God had promised his servant Moses, to give you all the land, and to
destroy all the inhabitants thereof. Therefore we feared exceedingly
and provided for our lives, compelled by the dread we had of you, and
we took this counsel.
9:25. And now we are in thy hand: deal with us as it seemeth good
and right unto thee.
9:26. So Josue did as he had said, and delivered them from the hand
of the children of Israel, that they should not be slain.
9:27. And he gave orders in that day, that they should be in the
service of all the people, and of the altar of the Lord, hewing wood, and
carrying water, until this present time, in the place which the Lord
hath chosen.
Josue Chapter 10

Five kings war against Gabaon. Josue defeateth them: many are slain
with hailstones. At the prayer of Josue the sun and moon stand still the
space of one day. The ive kings are hanged. Divers cities are taken.
10:1. When Adonisedec, king of Jerusalem, had heard these things,
to wit, that Josue had taken Hai, and had destroyed it, (for as he had
done to Jericho and the king thereof, so did he to Hai and its king) and
that the Gabaonites were gone over to Israel, and were their
confederates,
10:2. He was exceedingly afraid. For Gabaon was a great city, and
one of the royal cities, and greater than the town of Hai, and all its
ighting men were most valiant.
10:3. Therefore Adonisedec, king of Jerusalem, sent to Oham, king of
Hebron, and to Pharam, king of Jerimoth, and to Japhia, king of Lachis,
and to Dabir, king of Eglon, saying:
10:4. Come up to me, and bring help, that we may take Gabaon,
because it hath gone over to Josue, and to the children of Israel.
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 10:5. So the ive kings of the Amorrhites being assembled together,

went up: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of
Jerimoth, the king of Lachis, the king of Eglon, they and their armies,
and camped about Gabaon, laying siege to it.
10:6. But the inhabitants of the city of Gabaon, which was besieged,
sent to Josue, who then abode in the camp at Galgal, and said to him:
Withdraw not thy hands from helping thy servants: come up quickly,
and save us, and bring us succour: for all the kings of the Amorrhites,
who dwell in the mountains, are gathered together against us.
10:7. And Josue went up from Galgal, and all the army of the
warriors with him, most valiant men.
10:8. But the Lord said to Josue: Fear them not: for I have delivered
them into thy hands: none of them shall be able to stand against thee.
10:9. So Josue going up from Galgal all the night, came upon them
suddenly.
10:10. And the Lord troubled them, at the sight of Israel: and he
slew them with a great slaughter, in Gabaon, and pursued them by the
way of the ascent to Bethoron, and cut them off all the way to Azeca
and Maceda.
10:11. And when they were leeing from the children of Israel, and
were in the descent of Bethoron, the Lord cast down upon them great
stones from heaven, as far as Azeca: and many more were killed with
the hailstones, than were slain by the swords of the children of Israel,
10:12. Then Josue spoke to the Lord, in the day that he delivered the
Amorrhite in the sight of the children of Israel, and he said before
them: Move not, O sun, toward Gabaon, nor thou, O moon, toward the
valley of Ajalon.
10:13. And the sun and the moon stood still, till the people revenged
themselves of their enemies. Is not this written in the book of the just?
So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down
the space of one day.
The book of the just.... In Hebrew Jasher: an ancient book long since lost.

 10:14. There was not before, nor after, so long a day, the Lord
obeying the voice of a man, and ighting for Israel.
10:15. And Josue returned, with all Israel, into the camp of Galgal.
10:16. For the ive kings were led, and had hid themselves in a cave
of the city of Maceda.
10:17. And it was told Josue, that the ive kings were found hid in a
cave of the city of Maceda.
10:18. And he commanded them that were with him, saying: Roll
great stones to the mouth of the cave, and set careful men to keep
them shut up:
10:19. And stay you not, but pursue after the enemies, and kill all
the hindermost of them as they lee, and do not suffer them whom the
Lord God hath delivered into your hands, to shelter themselves in their
cities.
10:20. So the enemies being slain with a great slaughter, and almost
utterly consumed, they that were able to escape from Israel, entered
into fenced cities.
10:21. And all the army returned to Josue, in Maceda, where the
camp then was, in good health, and without the loss of any one: and no
man durst move his tongue against the children of Israel.
10:22. And Josue gave orders, saying: Open the mouth of the cave,
and bring forth to me the ive kings that lie hid therein.
10:23. And the ministers did as they were commanded: and they
brought out to him the ive kings out of the cave: the king of Jerusalem,
the king of Hebron, the king of Jerimoth, the king of Lachis, the king of
Eglon.
10:24. And when they were brought out to him, he called all the men
of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the army that were with him: Go, and
set your feet on the necks of these kings. And when they had gone, and
put their feet upon the necks of them lying under them,

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 10:25. He said again to them: Fear not, neither be ye dismayed, take

courage, and be strong: for so will the Lord do to all your enemies,
against whom you ight.
10:26. And Josue struck, and slew them, and hanged them upon ive
gibbets; and they hung until the evening.
10:27. And when the sun was down, he commanded the soldiers to
take them down from the gibbets. And after they were taken down,
they cast them into the cave, where they had lain hid, and put great
stones at the mouth thereof, which remain until this day.
10:28. The same day Josue took Maceda, and destroyed it with the
edge of the sword, and killed the king and all the inhabitants thereof:
he left not in it the least remains. And he did to the king of Maceda, as
he had done to the king of Jericho.
10:29. And he passed from Maceda with all Israel to Lebna, and
fought against it:
10:30. And the Lord delivered it with the king thereof into the hands
of Israel: and they destroyed the city with the edge of the sword, and
all the inhabitants thereof. They left not in it any remains. And they did
to the king of Lebna, as they had done to the king of Jericho.
10:31. From Lebna he passed unto Lachis, with all Israel: and
investing it with his army, besieged it.
10:32. And the Lord delivered Lachis into the hands of Israel, and he
took it the following day, and put it to the sword, and every soul that
was in it, as he had done to Lebna.
10:33. At that time Horam, king of Gazer, came up to succour
Lachis: and Josue slew him with all his people so as to leave none alive.
10:34. And he passed from Lachis to Eglon, and surrounded it,
10:35. And took it the same day: and put to the sword all the souls
that were in it, according to all that he had done to Lachis.
10:36. He went up also with all Israel from Eglon to Hebron, and
fought against it:

 10:37. Took it, and destroyed it with the edge of the sword: the king
also thereof, and all the towns of that country, and all the souls that
dwelt in it: he left not therein any remains: as he had done to Eglon, so
did he also to Hebron, putting to the sword all that he found in it.
The king.... Viz., the new king, who succeeded him that was slain, ver. 26.
10:38. Returning from thence to Dabir,
10:39. He took it, and destroyed it: the king also thereof, and all the
towns round about, he destroyed with the edge of the sword: he left
not in it any remains: as he had done to Hebron and Lebna, and to
their kings, so did he to Dabir, and to the king thereof.
10:40. So Josue conquered all the country of the hills, and of the
south, and of the plain, and of Asedoth, with their kings: he left not any
remains therein, but slew all that breathed, as the Lord, the God of
Israel, had commanded him.
Any remains therein, but slew, etc.... God ordered these people to be utterly
destroyed, in punishment of their manifold abomination; and that they might
not draw the Israelites into the like sins.
10:41. From Cadesbarne even to Gaza. All the land of Gosen even to
Gabaon,
10:42. And all their kings, and their lands he took and wasted at one
onset: for the Lord the God of Israel fought for him.
10:43. And he returned with all Israel to the place of the camp in
Galgal.
Josue Chapter 11

The kings of the north are overthrown: the whole country is taken.
11:1. And when Jabin king of Asor had heard these things, he sent to
Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Semeron, and to the king of
Achsaph:
11:2. And to the kings of the north, that dwelt in the mountains and
in the plains over against the south side of Ceneroth, and in the levels
and the countries of Dor by the sea side:

 11:3. To the Chanaanites also on the east and on the west, and the
Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Jebusite in the
mountains: to the Hevite also who dwelt at the foot of Hermon in the
land of Maspha.
11:4. And they all came out with their troops, a people exceeding
numerous as the sand that is on the sea shore, their horses also and
chariots a very great multitude,
11:5. And all these kings assembled together at the waters of
Merom, to ight against Israel.
11:6. And the Lord said to Josue: Fear them not: for to morrow at
this same hour I will deliver all these to be slain in the sight of Israel:
thou shalt hamstring their horses, and thou shalt burn their chariots
with ire.
Hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with ire, etc.... God so ordained,
that his people might not trust in chariots and horses, but in him.
11:7. And Josue came, and all the army with him, against them to
the waters of Merom on a sudden, and fell upon them.
11:8. And the Lord delivered them into the hands of Israel. And they
defeated them, and chased them as far as the great Sidon and the
waters of Maserophot, and the ield of Masphe, which is on the east
thereof. He slew them all, so as to leave no remains of them:
11:9. And he did as the Lord had commanded him, he hamstringed
their horses and burned their chariots.
11:10. And presently turning back he took Asor: and slew the king
thereof with the sword. Now Asor of old was the head of all these
kingdoms.
11:11. And he cut off all the souls that abode there: he left not in it
any remains, but utterly destroyed all, and burned the city itself with
ire.
11:12. And he took and put to the sword and destroyed all the cities
round about, and their kings, as Moses the servant of God had
commanded him.
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 11:13. Except the cities that were on hills and high places, the rest
Israel burned: only Asor that was very strong he consumed with ire.
11:14. And the children of Israel divided among themselves all the
spoil of these cities and the cattle, killing all the men.
11:15. As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses
command Josue, and he accomplished all: he left not one thing undone
of all the commandments which the Lord had commanded Moses.
11:16. So Josue took all the country of the hills, and of the south, and
the land of Gosen, and the plains and the west country, and the
mountain of Israel, and the plains thereof:
11:17. And part of the mountain that goeth up to Seir as far as
Baalgad, by the plain of Libanus under mount Hermon: all their kings
he took, smote and slew.
11:18. Josue made war a long time against these kings.
A long time.... Seven years, as appears from chap. 14.10.
11:19. There was not a city that delivered itself to the children of
Israel, except the Hevite, who dwelt in Gabaon: for he took all by ight.
11:20. For it was the sentence of the Lord, that their hearts should
be hardened, and they should ight against Israel, and fall, and should
not deserve any clemency, and should be destroyed as the Lord had
commanded Moses.
Hardened.... This hardening of their hearts, was their having no thought of
yielding or submitting: which was a sentence or judgment of God upon them in
punishment of their enormous crimes.
11:21. At that time Josue came and cut off the Enacims from the
mountains, from Hebron, and Dabir, and Anab, and from all the
mountain of Juda and Israel, and destroyed their cities.
11:22. He left not any of the stock of the Enacims, in the land of the
children of Israel: except the cities of Gaza, and Geth, and Azotus, in
which alone they were left.

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 11:23. So Josue took all the land, as the Lord spoke to Moses, and
delivered it in possession to the children of Israel, according to their
divisions and tribes. And the land rested from wars.
Josue Chapter 12

A list of the kings slain by Moses and Josue,

12:1. These are the kings, whom the children of Israel slew and
possessed their land beyond the Jordan towards the rising of the sun,
from the torrent Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the east country
that looketh towards the wilderness.
12:2. Sehon king of the Amorrhites, who dwelt in Hesebon, and had
dominion from Aroer, which is seated upon the bank of the torrent
Arnon, and of the middle part in the valley, and of half Galaad, as far
as the torrent Jaboc, which is the border of the children of Ammon.
12:3. And from the wilderness, to the sea of Ceneroth towards the
east, and to the sea of the wilderness, which is the most salt sea, on the
east side by the way that leadeth to Bethsimoth: and on the south side
that lieth under Asedoth, Phasga.
12:4. The border of Og the king of Basan, of the remnant of the
Raphaims who dwelt in Astaroth, and in Edrai, and had dominion in
mount Hermon, and in Salecha, and in all Basan, unto the borders
12:5. Of Gessuri and Machati, and of half Galaad: the borders of
Sehon the king of Hesebon.
12:6. Moses the servant of the Lord, and the children of Israel slew
them, and Moses delivered their land in possession to the Rubenites,
and Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasses.
12:7. These are the kings of the land, whom Josue and the children
of Israel slew beyond the Jordan on the west side from Baalgad in the
ield of Libanus, unto the mount, part of which goeth up into Seir: and
Josue delivered it in possession to the tribes of Israel, to every one their
divisions,
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 12:8. As well in the mountains as in the plains and the champaign

countries. In Asedoth, and in the wilderness, and in the south was the
Hethite and the Amorrhite, the Chanaanite and the Pherezite, the
Hevite and the Jebusite.
12:9. The king of Jericho one: the king of Hai, which is on the side of
Bethel, one:
12:10. The king of Jerusalem one, the king of Hebron one,
12:11. The king of Jerimoth one, the king of Lachis one,
12:12. The king of Eglon one, the king of Gazer one,
12:13. The king of Dabir one, the king of Gader one,
12:14. The king of Herma one, the king of Hered one,
12:15. The king of Lebna one, the king of Odullam one,
12:16. The king of Maceda one, the king of Bethel one,
12:17. The king of Taphua one, the king of Opher one,
12:18. The king of Aphec one, the king of Saron one,
12:19. The king of Madon one, the king of Asor one,
12:20. The king of Semeron one, the king of Achsaph one,
12:21. The king of Thenac one, the king of Mageddo one,
12:22. The king of Cades one, the king of Jachanan of Carmel one,
12:23. The king of Dor, and of the province of Dor one, the king of
the nations of Galgal one,
12:24. The king of Thersa one: all the kings thirty and one.
Josue Chapter 13

God commandeth Josue to divide the land: the possessions of Ruben,

Gad, and half the tribe of Manasses, beyond the Jordan.
13:1. Josue was old, and far advanced in years, and the Lord said to
him: Thou art grown old, and advanced in age, and there is a very
large country left, which is not yet divided by lot:

Josue was old, and far advanced in years.... He was then about one hundred and
one years old.—And there is a very large country left, which is not yet divided by
lot.... Not yet possessed by the children of Israel.
13:2. To wit, all Galilee, Philistia, and all Gessuri.
13:3. From the troubled river, that watereth Egypt, unto the border
of Accaron northward: the land of Chanaan, which is divided among
the lords of the Philistines, the Gazites, the Azotians, the Ascalonites,
the Gethites, and the Accronites.
13:4. And on the south side are the Hevites, all the land of Chanaan,
and Maara of the Sidonians as far as Apheca, and the borders of the
Amorrhite,
13:5. And his con ines. The country also of Libanus towards the east
from Baalgad under mount Hermon to the entering into Emath.
13:6. Of all that dwell in the mountains from Libanus, to the waters
of Maserephoth, and all the Sidonians. I am he that will cut them off
from before the face of the children of Israel. So let their land come in
as a part of the inheritance of Israel, as I have commanded thee.
13:7. And now divide the land in possession to the nine tribes, and to
the half tribe of Manasses,
13:8. With whom Ruben and Gad have possessed the land, which
Moses the servant of the Lord delivered to them beyond the river
Jordan, on the east side.
With whom.... That is, with the other half of that same tribe.
13:9. From Aroer, which is upon the bank of the torrent Arnon, and
in the midst of the valley and all the plains of Medaba, as far as Dibon:
13:10. And all the cities of Sehon, king of the Amorrhites, who
reigned in Hesebon, unto the borders of the children of Ammon.
13:11. And Galaad, and the borders of Gessuri and Machati, and all
mount Hermon, and all Basan as far as Salecha,
13:12. All the kingdom of Og in Basan, who reigned in Astaroth and
Edrai, he was of the remains of the Raphaims: and Moses overthrew
and destroyed them.

 13:13. And the children of Israel would not destroy Gessuri and
Machati and they have dwelt in the midst of Israel, until this present
day.
13:14. But to the tribe of Levi he gave no possession: but the
sacri ices and victims of the Lord God of Israel, are his inheritance, as
he spoke to him.
13:15. And Moses gave a possession to the children of Ruben
according to their kindreds.
13:16. And their border was from Aroer, which is on the bank of the
torrent Arnon, and in the midst of the valley of the same torrent: all
the plain, that leadeth to Medaba,
13:17. And Hesebon, and all their villages, which are in the plains.
Dibon also, and Bamothbaal, and the town of Baalmaon,
13:18. And Jassa, and Cidimoth, and Mephaath,
13:19. And Cariathaim, and Sabama, and Sarathasar in the
mountain of the valley.
13:20. Bethphogor and Asedoth, Phasga and Bethiesimoth,
13:21. And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdoms of Sehon
king of the Amorrhites, that reigned in Hesebon, whom Moses slew
with the princes of Madian: Hevi, and Recem, and Sur and Hur, and
Rebe, dukes of Sehon inhabitants of the land.
The princes of Madian.... It appears from hence that these were subjects of king
Sehon: they are said to have been slain with him, that is, about the same time,
but not in the same battle.
13:22. Balaam also the son of Beor the soothsayer, the children of
Israel slew with the sword among the rest that were slain.
13:23. And the river Jordan was the border of the children of Ruben.
This is the possession of the Rubenites, by their kindreds, of cities and
villages.
13:24. And Moses gave to the tribe of Gad and to his children by
their kindreds a possession, of which this is the division.

 13:25. The border of Jaser, and all the cities of Galaad, and half the
land of the children of Ammon: as far as Aroer which is over against
Rabba:
13:26. And from Hesebon unto Ramoth, Masphe and Betonim: and
from Manaim unto the borders of Dabir.
13:27. And in the valley Betharan and Bethnemra, and Socoth, and
Saphon the other part of the kingdom of Sehon king of Hesebon: the
limit of this also is the Jordan, as far as the uttermost part of the sea of
Cenereth beyond the Jordan on the east side,
13:28. This is the possession of the children of Gad by their families,
their cities, and villages.
13:29. He gave also to the half tribe of Manasses and his children
possession according to their kindreds,
13:30. The beginning whereof is this: from Manaim all Basan, and
all the kingdoms of Og king of Basan, and all the villages of Jair, which
are in Basan, threescore towns.
13:31. And half Galaad, and Astaroth, and Edrai, cities of the
kingdom of Og in Basan: to the children of Machir, the son of
Manasses, to one half of the children of Machir according to their
kindreds.
13:32. This possession Moses divided in the plains of Moab, beyond
the Jordan, over against Jericho on the east side,
13:33. But to the tribe of Levi he gave no possession: because the
Lord the God of Israel himself is their possession, as he spoke to them.
Josue Chapter 14

Caleb’s petition; Hebron is given to him and to his seed.

14:1. This is what the children of Israel possessed in the land of
Chanaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Josue the son of Nun, and the
princes of the families by the tribes of Israel gave to them.

 14:2. Dividing all by lot, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of
Moses, to the nine tribes, and the half tribe.
14:3. For to two tribes and a half Moses had given possession
beyond the Jordan: besides the Levites, who received no land among
their brethren:
14:4. But in their place succeeded the children of Joseph divided into
two tribes, of Manasses and Ephraim: neither did the Levites receive
other portion of land, but cities to dwell in, and their suburbs to feed
their beasts and locks.
Hebron belonged, etc.... All the country thereabouts, depending on Hebron, was
given to Caleb; but the city itself with the suburbs, was one of those that were
given to the priests to dwell in.
14:5. As the Lord had commanded Moses so did the children of
Israel, and they divided the land.
14:6. Then the children of Juda came to Josue in Galgal, and Caleb
the son of Jephone the Cenezite spoke to him: Thou knowest what the
Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in
Cadesbarne.
14:7. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent
me from Cadesbarne, to view the land, and I brought him word again
as to me seemed true,
14:8. But my brethren, that had gone up with me, discouraged the
heart of the people: and I nevertheless followed the Lord my God.
14:9. And Moses swore in that day, saying: The land which thy foot
hath trodden upon shall be thy possession, and thy children’s for ever,
because thou hast followed the Lord my God.
14:10. The Lord therefore hath granted me life, as he promised until
this present day, It is forty and ive years since the Lord spoke this
word to Moses, when Israel journeyed through the wilderness: this day
I am eighty- ive years old,
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 14:11. As strong as I was at that time when I was sent to view the
land: the strength of that time continueth in me until this day, as well
to ight as to march.
14:12. Give me therefore this mountain, which the Lord promised, in
thy hearing also, wherein are the Enacims, and cities great and strong:
if so be the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to destroy them, as
he promised me.
14:13. And Josue blessed him, and gave him Hebron in possession.
14:14. And from that time Hebron belonged to Caleb the son of
Jephone the Cenezite, until this present day: because he followed the
Lord the God of Israel.
14:15. The name of Hebron before was called Cariath-Arbe: Adam
the greatest among the Enacims was laid there and the land rested
from wars.
Josue Chapter 15

The borders of the lot of Juda. Caleb’s portion and conquest. The cities
of Juda.
15:1. Now the lot of the children of Juda by their kindreds was this:
From the frontier of Edom, to the desert of Sin southward, and to the
uttermost part of the south coast.
15:2. Its beginning was from the top of the most salt sea, and from
the bay thereof, that looketh to the south.
15:3. And it goeth out towards the ascent of the Scorpion, and
passeth on to Sina: and ascendeth into Cadesbarne, and reacheth into
Esron, going up to Addar, and compassing Carcaa.
15:4. And from thence passing along into Asemona, and reaching
the torrent of Egypt: and the bounds thereof shall be the great sea, this
shall be the limit of the south coast.
15:5. But on the east side the beginning shall be the most salt sea
even to the end of the Jordan: and towards the north from the bay of
the sea unto the same river Jordan.
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 15:6. And the border goeth up into Beth-Hagla, and passeth by the
north into Beth-Araba: going up to the stone of Boen the son of Ruben.
15:7. And reaching as far as the borders of Debara from the valley of
Achor, and so northward looking towards Galgal, which is opposite to
the ascent of Adommin, on the south side of the torrent, and the
border passeth the waters that are called the fountain of the sun: and
the goings out thereof shall be at the fountain Rogel.
15:8. And it goeth up by the valley of the son of Ennom on the side of
the Jebusite towards the south, the same is Jerusalem: and thence
ascending to the top of the mountain, which is over against Geennom
to the west in the end of the valley of Raphaim, northward.
15:9. And it passeth on from the top of the mountain to the fountain
of the water of Nephtoa: and reacheth to the towns of mount Ephron:
and it bendeth towards Baala, which is Cariathiarim, that is to say, the
city of the woods.
15:10. And it compasseth from Baala westward unto mount Seir:
and passeth by the side of mount Jarim to the north into Cheslon: and
goeth down into Bethsames, and passeth into Thamna.
15:11. And reacheth northward to a part of Accaron at the side: and
bendeth to Sechrona, and passeth mount Baala: and cometh into
Jebneel, and is bounded westward with the great sea.
15:12. These are the borders round about of the children of Juda in
their kindreds.
15:13. But to Caleb the son of Jephone he gave a portion in the midst
of the children of Juda, as the Lord had commanded him: Cariath-Arbe
the father of Enac, which is Hebron.
15:14. And Caleb destroyed out of it the three sons of Enac, Sesai
and Ahiman, and Tholmai of the race of Enac.
15:15. And going up from thence he came to the inhabitants of
Dabir, which before was called Cariath-Sepher, that is to say, the city of
letters.

 15:16. And Caleb said: He that shall smite Cariath-Sepher, and take
it, I will give him Axa my daughter to wife.
15:17. And Othoniel the son of Cenez, the younger brother of Caleb,
took it: and he gave him Axa his daughter to wife.
15:18. And as they were going together, she was moved by her
husband to ask a ield of her father, and she sighed as she sat on her
ass. And Caleb said to her: What aileth thee?
15:19. But she answered: Give me a blessing: thou hast given me a
southern and dry land, give me also a land that is watered. And Caleb
gave her the upper and the nether watery ground.
15:20. This is the possession of the tribe of the children of Juda by
their kindreds.
15:21. And the cities from the uttermost parts of the children of Juda
by the borders of Edom to the south, were Cabseel and Eder and Jagur,
15:22. And Cina and Dimona and Adada,
15:23. And Cades and Asor and Jethnam,
15:24. Ziph and Telem and Baloth,
15:25. New Asor and Carioth, Hesron, which is Asor.
15:26. Amam, Sama and Molada,
15:27. And Asergadda and Hassemon and Bethphelet,
15:28. And Hasersual and Bersabee and Baziothia,
15:29. And Baala and Jim and Esem,
15:30. And Eltholad and Cesil and Harma,
15:31. And Siceleg and Medemena and Sensenna,
15:32. Lebaoth and Selim and Aen and Remmon: all the cities
twenty-nine, and their villages.
15:33. But in the plains: Estaol and Sarea and Asena,
15:34. And Zanoe and Engannim and Taphua and Enaim,
15:35. And Jerimoth and Adullam, Socho and Azeca,

 15:36. And Saraim and Adithaim and Gedera and Gederothaim:

fourteen cities, and their villages.
15:37. Sanan and Hadassa and Magdalgad,
15:38. Delean and Masepha and Jecthel,
15:39. Lachis and Bascath and Eglon,
15:40. Chebbon and Leheman and Cethlis,
15:41. And Gideroth and Bethdagon and Naama and Maceda:
sixteen cities, and their villages.
15:42. Labana and Ether and Asan,
15:43. Jephtha and Esna and Nesib,
15:44. And Ceila and Achzib and Maresa: nine cities, and their
villages.
15:45. Accaron with the towns and villages thereof.
15:46. From Accaron even to the sea: all places that lie towards
Azotus and the villages thereof.
15:47. Azotus with its towns and villages. Gaza with its towns and
villages, even to the torrent of Egypt, and the great sea that is the
border thereof.
15:48. And in the mountain Samir and Jether and Socoth,
15:49. And Danna and Cariath-senna, this is Dabir:
15:50. Anab and Istemo and Anim,
15:51. Gosen and Olon and Gilo: eleven cities and their villages.
15:52. Arab and Ruma and Esaan,
15:53. And Janum and Beththaphua and Apheca,
15:54. Athmatha and Cariath-Arbe, this is Hebron and Sior: nine
cities and their villages.
15:55. Maon and Carmel and Ziph and Jota,
15:56. Jezrael and Jucadam and Zanoe,
15:57. Accain, Gabaa and Thamna: ten cities and their villages.
15:58. Halhul, and Bessur, and Gedor,

 15:59. Mareth, and Bethanoth, and Eltecon: six cities and their
villages.
15:60. Cariathbaal, the same is Cariathiarim the city of woods, and
Arebba: two cities and their villages.
15:61. In the desert Betharaba, Meddin and Sachacha,
15:62. And Nebsan, and the city of salt, and Engaddi: six cities and
their villages.
15:63. But the children of Juda could not destroy the Jebusite that
dwelt in Jerusalem: and the Jebusite dwelt with the children of Juda in
Jerusalem until this present day.
Josue Chapter 16

The lot of the sons of Joseph. The borders of the tribe of Ephraim.
16:1. And the lot of the sons of Joseph fell from the Jordan over
against Jericho and the waters thereof, on the east: the wilderness
which goeth up from Jericho to the mountain of Bethel:
16:2. And goeth out from Bethel to Luza: and passeth the border of
Archi, to Ataroth,
16:3. And goeth down westward, by the border of Jephleti, unto the
borders of Beth-horon the nether, and to Gazer: and the countries of it
are ended by the great sea:
16:4. And Manasses and Ephraim the children of Joseph possessed it.
16:5. And the border of the children of Ephraim was according to
their kindreds: and their possession towards the east was Ataroth-
addar unto Beth-horon the upper.
16:6. And the con ines go out unto the sea: but Machmethath
looketh to the north, and it goeth round the borders eastward into
Thanath-selo: and passeth along on the east side to Janoe.
Looketh to the north, etc.... The meaning is, that the border went towards the
north, by Machmethath; and then turned eastward to Thanath-selo.

 16:7. And it goeth down from Janoe into Ataroth and Naaratha: and
it cometh to Jericho, and goeth out to the Jordan.
16:8. From Taphua it passeth on towards the sea into the valley of
reeds, and the goings out thereof are at the most salt sea. This is the
possession of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families.
16:9. And there were cities with their villages separated for the
children of Ephraim in the midst of the possession of the children of
Manasses.
16:10. And the children of Ephraim slew not the Chanaanite, who
dwelt in Gazer: and the Chanaanite dwelt in the midst of Ephraim
until this day, paying tribute.
Josue Chapter 17

The lot of the half tribe of Manasses.

17:1. And this lot fell to the tribe of Manasses for he is the irstborn
of Joseph to Machir the irstborn of Manasses the father of Galaad,
who was a warlike man, and had for possession Galaad and Basan.
17:2. And to the rest of the children of Manasses according to their
families: to the children of Abiezer, and to the children of Helec, and to
the children of Esriel, and to the children of Sechem, and to the
children of Hepher, and to the children of Semida: these are the male
children of Manasses the son of Joseph, by their kindreds.
17:3. But Salphaad the son of Hepher the son of Galaad the son of
Machir the son of Manasses had no sons, but only daughters: whose
names are these, Maala and Noa and Hegla and Melcha and Thersa.
17:4. And they came in the presence of Eleazar the priest and of
Josue the son of Nun, and of the princes, saying: The Lord commanded
by the hand of Moses, that a possession should be given us in the midst
of our brethren. And he gave them according to the commandment of
the Lord a possession amongst the brethren of their father.
17:5. And there fell ten portions to Manasses, beside the land of
Galaad and Basan beyond the Jordan.

 17:6. For the daughters of Manasses possessed inheritance in the

midst of his sons. And the land of Galaad fell to the lot of the rest of the
children of Manasses.
17:7. And the border of Manasses was from Aser, Machmethath
which looketh towards Sichem: and it goeth out on the right hand by
the inhabitants of the fountain of Taphua.
17:8. For the lot of Manasses took in the land of Taphua, which is on
the borders of Manasses, and belongs to the children of Ephraim.
17:9. And the border goeth down to the valley of the reeds, to the
south of the torrent of the cities of Ephraim, which are in the midst of
the cities of Manasses: the border of Manasses is on the north side of
the torrent, and the outgoings of it are at the sea:
17:10. So that the possession of Ephraim is on the south, and on the
north that of Manasses, and the sea is the border of both, and they are
joined together in the tribe of Aser on the north, and in the tribe of
Issachar on the east.
17:11. And the inheritance of Manasses in Issachar and in Aser, was
Bethsan and its villages, and Jeblaam with its villages, and the
inhabitants of Dor, with the towns thereof: the inhabitants also of
Endor with the villages thereof: and in like manner the inhabitants of
Thenac with the villages thereof: and the inhabitants of Mageddo with
their villages, and the third part of the city of Nopheth.
17:12. Neither could the children of Manasses overthrow these
cities, but the Chanaanite began to dwell in his land.
17:13. But after that the children of Israel were grown strong, they
subdued the Chanaanites, and made them their tributaries, and they
did not kill them.
17:14. And the children of Joseph spoke to Josue, and said: Why hast
thou given me but one lot and one portion to possess, whereas I am of
so great a multitude, and the Lord hath blessed me?
17:15. And Josue said to them: If thou be a great people, go up into
the woodland, and cut down room for thyself in the land of the

Pherezite and the Raphaims: because the possession of mount

Ephraim is too narrow for thee.
17:16. And the children of Joseph answered him: We cannot go up to
the mountains, for the Chanaanites that dwell in the low lands,
wherein are situate Bethsan with its towns, and Jezrael in the midst of
the valley, have chariots of iron.
17:17. And Josue said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and
Manasses: Thou art a great people, and of great strength, thou shalt
not have one lot only:
17:18. But thou shalt pass to the mountain, and shalt cut down the
wood, and make thyself room to dwell in: and mayst proceed farther,
when thou hast destroyed the Chanaanites, who as thou sayest have
iron chariots, and are very strong.
Josue Chapter 18

Surveyors are sent to divide the rest of the land into seven tribes. The
lot of Benjamin.
18:1. And all the children of Israel assembled together in Silo, and
there they set up the tabernacle of the testimony, and the land was
subdued before them.
18:2. But there remained seven tribes of the children of Israel, which
as yet had not received their possessions.
18:3. And Josue said to them: How long are you indolent and slack,
and go not in to possess the land which the Lord the God of your
fathers hath given you?
18:4. Choose of every tribe three men, that I may send them, and
they may go and compass the land, and mark it out according to the
number of each multitude: and bring back to me what they have
marked out.
18:5. Divide to yourselves the land into seven parts: let Juda be in his
bounds on the south side, and the house of Joseph on the north.

 18:6. The land in the midst between these mark ye out into seven
parts; and you shall come hither to me, that I may cast lots for you
before the Lord your God.
The land in the midst between these mark ye out into seven parts.... That is to
say, the rest of the land, which is not already assigned to Juda or Joseph.
18:7. For the Levites have no part among you, but the priesthood of
the Lord is their inheritance. And Gad and Ruben, and the half tribe of
Manasses have already received their possessions beyond the Jordan
eastward: which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.
18:8. And when the men were risen up, to go to mark out the land,
Josue commanded them saying: Go round the land and mark it out,
and return to me: that I may cast lots for you before the Lord in Silo.
18:9. So they went and surveying it divided it into seven parts,
writing them down in a book. And they returned to Josue, to the camp
in Silo.
18:10. And he cast lots before the Lord in Silo, and divided the land
to the children of Israel into seven parts.
18:11. And irst came up the lot of the children of Benjamin by their
families, to possess the land between the children of Juda, and the
children of Joseph.
18:12. And their border northward was from the Jordan: going
along by the side of Jericho on the north side, and thence going up
westward to the mountains, and reaching to the wilderness of
Bethaven,
18:13. And passing along southward by Luza, the same is Bethel,
and it goeth down into Ataroth-addar to the mountain, that is on the
south of the nether Beth-horon.
18:14. And it bendeth thence going round towards the sea, south of
the mountain that looketh towards Beth-horon to the south-west: and
the outgoings thereof are into Cariathbaal, which is called also
Cariathiarim, a city of the children of Juda This is their coast towards
the sea, westward.

 18:15. But on the south side the border goeth out from part of
Cariathiarim towards the sea, and cometh to the fountain of the
waters of Nephtoa.
18:16. And it goeth down to that part of the mountain that looketh
on the valley of the children of Ennom: and is over against the north
quarter in the furthermost part of the valley of Raphaim, and it goeth
down into Geennom (that is the valley of Ennom) by the side of the
Jebusite to the south: and cometh to the fountain of Rogel,
18:17. Passing thence to the north, and going out to Ensemes, that is
to say, the fountain of the sun:
18:18. And it passeth along to the hills that are over against the
ascent of Adommim: and it goeth down to Abenboen, that is, the stone
of Boen the son of Ruben: and it passeth on the north side to the
champaign countries; and goeth down into the plain,
18:19. And it passeth by Bethhagla northward: and the outgoings
thereof are towards the north of the most salt sea at the south end of
the Jordan.
18:20. Which is the border of it on the east side. This is the
possession of the children of Benjamin by their borders round about,
and their families.
18:21. And their cities were, Jericho and Bethhagla and Vale-Casis,
18:22. Betharaba and Samaraim and Bethel,
18:23. And Avim and Aphara and Ophera,
18:24. The town Emona and Ophni and Gabee: twelve cities, and
their villages.
18:25. Gabam and Rama and Beroth,
18:26. And Mesphe, and Caphara, and Amosa,
18:27. And Recem, Jarephel, and Tharela,
18:28. And Sela, Eleph and Jebus, which is Jerusalem, Gabaath and
Cariath: fourteen cities, and their villages. This is the possession of the
children of Benjamin by their families.

 Josue Chapter 19

The lots of the tribes of Simeon, Zabulon, Issachar, Aser, Nephtali and
Dan. A city is given to Josue.
19:1. And the second lot came forth for the children of Simeon by
their kindreds: and their inheritance was
19:2. In the midst of the possession of the children of Juda: Bersabee
and Sabee and Molada,
19:3. And Hasersual, Bala and Asem,
19:4. And Eltholad, Bethul and Harma,
19:5. And Siceleg and Bethmarchaboth and Hasersusa,
19:6. And Bethlebaoth and Sarohen: thirteen cities, and their
villages.
19:7. And Remmon and Athor and Asan: four cities, and their
villages.
19:8. And all the villages round about these cities to Baalath Beer
Ramath to the south quarter. This is the inheritance of the children of
Simeon according to their kindreds,
19:9. In the possession and lot of the children of Juda: because it was
too great, and therefore the children of Simeon had their possession in
the midst of their inheritance.
19:10. And the third lot fell to the children of Zabulon by their
kindreds: and the border of their possession was unto Sarid.
19:11. And it went up from the sea and from Merala, and came to
Debbaseth: as far as the torrent, which is over against Jeconam.
19:12. And it returneth from Sarid eastward to the borders of
Ceseleththabor: and it goeth out to Dabereth and ascendeth towards
Japhie.
19:13. And it passeth along from thence to the east side of
Gethhepher and Thacasin: and goeth out to Remmon, Amthar and
Noa.

 19:14. And it turneth about to the north of Hanathon: and the

outgoings thereof are the valley of Jephtahel,
19:15. And Cateth and Naalol and Semeron and Jedala and
Bethlehem: twelve cities and their villages.
19:16. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Zabulon
by their kindreds, the cities and their villages.
19:17. The fourth lot came out to Issachar by their kindreds.
19:18. And his inheritance was Jezrael and Casaloth and Sunem,
19:19. And Hapharaim and Seon and Anaharath,
19:20. And Rabboth and Cesion, Abes,
19:21. And Rameth and Engannim and Enhadda and Bethpheses.
19:22. And the border thereof cometh to Thabor and Sehesima and
Bethsames: and the outgoings thereof shall be at the Jordan: sixteen
cities, and their villages.
19:23. This is the possession of the sons of Issachar by their
kindreds, the cities and their villages.
19:24. And the ifth lot fell to the tribe of the children of Aser by
their kindreds:
19:25. And their border was Halcath and Chali and Beten and
Axaph,
19:26. And Elmelech and Amaad and Messal: and it reacheth to
Carmel by the sea and Sihor and Labanath,
19:27. And it returneth towards the east to Bethdagon: and passeth
along to Zabulon and to the valley of Jephthael towards the north to
Bethemec and Nehiel. And it goeth out to the left side of Cabul,
19:28. And to Abaran and Rohob and Hamon and Cana, as far as the
great Sidon.
19:29. And it returneth to Horma to the strong city of Tyre, and to
Hosa: and the outgoings thereof shall be at the sea from the portion of
Achziba:

 19:30. And Amma and Aphec and Rohob: twenty-two cities, and
their villages.
19:31. This is the possession of the children of Aser by their kindreds,
and the cities and their villages.
19:32. The sixth lot came out to the sons of Nephtali by their
families:
19:33. And the border began from Heleph and Elon to Saananim,
and Adami, which is Neceb, and Jebnael even to Lecum: and their
outgoings unto the Jordan:
19:34. And the border returneth westward to Azanotthabor, and
goeth out from thence to Hucuca, and passeth along to Zabulon
southward, and to Aser westward, and to Juda upon the Jordan
towards the rising of the sun.
19:35. And the strong cities are Assedim, Ser, and Emath, and
Reccath and Cenereth,
19:36. And Edema and Arama, Asor,
19:37. And Cedes and Edri, Enhasor,
19:38. And Jeron and Magdalel, Horem, and Bethanath and
Bethsames: nineteen cities, and their villages.
19:39. This is the possession of the tribe of the children of Nephtali
by their kindreds, the cities and their villages.
19:40. The seventh lot came out to the tribe of the children of Dan
by their families:
19:41. And the border of their possession was Saraa and Esthaol,
and Hirsemes, that is, the city of the sun,
19:42. Selebin and Aialon and Jethela,
19:43. Elon and Themna and Acron,
19:44. Elthece, Gebbethon and Balaath,
19:45. And Juda and Bane and Barach and Gethremmon:
19:46. And Mejarcon and Arecon, with the border that looketh
towards Joppe,

 19:47. And is terminated there. And the children of Dan went up and
fought against Lesem, and took it: and they put it to the sword, and
possessed it, and dwelt in it, calling the name of it Lesem Dan, by the
name of Dan their father.
19:48. This is the possession of the tribe of the sons of Dan, by their
kindreds, the cities and their villages.
19:49. And when he had made an end of dividing the land by lot to
each one by their tribes, the children of Israel gave a possession to
Josue the son of Nun in the midst of them,
19:50. According to the commandment of the Lord, the city which he
asked for, Thamnath Saraa, in mount Ephraim: and he built up the
city, and dwelt in it.
19:51. These are the possessions which Eleazar the priest, and Josue
the son of Nun, and the princes of the families, and of the tribes of the
children of Israel, distributed by lot in Silo, before the Lord at the door
of the tabernacle of the testimony, and they divided the land.
Josue Chapter 20

The cities of refuge are appointed for casual manslaughter.

20:1. And the Lord spoke to Josue, saying: Speak to the children of
Israel and say to them:
20:2. Appoint cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by the hand of
Moses:
20:3. That whosoever shall kill a person unawares may lee to them,
and may escape the wrath of the kinsman, who is the avenger of blood.
20:4. And when he shall lee to one of these cities: he shall stand
before the gate of the city, and shall speak to the ancients of that city,
such things as prove him innocent: and so shall they receive him, and
give him a place to dwell in.
20:5. And when the avenger of blood shall pursue him, they shall not
deliver him into his hands, because he slew his neighbour unawares,
and is not proved to have been his enemy two or three days before,

 20:6. And he shall dwell in that city, till he stand before judgment to
give an account of his fact, and till the death of the high priest, who
shall be at that time: then shall the manslayer return, and go into his
own city and house from whence he led.
20:7. And they appointed Cedes in Galilee of mount Nephtali, and
Sichem in mount Ephraim, and Cariath-Arbe, the same is Hebron in
the mountain of Juda.
20:8. And beyond the Jordan to the east of Jericho, they appointed
Bosor, which is upon the plain of the wilderness of the tribe of Ruben,
and Ramoth in Galaad of the tribe of Gad, and Gaulon in Basan of the
tribe of Manasses.
20:9. These cities were appointed for all the children of Israel, and
for the strangers, that dwelt among them, that whosoever had killed a
person unawares might lee to them, and not die by the hand of the
kinsman, coveting to revenge the blood that was shed, until he should
stand before the people to lay open his cause.
Josue Chapter 21

Cities with their suburbs are assigned for the priests and Levites.
21:1. Then the princes of the families of Levi came to Eleazar the
priest, and to Josue the son of Nun, and to the princes of the kindreds
of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
21:2. And they spoke to them in Silo in the land of Chanaan, and
said: The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, that cities should be
given us to dwell in, and their suburbs to feed our cattle.
21:3. And the children of Israel gave out of their possessions
according to the commandment of the Lord, cities and their suburbs.
21:4. And the lot came out for the family of Caath of the children of
Aaron the priest out of the tribes of Juda, and of Simeon, and of
Benjamin, thirteen cities.

f
f

 21:5. And to the rest of the children of Caath, that is, to the Levites,
who remained, out of the tribes of Ephraim, and of Dan, and the half
tribe of Manasses, ten cities.
21:6. And the lot came out to the children of Gerson, that they
should take of the tribes of Issachar and of Aser and of Nephtali, and of
the half tribe of Manasses in Basan, thirteen cities.
21:7. And to the sons of Merari by their kindreds, of the tribes of
Ruben and of Gad and of Zabulon, twelve cities.
21:8. And the children of Israel gave to the Levites the cities and
their suburbs, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, giving to
every one by lot.
21:9. Of the tribes of the children of Juda and of Simeon Josue gave
cities: whose names are these,
21:10. To the sons of Aaron, of the families of Caath of the race of
Levi (for the irst lot came out for them)
21:11. The city of Arbe the father of Enac, which is called Hebron, in
the mountain of Juda, and the suburbs thereof round about.
21:12. But the ields and the villages thereof he had given to Caleb
the son of Jephone for his possession.
21:13. He gave therefore to the children of Aaron the priest, Hebron
a city of refuge, and the suburbs thereof, and Lebna with the suburbs
thereof,
21:14. And Jether and Estemo,
21:15. And Holon, and Dabir,
21:16. And Ain, and Jeta, and Bethsames, with their suburbs: nine
cities out of the two tribes, as hath been said.
21:17. And out of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, Gabaon, and
Gabae,
21:18. And Anathoth and Almon, with, their suburbs: four cities.
21:19. All the cities together of the children of Aaron the priest, were
thirteen, with their suburbs,

f
f

 21:20. And to the rest of the families of the children of Caath of the
race of Levi was given this possession.
21:21. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Sichem one of the cities of refuge,
with the suburbs thereof in mount Ephraim, and Gazer,
21:22. And Cibsaim, and Beth-horon, with their suburbs, four cities.
21:23. And of he tribe of Dan, Eltheco and Gabathon,
21:24. And Aialon and Gethremmon, with their suburbs, four cities.
21:25. And of the half tribe of Manasses, Thanac and Gethremmon,
with their suburbs, two cities.
21:26. All the cities were ten, with their suburbs, which were given
to the children of Caath, of the inferior degree.
21:27. To the children of Gerson also of the race of Levi out of the
half tribe of Manasses, Gaulon in Basan, one of the cities of refuge, and
Bosra, with their suburbs, two cities.
21:28. And of the tribe of Issachar, Cesion, and Dabereth,
21:29. And Jaramoth, and Engannim, with their suburbs, four cities.
21:30. And of the tribe of Aser, Masal and Abdon,
21:31. And Helcath, and Rohob, with their suburbs, four cities.
21:32. Of the tribe also of Nephtali, Cedes in Galilee, one of the cities
of refuge: and Hammoth Dor, and Carthan, with their suburbs, three
cities.
21:33. All the cities of the families of Gerson, were thirteen, with
their suburbs.
21:34. And to the children of Merari, Levites of the inferior degree,
by their families were given of the tribe of Zabulon, Jecnam and
Cartha,
21:35. And Damna and Naalol, four cities with their suburbs.
21:36. Of the tribe of Ruben beyond the Jordan over against Jericho,
Bosor in the wilderness, one of the cities of refuge, Misor and Jaser and
Jethson and Mephaath, four cities with their suburbs.

 Four cities.... There are no more, though there be ive names: for Misor is the
same city as Bosor, which is to be observed in some other places, where the
number of names exceeds the number of cities.
21:37. Of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Galaad, one of the cities of
refuge, and Manaim and Hesebon and Jaser, four cities with their
suburbs,
21:38. All the cities of the children of Merari by their families and
kindreds, were twelve.
21:39. So all the cities of the Levites within the possession of the
children of Israel were forty-eight,
21:40. With their suburbs, each distributed by the families.
21:41. And the Lord God gave to Israel all the land that he had
sworn to give to their fathers: and they possessed it, and dwelt in it.
21:42. And he gave them peace from all nations round about: and
none of their enemies durst stand against them, but were brought
under their dominion.
21:43. Not so much as one word, which he had promised to perform
unto them, was made void, but all came to pass.
Josue Chapter 22

The tribes of Ruben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasses return to
their possessions. They build an altar by the side of the Jordan, which
alarms the other tribes. An embassage is sent to them, to which they
give a satisfactory answer.
22:1. At the same time Josue called the Rubenites, and the Gadites,
and the half tribe of Manasses,
22:2. And said to them: You have done all that Moses the servant of
the Lord commanded you: you have also obeyed me in all things,
22:3. Neither have you left your brethren this long time, until this
present day, keeping the commandment of the Lord your God.

 22:4. Therefore as the Lord your God hath given your brethren rest
and peace, as he promised: return, and go to your dwellings, and to the
land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you
beyond the Jordan:
22:5. Yet so that you observe attentively, and in work ful il the
commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord
commanded you: that you love the Lord your God, and walk in all his
ways, and keep all his commandments, and cleave to him, and serve
him with all your heart, and with all your soul.
22:6. And Josue blessed them, and sent them away, and they
returned to their dwellings.
22:7. Now to half the tribe of Manasses, Moses had given a
possession in Basan: and therefore to the half that remained, Josue
gave a lot among the rest of their brethren beyond the Jordan to the
west. And when he sent them away to their dwellings and had blessed
them,
22:8. He said to them: With much substance and riches, you return
to your settlements, with silver and gold, brass and iron, and variety of
raiment: divide the prey of your enemies with your brethren.
22:9. So the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half
tribe of Manasses returned, and parted from the children of Israel in
Silo, which is in Chanaan, to go into Galaad the land of their
possession, which they had obtained according to the commandment
of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
22:10. And when they were come to the banks of the Jordan, in the
land of Chanaan, they built an altar immensely great near the Jordan.
22:11. And when the children of Israel had heard of it, and certain
messengers brought them an account that the children of Ruben, and
of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses had built an altar in the land of
Chanaan, upon the banks of the Jordan, over against the children of
Israel:
22:12. They all assembled in Silo, to go up and ight against them.

 22:13. And in the mean time they sent to them into the land of
Galaad, Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest,
22:14. And ten princes with him, one of every tribe.
22:15. Who came to the children of Ruben, and of Gad, and the half
tribe of Manasses, into the land of Galaad, and said to them:
22:16. Thus saith all the people of the Lord: What meaneth this
transgression? Why have you forsaken the Lord the God of Israel,
building a sacrilegious altar, and revolting from the worship of him?
22:17. Is it a small thing to you that you sinned with Beelphegor,
and the stain of that crime remaineth in us to this day? and many of
the people perished.
22:18. And you have forsaken the Lord to day, and to morrow his
wrath will rage against all Israel.
22:19. But if you think the land of your possession to be unclean,
pass over to the land wherein is the tabernacle of the Lord, and dwell
among us: only depart not from the Lord, and from our society, by
building an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God.
22:20. Did not Achan the son of Zare transgress the commandment
of the Lord, and his wrath lay upon all the people of Israel? And he was
but one man, and would to God he alone had perished in his
wickedness.
22:21. And the children of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half tribe of
Manasses answered the princes of the embassage of Israel:
22:22. The Lord the most mighty God, the Lord the most mighty
God, he knoweth, and Israel also shall understand: If with the design of
transgression we have set up this altar, let him not save us, but punish
us immediately:
22:23. And if we did it with that mind, that we might lay upon it
holocausts, and sacri ice, and victims of peace offerings, let him
require and judge:

 22:24. And not rather with this thought and design, that we should
say: To morrow your children will say to our children: What have you
to do with the Lord the God of Israel?
22:25. The Lord hath put the river Jordan for a border between us
and you, O ye children of Ruben, and ye children of Gad: and therefore
you have no part in the Lord. And by this occasion your children shall
turn away our children from the fear of the Lord. We therefore
thought it best,
22:26. And said: Let us build us an altar, not for holocausts, nor to
offer victims,
22:27. But for a testimony between us and you, and our posterity
and yours, that we may serve the Lord, and that we may have a right
to offer both holocausts, and victims and sacri ices of peace offerings:
and that your children to morrow may not say to our children: You
have no part in the Lord.
22:28. And if they will say so, they shall answer them: Behold the
altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for holocausts, nor for
sacri ice, but for a testimony between us and you.
22:29. God keep us from any such wickedness that we should revolt
from the Lord, and leave off following his steps, by building an altar to
offer holocausts, and sacri ices, and victims, beside the altar of the
Lord our God, which is erected before his tabernacle.
22:30. And when Phinees the priest, and the princes of the
embassage, who were with him, had heard this, they were satis ied:
and they admitted most willingly the words of the children of Ruben,
and Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasses,
22:31. And Phinees the priest the son of Eleazar said to them: Now
we know that the Lord is with us, because you are not guilty of this
revolt, and you have delivered the children of Israel from the hand of
the Lord.
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f
 22:32. And he returned with the princes from the children of Ruben
and Gad, out of the land of Galaad, into the land of Chanaan, to the
children of Israel, and brought them word again.
22:33. And the saying pleased all that heard it. And the children of
Israel praised God, and they no longer said that they would go up
against them, and ight, and destroy the land of their possession.
22:34. And the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad called the
altar which they had built, Our testimony, that the Lord is God.
Josue Chapter 23

Josue being old admonisheth the people to keep God’s commandments:

and to avoid marriages and all society with the Gentiles for fear of
being brought to idolatry.
23:1. And when a long time was passed, after that the Lord had
given peace to Israel, all the nations round about being subdued, and
Josue being now old, and far advanced in years:
23:2. Josue called for all Israel, and for the elders, and for the
princes, and for the judges, and for the masters, and said to them: I am
old, and far advanced in years,
23:3. And you see all that the Lord your God hath done to all the
nations round about, how he himself hath fought for you:
23:4. And now since he hath divided to you by lot all the land, from
the east of the Jordan unto the great sea, and many nations yet
remain:
23:5. The Lord your God will destroy them, and take them away
from before your face, and you shall possess the land as he hath
promised you.
23:6. Only take courage, and be careful to observe all things that are
written in the book of the law of Moses: and turn not aside from them
neither to the right hand nor to the left:

 23:7. Lest after that you are come in among the Gentiles, who will
remain among you, you should swear by the name of their gods, and
serve them, and adore them:
23:8. But cleave ye unto the Lord your God, as you have done until
this day.
23:9. And then the Lord God will take away before your eyes nations
that are great and very strong, and no man shall be able to resist you.
23:10. One of you shall chase a thousand men of the enemies:
because the Lord your God himself will ight for you, as he hath
promised.
23:11. This only take care of with all diligence, that you love the
Lord your God.
23:12. But if you will embrace the errors of these nations that dwell
among you, and make marriages with them, and join friendships:
23:13. Know ye for a certainty that the Lord your God will not
destroy them before your face, but they shall be a pit and a snare in
your way, and a stumbling-block at your side, and stakes in your eyes,
till he take you away and destroy you from off this excellent land,
which he hath given you.
23:14. Behold this day I am going into the way of all the earth, and
you shall know with all your mind that of all the words which the Lord
promised to perform for you, not one hath failed,
23:15. Therefore as he hath ful illed in deed, what he promised, and
all things prosperous have come: so will he bring upon you all the evils
he hath threatened, till he take you away and destroy you from off this
excellent land, which he hath given you,
23:16. When you shall have transgressed the covenant of the Lord
your God, which he hath made with you, and shall have served strange
gods, and adored them: then shall the indignation of the Lord rise up
quickly and speedily against you, and you shall be taken away from
this excellent land, which he hath delivered to you.

 Josue Chapter 24

Josue assembleth the people, and reneweth the covenant between

them and God. His death and burial.
24:1. And Josue gathered together all the tribes of Israel in Sichem,
and called for the ancients, and the princes and the judges, and the
masters: and they stood in the sight of the Lord:
24:2. And he spoke thus to the people: Thus saith the Lord the God of
Israel: Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side of the river, Thare
the father of Abraham, and Nachor: and they served strange gods.
Of the river.... The Euphrates.
24:3. And I took your father Abraham from the borders of
Mesopotamia: and brought him into the land of Chanaan: and I
multiplied his seed,
24:4. And gave him Isaac: and to him again I gave Jacob and Esau.
And I gave to Esau mount Seir for his possession: but Jacob and his
children went down into Egypt.
24:5. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt with many
signs and wonders.
24:6. And I brought you and your fathers out of Egypt, and you came
to the sea: and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and
horsemen, as far as the Red Sea.
24:7. And the children of Israel cried to the Lord: and he put
darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon
them, and covered them. Your eyes saw all that I did in Egypt, and you
dwelt in the wilderness a long time.
24:8. And I brought you into the land of the Amorrhite, who dwelt
beyond the Jordan. And when they fought against you, I delivered them
into your hands, and you possessed their land, and slew them.
24:9. And Balac son of Sephor king of Moab arose and fought
against Israel. And he sent and called for Balaam son of Beor, to curse
you:

 24:10. And I would not hear him, but on the contrary I blessed you
by him, and I delivered you out of his hand.
24:11. And you passed over the Jordan, and you came to Jericho. And
the men of that city fought against you, the Amorrhite, and the
Pherezite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Gergesite, and
the Hevite, and the Jebusite: and I delivered them into your hands.
24:12. And I sent before you hornets: and I drove them out from
their places, the two kings of the Amorrhites, not with thy sword nor
with thy bow,
24:13. And I gave you a land, in which you had not laboured, and
cities to dwell in which you built not, vineyards and oliveyards, which
you planted not.
24:14. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him with a perfect
and most sincere heart: and put away the gods which your fathers
served in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
24:15. But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your
choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would
rather serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in
Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell:
but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord,
24:16. And the people answered, and said, God forbid we should
leave the Lord, and serve strange gods.
24:17. The Lord our God he brought us and our fathers out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage: and did very great signs in
our sight, and preserved us in all the way by which we journeyed, and
among all the people through whom we passed.
24:18. And he hath cast out all the nations, the Amorrhite the
inhabitant of the land into which we are come. Therefore we will serve
the Lord, for he is our God.
24:19. And Josue said to the people: You will not be able to serve the
Lord: for he is a holy God, and mighty and jealous, and will not forgive
your wickedness and sins.

 You will not be able to serve the Lord, etc.... This was not said by way of
discouraging them; but rather to make them more earnest and resolute, by
setting before them the greatness of the undertaking, and the courage and
constancy necessary to go through with it.
24:20. If you leave the Lord, and serve strange gods, he will turn,
and will af lict you, and will destroy you after all the good he hath
done you.
24:21. And the people said to Josue: No, it shall not be so as thou
sayest, but we will serve the Lord.
24:22. And Josue said to the people, You are witnesses, that you
yourselves have chosen you the Lord to serve him. And they answered:
We are witnesses.
24:23. Now therefore, said he, put away strange gods from among
you, and incline your hearts to the Lord the God of Israel.
24:24. And the people said to Josue: We will serve the Lord our God,
and we will be obedient to his commandments.
24:25. Josue therefore on that day made a covenant, and set before
the people commandments and judgments in Sichem.
24:26. And he wrote all these things in the volume of the law of the
Lord: and he took a great stone, and set it under the oak that was in
the sanctuary of the Lord.
24:27. And he said to all the people: Behold this stone shall be a
testimony unto you, that it hath heard all the words of the Lord, which
he hath spoken to you: lest perhaps hereafter you will deny it, and lie
to the Lord your God.
It hath heard.... This is a igure of speech, by which sensation is attributed to
inanimate things; and they are called upon, as it were, to bear witness in favour
of the great Creator, whom they on their part constantly obey.
24:28. And he sent the people away every one to their own
possession,
24:29. And after these things Josue the son of Nun the servant of the
Lord died, being a hundred and ten years old:

 And after, etc.... If Josue wrote this book, as is commonly believed, these last
verses were added by Samuel, or some other prophet.
24:30. And they buried him in the border of his possession in
Thamnathsare, which is situate in mount Ephraim, on the north side of
mount Gaas.
24:31. And Israel served the Lord all the days of Josue, and of the
ancients that lived a long time after Josue, and that had known all the
works of the Lord which he had done in Israel.
24:32. And the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel had
taken out of Egypt, they buried in Sichem, in that part of the ield
which Jacob had bought of the sons of Hemor the father of Sichem, for
a hundred young ewes, and it was in the possession of the sons of
Joseph.
24:33. Eleazar also the son of Aaron died: and they buried him in
Gabaath that belongeth to Phinees his son, which was given him in
mount Ephraim.

THE BOOK OF JUDGES

This Book is called JUDGES, because it contains the history of what

passed under the government of the judges, who ruled Israel before
they had kings. The writer of it, according to the more general opinion,
was the prophet Samuel.
Judges Chapter 1

The expedition and victory of Juda against the Chanaanites: who are
tolerated in many places.

f
 1:1. After the death of Josue, the children of Israel consulted the
Lord, saying: Who shall go up before us against the Chanaanite, and
shall be the leader of the war?
1:2. And the Lord said: Juda shall go up: behold I have delivered the
land into his hands.
1:3. And Juda said to Simeon, his brother: Come up with me into my
lot, and ight against the Chanaanite, that I also may go along with
thee into thy lot. And Simeon went with him.
1:4. And Juda went up, and the Lord delivered the Chanaanite, and
the Pherezite into their hands: and they slew of them in Bezec ten
thousand men.
1:5. And they found Adonibezec in Bezec, and fought against him,
and they defeated the Chanaanite, and the Pherezite.
1:6. And Adonibezec led: and they pursued after him and took him,
and cut off his ingers and toes.
1:7. And Adonibezec said: Seventy kings, having their ingers and
toes cut off, gathered up the leavings of the meat under my table: as I
have done, so hath God requited me. And they brought him to
Jerusalem, and he died there.
1:8. And the children of Juda besieging Jerusalem, took it, and put it
to the sword, and set the whole city on ire.
Jerusalem.... This city was divided into two; one part was called Jebus, the other
Salem: the one was in the tribe of Juda, the other in the tribe of Benjamin. After it
was taken and burnt by the men of Juda, it was quickly rebuilt again by the
Jebusites, as we may gather from ver. 21; and continued in their possession till it
was taken by king David.
1:9. And afterwards they went down and fought against the
Chanaanite, who dwelt in the mountains, and in the south, and in the
plains.
1:10. And Juda going forward against the Chanaanite, that dwelt in
Hebron, (the name whereof was in former times Cariath-Arbe) slew
Sesai, and Ahiman, and Tholmai:

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 Hebron.... This expedition against Hebron, etc. is the same as is related, Jos. 15.24.
It is here repeated, to give the reader at once a short sketch of all the
achievements of the tribe of Juda against the Chanaanites.
1:11. And departing from thence, he went to the inhabitants of
Dabir, the ancient name of which was Cariath-Sepher, that is, the city
of letters.
The city of letters.... Perhaps so called from some famous school, or library, kept
there.
1:12. And Caleb said: He that shall take Cariath-Sepher, and lay it
waste, to him will I give my daughter Axa to wife.
1:13. And Othoniel, the son of Cenez, the younger brother of Caleb,
having taken it, he gave him Axa his daughter to wife.
1:14. And as she was going on her way, her husband admonished
her to ask a ield of her father. And as she sighed sitting on her ass,
Caleb said to her: What aileth thee?
1:15. But she answered: Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a
dry land: give me also a watery land So Caleb gave her the upper and
the nether watery ground.
1:16. And the children of the Cinite, the kinsman of Moses, went up
from the city of palms, with the children of Juda, into the wilderness of
his lot, which is at the south side of Arad, and they dwelt with him.
The Cinite.... Jethro the father in law of Moses was called Cinoeus, or the Cinite;
and his children who came along with the children of Israel settled themselves
among them in the land of Chanaan, embracing their worship and religion. From
these the Rechabites sprung, of whom see Jer. 35.—Ibid. The city of palms....
Jericho, so called from the abundance of palm trees.
1:17. And Juda went with Simeon, his brother, and they together
defeated the Chanaanites that dwelt in Sephaath, and slew them. And
the name of the city was called Horma, that is, Anathema.
1:18. And Juda took Gaza, with its con ines, and Ascalon, and
Accaron, with their con ines.
Gaza, etc.... These were three of the principal cities of the Philistines, famous both
in sacred and profane history. They were taken at this time by the Israelites: but

f
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 as they took no care to put garrisons in them, the Philistines soon recovered
them.
1:19. And the Lord was with Juda, and he possessed the hill country:
but was not able to destroy the inhabitants of the valley, because they
had many chariots armed with scythes.
Was not able, etc.... Through a cowardly fear of their chariots armed with hooks
and scythes, and for want of con idence in God.
1:20. And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, who
destroyed out of it the three sons of Enac.
1:21. But the sons of Benjamin did not destroy the Jebusites that
inhabited Jerusalem: and the Jebusite hath dwelt with the sons of
Benjamin in Jerusalem until this present day.
1:22. The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord
was with them.
1:23. For when they were besieging the city, which before was called
Luza,
1:24. They saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him:
Shew us the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.
1:25. And when he had shewed them, they smote the city with the
edge of the sword: but that man, and all his kindred, they let go:
1:26. Who being sent away, went into the land of Hetthim, and built
there a city, and called it Luza: which is so called until this day.
1:27. Manasses also did not destroy Bethsan, and Thanac, with their
villages; nor the inhabitants of Dor, and Jeblaam, and Mageddo, with
their villages. And the Chanaanite began to dwell with them.
1:28. But after Israel was grown strong, he made them tributaries,
and would not destroy them.
1:29. Ephraim also did not slay the Chanaanite that dwelt in Gazer,
but dwelt with him.
1:30. Zabulon destroyed not the inhabitants of Cetron, and Naalol:
but the Chanaanite dwelt among them, and became their tributary.

 1:31. Aser also destroyed not the inhabitants of Accho, and of Sidon,
of Ahalab, and of Achazib, and of Helba, and of Aphec, and of Rohob:
1:32. And he dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanites, the inhabitants
of that land, and did not slay them.
1:33. Nephthali also destroyed not the inhabitants of Bethsames,
and of Bethanath: and he dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanites, the
inhabitants of the land, and the Bethsamites and Bethanites were
tributaries to him.
1:34. And the Amorrhite straitened the children of Dan in the
mountain, and gave them not a place to go down to the plain:
1:35. And he dwelt in the mountain Hares, that is, of potsherds, in
Aialon and Salebim. And the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy
upon him, and he became tributary to him.
He dwelt.... That is, the Amorrhite.
1:36. And the border of the Amorrhite was from the ascent of the
scorpion, the rock, and the higher places.
Judges Chapter 2

An angel reproveth Israel. They weep for their sins. After the death of
Josue, they often fall, and repenting are delivered from their af lictions,
but still fall worse and worse.
2:1. And an angel of the Lord went up from Galgal to the place of
weepers, and said: I made you go out of Egypt, and have brought you
into the land for which I swore to your fathers: and I promised that I
would not make void my covenant with you for ever:
An angel.... Taking the shape of a man.
2:2. On condition that you should not make a league with the
inhabitants of this land, but should throw down their altars: and you
would not hear my voice: why have you done this?
2:3. Wherefore I would not destroy them from before your face; that
you may have enemies, and their gods may be your ruin.

 2:4. And when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the
children of Israel: they lifted up their voice, and wept.
2:5. And the name of that place was called, The place of weepers, or
of tears: and there they offered sacri ices to the Lord.
2:6. And Josue sent away the people, and the children of Israel went
every one to his own possession to hold it:
And Josue, etc.... This is here inserted out of Jos. 24, by way of recapitulation of
what had happened before, and by way of an introduction to that which follows.
2:7. And they served the Lord all his days, and the days of the
ancients, that lived a long time after him, and who knew all the works
of the Lord, which he had done for Israel.
2:8. And Josue, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being a
hundred and ten years old;
2:9. And they buried him in the borders of his possession in
Thamnathsare, in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaas.
2:10. And all that generation was gathered to their fathers: and
there arose others that knew not the Lord and the works which he had
done for Israel.
2:11. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and
they served Baalim,
2:12. And they left the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had
brought them out of the land of Egypt: and they followed strange gods,
and the gods of the people that dwelt round about them, and they
adored them: and they provoked the Lord to anger,
They followed strange gods.... What is here said of the children of Israel, as to
their falling so often into idolatry, is to be understood of a great part of them;
but not so universally, as if the true worship of God was ever quite abolished
among them: for the succession of the true church and religion was kept up all
this time by the priests and Levites, at least in the house of God in Silo.
2:13. Forsaking him, and serving Baal and Astaroth
2:14. And the Lord being angry against Israel, delivered them into
the hands of plunderers: who took them and sold them to their

 enemies, that dwelt round about: neither could they stand against
their enemies:
2:15. But whithersoever they meant to go, the hand of the Lord was
upon them, as he had said, and as he had sworn to them: and they
were greatly distressed.
2:16. And the Lord raised up judges, to deliver them from the hands
of those that oppressed them: but they would not hearken to them,
2:17. Committing fornication with strange gods, and adoring them.
They quickly forsook the way, in which their fathers had walked: and
hearing the commandments of the Lord, they did all things contrary.
2:18. And when the Lord raised them up judges, in their days, he was
moved to mercy, and heard the groanings of the af licted, and
delivered them from the slaughter of the oppressors.
2:19. But after the judge was dead, they returned, and did much
worse things than their fathers had done, following strange gods,
serving them, and adoring them. They left not their own inventions,
and the stubborn way, by which they were accustomed to walk.
2:20. And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he
said: Behold this nation hath made void my covenant, which I had
made with their fathers, and hath despised to hearken to my voice:
2:21. I also will not destroy the nations which Josue left when he
died:
2:22. That through them I may try Israel, whether they will keep the
way of the Lord, and walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.
2:23. The Lord therefore left all these nations, and would not quickly
destroy them, neither did he deliver them into the hands of Josue.
Judges Chapter 3

The people falling into idolatry are oppressed by their enemies; but
repenting are delivered by Othoniel, Aod, and Samgar.

 3:1. These are the nations which the Lord left, that by them he might
instruct Israel, and all that had not known the wars of the
Chanaanites:
3:2. That afterwards their children might learn to ight with their
enemies, and to be trained up to war:
3:3. The ive princes of the Philistines, and all the Chanaanites, and
the Sidonians, and the Hevites that dwelt in Mount Libanus, from
Mount Baal Hermon to the entering into Emath.
3:4. And he left them, that he might try Israel by them, whether they
would hear the commandments of the Lord, which he had commanded
their fathers, by the hand of Moses, or not.
3:5. So the children of Israel dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanite,
and the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite,
and the Jebusite:
3:6. And they took their daughters to wives, and they gave their own
daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.
3:7. And they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they forgot their
God, and served Baalim and Astaroth.
3:8. And the Lord being angry with Israel, delivered them into the
hands of Chusan Rasathaim, king of Mesopotamia, and they served
him eight years.
Mesopotamia.... In Hebrew Aramnaharim. Syria of the two rivers: so called
because it lies between the Euphrates and the Tigris. It is absolutely called Syria,
ver. 10.
3:9. And they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a saviour, and
delivered them; to wit, Othoniel, the son of Cenez, the younger brother
of Caleb:
3:10. And the spirit of the Lord was in him, and he judged Israel. And
he went out to ight, and the Lord delivered into his hands Chusan
Rasathaim, king of Syria, and he overthrew him:
3:11. And the land rested forty years, and Othoniel, the son of Cenez,
died.

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 3:12. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the
Lord: who strengthened against them Eglon, king of Moab: because
they did evil in his sight.
3:13. And he joined to him the children of Ammon, and Amalec: and
he went and overthrew Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.
3:14. And the children of Israel served Eglon, king of Moab, eighteen
years.
3:15. And afterwards they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a
saviour, called Aod, the son of Gera, the son of Jemini, who used the left
hand as well as the right. And the children of Israel sent presents to
Eglon, king of Moab, by him.
3:16. And he made himself a two-edged sword, with a haft in the
midst of the length of the palm of the hand, and was girded therewith,
under his garment, on the right thigh.
3:17. And he presented the gifts to Eglon, king of Moab Now Eglon
was exceeding fat.
3:18. And when he had presented the gifts unto him he followed his
companions that came along with him.
3:19. Then returning from Galgal, where the idols were, he said to
the king: I have a secret message to thee, O king. And he commanded
silence: and all being gone out that were about him,
3:20. Aod went in to him: now he was sitting in a summer parlour
alone, and he said: I have a word from God to thee. And he forthwith
rose up from his throne.
A word from God, etc.... What Aod, who was judge and chief magistrate of Israel,
did on this occasion, was by a special inspiration of God: but such things are not
to be imitated by private men.
3:21. And Aod put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his
right thigh, and thrust it into his belly,
3:22. With such force that the haft went in after the blade into the
wound, and was closed up with the abundance of fat. So that he did
not draw out the dagger, but left it in the body as he had struck it in:

 and forthwith, by the secret parts of nature, the excrements of the belly
came out.
3:23. And Aod carefully shutting the doors of the parlour, and
locking them,
3:24. Went out by a postern door. And the king’s servants going in,
saw the doors of the parlour shut, and they said: Perhaps he is easing
nature in his summer parlour.
3:25. And waiting a long time, till they were ashamed, and seeing
that no man opened the door, they took a key: and opening, they found
their lord lying dead on the ground.
3:26. But Aod, while they were in confusion, escaped, and passed by
the place of the idols from whence he had returned. And he came to
Seirath:
3:27. And forthwith he sounded the trumpet in Mount Ephraim: and
the children of Israel went down with him, he himself going in the
front.
3:28. And he said to them: Follow me: for the Lord hath delivered
our enemies, the Moabites, into our hands. And they went down after
him, and seized upon the fords of the Jordan, which are in the way to
Moab: and they suffered no man to pass over:
3:29. But they slew of the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand,
all strong and valiant men: none of them could escape.
3:30. And Moab was humbled that day under the hand of Israel: and
the land rested eighty years.
3:31. After him was Samgar, the son of Anath, who slew of the
Philistines six hundred men with a ploughshare: and he also defended
Israel.
Judges Chapter 4

Debbora and Barac deliver Israel from Jabin and Sisara, Jahal killeth
Sisara.

 4:1. And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord
after the death of Aod:
4:2. And the Lord delivered them up into the hands of Jabin, king of
Chanaan, who reigned in Asor: and he had a general of his army
named Sisara, and he dwelt in Haroseth of the Gentiles.
4:3. And the children of Israel cried to the Lord: for he had nine
hundred chariots set with scythes and for twenty years had grievously
oppressed them.
4:4. And there was at that time Debbora, a prophetess, the wife of
Lapidoth, who judged the people.
4:5. And she sat under a palm tree, which was called by her name,
between Rama and Bethel, in Mount Ephraim: and the children of
Israel came up to her for all judgment.
4:6. And she sent and called Barac, the Son of Abinoem, out of Cedes,
in Nephthali: and she said to him: The Lord God of Israel hath
commanded thee: Go, and lead an army to Mount Thabor, and thou
shalt take with thee ten thousand ighting men of the children of
Nephthali, and of the children of Zabulon:
4:7. And I will bring unto thee in the place of the torrent Cison,
Sisara, the general of Jabin’s army, and his chariots, and all his
multitude, and will deliver them into thy hand.
4:8. And Barac said to her: If thou wilt come with me, I will go: if
thou wilt not come with me, I will not go.
4:9. She said to him: I will go, indeed, with thee, but at this time the
victory shall not be attributed to thee, because Sisara shall be
delivered into the hand of a woman. Debbora therefore arose, and
went with Barac to Cedes.
4:10. And he called unto him Zabulon and Nephthali, and went up
with ten thousand ighting men, having Debbora in his company.
4:11. Now Haber, the Cinite, had some time before departed from
the rest of the Cinites, his brethren, the sons of Hobab, the kinsman of

 Moses: and had pitched his tents unto the valley, which is called
Sennim, and was near Cedes.
4:12. And it was told Sisara, that Barac, the son of Abinoem, was
gone up to Mount Thabor:
4:13. And he gathered together his nine hundred chariots armed
with scythes, and all his army, from Haroseth of the Gentiles, to the
torrent Cison.
4:14. And Debbora said to Barac: Arise, for this is the day wherein
the Lord hath delivered Sisara into thy hands: behold, he is thy leader.
And Barac went down from Mount Thabor, and ten thousand ighting
men with him.
4:15. And the Lord struck a terror into Sisara, and all his chariots,
and all his multitude, with the edge of the sword, at the sight of Barac;
insomuch, that Sisara leaping down from off his chariot, led away on
foot,
4:16. And Barac pursued after the leeing chariots, and the army,
unto Haroseth of the Gentiles; and all the multitude of the enemies was
utterly destroyed.
4:17. But Sisara leeing, came to the tent of Jahel, the wife of Haber,
the Cinite, for there was peace between Jabin, the king of Asor, and the
house of Haber, the Cinite.
4:18. And Jahel went forth to meet Sisara, and said to him: Come in
to me, my lord; come in, fear not. He went into her tent, and being
covered by her with a cloak,
4:19. Said to her: Give me, I beseech thee, a little water, for I am very
thirsty. She opened a bottle of milk, and gave him to drink, and
covered him.
4:20. And Sisara said to her: Stand before the door of the tent, and
when any shall come and inquire of thee, saying: Is there any man
here? thou shalt say: There is none.
4:21. So Jahel, Haber’s wife, took a nail of the tent, and taking also a
hammer: and going in softly, and with silence, she put the nail upon

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the temples of his head, and striking it with the hammer, drove it
through his brain fast into the ground: and so passing from deep sleep
to death, he fainted away and died.
4:22. And behold, Barac came pursuing after Sisara: and Jahel went
out to meet him, and said to him: Come, and I will shew thee the man
whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, he saw Sisara
lying dead, and the nail fastened in his temples.
4:23. So God that day humbled Jabin, the king of Chanaan, before
the children of Israel:
4:24. Who grew daily stronger, and with a mighty hand
overpowered Jabin, king of Chanaan, till they quite destroyed him.
Judges Chapter 5

The canticle of Debbora and Barac after their victory.

5:1. In that day Debbora and Barac, son of Abinoem, sung, and said:
5:2. O you of Israel, that have willingly offered your lives to danger,
bless the Lord.
5:3. Hear, O ye kings, give ear, O ye princes: It is I, it is I, that will
sing to the Lord, I will sing to the Lord, the God of Israel.
5:4. O Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, and passedst by the
regions of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens and clouds
dropped water.
5:5. The mountains melted before the face of the Lord, and Sinai
before the face of the Lord the God of Israel.
5:6. In the days of Samgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jahel, the
paths rested: and they that went by them, walked through bye-ways.
The paths rested.... The ways to the sanctuary of God were unfrequented: and
men walked in the by-ways of error and sin.
5:7. The valiant men ceased, and rested in Israel: until Debbora
arose, a mother arose in Israel.

 5:8. The Lord chose new wars, and he himself overthrew the gates of
the enemies: a shield and spear was not seen among forty thousand of
Israel.
5:9. My heart loveth the princes of Israel: O you, that of your own
good will offered yourselves to danger, bless the Lord.
5:10. Speak, you that ride upon fair asses, and you that sit in
judgment, and walk in the way.
5:11. Where the chariots were dashed together, and the army of the
enemies was choked, there let the justices of the Lord be rehearsed,
and his clemency towards the brave men of Israel: then the people of
the Lord went down to the gates, and obtained the sovereignty.
5:12. Arise, arise, O Debbora, arise, arise, and utter a canticle. Arise,
Barac, and take hold of thy captives, O son of Abinoem.
5:13. The remnants of the people are saved, the Lord hath fought
among the valiant ones.
5:14. Out of Ephraim he destroyed them into Amalec, and after him
out of Benjamin into thy people, O Amalec: Out of Machir there came
down princes, and out of Zabulon they that led the army to ight.
Out of Ephraim, etc.... The enemies straggling in their light were destroyed, as
they were running through the land of Ephraim, and of Benjamin, which lies
after, that is beyond Ephraim: and so on to the very con ines of Amalec. Or, it
alludes to former victories of the people of God, particularly that which was
freshest in memory, when the men of Ephraim and Benjamin, with Aod at their
head, overthrew their enemies the Moabites with the Amalecites their allies. See
chap. 3.—Ibid. Machir.... The tribe of Manasses, whose eldest son was Machir.
5:15. The captains of Issachar were with Debbora, and followed the
steps of Barac, who exposed himself to danger, as one going headlong,
and into a pit. Ruben being divided against himself, there was found a
strife of courageous men.
Divided against himself, etc.... By this it seems that the valient men of the tribe of
Ruben were divided in their sentiments, with relation to this war; which division
kept them at home within their own borders, to hear the bleating of their locks.

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 5:16. Why dwellest thou between two borders, that thou mayst hear
the bleatings of the locks? Ruben being divided against himself, there
was found a strife of courageous men.
5:17. Galaad rested beyond the Jordan, and Dan applied himself to
ships: Aser dwelt on the sea shore, and abode in the havens.
5:18. But Zabulon and Nephthali offered their lives to death in the
region of Merome.
5:19. The kings came and fought, the kings of Chanaan fought in
Thanac, by the waters of Mageddo and yet they took no spoils.
5:20. There was war made against them from heaven: the stars,
remaining in their order and courses, fought against Sisara.
5:21. The torrent of Cison dragged their carcasses, the torrent of
Cadumim, the torrent of Cison: tread thou, my soul, upon the strong
ones.
5:22. The hoofs of the horses were broken whilst the stoutest of the
enemies led amain, and fell headlong down.
5:23. Curse ye the land of Meroz, said the angel of the Lord: curse
the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord,
to help his most valiant men.
Meroz.... Where this land of Meroz was, which is here laid under a curse, we
cannot ind: nor is there mention of it anywhere else in holy writ. In the spiritual
sense, they are cursed who refuse to assist the people of God in their warfare
against their spiritual enemies.
5:24. Blessed among women be Jahel, the wife of Haber the Cinite,
and blessed be she in her tent.
5:25. He asked her water, and she gave him milk, and offered him
butter in a dish it for princes.
5:26. She put her left hand to the nail, and her right hand to the
workman’s hammer, and she struck Sisara, seeking in his head a place
for the wound, and strongly piercing through his temples.
5:27. Between her feet he fell: he fainted, and he died: he rolled
before her feet, and there he lay lifeless and wretched.

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 5:28. His mother looked out at a window, and howled: and she spoke
from the dining room: Why is his chariot so long in coming back? Why
are the feet of his horses so slow?
5:29. One that was wiser than the rest of his wives, returned this
answer to her mother in law:
5:30. Perhaps he is now dividing the spoils, and the fairest of the
women is chosen out for him: garments of divers colours are given to
Sisara for his prey, and furniture of different kinds is heaped together
to adorn necks.
5:31. So let all thy enemies perish, O Lord: but let them that love
thee shine, as the sun shineth in his rising.
5:32. And the land rested for forty years.
Judges Chapter 6

The people for their sins, are oppressed by the Madianites. Gedeon is
called to deliver them.
6:1. And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord:
and he delivered them into the hand of Madian seven years,
6:2. And they were grievously oppressed by them. And they made
themselves dens and caves in the mountains, and strong holds to resist.
6:3. And when Israel had sown, Madian and Amalec, and the rest of
the eastern nations, came up:
6:4. And pitching their tents among them, wasted all things as they
were in the blade, even to the entrance of Gaza: and they left nothing
at all in Israel for sustenance of life, nor sheep, nor oxen, nor asses.
6:5. For they and all their locks came with their tents, and like
locusts illed all places, an innumerable multitude of men, and of
camels, wasting whatsoever they touched.
6:6. And Israel was humbled exceedingly in the sight of Madian.
6:7. And he cried to the Lord, desiring help against the Madianites.
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 6:8. And he sent unto them a prophet, and he spoke: Thus saith the
Lord, the God of Israel: I made you to come up out of Egypt, and
brought you out of the house of bondage,
6:9. And delivered you out of the hands of the Egyptians, and of all
the enemies that af licted you: and I cast them out at your coming in,
and gave you their land.
6:10. And I said: I am the Lord your God, fear not the gods of the
Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell. And you would not hear my voice.
6:11. And an angel of the Lord came, and sat under an oak that was
in Ephra, and belonged to Joas, the father of the family of Ezri. And
when Gedeon, his son, was threshing and cleansing wheat by the
winepress, to lee from Madian,
6:12. The angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said: The Lord is
with thee, O most valiant of men.
6:13. And Gedeon said to him: I beseech thee, my lord, if the Lord be
with us, why have these evils fallen upon us? Where are his miracles,
which our fathers have told us of, saying: The Lord brought us out of
Egypt but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the
hand of Madian.
6:14. And the Lord looked upon him, and said: Go, in this thy
strength, and thou shalt deliver Israel out of the hand of Madian: know
that I have sent thee.
6:15. He answered, and said: I beseech thee, my lord wherewith shall
I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the meanest in Manasses, and I
am the least in my father’s house.
The meanest in Manasses, etc.... Mark how the Lord chooseth the humble (who
are mean and little in their own eyes) for the greatest enterprises.
6:16. And the Lord said to him: I will be with thee: and thou shalt
cut off Madian as one man.
6:17. And he said: If I have found grace before thee, give me a sign
that it is thou that speakest to me:
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 6:18. And depart not hence, till I return to thee, and bring a
sacri ice, and offer it to thee. And he answered: I will wait thy coming.
6:19. So Gedeon went in, and boiled a kid, and made unleavened
loaves of a measure of lour: and putting the lesh in a basket, and the
broth of the lesh into a pot, he carried all under the oak, and
presented to him.
6:20. And the angel of the Lord said to him: Take the lesh and the
unleavened loaves, and lay them upon that rock, and pour out the
broth thereon. And when he had done so,
6:21. The angel of the Lord put forth the tip of the rod, which he held
in his hand, and touched the lesh and the unleavened loaves: and
there arose a ire from the rock, and consumed the lesh and the
unleavened loaves: and the angel of the Lord vanished out of his sight.
6:22. And Gedeon seeing that it was the angel of the Lord, said: Alas,
my Lord God: for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.
6:23. And the Lord said to him: Peace be with thee: fear not, thou
shalt not die.
6:24. And Gedeon built there an altar to the Lord, and called it the
Lord’s peace, until this present day. And when he was yet in Ephra,
which is of the family of Ezri,
6:25. That night the Lord said to him: Take a bullock of thy father’s,
and another bullock of seven years, and thou shalt destroy the altar of
Baal, which is thy father’s: and cut down the grove that is about the
altar:
6:26. And thou shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God, in the top of
this rock, whereupon thou didst lay the sacri ice before: and thou shalt
take the second bullock, and shalt offer a holocaust upon a pile of the
wood, which thou shalt cut down out of the grove.
6:27. Then Gedeon, taking ten men of his servants, did as the Lord
had commanded him. But fearing his father’s house, and the men of
that city, he would not do it by day, but did all by night.
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 6:28. And when the men of that town were risen in the morning,
they saw the altar of Baal destroyed, and the grove cut down, and the
second bullock laid upon the altar, which then was built.
6:29. And they said one to another: Who hath done this? And when
they inquired for the author of the fact, it was said: Gedeon, the son of
Joas, did all this.
6:30. And they said to Joas: Bring out thy son hither, that he may
die: because he hath destroyed the altar of Baal, and hath cut down his
grove.
6:31. He answered them: Are you the avengers of Baal, that you
ight for him? he that is his adversary, let him die before to morrow
light appear: if he be a god, let him revenge himself on him that hath
cast down his altar.
6:32. From that day Gedeon was called Jerobaal, because Joas had
said: Let Baal revenge himself on him that hath cast down his altar.
6:33. Now all Madian, and Amalec, and the eastern people, were
gathered together, and passing over the Jordan, camped in the valley
of Jezrael.
6:34. But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gedeon, and he sounded
the trumpet, and called together the house of Abiezer, to follow him.
6:35. And he sent messengers into all Manasses, and they also
followed him: and other messengers into Aser and Zabulon, and
Nephthali, and they came to meet him.
6:36. And Gedeon said to God: If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as
thou hast said,
6:37. I will put this leece of wool on the loor: if there be dew on the
leece only, and it be dry on all the ground beside, I shall know that by
my hand, as thou hast said, thou wilt deliver Israel.
6:38. And it was so. And rising before day, wringing the leece, he
illed a vessel with the dew.
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 6:39. And he said again to God: Let not thy wrath be kindled against
me, if I try once more, seeking a sign in the leece. I pray that the leece
only may be dry, and all the ground wet with dew.
6:40. And God did that night as he had requested: and it was dry on
the leece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
Judges Chapter 7

Gedeon, with three hundred men, by stratagem defeateth the

Madianites.
7:1. Then Jerobaal, who is the same as Gedeon, rising up early, and
all the people with him, came to the fountain that is called Harad. Now
the camp of Madian was in the valley, on the north side of the high hill.
7:2. And the Lord said to Gedeon: The people that are with thee are
many, and Madian shall not be delivered into their hands: lest Israel
should glory against me, and say: I was delivered by my own strength.
Lest Israel, etc.... By this we see that God will not choose for his instruments in
great achievements, which depend purely on his grace, such as, through pride
and self conceit, will take the glory to themselves.
7:3. Speak to the people, and proclaim in the hearing of all:
Whosoever is fearful and timorous, let him return. So two and twenty
thousand men went away from Mount Galaad and returned home, and
only ten thousand remained.
7:4. And the Lord said to Gedeon: The people are still too many,
bring them to the waters, and there I will try them: and of whom I
shall say to thee, This shall go with thee, let him go: whom I shall
forbid to go, let him return.
7:5. And when the people were come down to the waters, the Lord
said to Gedeon: They that shall lap the water with their tongues, as
dogs are wont to lap, thou shalt set apart by themselves: but they that
shall drink bowing down their knees, shall be on the other side.
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 7:6. And the number of them that had lapped water; casting it with
the hand to their mouth, was three hundred men: and all the rest of
the multitude had drunk kneeling.
7:7. And the Lord said to Gedeon: By the three hundred men, that
lapped water, I will save you, and deliver Madian into thy hand: but let
all the rest of the people return to their place.
That lapped water.... These were preferred that took the water up in their hands,
and so lapped it, before them who laid themselves quite down to the waters to
drink: which argued a more eager and sensual disposition.
7:8. So taking victuals and trumpets according to their number, he
ordered all the rest of the multitude to depart to their tents: and he
with the three hundred gave himself to the battle. Now the camp of
Madia was beneath him in the valley.
7:9. The same night the Lord said to him: Arise, and go down into
the camp: because I have delivered them into thy hand.
7:10. But if thou be afraid to go alone, let Phara, thy servant, go
down with thee.
7:11. And when thou shalt hear what they are saying, then shall thy
hands be strengthened, and thou shalt go down more secure to the
enemies’ camp. And he went down with Phara his servant, into part of
the camp, where was the watch of men in arms.
7:12. But Madian and Amalec, and all the eastern people, lay
scattered in the valley, as a multitude of locusts: their camels also were
innumerable, as the sand that lieth on the sea shore.
7:13. And when Gedeon was come, one told his neighbour a dream:
and in this manner related what he had seen: I dreamt a dream, and it
seemed to me as if a hearth cake of barley bread rolled and came
down into the camp of Madian: and when it was come to a tent, it
struck it, and beat it down lat to the ground.
A dream.... Observation of dreams is commonly superstitious, and as such is
condemned in the word of God: but in some extraordinary cases, as we here see,
God is pleased by dreams to foretell what he is about to do.

 7:14. He to whom he spoke, answered: This is nothing else but the

sword of Gedeon, the son of Joas, a man of Israel. For the Lord hath
delivered Madian, and all their camp into his hand.
7:15. And when Gedeon had heard the dream, and the
interpretation thereof, he adored: and returned to the camp of Israel,
and said: Arise, for the Lord hath delivered the camp of Madian into
our hands.
7:16. And he divided the three hundred men into three parts, and
gave them trumpets in their hands, and empty pitchers, and lamps
within the pitchers.
7:17. And he said to them: What you shall see me do, do you the
same: I will go into one part of the camp, and do you as I shall do.
7:18. When the trumpet shall sound in my hand, do you also blow
the trumpets on every side of the camp, and shout together to the Lord
and to Gedeon.
7:19. And Gedeon, and the three hundred men that were with him,
went into part of the camp, at the beginning of the midnight watch,
and the watchmen being alarmed, they began to sound their trumpets,
and to clap the pitchers one against another.
Their trumpets, etc.... In a mystical sense, the preachers of the gospel, in order to
spiritual conquests, must not only sound with the trumpet of the word of God,
but must also break their earthen pitchers, by the morti ication of the lesh and
its passions, and carry lamps in their hands by the light of their virtues.
7:20. And when they sounded their trumpets in three places round
about the camp, and had broken their pitchers, they held their lamps
in their left hands, and with their right hands the trumpets which they
blew, and they cried out: The sword of the Lord and of Gedeon:
7:21. Standing every man in his place round about the enemies’
camp. So all the camp was troubled, and crying out and howling, they
led away:
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 7:22. And the three hundred men nevertheless persisted sounding

the trumpets. And the Lord sent the sword into all the camp, and they
killed one another,
7:23. Fleeing as far as Bethsetta, and the border of Abelmahula, in
Tebbath. But the men of Israel, shouting from Nephthali, and Aser, and
from all Manasses, pursued after Madian.
7:24. And Gedeon sent messengers into all Mount Ephraim, saying:
Come down to meet Madian, and take the waters before them to
Bethbera and the Jordan. And all Ephraim shouted, and took the
waters before them and the Jordan as far as Bethbera.
7:25. And having taken two men of Madian, Oreb and Zeb: Oreb they
slew in the rock of Oreb, and Zeb in the winepress of Zeb. And they
pursued Madian, carrying the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gedeon,
beyond the waters of the Jordan.
Two men.... That is, two of their chiefs.
Judges Chapter 8

Gedeon appeaseth the Ephraimites. Taketh Zebee and Salmana.

Destroyeth Soccoth and Phanuel. Refuseth to be king. Maketh an
ephod of the gold of the prey, and dieth in a good old age. The people
return to idolatry.
8:1. And the men of Ephraim said to him: What is this that thou
meanest to do, that thou wouldst not call us, when thou wentest to
ight against Madian? And they chid him sharply, and almost offered
violence.
8:2. And he answered them: What could I have done like to that
which you have done? Is not one bunch of grapes of Ephraim better
than the vintages of Abiezer?
What could I, etc.... A meek and humble answer appeased them; who otherwise
might have come to extremities. So great is the power of humility both with God
and man.
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 8:3. The Lord hath delivered into your hands the princes of Madian,
Oreb and Zeb: what could I have done like to what you have done? And
when he had said this, their spirit was appeased, with which they
swelled against him.
8:4. And when Gedeon was come to the Jordan, he passed over it
with the three hundred men that were with him: who were so weary
that they could not pursue after them that led.
8:5. And he said to the men of Soccoth: Give, I beseech you, bread to
the people that is with me, for they are faint: that we may pursue
Zebee, and Salmana, the kings of Madian.
8:6. The princes of Soccoth answered: Peradventure the palms of the
hands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hand, and therefore thou
demandest that we should give bread to thy army.
8:7. And he said to them: When the Lord therefore shall have
delivered Zebee and Salmana into my hands, I will thresh your lesh
with the thorns and briers of the desert.
8:8. And going up from thence, he came to Phanuel: and he spoke
the like things to the men of that place. And they also answered him, as
the men of Soccoth had answered.
8:9. He said, therefore, to them also: When I shall return a
conqueror in peace, I will destroy this tower.
8:10. But Zebee and Salmana were resting with all their army. For
ifteen thousand men were left of all the troops of the eastern people,
and one hundred and twenty thousand warriors that drew the sword
were slain.
8:11. And Gedeon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents, on
the east of Nobe and Jegbaa, and smote the camp of the enemies, who
were secure, and suspected no hurt.
8:12. And Zebee and Salmana led, and Gedeon pursued and took
them, all their host being put in confusion.
8:13. And returning from the battle before the sun rising,
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 8:14. He took a boy of the men of Soccoth: and he asked him the
names of the princes and ancients of Soccoth, and he described unto
him seventy-seven men.
8:15. And he came to Soccoth, and said to them: Behold Zebee, and
Salmana, concerning whom you upbraided me, saying: Peradventure
the hands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hands, and therefore thou
demandest that we should give bread to the men that are weary and
faint.
8:16. So he took the ancients of the city, and thorns and briers of the
desert, and tore them with the same, and cut in pieces the men of
Soccoth.
8:17. And he demolished the tower of Phanuel, and slew the men of
the city.
8:18. And he said to Zebee and Salmana: What manner of men were
they, whom you slew in Thabor? They answered: They were like thee,
and one of them as the son of a king.
8:19. He answered them: They were my brethren, the sons of my
mother. As the Lord liveth, if you had saved them, I would not kill you.
8:20. And he said to Jether, his eldest son: Arise, and slay them. But
he drew not his sword: for he was afraid, being but yet a boy.
8:21. And Zebee and Salmana said: Do thou rise and run upon us:
because the strength of a man is according to his age: Gedeon rose up,
and slew Zebee and Salmana: and he took the ornaments and bosses,
with which the necks of the camels of kings are wont to be adorned.
8:22. And all the men of Israel said to Gedeon: Rule thou over us, and
thy son, and thy son’s son: because thou hast delivered us from the
hand of Madian.
8:23. And he said to them: I will not rule over you, neither shall my
son rule over you, but the Lord shall rule over you.
8:24. And he said to them: I desire one request of you: Give me the
earlets of your spoils. For the Ismaelites were accustomed to wear
golden earlets.

 8:25. They answered: We will give them most willingly. And

spreading a mantle on the ground, they cast upon it the earlets of the
spoils.
8:26. And the weight of the earlets that he requested, was a
thousand seven hundred sicles of gold, besides the ornaments, and
jewels, and purple raiment, which the kings of Madian were wont to
use, and besides the golden chains that were about the camels necks.
8:27. And Gedeon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city
Ephra. And all Israel committed fornication with it, and it became a
ruin to Gedeon, and to all his house.
An ephod.... A priestly garment which Gedeon made with a good design; but the
Israelites, after his death, abused it by making it an instrument of their
idolatrous worship.
8:28. But Madian was humbled before the children of Israel, neither
could they any more lift up their heads: but the land rested for forty
years, while Gedeon presided.
8:29. So Jerobaal, the son of Joas, went and dwelt in his own house:
8:30. And he had seventy sons, who came out of his thigh, for he had
many wives.
8:31. And his concubine, that he had in Sichem, bore him a son,
whose name was Abimelech.
His concubine.... She was his servant, but not his harlot: and is called his
concubine, as wives of an inferior degree are commonly called in the Old
Testament, though otherwise lawfully married.
8:32. And Gedeon, the son of Joas died in a good old age, and was
buried in the sepulchre of his father, in Ephra, of the family of Ezri.
8:33. But after Gedeon was dead, the children of Israel turned again,
and committed fornication with Baalim. And they made a covenant
with Baal, that he should be their god:
8:34. And they remembered not the Lord their God, who delivered
them out of the hands of all their enemies round about:

 8:35. Neither did they shew mercy to the house of Jerobaal Gedeon,
according to all the good things he had done to Israel.
Judges Chapter 9

Abimelech killeth his brethren. Joatham’s parable. Gaal conspireth

with the Sichemites against Abimelech, but is overcome. Abimelech
destroyeth Sichem: but is killed at Thebes.
9:1. And Abimelech, the son of Jerobaal, went to Sichem, to his
mother’s brethren, and spoke to them, and to all the kindred of his
mother’s father, saying:
9:2. Speak to all the men of Sichem: whether is better for you that
seventy men, all the sons of Jerobaal, should rule over you, or that one
man should rule over you? And withal, consider that I am your bone,
and your lesh.
9:3. And his mother’s brethren spoke of him to all the men of Sichem,
all these words, and they inclined their hearts after Abimelech, saying:
He is our brother:
9:4. And they gave him seventy weight of silver out of the temple of
Baalberith: wherewith he hired to himself men that were needy, and
vagabonds, and they followed him.
Baalberith.... That is, Baal of the covenant, so called from the covenant they had
made with Baal, chap. 8.33.
9:5. And he came to his father’s house in Ephra, and slew his
brethren, the sons of Jerobaal, seventy men, upon one stone: and there
remained only Joatham, the youngest son of Jerobaal, who was hidden.
9:6. And all the men of Sichem were gathered together, and all the
families of the city of Mello: and they went and made Abimelech king,
by the oak that stood in Sichem.
9:7. This being told to Joatham, he went, and stood on the top of
Mount Garizim: and lifting up his voice, he cried, and said: Hear me, ye
men of Sichem, so may God hear you.
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 9:8. The trees went to anoint a king over them: and they said to the
olive tree: Reign thou over us.
9:9. And it answered: Can I leave my fatness, which both gods and
men make use of, to come to be promoted among the trees?
Both gods and men make use of.... The olive tree is introduced, speaking in this
manner, because oil was used both in the worship of the true God, and in that of
the false gods, whom the Sichemites served.
9:10. And the trees said to the ig tree: Come thou and reign over us.
9:11. And it answered them: Can I leave my sweetness, and my
delicious fruits, and go to be promoted among the other trees?
9:12. And the trees said to the vine: Come thou and reign over us.
9:13. And it answered them: Can I forsake my wine, that cheereth
God and men, and be promoted among the other trees?
Cheereth God and men.... Wine is here represented as agreeable to God, because
he had appointed it to be offered up with his sacri ices. But we are not obliged to
take these words, spoken by the trees, in Joatham’s parable, according to the
strict literal sense: but only in a sense accomodated to the design of the parable
expressed in the conclusion of it.
9:14. And all the trees said to the bramble: Come thou and reign
over us.
9:15. And it answered them: If, indeed, you mean to make me king,
come ye, and rest under my shadow: but if you mean it not, let ire
come out from the bramble, and devour the cedars of Libanus.
9:16. Now, therefore, if you have done well, and without sin, in
appointing Abimelech king over you, and have dealt well with
Jerobaal, and with his house, and have made a suitable return for the
bene its of him who fought for you,
9:17. And exposed his life to dangers, to deliver you from the hand of
Madian,
9:18. And you are now risen up against my father’s house, and have
killed his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have made
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 Abimelech, the son of his handmaid, king over the inhabitants of

Sichem, because he is your brother:
9:19. If therefore you have dealt well, and without fault, with
Jerobaal and his house, rejoice ye, this day, in Abimelech, and may he
rejoice in you.
9:20. But if unjustly: let ire come out from him, and consume the
inhabitants of Sichem, and the town of Mello: and let ire come out
from the men of Sichem and from the town of Mello, and devour
Abimelech.
9:21. And when he had said thus, he led, and went into Bera: and
dwelt there for fear of Abimelech, his brother.
9:22. So Abimelech reigned over Israel three years.
9:23. And the Lord sent a very evil spirit between Abimelech and the
inhabitants of Sichem; who began to detest him,
9:24. And to lay the crime of the murder of the seventy sons of
Jerobaal, and the shedding of their blood, upon Abimelech, their
brother, and upon the rest of the princes of the Sichemites, who aided
him.
9:25. And they set an ambush against him on the top of the
mountains: and while they waited for his coming, they committed
robberies, taking spoils of all that passed by: and it was told
Abimelech.
9:26. And Gaal, the son of Obed, came with his brethren, and went
over to Sichem. And the inhabitants of Sichem, taking courage at his
coming,
9:27. Went out into the ields, wasting the vineyards, and treading
down the grapes: and singing and dancing, they went into the temple
of their god, and in their banquets and cups they cursed Abimelech.
9:28. And Gaal, the son of Obed, cried: Who is Abimelech, and what
is Sichem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerobaal, and
hath made Zebul, his servant, ruler over the men of Emor, the father of
Sichem? Why then shall we serve him?

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 9:29. Would to God that some man would put this people under my
hand, that I might remove Abimelech out of the way. And it was said to
Abimelech: Gather together the multitude of an army, and come.
9:30. For Zebul, the ruler of the city, hearing the words of Gaal, the
son of Obed, was very angry,
9:31. And sent messengers privately to Abimelech, saying: Behold,
Gaal, the son of Obed, is come into Sichem with his brethren, and
endeavoureth to set the city against thee.
9:32. Arise, therefore, in the night, with the people that is with thee,
and lie hid in the ield:
9:33. And betimes in the morning, at sun rising, set upon the city,
and when he shall come out against thee, with his people, do to him
what thou shalt be able.
9:34. Abimelech, therefore, arose with all his army, by night, and
laid ambushes near Sichem in four places.
9:35. And Gaal, the son of Obed, went out, and stood in the entrance
of the gate of the city. And Abimelech rose up, and all his army with
him, from the places of the ambushes.
9:36. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul: Behold, a
multitude cometh down from the mountains. And he answered him:
Thou seest the shadows of the mountains as if they were the heads of
men, and this is thy mistake.
9:37. Again Gaal said: Behold, there cometh people down from the
midst of the land, and one troop cometh by the way that looketh
towards the oak.
9:38. And Zebul said to him: Where is now thy mouth, wherewith
thou saidst: Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Is not this
the people which thou didst despise? Go out, and ight against him.
9:39. So Gaal went out, in the sight of the people of Sichem, and
fought against Abimelech,
9:40. Who chased and put him to light, and drove him to the city:
and many were slain of his people, even to the gate of the city:

 9:41. And Abimelech sat down in Ruma: but Zebul drove Gaal, and
his companions, out of the city, and would not suffer them to abide in
it.
9:42. So the day following the people went out into the ield. And it
was told to Abimelech,
9:43. And he took his army, and divided it into three companies, and
laid ambushes in the ields. And seeing that the people came out of the
city, he arose, and set upon them,
9:44. With his own company, assaulting and besieging the city:
whilst the two other companies chased the enemies that were
scattered about the ield.
9:45. And Abimelech assaulted the city all that day: and took it, and
killed the inhabitants thereof, and demolished it, so that he sowed salt
in it.
Sowed salt.... To make the ground barren, and it for nothing.
9:46. And when they who dwelt in the tower of Sichem, had heard
this, they went into the temple of their god Berith, where they had
made a covenant with him, and from thence the place had taken its
name, and it was exceeding strong.
9:47. Abimelech also hearing that the men of the tower of Sichem
were gathered together,
9:48. Went up into mount Selmon, he and all his people with him:
and taking an axe, he cut down the bough of a tree, and laying it on his
shoulder, and carrying it, he said to his companions: What you see me
do, do ye out of hand.
9:49. So they cut down boughs from the trees, every man as fast as
he could, and followed their leader. And surrounding the fort, they set
it on ire: and so it came to pass, that with the smoke and with the ire
a thousand persons were killed, men and women together, of the
inhabitants of the town of Sichem.
9:50. Then Abimelech, departing from thence, came to the town of
Thebes, which he surrounded and besieged with his army.

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 9:51. And there was in the midst of the city a high tower, to which
both the men and the women were led together, and all the princes of
the city, and having shut and strongly barred the gate, they stood upon
the battlements of the tower to defend themselves.
9:52. And Abimelech, coming near the tower, fought stoutly: and,
approaching to the gate, endeavoured to set ire to it:
9:53. And behold, a certain woman casting a piece of a millstone
from above, dashed it against the head of Abimelech, and broke his
skull.
9:54. And he called hastily to his armourbearer, and said to him:
Draw thy sword, and kill me: lest it should be said that I was slain by a
woman. He did as he was commanded, and slew him.
9:55. And when he was dead all the men of Israel that were with
him, returned to their homes.
9:56. And God repaid the evil that Abimelech had done against his
father, killing his seventy brethren.
9:57. The Sichemites also were rewarded for what they had done,
and the curse of Joatham, the son of Jerobaal, came upon them.
Judges Chapter 10

Thola ruleth Israel twenty-three years; and Jair twenty-two. The

people fall again into idolatry, and are af licted again by the
Philistines and Ammonites. They cry to God for help, who upon their
repentance hath compassion on them.
10:1. After Abimelech, there arose a ruler in Israel, Thola, son of
Phua, the uncle of Abimelech, a man of Issachar, who dwelt in Samir of
mount Ephraim:
Uncle of Abimelech.... i. e., half brother to Gedeon, as being born of the same
mother, but by a different father, and of a different tribe.
10:2. And he judged Israel three and twenty years, and he died, and
was buried in Samir.

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 10:3. To him succeeded Jair, the Galaadite, who judged Israel for two
and twenty years,
10:4. Having thirty sons, that rode on thirty ass colts, and were
princes of thirty cities, which from his name were called Havoth Jair,
that is, the towns of Jair, until this present day, in the land of Galaad.
Havoth Jair.... This name was now con irmed to these towns, which they had
formerly received from another Jair. Num. 32.41.
10:5. And Jair died, and was buried in the place which is called
Camon.
10:6. But the children of Israel, adding new sins to their old ones, did
evil in the sight of the Lord, and served idols, Baalim and Astaroth, and
the gods of Syria, and of Sidon, and of Moab, and of the children of
Ammon, and of the Philistines: and they left the Lord, and did not serve
him.
10:7. And the Lord being angry with them, delivered them into the
hands of the Philistines, and of the children of Ammon.
10:8. And they were af licted, and grievously oppressed for eighteen
years, all they that dwelt beyond the Jordan in the land of the
Amorrhite, who is in Galaad:
10:9. Insomuch that the children of Ammon, passing over the
Jordan, wasted Juda, and Benjamin, and Ephraim: and Israel was
distressed exceedingly.
10:10. And they cried to the Lord, and said, We have sinned against
thee, because we have forsaken the Lord our God, and have served
Baalim.
10:11. And the Lord said to them: Did not the Egyptians, and the
Amorrhites, and the children of Ammon, and the Philistines,
10:12. The Sidonians also, and Amalec, and Chanaan, oppress you,
and you cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand?
10:13. And yet you have forsaken me, and have worshipped strange
gods: therefore I will deliver you no more:

 10:14. Go, and call upon the gods which you have chosen: let them
deliver you in the time of distress.
10:15. And the children of Israel said to the Lord: We have sinned, do
thou unto us whatsoever pleaseth thee: only deliver us this time.
10:16. And saying these things, they cast away out of their coasts all
the idols of strange gods, and served the Lord their God: and he was
touched with their miseries.
10:17. And the children of Ammon shouting together, pitched their
tents in Galaad: against whom the children of Israel assembled
themselves together, and camped in Maspha.
10:18. And the princes of Galaad said one to another: Whosoever of
us shall irst begin to ight against the children of Ammon, he shall be
the leader of the people of Galaad.
Judges Chapter 11

Jephte is made ruler of the people of Galaad: he irst pleads their cause
against the Ammonites; then making a vow obtains a signal victory; he
performs his vow.
11:1. There was at that time Jephte, the Galaadite, a most valiant
man, and a warrior, the son of a woman that was a harlot, and his
father was Galaad.
11:2. Now Galaad had a wife of whom he had sons: who, after they
were grown up, thrust out Jephte, saying: Thou canst not inherit in the
house of our father, because thou art born of another mother.
11:3. Then he led and avoided them, and dwelt in the land of Tob:
and there were gathered to him needy men and robbers, and they
followed him as their prince.
11:4. In those days the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
11:5. And as they pressed hard upon them, the ancients of Galaad
went to fetch Jephte out of the land of Tob to help them:
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 11:6. And they said to him: Come thou, and be our prince, and ight
against the children of Ammon.
11:7. And he answered them: Are not you the men that hated me,
and cast me out of my father’s house, and now you are come to me,
constrained by necessity?
11:8. And the princes of Galaad said to Jephte: For this cause we are
now come to thee, that thou mayst go with us, and ight against the
children of Ammon, and be head over all the inhabitants of Galaad.
11:9. Jephte also said to them: If you be come to me sincerely, that I
should ight for you against the children of Ammon, and the Lord shall
deliver them into my hand, shall I be your prince?
11:10. They answered him: The Lord, who heareth these things, he
himself is mediator and witness that we will do as we have promised.
11:11. Jephte therefore went with the princes of Galaad, and all the
people made him their prince. And Jephte spoke all his words before
the Lord in Maspha.
11:12. And he sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon,
to say in his name: What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come
against me, to waste my land?
11:13. And he answered them: Because Israel took away my land,
when he came up out of Egypt, from the con ines of the Arnon unto the
Jaboc and the Jordan: now, therefore, restore the same peaceably to
me.
11:14. And Jephte again sent word by them, and commanded them
to say to the king of Ammon:
11:15. Thus saith Jephte: Israel did not take away the land of Moab,
nor the land of the children of Ammon:
11:16. But when they came up out of Egypt, he walked through the
desert to the Red Sea, and came into Cades.
11:17. And he sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying: Suffer
me to pass through thy land. But he would not condescend to his

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 request. He sent also to the king of Moab, who, likewise, refused to give
him passage. He abode, therefore, in Cades,
11:18. And went round the land of Edom at the side, and the land of
Moab: and came over against the east coast of the land of Moab, and
camped on the other side of the Arnon: and he would not enter the
bounds of Moab.
11:19. So Israel sent messengers to Sehon, king of the Amorrhites,
who dwelt in Hesebon, and they said to him: Suffer me to pass through
thy land to the river.
11:20. But he, also despising the words of Israel, suffered him not to
pass through his borders: but gathering an in inite multitude, went
out against him to Jasa, and made strong opposition.
11:21. And the Lord delivered him, with all his army, into the hands
of Israel, and he slew him, and possessed all the land of the Amorrhite,
the inhabitant of that country,
11:22. And all the coasts thereof from the Arnon to the Jaboc, and
from the wilderness to the Jordan.
11:23. So the Lord, the God of Israel, destroyed the Amorrhite, his
people of Israel ighting against him, and wilt thou now possess his
land?
11:24. Are not those things which thy god Chamos possesseth, due to
thee by right? But what the Lord our God hath obtained by conquest,
shall be our possession:
Chamos.... The idol of the Moabites and Ammonites. He argues from their
opinion, who thought they had a just title to the countries which they imagined
they had conquered by the help of their gods: how much more then had Israel in
indisputable title to the countries which God, by visible miracles, had conquered
for them.
11:25. Unless, perhaps, thou art better than Balac, the son of Sephor,
king of Moab: or canst shew that he strove against Israel, and fought
against him,

 11:26. Whereas he hath dwelt in Hesebon, and the villages thereof,

and in Aroer, and its villages, and in all the cities near the Jordan, for
three hundred years. Why have you for so long a time attempted
nothing about this claim?
11:27. Therefore I do not trespass against thee, but thou wrongest
me by declaring an unjust war against me. The Lord be judge, and
decide this day, between Israel and the children of Ammon.
11:28. And the king of the children of Ammon would not hearken to
the words of Jephte, which he sent him by the messengers.
11:29. Therefore the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephte, and going
round Galaad, and Manasses, and Maspha of Galaad, and passing over
from thence to the children of Ammon,
11:30. He made a vow to the Lord, saying: If thou wilt deliver the
children of Ammon into my hands,
11:31. Whosoever shall irst come forth out of the doors of my
house, and shall meet me, when I return in peace from the children of
Ammon, the same will I offer a holocaust to the Lord.
Whosoever, etc.... Some are of opinion, that the meaning of this vow of Jephte,
was to consecrate to God whatsoever should irst meet him, according to the
condition of the thing; so as to offer it up as a holocaust, if it were such a thing as
might be offered by the law; or to devote it otherwise to God, if it were not such
as the law allowed to be offered in sacri ice. And therefore they think the
daughter of Jephte was not slain by her father, but only consecrated to perpetual
virginity. But the common opinion followed by the generality of the holy fathers
and divines is, that she was offered as a holocaust, in consequence of her father’s
vow: and that Jephte did not sin, at least not mortally, neither in making, nor in
keeping, his vow: since he is no ways blamed for it in scripture; and was even
inspired by God himself to make the vow (as appears from ver. 29, 30) in
consequence of which he obtained the victory; and therefore he reasonably
concluded that God, who is the master of life and death, was pleased on this
occasion to dispense with his own law; and that it was the divine will he should
ful il his vow.
11:32. And Jephte passed over to the children of Ammon to ight
against them: and the Lord delivered them into his hands.
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 11:33. And he smote them from Aroer till you come to Mennith,
twenty cities, and as far as Abel, which is set with vineyards, with a
very great slaughter: and the children of Ammon were humbled by the
children of Israel.
11:34. And when Jephte returned into Maspha, to his house, his only
daughter met him with timbrels and with dances: for he had no other
children.
11:35. And when he saw her, he rent his garments, and said: Alas!
my daughter, thou hast deceived me, and thou thyself art deceived: for
I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I can do no other thing.
11:36. And she answered him: My father, if thou hast opened thy
mouth to the Lord, do unto me whatsoever thou hast promised, since
the victory hath been granted to thee, and revenge of thy enemies.
11:37. And she said to her father: Grant me only this, which I desire:
Let me go, that I may go about the mountains for two months, and
may bewail my virginity with my companions.
Bewail my virginity.... The bearing of children was much coveted under the Old
Testament, when women might hope that from some child of theirs, the Saviour
of the world might one day spring. But under the New Testament virginity is
preferred. 1 Cor. 7.35.
11:38. And he answered her: Go. And he sent her away for two
months. And when she was gone with her comrades and companions,
she mourned her virginity in the mountains.
11:39. And the two months being expired, she returned to her father,
and he did to her as he had vowed, and she knew no man. From thence
came a fashion in Israel, and a custom has been kept:
11:40. That, from year to year, the daughters of Israel assemble
together, and lament the daughter of Jephte the Galaadite, for four
days.
Judges Chapter 12

The Ephraimites quarrel with Jephte: forty-two thousand of them are

slain: Abeson, Ahialon, and Abdon, are judges.

 12:1. But behold there arose a sedition in Ephraim. And passing

towards the north, they said to Jephte: When thou wentest to ight
against the children of Ammon, why wouldst thou not call us, that we
might go with thee? Therefore we will burn thy house.
12:2. And he answered them: I and my people were at great strife
with the children of Ammon: and I called you to assist me, and you
would not do it.
12:3. And when I saw this, I put my life in my own hands, and passed
over against the children of Ammon and the Lord delivered them into
my hands. What have I deserved, that you should rise up to ight
against me?
12:4. Then calling to him all the men of Galaad, he fought against
Ephraim: and the men of Galaad defeated Ephraim, because he had
said: Galaad is a fugitive of Ephraim, and dwelleth in the midst of
Ephraim and Manasses.
12:5. And the Galaadites secured the fords of the Jordan, by which
Ephraim was to return. And when any one of the number of Ephraim
came thither in the light, and said: I beseech you let me pass: the
Galaadites said to him: Art thou not an Ephraimite? If he said: I am
not:
12:6. They asked him: Say then, Scibboleth, which is interpreted, An
ear of corn. But he answered, Sibboleth, not being able to express an
ear of corn by the same letter. Then presently they took him and killed
him in the very passage of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of
Ephraim, two and forty thousand.
12:7. And Jephte, the Galaadite, judged Israel six years: and he died,
and was buried in his city of Galaad.
12:8. After him Abesan of Bethlehem judged Israel:
12:9. He had thirty sons, and as many daughters, whom he sent
abroad, and gave to husbands, and took wives for his sons, of the same
number, bringing them into his house. And he judged Israel seven
years:

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 12:10. And he died, and was buried in Bethlehem.
12:11. To him succeeded Ahialon, a Zabulonite: and he judged Israel
ten years:
12:12. And he died, and was buried in Zabulon.
12:13. After him, Abdon, the son of Illel, a Pharathonite, judged
Israel:
12:14. And he had forty sons, and of them thirty grandsons,
mounted upon seventy ass colts, and he judged Israel eight years:
12:15. And he died, and was buried in Pharathon, in the land of
Ephraim, in the mount of Amalech.
Judges Chapter 13

The people fall again into idolatry and are af licted by the Philistines.
An angel foretelleth the birth of Samson.
13:1. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the
Lord: and he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty
years.
13:2. Now there was a certain man of Saraa, and of the race of Dan,
whose name was Manue, and his wife was barren.
13:3. And an angel of the Lord appeared to her, and said: Thou art
barren and without children: but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.
13:4. Now therefore beware, and drink no wine nor strong drink,
and eat not any unclean thing.
13:5. Because thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, and no razor
shall touch his head: for he shall be a Nazarite of God, from his infancy,
and from his mother’s womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel from
the hands of the Philistines.
13:6. And when she was come to her husband, she said to him: A
man of God came to me, having the countenance of an angel, very
awful. And when I asked him who he was, and whence he came, and by
what name he was called, he would not tell me:

 13:7. But he answered thus: Behold thou shalt conceive and bear a
son: beware thou drink no wine, nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean
thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite of God from his infancy, from his
mother’s womb until the day of his death.
13:8. Then Manue prayed to the Lord, and said: I beseech thee, O
Lord, that the man of God, whom thou didst send, may come again,
and teach us what we ought to do concerning the child, that shall be
born.
13:9. And the Lord heard the prayer of Manue, and the angel of the
Lord appeared again to his wife, as she was sitting in the ield. But
Manue her husband was not with her. And when she saw the angel,
13:10. She made haste, and ran to her husband: and told him,
saying: Behold the man hath appeared to me, whom I saw before.
13:11. He rose up, and followed his wife: and coming to the man,
said to him: Art thou he that spoke to the woman? And he answered: I
am.
13:12. And Manue said to him: When thy word shall come to pass,
what wilt thou that the child should do? or from what shall he keep
himself?
13:13. And the angel of the Lord said to Manue: From all the things I
have spoken of to thy wife, let her refrain herself:
Let her refrain, etc.... By the Latin text it is not clear whether this abstinence was
prescribed to the mother, or to the child; but the Hebrew (in which the verbs
relating thereto are of the feminine gender) determineth it to the mother. But
then the child also was to refrain from the like things, because he was to be from
his infancy a Nazarite of God, ver. 5, that is, one set aside, in a particular manner,
and consecrated to God: now the Nazarites by the law were to abstain from all
these things.
13:14. And let her eat nothing that cometh of the vine, neither let
her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: and
whatsoever I have commanded her, let her ful il and observe.
13:15. And Manue said to the angel of the Lord: I beseech thee to
consent to my request, and let us dress a kid for thee.

 13:16. And the angel answered him: If thou press me I will not eat of
thy bread: but if thou wilt offer a holocaust, offer it to the Lord. And
Manue knew not it was the angel of the Lord.
13:17. And he said to him: What is thy name, that, if thy word shall
come to pass, we may honour thee?
13:18. And he answered him: Why askest thou my name, which is
wonderful?
13:19. Then Manue took a kid of the locks, and the libations, and
put them upon a rock, offering to the Lord, who doth wonderful things:
and he and his wife looked on.
13:20. And when the lame from the altar went up towards heaven,
the angel of the Lord ascended also in the lame. And when Manue and
his wife saw this, they fell lat on the ground;
13:21. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them no more. And
forthwith Manue understood that it was an angel of the Lord,
13:22. And he said to his wife: We shall certainly die, because we
have seen God.
Seen God.... Not in his own person, but in the person of his messenger. The
Israelites, in those days, imagined they should die if they saw an angel, taking
occasion perhaps from those words spoken by the Lord to Moses, Ex. 33.20, No
man shall see me and live. But the event demonstrated that it was but a
groundless imagination.
13:23. And his wife answered him: If the Lord had a mind to kill us,
he would not have received a holocaust and libations at our hands;
neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor have told us the
things that are to come.
13:24. And she bore a son, and called his name Samson. And the
child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
13:25. And the Spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the camp
of Dan, between Saraa and Esthaol.

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 Judges Chapter 14

Samson desireth a wife of the Philistines. He killeth a lion: in whose

mouth he afterwards indeth honey. His marriage feast, and riddle,
which is discovered by his wife. He killeth, and strippeth thirty
Philistines. His wife taketh another man.
14:1. Then Samson went down to Thamnatha, and seeing there a
woman of the daughters of the Philistines,
14:2. He came up, and told his father and his mother, saying: I saw a
woman in Thamnatha of the daughters of the Philistines: I beseech
you, take her for me to wife.
14:3. And his father and mother said to him: Is there no woman
among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that
thou wilt take a wife of the Philistines, who are uncircumcised? And
Samson said to his father: Take this woman for me; for she hath
pleased my eyes.
Is there no woman among the daughters of thy brethren.... This shews his
parents were at irst against his marriage with a Gentile, it being prohibited,
Deut. 7.3; but afterwards they consented, knowing it to be by the dispensation of
God; which otherwise would have been sinful in acting contrary to the law.
14:4. Now his parents knew not that the thing was done by the Lord,
and that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time
the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
14:5. Then Samson went down with his father and mother to
Thamnatha. And when they were come to the vineyards of the town,
behold a young lion met him, raging and roaring.
14:6. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, and he tore the
lion as he would have torn a kid in pieces, having nothing at all in his
hand: and he would not tell this to his father and mother.
14:7. And he went down, and spoke to the woman that had pleased
his eyes.

 14:8. And after some days, returning to take her, he went aside to
see the carcass of the lion, and behold there was a swarm of bees in the
mouth of the lion, and a honey-comb.
14:9. And when he had taken it in his hands, he went on eating: and
coming to his father and mother, he gave them of it, and they ate: but
he would not tell them that he had taken the honey from the body of
the lion.
14:10. So his father went down to the woman, and made a feast for
his son Samson: for so the young men used to do.
14:11. And when the citizens of that place saw him, they brought
him thirty companions to be with him.
14:12. And Samson said to them: I will propose to you a riddle,
which if you declare unto me within the seven days of the feast, I will
give you thirty shirts, and as many coats:
14:13. But if you shall not be able to declare it, you shall give me
thirty shirts and the same number of coats. They answered him: Put
forth the riddle, that we may hear it.
14:14. And he said to them: Out of the eater came forth meat, and
out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not for three
days expound the riddle.
14:15. And when the seventh day came, they said to the wife of
Samson: Sooth thy husband, and persuade him to tell thee what the
riddle meaneth. But if thou wilt not do it, we will burn thee, and thy
father’s house. Have you called us to the wedding on purpose to strip
us?
14:16. So she wept before Samson and complained, saying: Thou
hatest me, and dost not love me: therefore thou wilt not expound to me
the riddle, which thou hast proposed to the sons of my people. But he
answered: I would not tell it to my father and mother: and how can I
tell it to thee?

 14:17. So she wept before him the seven days of the feast: and, at
length, on the seventh day, as she was troublesome to him, he
expounded it. And she immediately told her countrymen.
14:18. And they, on the seventh day before the sun went down, said
to him: What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion?
And he said to them: If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you had
not found out my riddle.
14:19. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down
to Ascalon, and slew there thirty men whose garments he took away,
and gave to them that had declared the riddle. And being exceeding
angry, he went up to his father’s house:
14:20. But his wife took one of his friends and bridal companions for
her husband.
Judges Chapter 15

Samson is denied his wife. He burns the corn of the Philistines, and kills
many of them.
15:1. And a while after, when the days of the wheat harvest were at
hand, Samson came, meaning to visit his wife, and he brought her a
kid of the lock. And when he would have gone into her chamber, as
usual, her father would not suffer him, saying:
15:2. I thought thou hadst hated her, and therefore I gave her to thy
friend: but she hath a sister, who is younger and fairer than she, take
her to wife instead of her.
15:3. And Samson answered him: From this day I shall be blameless
in what I do against the Philistines: for I will do you evils.
15:4. And he went and caught three hundred foxes, and coupled
them tail to tail, and fastened torches between the tails:
Foxes.... Being judge of the people he might have many to assist him to catch with
nets or otherwise a number of these animals; of which there were great numbers
in that country.
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 15:5. And setting them on ire he let the foxes go, that they might
run about hither and thither. And they presently went into the
standing corn of the Philistines. Which being set on ire, both the corn
that was already carried together, and that which was yet standing,
was all burnt, insomuch that the lame consumed also the vineyards
and the oliveyards.
15:6. Then the Philistines said: Who hath done this thing? And it was
answered: Samson, the son in law of the Thamnathite, because he took
away his wife, and gave her to another, hath done these things. And
the Philistines went up and burnt both the woman and her father.
15:7. But Samson said to them: Although you have done this, yet will
I be revenged of you, and then I will be quiet.
15:8. And he made a great slaughter of them, so that in
astonishment they laid the calf of the leg upon the thigh. And going
down he dwelt in a cavern of the rock Etam.
15:9. Then the Philistines going up into the land of Juda, camped in
the place which afterwards was called Lechi, that is, the Jawbone,
where their army was spread abroad.
15:10. And the men of the tribe of Juda said to them: Why are you
come up against us? They answered: We are come to bind Samson, and
to pay him for what he hath done against us.
15:11. Wherefore three thousand men of Juda went down to the
cave of the rock Etam, and said to Samson: Knowest thou not that the
Philistines rule over us? Why wouldst thou do thus? And he said to
them: As they did to me, so have I done to them.
15:12. And they said to him: We are come to bind thee, and to
deliver thee into the hands of the Philistines. And Samson said to them:
Swear to me, and promise me that you will not kill me.
15:13. They said: We will not kill thee: but we will deliver thee up
bound. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him
from the rock Etam.

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 15:14. Now when he was come to the place of the Jawbone, and the
Philistines shouting went to meet him, the Spirit of the Lord came
strongly upon him: and as lax is wont to be consumed at the approach
of ire, so the bands with which he was bound were broken and loosed.
15:15. And inding a jawbone, even the jawbone of an ass, which lay
there, catching it up, he slew therewith a thousand men.
15:16. And he said: With the jawbone of an ass, with the jaw of the
colt of asses, I have destroyed them, and have slain a thousand men.
15:17. And when he had ended these words, singing, he threw the
jawbone out of his hand, and called the name of that place
Ramathlechi, which is interpreted the lifting up of the jawbone.
15:18. And being very thirsty, he cried to the Lord, and said: Thou
hast given this very great deliverance and victory into the hand of thy
servant: and behold I die for thirst, and shall fall into the hands of the
uncircumcised.
15:19. Then the Lord opened a great tooth in the jaw of the ass and
waters issued out of it. And when he had drunk them, he refreshed his
spirit, and recovered his strength. Therefore the name of that place
was called The Spring of him that invoked from the jawbone, until this
present day.
15:20. And he judged Israel, in the days of the Philistines, twenty
years.
Judges Chapter 16

Samson is deluded by Dalila: and falls into the hands of the Philistines.
His death.
16:1. He went also into Gaza, and saw there a woman, a harlot, and
went in unto her.
16:2. And when the Philistines had heard this, and it was noised
about among them, that Samson was come into the city, they
surrounded him, setting guards at the gate of the city, and watching
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 there all the night in silence, that in the morning they might kill him as
he went out.
16:3. But Samson slept till midnight, and then rising, he took both
the doors of the gate, with the posts thereof and the bolt, and laying
them on his shoulders, carried them up to the top of the hill, which
looketh towards Hebron.
16:4. After this he loved a woman, who dwelt in the valley of Sorec,
and she was called Dalila.
Dalila.... Some are of opinion she was married to Samson; others that she was his
harlot. If the latter opinion be true, we cannot wonder that, in punishment of his
lust, the Lord delivered him up, by her means, into the hands of his enemies.
However if he was guilty, it is not to be doubted but that under his af lictions he
heartily repented and returned to God, and so obtained forgiveness of his sins.
16:5. And the princes of the Philistines came to her, and said:
Deceive him, and learn of him wherein his great strength lieth, and
how we may be able to overcome him, to bind and af lict him: which if
thou shalt do, we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces
of silver.
16:6. And Dalila said to Samson: Tell me, I beseech thee, wherein thy
greatest strength lieth, and what it is, wherewith if thou wert bound,
thou couldst not break loose.
16:7. And Samson answered her: If I shall be bound with seven
cords, made of sinews not yet dry, but still moist, I shall be weak like
other men.
16:8. And the princes of the Philistines brought unto her seven cords,
such as he spoke of, with which she bound him;
16:9. Men lying privately in wait with her, and in the chamber,
expecting the event of the thing, and she cried out to him: The
Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he broke the bands, as a man
would break a thread of tow twined with spittle, when it smelleth the
ire: so it was not known wherein his strength lay.
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 16:10. And Dalila said to him: Behold thou hast mocked me, and
hast told me a false thing: but now at least tell me wherewith thou
mayest be bound.
16:11. And he answered her: If I shall be bound with new ropes, that
were never in work, I shall be weak and like other men.
16:12. Dalila bound him again with these, and cried out: The
Philistines are upon thee, Samson, there being an ambush prepared for
him in the chamber. But he broke the bands like threads of webs.
16:13. And Dalila said to him again: How long dost thou deceive me,
and tell me lies? Shew me wherewith thou mayest be bound. And
Samson answered her: If thou plattest the seven locks of my head with
a lace, and tying them round about a nail, fastenest it in the ground, I
shall be weak.
16:14. And when Dalila had done this, she said to him: The
Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And awaking out of his sleep, he
drew out the nail with the hairs and the lace.
16:15. And Dalila said to him: How dost thou say thou lovest me,
when thy mind is not with me? Thou hast told me lies these three
times, and wouldst not tell me wherein thy greatest strength lieth.
16:16. And when she pressed him much, and continually hung upon
him for many days, giving him no time to rest, his soul fainted away,
and was wearied even unto death.
16:17. Then opening the truth of the thing, he said to her: The razor
hath never come upon my head, for I am a Nazarite, that is to say,
consecrated to God from my mother’s womb: If my head be shaven, my
strength shall depart from me, and I shall become weak, and shall be
like other men.
16:18. Then seeing that he had discovered to her all his mind, she
sent to the princes of the Philistines, saying: Come up this once more,
for now he hath opened his heart to me. And they went up, taking with
them the money which they had promised.

 16:19. But she made him sleep upon her knees, and lay his head in
her bosom. And she called a barber and shaved his seven locks, and
began to drive him away, and thrust him from her: for immediately his
strength departed from him.
16:20. And she said: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And
awaking from sleep, he said in his mind: I will go out as I did before,
and shake myself, not knowing that the Lord was departed from him.
16:21. Then the Philistines seized upon him, and forthwith pulled
out his eyes, and led him bound in chains to Gaza, and shutting him up
in prison made him grind.
16:22. And now his hair began to grow again,
16:23. And the princes of the Philistines assembled together, to offer
great sacri ices to Dagon their god, and to make merry, saying: Our
god hath delivered our enemy Samson into our hands.
16:24. And the people also seeing this, praised their god, and said
the same: Our god hath delivered our adversary into our hands, him
that destroyed our country, and killed very many.
16:25. And rejoicing in their feasts, when they had now taken their
good cheer, they commanded that Samson should be called, and
should play before them. And being brought out of prison, he played
before them; and they made him stand between two pillars.
16:26. And he said to the lad that guided his steps: Suffer me to
touch the pillars which support the whole house, and let me lean upon
them, and rest a little.
16:27. Now the house was full of men and women, and all the
princes of the Philistines were there. Moreover about three thousand
persons of both sexes, from the roof and the higher part of the house,
were beholding Samson’s play.
16:28. But he called upon the Lord, saying: O Lord God remember
me, and restore to me now my former strength, O my God, that I may
revenge myself on my enemies, and for the loss of my two eyes I may
take one revenge.
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 Revenge myself.... This desire of revenge was out of zeal for justice against the
enemies of God and his people; and not out of private rancour and malice of
heart.
16:29. And laying hold on both the pillars on which the house rested,
and holding the one with his right hand, and the other with his left,
16:30. He said: Let me die with the Philistines. And when he had
strongly shook the pillars, the house fell upon all the princes, and the
rest of the multitude, that was there: and he killed many more at his
death, than he had killed before in his life.
Let me die.... Literally, let my soul die. Samson did not sin on this occasion,
though he was indirectly the cause of his own death. Because he was moved to
what he did, by a particular inspiration of God, who also concurred with him by
a miracle, in restoring his strength upon the spot, in consequence of his prayer.
Samson, by dying in this manner, was a igure of Christ, who by his death
overcame all his enemies.
16:31. And his brethren and all his kindred, going down took his
body, and buried it between Saraa and Esthaol, in the buryingplace of
his father Manue: and he judged Israel twenty years.
Judges Chapter 17

The history of the idol of Michas, and the young Levite.

17:1. There was at that time a man of mount Ephraim, whose name
was Michas.
17:2. Who said to his mother: The eleven hundred pieces of silver,
which thou hadst put aside for thyself, and concerning which thou
didst swear in my hearing, behold I have, and they are with me. And
she said to him. Blessed be my son by the Lord.
17:3. So he restored them to his mother, who said to him: I have
consecrated and vowed this silver to the Lord, that my son may receive
it at my hand, and make a graven and a molten god; so now I deliver it
to thee.

 17:4. And he restored them to his mother: and she took two hundred
pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, to make of them a
graven and a molten god, which was in the house of Michas.
17:5. And he separated also therein a little temple for the god, and
made an ephod, and theraphim, that is to say, a priestly garment, and
idols: and he illed the hand of one of his sons, and he became his
priest.
Filled the hand.... That is, appointed and consecrated him to the priestly of ice.
17:6. In those days there was no king in Israel, but every one did
that which seemed right to himself.
17:7. There was also another young man of Bethlehem Juda, of the
kindred thereof: and he was a Levite, and dwelt there.
17:8. Now he went out from the city of Bethlehem, and desired to
sojourn wheresoever he should ind it convenient for him. And when he
was come to mount Ephraim, as he was on his journey, and had turned
aside a little into the house of Michas,
17:9. He was asked by him whence he came. And he answered: I am
a Levite of Bethlehem Juda, and I am going to dwell where I can, and
where I shall ind a place to my advantage.
17:10. And Michas said: Stay with me, and be unto me a father and a
priest, and I will give thee every year ten pieces of silver, and a double
suit of apparel, and thy victuals.
17:11. He was content, and abode with the man, and was unto him
as one of his sons.
17:12. And Michas illed his hand, and had the young man with him
for his priest, saying:
17:13. Now I know God will do me good, since I have a priest of the
race of the Levites.
Judges Chapter 18

The expedition of the men of Dan against Lais: in their way they rob
Michas of his priest and his gods.

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 18:1. In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of Dan
sought them an inheritance to dwell in: for unto that day they had not
received their lot among the other tribes.
Not received, etc.... They had their portions assigned them, Jos. 19.40. But,
through their own sloth, possessed as yet but a small part of it. See Judges 1.34.
18:2. So the children of Dan sent ive most valiant men, of their stock
and family, from Saraa and Esthaol, to spy out the land, and to view it
diligently: and they said to them: Go, and view the land. They went on
their way, and when they came to mount Ephraim, they went into the
house of Michas, and rested there:
18:3. And knowing the voice of the young man the Levite, and
lodging with him, they said to him: Who brought thee hither? what
dost thou here? why wouldst thou come hither?
18:4. He answered them: Michas hath done such and such things for
me, and hath hired me to be his priest.
18:5. Then they desired him to consult the Lord, that they might
know whether their journey should be prosperous, and the thing
should have effect.
18:6. He answered them: Go in peace: the Lord looketh on your way,
and the journey that you go.
18:7. So the ive men going on came to Lais: and they saw how the
people dwelt therein without any fear, according to the custom of the
Sidonians, secure and easy, having no man at all to oppose them, being
very rich, and living separated, at a distance from Sidon and from all
men.
18:8. And they returned to their brethren in Saraa and Esthaol, who
asked them what they had done: to whom they answered:
18:9. Arise, and let us go up to them: for we have seen the land
which is exceeding rich and fruitful: neglect not, lose no time: let us go
and possess it, there will be no dif iculty.

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 18:10. We shall come to a people that is secure, into a spacious

country, and the Lord will deliver the place to us, in which there is no
want of any thing that groweth on the earth.
18:11. There went therefore of the kindred of Dan, to wit, from
Saraa and Esthaol, six hundred men, furnished with arms for war.
18:12. And going up they lodged in Cariathiarim of Juda: which
place from that time is called the camp of Dan, and is behind
Cariathiarim.
18:13. From thence they passed into mount Ephraim. And when they
were come to the house of Michas,
18:14. The ive men, that before had been sent to view the land of
Lais, said to the rest of their brethren: You know that in these houses
there is an ephod and theraphim, and a graven and a molten god: see
what you are pleased to do.
18:15. And when they had turned a little aside, they went into the
house of the young man the Levite, who was in the house of Michas:
and they saluted him with words of peace.
18:16. And the six hundred men stood before the door, appointed
with their arms.
18:17. But they that were gone into the house of the young man,
went about to take away the graven god, and the ephod, and the
theraphim, and the molten god, and the priest stood before the door,
the six hundred valiant men waiting not far off.
18:18. So they that were gone in took away the graven thing, the
ephod, and the idols, and the molten god, And the priest said to them:
What are you doing?
18:19. And they said to him: Hold thy peace, and put thy inger on
thy mouth, and come with us, that we may have thee for a father, and
a priest. Whether is better for thee, to be a priest in the house of one
man, or in a tribe and family in Israel?
18:20. When he heard this, he agreed to their words, and took the
ephod, and the idols, and the graven god, and departed with them.
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 18:21. And when they were going forward, and had put before them
the children and the cattle, and all that was valuable,
18:22. And were now at a distance from the house of Michas, the
men that dwelt in the houses of Michas gathering together followed
them,
18:23. And began to shout out after them. They looked back, and
said to Michas: What aileth thee? Why dost thou cry?
18:24. And he answered: You have taken away my gods which I have
made me, and the priest, and all that I have, and do you say: What
aileth thee?
18:25. And the children of Dan said to him: See thou say no more to
us, lest men enraged come upon thee, and thou perish with all thy
house.
18:26. And so they went on the journey they had begun. But Michas
seeing that they were stronger than he, returned to his house.
18:27. And the six hundred men took the priest, and the things we
spoke of before, and came to Lais, to a people that was quiet and
secure, and smote them with the edge of the sword: and the city they
burnt with ire,
18:28. There being no man at all who brought them any succour,
because they dwelt far from Sidon, and had no society or business with
any man. And the city was in the land of Rohob: and they rebuilt it,
and dwelt therein,
18:29. Calling the name of the city Dan, after the name of their
father, who was the son of Israel, which before was called Lais.
18:30. And they set up to themselves the graven idol, and Jonathan
the son of Gersam, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests in the
tribe of Dan, until the day of their captivity.
18:31. And the idol of Michas remained with them all the time that
the house of God was in Silo. In those days there was no king in Israel.

 Judges Chapter 19

A Levite bringing home his wife, is lodged by an old man at Gabaa in

the tribe of Benjamin. His wife is there abused by wicked men, and in
the morning found dead. Her husband cutteth her body in pieces, and
sendeth to every tribe of Israel, requiring them to revenge the wicked
fact.
19:1. There was a certain Levite, who dwelt on the side of mount
Ephraim, who took a wife of Bethlehem Juda:
19:2. And she left him, and returned to her father’s house in
Bethlehem, and abode with him four months.
19:3. And her husband followed her, willing to be reconciled with
her, and to speak kindly to her, and to bring her back with him, having
with him a servant and two asses: and she received him, and brought
him into her father’s house. And when his father in law had heard this,
and had seen him, he met him with joy,
19:4. And embraced the man. And the son in law tarried in the house
of his father in law three days, eating with him and drinking
familiarly.
19:5. But on the fourth day, arising early in the morning, he desired
to depart. But his father in law kept him, and said to him: Taste irst a
little bread, and strengthen thy stomach, and so thou shalt depart.
19:6. And they sat down together, and ate and drank. And the father
of the young woman said to his son in law: I beseech thee to stay here
to day, and let us make merry together.
19:7. But he rising up, began to be for departing. And nevertheless
his father in law earnestly pressed him, and made him stay with him.
19:8. But when morning was come, the Levite prepared to go on his
journey. And his father in law said to him again: I beseech thee to take
a little meat, and strengthening thyself, till the day be farther
advanced, afterwards thou mayest depart. And they ate together.

 19:9. And the young man arose to set forward with his wife and
servant. And his father in law spoke to him again: Consider that the
day is declining, and draweth toward evening: tarry with me to day
also, and spend the day in mirth, and to morrow thou shalt depart,
that thou mayest go into thy house.
19:10. His son in law would not consent to his words: but forthwith
went forward, and came over against Jebus, which by another name is
called Jerusalem, leading with him two asses laden, and his concubine.
Concubine. She was his lawful wife, but even lawful wives are frequently in
scripture called concubines. See above, chap. 8. ver. 31.—Ver. 16. Jemini.... That is,
Benjamin.
19:11. And now they were come near Jebus, and the day was far
spent: and the servant said to his master: Come, I beseech thee, let us
turn into the city of the Jebusites, and lodge there.
19:12. His master answered him: I will not go into the town of
another nation, who are not of the children of Israel, but I will pass
over to Gabaa:
19:13. And when I shall come thither, we will lodge there, or at least
in the city of Rama.
19:14. So they passed by Jebus, and went on their journey, and the
sun went down upon them when they were by Gabaa, which is in the
tribe of Benjamin:
19:15. And they turned into it to lodge there. And when they were
come in, they sat in the street of the city, for no man would receive
them to lodge.
19:16. And behold they saw an old man, returning out of the ield
and from his work in the evening, and he also was of mount Ephraim,
and dwelt as a stranger in Gabaa; but the men of that country were
the children of Jemini.
19:17. And the old man lifting up his eyes, saw the man sitting with
his bundles in the street of the city, and said to him: Whence comest
thou? and whither goest thou?

 19:18. He answered him: We came out from Bethlehem Juda, and we

are going to our home, which is on the side of mount Ephraim, from
whence we went to Bethlehem: and now we go to the house of God,
and none will receive us under his roof:
19:19. We have straw and hay for provender of the asses, and bread
and wine for the use of myself and of thy handmaid, and of the servant
that is with me: we want nothing but lodging.
19:20. And the old man answered him: Peace be with thee: I will
furnish all things that are necessary: only I beseech thee, stay not in
the street.
19:21. And he brought him into his house, and gave provender to his
asses: and after they had washed their feet, he entertained them with
a feast.
19:22. While they were making merry, and refreshing their bodies
with meat and drink, after the labour of the journey, the men of that
city, sons of Belial (that is, without yoke), came and beset the old
man’s house, and began to knock at the door, calling to the master of
the house, and saying: Bring forth the man that came into thy house,
that we may abuse him:
19:23. And the old man went out to them, and said: Do not so, my
brethren, do not so wickedly: because this man is come into my
lodging, and cease I pray you from this folly.
19:24. I have a maiden daughter, and this man hath a concubine, I
will bring them out to you, and you may humble them, and satisfy your
lust: only, I beseech you, commit not this crime against nature on the
man.
19:25. They would not be satis ied with his words; which the man
seeing, brought out his concubine to them, and abandoned her to their
wickedness: and when they had abused her all the night, they let her
go in the morning.
19:26. But the woman, at the dawning of the day, came to the door
of the house, where her lord lodged, and there fell down.

 19:27. And in the morning the man arose, and opened the door, that
he might end the journey he had begun: and behold his concubine lay
before the door with her hands spread on the threshold.
19:28. He thinking she was taking her rest, said to her: Arise, and let
us be going. But as she made no answer, perceiving she was dead, he
took her up, and laid her upon his ass, and returned to his house.
19:29. And when he was come home, he took a sword, and divided
the dead body of his wife with her bones into twelve parts, and sent the
pieces into all the borders of Israel.
19:30. And when every one had seen this, they all cried out: There
was never such a thing done in Israel, from the day that our fathers
came up out of Egypt, until this day: give sentence, and decree in
common what ought to be done.
Judges Chapter 20

The Israelites warring against Benjamin are twice defeated; but in the
third battle the Benjamites are all slain, saving six hundred men.
20:1. Then all the children of Israel went out, and gathered together
as one man, from Dan to Bersabee, with the land of Galaad, to the Lord
in Maspha:
20:2. And all the chiefs of the people, and all the tribes of Israel, met
together in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand
footmen it for war.
20:3. (Nor were the children of Benjamin ignorant that the children
of Israel were come up to Maspha.) And the Levite, the husband of the
woman that was killed being asked, how so great a wickedness had
been committed,
20:4. Answered: I came into Gabaa, of Benjamin, with my wife, and
there I lodged:
20:5. And behold the men of that city, in the night beset the house
wherein I was, intending to kill me, and abused my wife with an
incredible fury of lust, so that at last she died.
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 20:6. And I took her and cut her in pieces, and sent the parts into all
the borders of your possession: because there never was so heinous a
crime, and so great an abomination committed in Israel.
20:7. You are all here, O children of Israel, determine what you
ought to do.
20:8. And all the people standing, answered as by the voice of one
man: We will not return to our tents, neither shall any one of us go into
his own house:
20:9. But this we will do in common against Gabaa:
20:10. We will take ten men of a hundred out of all the tribes of
Israel, and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten
thousand, to bring victuals for the army, that we may ight against
Gabaa of Benjamin, and render to it for its wickedness, what it
deserveth.
20:11. And all Israel were gathered together against the city, as one
man, with one mind, and one counsel:
20:12. And they sent messengers to all the tribe of Benjamin, to say
to them: Why hath so great an abomination been found among you?
20:13. Deliver up the men of Gabaa, that have committed this
heinous crime, that they may die, and the evil may be taken away out
of Israel. But they would not hearken to the proposition of their
brethren the children of Israel:
20:14. But out of all the cities which were of their lot, they gathered
themselves together into Gabaa, to aid them, and to ight against the
whole people of Israel.
20:15. And there were found of Benjamin ive and twenty thousand
men that drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gabaa,
20:16. Who were seven hundred most valiant men, ighting with the
left hand as well as with the right: and slinging stones so sure that
they could hit even a hair, and not miss by the stone’s going on either
side.

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 20:17. Of the men of Israel also, beside the children of Benjamin,

were found four hundred thousand that drew swords and were
prepared to ight.
20:18. And they arose and came to the house of God, that is, to Silo:
and they consulted God, and said: Who shall be in our army the irst to
go to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord
answered them: Let Juda be your leader.
20:19. And forthwith the children of Israel rising in the morning,
camped by Gabaa:
20:20. And going out from thence to ight against Benjamin, began
to assault the city.
20:21. And the children of Benjamin coming out of Gabaa slew of
the children of Israel that day two and twenty thousand men.
20:22. Again Israel, trusting in their strength and their number, set
their army in array in the same place, where they had fought before:
Trusting in their strength.... The Lord suffered them to be overthrown and many
of them to be slain, though their cause was just; partly in punishment of the
idolatry which they exercised or tolerated in the tribe of Dan, and elsewhere; and
partly because they trusted in their own strength; and therefore, though he bid
them ight, he would not give them the victory, till they were thoroughly
humbled and had learned to trust in him alone.
20:23. Yet so that they irst went up and wept before the Lord until
night: and consulted him and said: Shall I go out any more to ight
against the children of Benjamin my brethren or not? And he
answered them: Go up against them, and join battle.
20:24. And when the children of Israel went out the next day to ight
against the children of Benjamin,
20:25. The children of Benjamin sallied forth out of the gates of
Gabaa: and meeting them, made so great a slaughter of them, as to kill
eighteen thousand men that drew the sword.
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 20:26. Wherefore all the children of Israel came to the house of God,
and sat and wept before the Lord: and they fasted that day till the
evening, and offered to him holocausts, and victims of peace offerings,
20:27. And inquired of him concerning their state. At that time the
ark of the covenant of the Lord was there,
20:28. And Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was over
the house. So they consulted the Lord, and said: Shall we go out any
more to ight against the children of Benjamin, our brethren, or shall
we cease? And the Lord said to them: Go up, for to morrow I will
deliver them into your hands.
20:29. And the children of Israel set ambushes round about the city
of Gabaa:
20:30. And they drew up their army against Benjamin the third
time, as they had done the irst and second.
20:31. And the children of Benjamin boldly issued out of the city, and
seeing their enemies lee, pursued them a long way, so as to wound
and kill some of them, as they had done the irst and second day, whilst
they led by two highways, whereof one goeth up to Bethel and the
other to Gabaa, and they slew about thirty men:
20:32. For they thought to cut them off as they did before. But they
artfully feigning a light, designed to draw them away from the city,
and by their seeming to lee, to bring them to the highways aforesaid.
20:33. Then all the children of Israel rising up out of the places
where they were, set their army in battle array, in the place which is
called Baalthamar. The ambushes also, which were about the city,
began by little and little to come forth,
20:34. And to march from the west side of the city. And other ten
thousand men chosen out of all Israel, attacked the inhabitants of the
city. And the battle grew hot against the children of Benjamin: and
they understood not that present death threatened them on every side.
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 20:35. And the Lord defeated them before the children of Israel, and
they slew of them in that day ive and twenty thousand, and one
hundred, all ighting men, and that drew the sword.
20:36. But the children of Benjamin, when they saw themselves to be
too weak, began to lee. Which the children of Israel seeing, gave them
place to lee, that they might come to the ambushes that were
prepared, which they had set near the city.
20:37. And they that were in ambush arose on a sudden out of their
coverts, and whilst Benjamin turned their backs to the slayers, went
into the city, and smote it with the edge of the sword.
20:38. Now the children of Israel had given a sign to them, whom
they had laid in ambushes, that after they had taken the city, they
should make a ire: that by the smoke rising on high, they might shew
that the city was taken.
20:39. And when the children of Israel saw this in the battle, (for the
children of Benjamin thought they led, and pursued them vigorously,
killing thirty men of their army)
20:40. And perceived, as it were, a pillar of smoke rise up from the
city; and Benjamin looking back, saw that the city was taken, and that
the lames ascended on high:
20:41. They that before had made as if they led, turning their faces,
stood bravely against them. Which the children of Benjamin seeing,
turned their backs,
20:42. And began to go towards the way of the desert, the enemy
pursuing them thither also. And they that ired the city came also out
to meet them.
20:43. And so it was, that they were slain on both sides by the
enemies, and there was no rest of their men dying. They fell and were
beaten down on the east side of the city of Gabaa.
20:44. And they that were slain in the same place, were eighteen
thousand men, all most valiant soldiers.
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 20:45. And when they that remained of Benjamin saw this, they led
into the wilderness, and made towards the rock that is called Remmon.
In that light also, as they were straggling, and going different ways;
they slew of them ive thousand men. And as they went farther, they
still pursued them, and slew also other two thousand.
20:46. And so it came to pass, that all that were slain of Benjamin, in
divers places, were ive and twenty thousand ighting men, most
valiant for war.
20:47. And there remained of all the number of Benjamin only six
hundred men that were able to escape, and lee to the wilderness: and
they abode in the rock Remmon four months.
20:48. But the children of Israel returning, put all the remains of the
city to the sword, both men and beasts, and all the cities and villages
of Benjamin were consumed with devouring lames.
Judges Chapter 21

The tribe of Benjamin is saved from being utterly extinct, by providing

wives for the six hundred that remained.
21:1. Now the children of Israel had also sworn in Maspha, saying:
None of us shall give of his daughters to the children of Benjamin to
wife.
21:2. And they all came to the house of God in Silo, and sitting before
him till the evening, lifted up their voices, and began to lament and
weep, saying:
21:3. O Lord God of Israel, why is so great an evil come to pass in thy
people, that this day one tribe should be taken away from among us?
21:4. And rising early the next day, they built an altar: and offered
there holocausts, and victims of peace, and they said:
21:5. Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up
with the army of the Lord? for they had bound themselves with a great
oath, when they were in Maspha, that whosoever were wanting should
be slain.

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 21:6. And the children of Israel being moved with repentance for
their brother Benjamin, began to say: One tribe is taken away from
Israel.
21:7. Whence shall they take wives? For we have all in general
sworn, not to give our daughters to them.
21:8. Therefore they said: Who is there of all the tribes of Israel, that
came not up to the Lord to Maspha? And, behold, the inhabitants of
Jabes Galaad were found not to have been in that army.
21:9. (At that time also when they were in Silo, no one of them was
found there,)
21:10. So they sent ten thousand of the most valiant men, and
commanded them, saying: Go and put the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad
to the sword, with their wives and their children.
21:11. And this is what you shall observe: Every male, and all
women that have known men, you shall kill, but the virgins you shall
save.
21:12. And there were found of Jabes Galaad four hundred virgins,
that had not known the bed of a man, and they brought them to the
camp in Silo, into the land of Chanaan.
21:13. And they sent messengers to the children of Benjamin, that
were in the rock Remmon, and commanded them to receive them in
peace.
21:14. And the children of Benjamin came at that time, and wives
were given them of the daughters of Jabes Galaad: but they found no
others, whom they might give in like manner.
21:15. And all Israel was very sorry, and repented for the destroying
of one tribe out of Israel.
21:16. And the ancients said: What shall we do with the rest, that
have not received wives? for all the women in Benjamin are dead.
21:17. And we must use all care, and provide with great diligence,
that one tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.

 21:18. For as to our own daughters we cannot give them, being

bound with an oath and a curse, whereby we said: Cursed be he that
shall give Benjamin any of his daughters to wife.
21:19. So they took counsel, and said: Behold, there is a yearly
solemnity of the Lord in Silo, which is situate on the north of the city of
Bethel, and on the east side of the way, that goeth from Bethel to
Sichem, and on the south of the town of Lebona.
21:20. And they commanded the children of Benjamin and said: Go,
and lie hid in the vineyards,
21:21. And when you shall see the daughters of Silo come out, as the
custom is, to dance, come ye on a sudden out of the vineyards, and
catch you every man his wife among them, and go into the land of
Benjamin.
21:22. And when their fathers and their brethren shall come, and
shall begin to complain against you, and to chide, we will say to them:
Have pity on them: for they took them not away as by the right of war
or conquest, but when they asked to have them, you gave them not,
and the fault was committed on your part.
21:23. And the children of Benjamin did as they had been
commanded: and, according to their number, they carried off for
themselves every man his wife of them that were dancing: and they
went into their possession, and built up their cities, and dwelt in them.
21:24. The children of Israel also returned by their tribes, and
families, to their dwellings. In those days there was no king in Israel:
but every one did that which seemed right to himself.

THE BOOK OF RUTH

This Book is called RUTH, from the name of the person whose history is
here recorded: who, being a Gentile, became a convert to the true

 faith, and marrying Booz, the great-grandfather of David, was one of

those from whom Christ sprung according to the lesh, and an
illustrious igure of the Gentile church. It is thought this book was
written by the prophet Samuel.
Ruth Chapter 1

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.
1:1. 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.
1:2. 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.
1:3. And Elimelech the husband of Noemi died: and she remained
with her sons.
1:4. 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,
1:5. And they both died, to wit, Mahalon and Chelion: and the
woman was left alone, having lost both her sons and her husband.
1:6. 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.
1:7. 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,
1:8. 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.
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 1:9. May he grant you to ind rest in the houses of the husbands
whom you shall take. And she kissed them. And they lifted up their
voice, and began to weep,
1:10. And to say: We will go on with thee to thy people.
1:11. 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?
1:12. Return again, my daughters, and go your ways: for I am now
spent with age, and not it for wedlock. Although I might conceive this
night, and bear children,
1:13. 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.
1:14. 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.
1:15. And Noemi said to her: Behold thy kinswoman is returned to
her people, and to her gods, go thou with her.
To her gods, etc.... Noemi did not mean to persuade Ruth to return to the false
gods she had formerly worshipped: but by this manner of speech, insinuated to
her, that if she would go with her, she must renounce her false gods and return to
the Lord the God of Israel.
1:16. 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.
1:17. 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 aught but death part me and thee.

The Lord do so and so, etc.... A form of swearing usual in the history of the Old
Testament, by which the person wished such and such evils to fall upon them, if
they did not do what they said.
1:18. 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:
1:19. 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.
1:20. But she said to them: Call me not Noemi (that is, beautiful,)
but call me Mara (that is, bitter), for the Almighty hath quite illed me
with bitterness.
1:21. 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 af licted?
1:22. 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.
Ruth Chapter 2

Ruth gleaneth in the ield of Booz, who sheweth her favour.

2:1. Now her husband Elimelech had a kinsman, a powerful man,
and very rich, whose name was Booz.
2:2. And Ruth, the Moabitess, said to her mother in law: If thou wilt,
I will go into the ield, and glean the ears of corn that escape the hands
of the reapers, wheresoever I shall ind grace with a householder, that
will be favourable to me. And she answered her: Go, my daughter.
2:3. She went, therefore, and gleaned the ears of corn after the
reapers. And it happened that the owner of that ield was Booz, who
was of the kindred of Elimelech.
2:4. 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.

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 2:5. And Booz said to the young man that was set over the reapers:
Whose maid is this?
2:6. And he answered him: This is the Moabitess, who came with
Noemi, from the land of Moab,
2:7. And she desired leave to glean the ears of corn that remain,
following the steps of the reapers: and she hath been in the ield from
morning till now, and hath not gone home for one moment.
2:8. And Booz said to Ruth: Hear me, daughter, do not go to glean in
any other ield, and do not depart from this place: but keep with my
maids,
2:9. 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.
2:10. She fell on her face, and worshipping upon the ground, said to
him: Whence cometh this to me, that I should ind grace before thy
eyes, and that thou shouldst vouchsafe to take notice of me, a woman
of another country?
2:11. 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.
2:12. The Lord render unto thee for thy work, and mayst thou
receive a full reward of the Lord the God of Israel, to whom thou art
come, and under whose wings thou art led.
2:13. 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.
2:14. And Booz said to her: At mealtime 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
illed, and took the leavings.
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 2:15. 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:
2:16. 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.
2:17. She gleaned therefore in the ield 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:
2:18. 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 illed.
2:19. And her mother in law said to her: Where hast thou gleaned
today, 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.
2:20. 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.
2:21. And Ruth said: He also charged me, that I should keep close to
his reapers, till all the corn should be reaped.
2:22. 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 ield
some one may resist thee.
2:23. 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 Chapter 3

Ruth instructed by her mother in law lieth at Booz’s feet, claiming him
for her husband by the law of af inity: she receiveth a good answer,
and six measures of barley.

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 3:1. 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.
3:2. This Booz, with whose maids thou wast joined in the ield, is our
near kinsman, and behold this night he winnoweth barley in the
threshing loor.
3:3. Wash thyself therefore and anoint thee, and put on thy best
garments, and go down to the barn loor: but let not the man see thee,
till he shall have done eating and drinking.
3:4. 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.
3:5. She answered: Whatsoever thou shalt command, I will do.
3:6. And she went down to the barn loor, and did all that her mother
in law had bid her.
3:7. 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.
3:8. And behold, when it was now midnight the man was afraid, and
troubled: and he saw a woman lying at his feet,
3:9. 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.
3:10. 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.
Thy latter kindness, viz.... to thy husband deceased in seeking to keep up his
name and family by marrying his relation according to the law, and not
following after young men. For Booz, it seems, was then in years.

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 3:11. 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.
3:12. Neither do I deny myself to be near of kin, but there is another
nearer than I.
3:13. 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.
3:14. 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.
3:15. 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,
3:16. 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.
3:17. 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.
3:18. 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 Chapter 4

Upon the refusal of the nearer kinsman, Booz marrieth Ruth, who
bringeth forth Obed, the grandfather of David.
4:1. 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.

 4:2. And Booz, taking ten men of the ancients of the city, said to
them: Sit ye down here.
4:3. 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.
4:4. 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 irst, and me, who am
second. But he answered: I will buy the ield.
4:5. And Booz said to him: When thou shalt buy the ield 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.
4:6. 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.
4:7. 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
neighbour; this was a testimony of cession of right in Israel.
4:8. So Booz said to his kinsman: Put off thy shoe. And immediately
he took it off from his foot.
4:9. 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:
4:10. 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.

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 4:11. 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:
Ephrata.... Another name of Bethlehem.
4:12. 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.
4:13. Booz therefore took Ruth, and married her: and went in unto
her, and the Lord gave her to conceive, and to bear a son.
4:14. 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.
4:15. 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.
4:16. And Noemi taking the child, laid it in her bosom, and she
carried it, and was a nurse unto it.
4:17. 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.
4:18. These are the generations of Phares: Phares begot Esron,
4:19. Esron begot Aram, Aram begot Aminadab,
4:20. Aminadab begot Nahasson, Nahasson begot Salmon,
4:21. Salmon begot Booz, Booz begot Obed,
4:22. Obed begot Isai, Isai begot David.

 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL, OTHERWISE

CALLED THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS

This and the following Book are called by the Hebrews the books of
Samuel, because they contain the history of Samuel, and of the two
kings, Saul and David, whom he anointed. They are more commonly
named by the Fathers, the irst and second book of kings. As to the
writer of them, it is the common opinion that Samuel composed the
irst book, as far as the twenty- ifth chapter; and that the prophets
Nathan and Gad inished the irst, and wrote the second book. See 1
Paralipomenon, alias 1 Chronicles, 29.29.
1 Kings Chapter 1

Anna the wife of Elcana being barren, by vow and prayer obtaineth a
son: whom she calleth Samuel: and presenteth him to the service of
God in Silo, according to her vow.
1:1. 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:
An Ephraimite.... He was of the tribe of Levi, 1. Par. 6.34, but is called an
Ephraimite from dwelling in mount Ephraim.
1:2. 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.
1:3. And this man went up out of his city upon the appointed days, to
adore and to offer sacri ice to the Lord of hosts in Silo. And the two
sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were there priests of the Lord.
1:4. Now the day came, and Elcana offered sacri ice, and gave to
Phenenna, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, portions:
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 1:5. But to Anna he gave one portion with sorrow, because he loved
Anna. And the Lord had shut up her womb.
1:6. Her rival also af licted her, and troubled her exceedingly,
insomuch that she upbraided her, that the Lord had shut up her womb:
1:7. 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.
1:8. Then Elcana, her husband, said to her: Anna, why weepest thou?
and why dost thou not eat? and why dost thou af lict thy heart? Am
not I better to thee than ten children?
1:9. 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;
1:10. As Anna had her heart full of grief, she prayed to the Lord,
shedding many tears,
1:11. And she made a vow, saying: O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt look
down on the af liction of thy servant, and wilt be mindful of me, and
not forget thy handmaid, and wilt give to thy servant a manchild: I will
give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come
upon his head.
1:12. And it came to pass, as she multiplied prayers before the Lord,
that Heli observed her mouth.
1:13. 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,
1:14. And said to her: How long wilt thou be drunk? digest a little
the wine, of which thou hast taken too much.
1:15. 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.
1:16. 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.

 1:17. Then Heli said to her: Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant
thee thy petition, which thou hast asked of him.
1:18. And she said: Would to God thy handmaid may ind grace in
thy eyes. So the woman went on her way, and ate, and her
countenance was no more changed.
1:19. 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.
1:20. 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.
Samuel.... This name imports, asked of God.
1:21. And Elcana, her husband, went up, and all his house, to offer to
the Lord the solemn sacri ice, and his vow.
1:22. 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.
1:23. 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 ful il
his word. So the woman staid at home, and gave her son suck, till she
weaned him.
1:24. And after she had weaned him, she carried him with her, with
three calves, and three bushels of lour, 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:
1:25. And they immolated a calf, and offered the child to Heli.
1:26. 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.
1:27. For this child did I pray, and the Lord hath granted me my
petition, which I asked of him.

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 1:28. 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:
1 Kings Chapter 2

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.
2:1. 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.
My horn.... The horn in the scriptures signi ies strength, power, the horn is said to
be exalted, when a person receives an increase of strength or glory.
2:2. There is none holy as the Lord is: for there is no other beside
thee, and there is none strong like our God.
2:3. 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.
2:4. The bow of the mighty is overcome, and the weak are girt with
strength.
2:5. They that were full before, have hired out themselves for bread:
and the hungry are illed, so that the barren hath borne many: and she
that had many children is weakened.
2:6. The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to hell, and
bringeth back again.
2:7. The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, he humbleth and he
exalteth:
2:8. 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.

 2:9. 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.
2:10. 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.
2:11. 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.
2:12. Now the sons of Heli were children of Belial, not knowing the
Lord,
2:13. Nor the of ice of the priests to the people: but whosoever had
offered a sacri ice, the servant of the priest came, while the lesh was
in boiling, with a leshhook of three teeth in his hand,
2:14. And thrust it into the kettle, or into the cauldron, or into the
pot, or into the pan: and all that the leshhook brought up, the priest
took to himself. Thus did they to all Israel that came to Silo.
2:15. Also before they burnt the fat, the servant of the priest came,
and said to the man that sacri iced: Give me lesh to boil for the priest:
for I will not take of thee sodden lesh, but raw.
2:16. And he that sacri iced said to him: Let the fat irst 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.
2:17. Wherefore the sin of the young men was exceeding great
before the Lord: because they withdrew men from the sacri ice of the
Lord.
2:18. But Samuel ministered before the face of the Lord: being a
child girded with a linen ephod.
2:19. 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 sacri ice.

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 2:20. 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.
2:21. And the Lord visited Anna, and she conceived, and bore three
sons, and two daughters: and the child Samuel became great before
the Lord.
2:22. 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:
2:23. And he said to them: Why do ye these kinds of things, which I
hear, very wicked things, from all the people?
2:24. Do not so, my sons: for it is no good report that I hear, that you
make the people of the Lord to transgress.
2:25. 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.
Who shall pray for him.... By this word Heli would have his sons understand, that
by their wicked abuse of sacred things, and of the very sacri ices which were
appointed to appease the Lord, they deprived themselves of the ordinary means
of reconciliation with God; which was by sacri ices. The more, because they were
the chief priests whose business it was to intercede for all others, they had no
other to offer sacri ices and to make atonement for them. Ibid. Because the Lord
would slay them.... In consequence of their manifold sacrileges, he would not
soften their hearts with his ef icacious grace, but was determined to destroy
them.
2:26. But the child Samuel advanced, and grew on, and pleased both
the Lord and men.
2:27. 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?
2:28. And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to
go up to my altar, and burn incense to me, and to wear the ephod

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 before me: and I gave to thy father’s house of all the sacri ices of the
children of Israel.
2:29. 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 irstfruits of every sacri ice of
my people Israel?
2:30. 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.
2:31. 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.
2:32. 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.
Thy rival.... A priest of another race. This was partly ful illed, when Abiathar, of
the race of Heli, was removed from the priesthood, and Sadoc, who was of
another line, was substituted in his place. But it was more fully accomplished in
the New Testament, when the priesthood of Aaron gave place to that of Christ.
2:33. 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.
2:34. 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.
2:35. 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.
2:36. 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 of ice, that I may eat a morsel of bread.

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 1 Kings Chapter 3

Samuel is four times called by the Lord: who revealeth to him the evil
that shall fall on Heli, and his house.
3:1. 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.
Precious.... That is, rare.
3:2. And it came to pass one day when Heli lay in his place, and his
eyes were grown dim, that he could not see:
3:3. Before the lamp of God went out, Samuel slept in the temple of
the Lord, where the ark of God was.
3:4. And the Lord called Samuel. And he answered: Here am I.
3:5. 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.
3:6. 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.
3:7. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither had the word of
the Lord been revealed to him.
3:8. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose
up and went to Heli,
3:9. 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.
3:10. 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.
3:11. And the Lord said to Samuel: Behold I do a thing in Israel: and
whosoever shall hear it, both his ears shall tingle.

 3:12. 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.
3:13. 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.
3:14. 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.
3:15. And Samuel slept till morning, and opened the doors of the
house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to tell the vision to Heli.
3:16. Then Heli called Samuel, and said: Samuel, my son. And he
answered: Here am I.
3:17. 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.
3:18. 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.
3:19. And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and not one of
his words fell to the ground.
3:20. And all Israel, from Dan to Bersabee, knew that Samuel was a
faithful prophet of the Lord.
3:21. 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 Kings Chapter 4

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.

 4:1. And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered
themselves together to ight: and Israel went out to war against the
Philistines, and camped by the Stone of help. And the Philistines came
to Aphec,
The Stone of help.... In Hebrew Eben-ezer; so called from the help which the Lord
was pleased afterwards to give to his people Israel in that place, by the prayers
of Samuel, chap. 7.12.
4:2. And put their army in array against Israel. And when they had
joined battle, Israel turned their backs to the Philistines: and there
were slain in that ight, here and there in the ields, about four
thousand men.
4:3. 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.
4:4. 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.
4:5. 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.
4:6. 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.
4:7. And the Philistines were afraid, saying: God is come into the
camp. And sighing, they said:
4:8. 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.

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 4:9. 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 ight.
4:10. So the Philistines fought, and Israel was overthrown, and every
man led to his own dwelling: and there was an exceeding great
slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
4:11. And the ark of God was taken: and the two sons of Heli, Ophni
and Phinees, were slain.
4:12. 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.
4:13. 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.
4:14. 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.
4:15. Now Heli was ninety and eight years old, and his eyes were
dim, and he could not see.
4:16. And he said to Heli: I am he that came from the battle, and
have led out of the ield this day. And he said to him: What is there
done, my son?
4:17. And he that brought the news answered, and said: Israel is led
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.
4:18. 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.
Named the ark, etc.... There is great reason, by all these circumstances, to hope
that Heli died in a state of grace; and by his temporal punishments escaped the
eternal.
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 4:19. 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.
4:20. 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.
4:21. 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 for her husband:
Ichabod.... That is, Where is the glory? or, there is no glory. We see how much the
Israelites lamented the loss of the ark, which was but the symbol of God’s
presence among them. How much more ought Christians to lament the loss of
God himself, when by sin they have driven him out of their souls.
4:22. And she said: The glory is departed from Israel, because the
ark of God was taken.
1 Kings Chapter 5

Dagon twice falleth down before the ark. The Philistines are grievously
af licted, wherever the ark cometh.
5:1. And the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried it from the
Stone of help into Azotus.
5:2. And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the
temple of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
5:3. 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.
5:4. 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:
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 5:5. 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.
5:6. And the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Azotians, and he
destroyed them, and af licted Azotus and the coasts thereof with
emerods. And in the villages and ields 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.
5:7. 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.
5:8. 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 Gethites answered: Let the ark of the God of Israel be
carried about. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about.
5:9. 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 Gethites consulted together, and made
themselves seats of skins.
5:10. 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.
5:11. 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.
5:12. 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 af licted
with the emerods: and the cry of every city went up to heaven.

 1 Kings Chapter 6

The ark is sent back to Bethsames: where many are slain for looking
through curiosity into it.
6:1. Now the ark of God was in the land of the Philistines seven
months.
6:2. 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:
6:3. 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.
6:4. They answered: What is it we ought to render unto him for sin?
and they answered:
6:5. According to the number of the provinces of the Philistines you
shall make ive golden emerods, and ive 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.
6:6. 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?
6:7. 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.
6:8. 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.
6:9. 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.
6:10. They did therefore in this manner: and taking two kine, that
had sucking calves, they yoked them to the cart, and shut up their
calves at home.
6:11. 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.
6:12. 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.
6:13. Now the Bethsamites were reaping wheat in the valley: and
lifting up their eyes, they saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
6:14. And the cart came into the ield 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.
6:15. 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 sacri iced victims that day to the Lord.
6:16. And the ive princes of the Philistines saw, and they returned to
Accaron the same day.
6:17. 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:
6:18. And the golden mice, according to the number of the cities of
the Philistines, of the ive 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 ield of
Josue the Bethsamite.
6:19. 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 ifty
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 thousand of the common people. And the people lamented, because the
Lord had smitten the people with a great slaughter.
Seen.... And curiously looked into. It is likely this plague reached to all the
neighbouring country, as well as the city of Bethsames.
6:20. 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?
6:21. 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 Kings Chapter 7

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 sacri ice.
7:1. 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
sancti ied Eleazar, his son, to keep the ark of the Lord.
In Gabaa.... That is, on the hill, for Gabaa signi ieth a hill.
7:2. 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.
7:3. 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.
7:4. Then the children of Israel put away Baalim and Astaroth, and
served the Lord only.
7:5. And Samuel said: Gather all Israel to Masphath, that I may pray
to the Lord for you.
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 7:6. 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.
7:7. 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.
7:8. 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.
7:9. 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.
7:10. 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 terri ied
them, and they were overthrown before the face of Israel.
7:11. And the men of Israel going out of Masphath, pursued after the
Philistines, and made slaughter of them till they came under Bethchar.
7:12. 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.
7:13. 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.
7:14. 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.
7:15. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life:
7:16. And he went every year about to Bethel and to Galgal and to
Masphath, and he judged Israel in the foresaid places.

 7:17. 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 Kings Chapter 8

Samuel growing old, and his sons not walking in his ways, the people
desire a king.
8:1. And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he appointed
his sons to be judges over Israel.
8:2. Now the name of his irstborn son was Joel: and the name of the
second was Abia, judges in Bersabee.
8:3. And his sons walked not in his ways: but they turned aside after
lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
8:4. Then all the ancients of Israel being assembled came to Samuel
to Ramatha.
8:5. 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.
8:6. 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.
8:7. 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.
Rejected, etc.... The government of Israel hitherto had been a theocracy, in which
God himself immediately ruled, by laws which he had enacted, and by judges
extraordinarily raised up by himself; and therefore he complains that his people
rejected him, in desiring a change of government.
8:8. 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.
8:9. Now, therefore, hearken to their voice: but yet testify to them,
and foretell them the right of the king, that shall reign over them.
The right.... That is, the manner (misphat) after which he shall proceed, having
no one to control him, when he has the power in his hand.

 8:10. Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people that
had desired a king of him,
8:11. 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,
8:12. And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and his
centurions, and to plough his ields, and to reap his corn, and to make
him arms and chariots.
8:13. Your daughters also he will take to make him ointments, and
to be his cooks, and bakers.
8:14. And he will take your ields, and your vineyards, and your best
oliveyards, and give them to his servants.
8:15. Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn, and of the
revenues of your vineyards, to give to his eunuchs and servants.
8:16. Your servants also, and handmaids, and your goodliest young
men, and your asses, he will take away, and put them to his work.
8:17. Your locks also he will tithe, and you shall be his servants.
8:18. 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.
8:19. But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and they
said, Nay: but there shall be a king over us,
8:20. And we also will be like all nations: and our king shall judge
us, and go out before us, and ight our battles for us.
8:21. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and rehearsed
them in the ears of the Lord.
8:22. 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.

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 1 Kings Chapter 9

Saul seeking his father’s asses, cometh to Samuel, by whom he is

entertained.
9:1. 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.
9:2. 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.
9:3. And the asses of Cis, Saul’s 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,
9:4. 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.
9:5. 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.
9:6. 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.
9:7. 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.
9:8. 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.

 9:9. 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.
Seer.... Because of his seeing by divine light hidden things and things to come.
9:10. 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.
9:11. 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?
9:12. 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
sacri ice of the people to day in the high place.
A sacri ice.... The law did not allow of sacri ices in any other place, but at the
tabernacle, or temple, in which the ark of the covenant was kept; but Samuel, by
divine dispensation, offered sacri ices in other places. For which dispensation
this reason may be alleged, that the house of God in Silo, having lost the ark, was
now cast off; as a igure of the reprobation of the Jews, Ps. 77.60, 67. And in
Cariathiarim where the ark was, there was neither tabernacle, nor altar.—Ibid.
The high place.... Excelsum. The excelsa, or high places, so often mentioned in
scripture, were places of worship, in which were altars for sacri ice. These were
sometimes employed in the service of the true God, as in the present case: but
more frequently in the service of idols; and were called excelsa, which is
commonly (though perhaps not so accurately) rendered high places; not because
they were always upon hills, for the very worst of all, which was that of Topheth,
or Geennom, (Jer. 19.) was in a valley; but because of the high altars, and pillars,
or monuments, erected there, on which were set up the idols, or images of their
deities.
9:13. As soon as you come into the city, you shall immediately ind
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 ind him.
9:14. 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.
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 9:15. Now the Lord had revealed to the ear of Samuel the day before
Saul came, saying:
9:16. 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.
9:17. 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.
9:18. 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?
9:19. 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.
9:20. 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?
9:21. 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?
9:22. 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.
9:23. And Samuel said to the cook: Bring the portion which I gave
thee, and commanded thee to set it apart by thee.
9:24. 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.

 9:25. 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.
9:26. 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.
9:27. 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 Kings Chapter 10

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.
10:1. 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.
10:2. When thou shalt depart from me this day, thou shalt ind 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?
10:3. 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.
Bethel.... Where there was at that time an altar of God; it being one of the places
where Samuel judged Israel.

 10:4. And they will salute thee, and will give thee two loaves, and
thou shalt take them at their hand.
10:5. 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.
The hill of God.... Gabaa, in which there was also at that time, a high place or
altar.—Prophets.... These were men whose of ice it was to sing hymns and
praises to God; for such in holy writ are called prophets, and their singing praises
to God is called prophesying. See 1 Par. alias 1 Chr. 15.22, and 25.1. Now there
were in those days colleges, or schools for training up these prophets; and it
seems there was one of these schools at this hill of God; and another at Najoth in
Ramatha. See 1 Kings 19.20, 21, etc.
10:6. And the Spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt
prophesy with them, and shalt be changed into another man.
10:7. When therefore these signs shall happen to thee, do
whatsoever thy hand shall ind, for the Lord is with thee.
10:8. And thou shalt go down before me to Galgal, (for I will come
down to thee), that thou mayst offer an oblation, and sacri ice victims
of peace: seven days shalt thou wait, till I come to thee, and I will shew
thee what thou art to do.
Galgal.... Here also by dispensation was an altar of God.
10:9. 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.
10:10. 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.
10:11. 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?

 10:12. And one answered another, saying: And who is their father?
therefore it became a proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets?
Their father.... That is, their teacher, or superior. As much as to say, Who could
bring about such a wonderful change as to make Saul a prophet?
10:13. And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the
high place.
10:14. And Saul’s uncle said to him, and to his servant: Whither
went you? They answered: To seek the asses: and not inding them, we
went to Samuel.
10:15. And his uncle said to him: Tell me what Samuel said to thee.
10:16. 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.
10:17. And Samuel called together the people to the Lord in
Maspha:
10:18. 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
af licted you.
10:19. 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.
10:20. And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel, and the lot
fell on the tribe of Benjamin.
10:21. 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.
10:22. And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would
come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold he is hidden at home.
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 10:23. 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.
10:24. 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.
10:25. 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.
10:26. Saul also departed to his own house in Gabaa: and there went
with him a part of the army, whose hearts God had touched.
10:27. 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 Kings Chapter 11

Saul defeateth the Ammonites, and delivereth Jabes Galaad.

11:1. And it came to pass about a month after this, that Naas, the
Ammonite, came up, and began to ight against Jabes Galaad. And all
the men of Jabes said to Naas: Make a covenant with us, and we will
serve thee.
11:2. 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.
11:3. 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.
11:4. 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.

 11:5. And behold Saul came, following oxen out of the ield, and he
said: What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the
words of the men of Jabes.
11:6. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, when he had heard
these words, and his anger was exceedingly kindled.
11:7. 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.
11:8. 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.
11:9. 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.
11:10. And they said: In the morning we will come out to you: and
you shall do what you please with us.
11:11. 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.
11:12. And the people said to Samuel: Who is he that said: Shall Saul
reign over us? Bring the men, and we will kill them.
11:13. And Saul said: No man shall be killed this day: because the
Lord this day hath wrought salvation in Israel:
11:14. And Samuel said to the people: Come, and let us go to Galgal,
and let us renew the kingdom there.
11:15. And all the people went to Galgal, and there they made Saul
king, before the Lord in Galgal, and they sacri iced there victims of

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peace before the Lord. And there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced
exceedingly.
1 Kings Chapter 12

Samuel’s integrity is acknowledged. God sheweth by a sign from

heaven that they had done ill in asking for a king.
12:1. 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.
12:2. And now the king goeth before you: but I am old and
greyheaded: and my sons are with you: having then conversed with
you from my youth until this day, behold here I am.
12:3. 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.
12:4. And they said: Thou hast not wronged us, nor oppressed us,
nor taken ought at any man’s hand.
12:5. 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.
12:6. 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.
12:7. 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:
12:8. 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.
12:9. 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.

 12:10. 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.
12:11. 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.
Jerobaal and Badan.... That is, Gedeon and Samson called here Badan or Bedan,
because he was of Dan.
12:12. 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.
12:13. Now, therefore, your king is here, whom you have chosen and
desired: Behold the Lord hath given you a king.
12:14. 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.
12:15. 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.
12:16. Now then stand, and see this great thing which the Lord will
do in your sight.
12:17. 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.
Wheat harvest.... At which time of the year, it never thunders or rains in those
countries.
12:18. And Samuel cried unto the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder
and rain that day.
12:19. 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.
12:20. 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.
12:21. And turn not aside after vain things, which shall never pro it
you, nor deliver you, because they are vain.
12:22. And the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s
sake: because the Lord hath sworn to make you his people.
12:23. 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.
12:24. 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.
12:25. But if you will still do wickedly: both you and your king shall
perish together.
1 Kings Chapter 13

The war between Saul and the Philistines. The distress of the Israelites.
Saul offereth sacri ice before the coming of Samuel: for which he is
reproved.
13:1. Saul was a child of one year when he began to reign, and he
reigned two years over Israel.
Of one year.... That is, he was good and like an innocent child, and for two years
continued in that innocency.
13:2. 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.

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 13:3. 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.
13:4. 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.
13:5. The Philistines also were assembled to ight against Israel,
thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and a multitude
of people besides, like the sand on the seashore for number. And going
up they camped in Machmas, at the east of Bethaven.
13:6. 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.
13:7. 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.
13:8. And he waited seven days, according to the appointment of
Samuel, and Samuel came not to Galgal, and the people slipt away
from him.
13:9. Then Saul said: Bring me the holocaust, and the peace
offerings. And he offered the holocaust.
13:10. And when he had made an end of offering the holocaust,
behold Samuel came: and Saul went forth to meet him and salute him.
13:11. 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,
13:12. 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.
13:13. 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:
13:14. 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.
13:15. 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.
13:16. 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.
13:17. 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;
13:18. 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.
13:19. 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.
13:20. So all Israel went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every
man his ploughshare, and his spade, and his axe, and his rake.
13:21. So that their shares, and their spades, and their forks, and
their axes, were blunt, even to the goad, which was to be mended.
13:22. 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.
13:23. And the army of the Philistines went out in order to advance
further in Machmas.

 1 Kings Chapter 14

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.
14:1. 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.
14:2. 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.
14:3. And Achias, the son of Achitob, brother of 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.
14:4. 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:
14:5. One rock stood out toward the north, over against Machmas,
and the other to the south, over against Gabaa.
14:6. 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.
14:7. And his armourbearer said to him: Do all that pleaseth thy
mind: go whither thou wilt, and I will be with thee wheresoever thou
hast a mind.
14:8. And Jonathan said: Behold we will go over to these men. And
when we shall be seen by them,

 14:9. 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.
14:10. 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.
This shall be a sign.... It is likely Jonathan was instructed by divine inspiration to
make a choice of this sign: otherwise the observation of omens is superstitious
and sinful.
14:11. 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.
14:12. And the men of the garrison spoke to Jonathan, and to his
armourbearer, and said: Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing.
And Jonathan said to his armourbearer: Let us go up, follow me: for
the Lord hath delivered them into the hands of Israel.
14:13. And Jonathan went up creeping on his hands and feet, and his
armourbearer after him. And some fell before Jonathan, others his
armourbearer slew as he followed him.
14:14. And the irst slaughter which Jonathan and his armourbearer
made, was of about twenty men, within half an acre of land, which a
yoke of oxen is wont to plough in a day.
14:15. And there was a miracle in the camp, in the ields: 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.
14:16. And the watchmen of Saul, who were in Gabaa of Benjamin
looked, and behold a multitude overthrown, and leeing this way and
that.
14:17. 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 armourbearer were not there.
14:18. 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.)

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 14:19. 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.
14:20. Then Saul, and all the people that were with him, shouted
together, and they came to the place of the ight: and behold every
man’s sword was turned upon his neighbour, and there was a very
great slaughter.
14:21. 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.
14:22. And all the Israelites that had hid themselves in mount
Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines led, joined themselves with their
countrymen in the ight. And there were with Saul about ten thousand
men.
14:23. And the Lord saved Israel that day. And the ight went on as
far as Bethaven.
14:24. 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.
14:25. And all the common people came into a forest, in which there
was honey upon the ground.
14:26. 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.
14:27. 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 honeycomb: and he carried his hand to his mouth, and
his eyes were enlightened.
14:28. 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.)

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 14:29. 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:
14:30. 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?
14:31. So they smote that day the Philistines, from Machmas to
Aialon. And the people were wearied exceedingly.
14:32. 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.
14:33. 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.
14:34. 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.
14:35. And Saul built an altar to the Lord: and he then irst began to
build an altar to the Lord.
14:36. 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.
14:37. 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.
14:38. And Saul said: Bring hither all the corners of the people: and
know, and see by whom this sin hath happened to day.

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 14:39. As the Lord liveth, who is the Saviour of Israel, if it was done
by Jonathan, my son, he shall surely die. In this none of the people
gainsayed him.
14:40. 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.
14:41. 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.
14:42. And Saul said: Cast lots between me, and Jonathan, my son.
And Jonathan was taken.
Jonathan was taken.... Though Jonathan was excused from sin, through
ignorance of the prohibition, yet God was pleased on this occasion to let the lot
fall upon him, to shew unto all the great obligation of obedience to princes and
parents.
14:43. 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.
14:44. And Saul said: May God do so and so to me, and add still
more: for dying thou shalt die, O Jonathan.
14:45. 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.
14:46. And Saul went back, and did not pursue after the Philistines:
and the Philistines went to their own places.
14:47. 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.
14:48. And gathering together an army, he defeated Amalec, and
delivered Israel from the hand of them that spoiled them.
14:49. And the sons of Saul, were Jonathan, and Jessui, and
Melchisua: and the names of his two daughters, the name of the
irstborn was Merob, and the name of the younger Michol.
14:50. 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.
14:51. For Cis was the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner,
was son of Abiel.
14:52. And there was a great war against the Philistines all the days
of Saul. For whomsoever Saul saw to be a valiant man, and it for war,
he took him to himself.
1 Kings Chapter 15

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.
15:1. 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:
15:2. 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.
15:3. Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly destroy all
that he hath: spare him not, nor covet anything that is his: but slay
both man and woman, child and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
Child.... The great Master of life and death (who cuts off one half of all mankind
whilst they are children) has been pleased sometimes to ordain that children
should be put to the sword, in detestation of the crimes of their parents, and that
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 they might not live to follow the same wicked ways. But without such ordinance
of God it is not allowable, in any wars, how just soever, to kill children.
15:4. So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as lambs:
two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda.
15:5. And when Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid
ambushes in the torrent.
15:6. 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.
15:7. And Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur,
which is over against Egypt.
15:8. And he took Agag, the king of Amalec, alive: but all the
common people he slew with the edge of the sword.
15:9. And Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the
locks 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.
15:10. And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying:
15:11. 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.
15:12. 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.
15:13. And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said to him: Blessed
be thou of the Lord, I have ful illed the word of the Lord.
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 15:14. And Samuel said: What meaneth then this bleating of the
locks, which soundeth in my ears, and the lowing of the herds, which I
hear?
15:15. 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 sacri iced to the Lord thy God, but the rest we have slain.
15:16. 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.
15:17. 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.
15:18. And the Lord sent thee on the way, and said: Go, and kill the
sinners of Amalec, and thou shalt ight against them until thou hast
utterly destroyed them.
15:19. 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?
15:20. 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.
15:21. But the people took of the spoils, sheep and oxen, as the
irstfruits of those things that were slain, to offer sacri ice to the Lord
their God in Galgal.
15:22. 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 sacri ices: and to hearken rather than to
offer the fat of rams.
15:23. Because it is like the sin of witchcraft, to rebel: and like the
crime of idolatry, to refuse to obey. Forasmuch, therefore, as thou hast
rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord hath also rejected thee from
being king.
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 15:24. 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.
15:25. But now bear, I beseech thee, my sin, and return with me, that
I may adore the Lord.
15:26. 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.
15:27. And Samuel turned about to go away: but he laid hold upon
the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
15:28. 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.
15:29. 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.
15:30. 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.
15:31. So Samuel turned again after Saul: and Saul adored the Lord.
15:32. And Samuel said: Bring hither to 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?
15:33. 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.
15:34. And Samuel departed to Ramatha: but Saul went up to his
house in Gabaa.
15:35. 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.
Saw Saul no more till the day of his death.... That is, he went no more to see him:
he visited him no more.

 1 Kings Chapter 16

Samuel is sent to Bethlehem, where he anointeth David: who is taken

into Saul’s family.
16:1. And the Lord said to Samuel: How long wilt thou mourn for
Saul, whom I have rejected from reigning over Israel? ill 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.
16:2. 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 sacri ice to the Lord.
16:3. And thou shalt call Isai to the sacri ice, and I will shew thee
what thou art to do, and thou shalt anoint him whom I shall shew to
thee.
16:4. 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?
16:5. And he said: It is peaceable: I am come to offer sacri ice to the
Lord, be ye sancti ied, and come with me to the sacri ice. And he
sancti ied Isai and his sons, and called them to the sacri ice.
16:6. And when they were come in, he saw Eliab, and said: Is the
Lord’s anointed before him?
16:7. 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.
16:8. And Isai called Abinadab, and brought him before Samuel. And
he said: Neither hath the Lord chosen this,
16:9. And Isai brought Samma, and he said of him: Neither hath the
Lord chosen this.
16:10. Isai therefore brought his seven sons before Samuel: and
Samuel said to Isai: The Lord hath not chosen any one of these.

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 16:11. 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.
16:12. 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.
16:13. 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.
16:14. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil
spirit from the Lord troubled him.
From the Lord.... An evil spirit, by divine permission, and for his punishment,
either possessed or obsessed him.
16:15. And the servants of Saul said to him: Behold now an evil
spirit from God troubleth thee.
16:16. 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 mayst bear it more easily.
16:17. And Saul said to his servants: Provide me then some man that
can play well, and bring him to me.
16:18. 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 it for war, and prudent in his words, and a
comely person: and the Lord is with him.
16:19. Then Saul sent messengers to Isai, saying: Send me David, thy
son, who is in the pastures.
16:20. And Isai took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine,
and a kid of the lock, and sent them by the hand of David, his son, to
Saul.

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 16:21. And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved
him exceedingly, and made him his armourbearer.
16:22. And Saul sent to Isai, saying: Let David stand before me: for
he hath found favour in my sight.
16:23. 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.
Departed from him.... Chased away by David’s devotion.
1 Kings Chapter 17

War with the Philistines. Goliath challengeth Israel. He is slain by

David.
17:1. 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.
17:2. And Saul and the children of Israel being gathered together,
came to the valley of Terebinth, and they set the army in array to ight
against the Philistines.
17:3. 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.
17:4. And there went out a man baseborn from the camp of the
Philistines, named Goliath, of Geth, whose height was six cubits and a
span:
17:5. 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 ive thousand sicles of brass:
17:6. And he had greaves of brass on his legs, and a buckler of brass
covered his shoulders.

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 17:7. 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
armourbearer went before him.
17:8. And standing, he cried out to the bands of Israel, and said to
them: Why are you come out prepared to ight? am not I a Philistine,
and you the servants of Saul? Choose out a man of you, and let him
come down and ight hand to hand.
17:9. If he be able to ight 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.
17:10. And the Philistine said: I have de ied the bands of Israel this
day: give me a man, and let him ight with me hand to hand.
17:11. And Saul and all the Israelites hearing these words of the
Philistine, were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
17:12. 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.
17:13. 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
irstborn, and the second, Abinadab, and the third Samma:
17:14. But David was the youngest. So the three eldest having
followed Saul,
17:15. David went, and returned from Saul, to feed his father’s lock
at Bethlehem.
17:16. Now the Philistine came out morning and evening, and
presented himself forty days.
17:17. 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,
17:18. 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.
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 17:19. But Saul, and they, and all the children of Israel, were in the
valley of Terebinth, ighting against the Philistines.
17:20. David, therefore, arose in the morning, and gave the charge
of the lock 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 ight, and shouted for the battle.
17:21. For Israel had put themselves in array, and the Philistines
who stood against them were prepared.
17:22. 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.
17:23. And as he talked with them, that baseborn 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,
17:24. And all the Israelites, when they saw the man, led from his
face, fearing him exceedingly.
17:25. 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.
17:26. 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?
17:27. And the people answered him the same words, saying: These
things shall be given to the man that shall slay him.
17:28. 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.
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 17:29. And David said: What have I done? is there not cause to
speak?
17:30. And he turned a little aside from him to another: and said the
same word. And the people answered him as before.
17:31. And the words which David spoke were heard, and were
rehearsed before Saul.
17:32. 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 ight
against the Philistine.
17:33. And Saul said to David: Thou art not able to withstand this
Philistine, nor to ight against him: for thou art but a boy, but he is a
warrior from his youth.
17:34. 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
lock:
17:35. 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.
17:36. 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?
17:37. 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.
17:38. And Saul clothed David with his garments, and put a helmet
of brass upon his head, and armed him with a coat of mail.
17:39. 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
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 David said to Saul: I cannot go thus, for I am not used to it. And he laid
them off,
17:40. And he took his staff, which he had always in his hands: and
chose him ive 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.
17:41. And the Philistine came on, and drew nigh against David, and
his armourbearer went before him.
17:42. And when the Philistine looked, and beheld David, he
despised him. For he was a young man, ruddy, and of a comely
countenance.
17:43. 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.
17:44. And he said to David: Come to me, and I will give thy lesh to
the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth.
17:45. 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 de ied.
17:46. 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.
17:47. 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.
17:48. And when the Philistine arose, and was coming, and drew
nigh to meet David, David made haste, and ran to the ight to meet the
Philistine.
17:49. 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
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forehead: and the stone was ixed in his forehead, and he fell on his
face upon the earth.
17:50. 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,
17:51. 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, led away.
17:52. 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.
17:53. And the children of Israel returning, after they had pursued
the Philistines, fell upon their camp.
17:54. And David taking the head of the Philistine, brought it to
Jerusalem: but his armour he put in his tent.
17:55. 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.
17:56. And the king said: Inquire thou, whose son this young man is.
17:57. 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.
17:58. 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 Kings Chapter 18

The friendship of Jonathan and David. The envy of Saul, and his design
upon David’s life. He marrieth him to his daughter Michol.

 18:1. 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.
18:2. And Saul took him that day, and would not let him return to
his father’s house.
18:3. And David and Jonathan made a covenant, for he loved him as
his own soul.
18:4. 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.
18:5. 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.
18:6. Now when David returned, after he 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.
18:7. And the women sung as they played, and they said: Saul slew
his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
18:8. 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?
18:9. And Saul did not look on David with a good eye from that day
and forward.
18:10. 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,
Prophesied.... Acted the prophet in a mad manner.
18:11. And threw it, thinking to nail David to the wall: and David
stept aside out of his presence twice.

 18:12. And Saul feared David, because the Lord was with him, and
was departed from himself.
18:13. 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.
18:14. And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was
with him.
18:15. And Saul saw that he was exceeding prudent, and began to
beware of him.
18:16. But all Israel and Juda loved David, for he came in and went
out before them.
18:17. And Saul said to David: Behold my elder daughter Merob, her
will I give thee to wife: only be a valiant man, and ight 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.
18:18. 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?
18:19. 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.
18:20. But Michol, the other daughter of Saul, loved David. And it
was told Saul, and it pleased him.
18:21. And Saul said: I will give her to him, that she may be a
stumblingblock 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.
18:22. 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.
18:23. 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.

 18:24. And the servants of Saul told him, saying: Such words as
these hath David spoken.
18:25. 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.
18:26. 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.
18:27. 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.
18:28. And Saul saw, and understood that the Lord was with David.
And Michol, the daughter of Saul, loved him.
18:29. And Saul began to fear David more: and Saul became David’s
enemy continually.
18:30. 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 Kings Chapter 19

Other attempts of Saul upon David’s life. He cometh to Samuel. Saul’s

messengers, and Saul himself prophesy.
19:1. 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.
19:2. 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.

 19:3. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the ield where
thou art: and I will speak of thee to my father, and whatsoever I shall
see, I will tell thee.
19:4. 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.
19:5. 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?
19:6. And when Saul heard this, he was appeased with the words of
Jonathan, and swore: As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain.
19:7. 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.
19:8. And the war began again, and David went out, and fought
against the Philistines, and defeated them with a great slaughter, and
they led from his face.
19:9. 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.
19:10. 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 led, and escaped
that night.
19:11. 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:
19:12. She let him down through a window. And he went and led
away, and escaped.

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 19:13. 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.
19:14. And Saul sent of icers to seize David; and it was answered
that he was sick.
19:15. And again Saul sent to see David, saying: Bring him to me in
the bed, that he may be slain.
19:16. And when the messengers were come in, they found an image
upon the bed, and a goat skin at his head.
19:17. And Saul said to Michol: Why hast thou deceived me so, and
let my enemy go and lee away? And Michol answered Saul: Because he
said to me: Let me go, or else I will kill thee.
19:18. But David led 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.
Najoth.... It was probably a school or college of prophets, in or near Ramath
under the direction of Samuel.
19:19. And it was told Saul by some, saying: Behold David is in
Najoth, in Ramatha.
19:20. So Saul sent of icers 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.
Prophesying.... That is, singing praises to God by a divine impulse. God was
pleased on this occasion that both Samuel’s messengers and himself should
experience the like impulse, that he might understand, by this instance of the
divine power, how vain are the designs of man against him whom God protects.
19:21. 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,
19:22. 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

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 Samuel and David? And it was told him: Behold they are in Najoth, in
Ramatha.
19:23. 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.
19:24. 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?
1 Kings Chapter 20

Saul being obstinately bent upon killing David, he is sent away by

Jonathan.
20:1. But David led 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?
20:2. And he said to him: God forbid, thou shalt not die: for my
father will do nothing, great or little, without irst telling me: hath
then my father hid this word only from me? no, this shall not be.
20:3. 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.
20:4. And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to
me, I will do for thee.
20:5. 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 ield till the evening of the
third day.

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 To morrow is the new moon.... The neomenia, or irst day of the moon, kept
according to the law, as a festival; and therefore Saul feasted on that day: and
expected the attendance of his family.
20:6. 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 sacri ices there for all of his tribe.
20:7. 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.
20:8. 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.
20:9. 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.
20:10. And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if
thy father should answer thee harshly concerning me?
20:11. And Jonathan said to David: Come, and let us go out into the
ield. And when they were both of them gone out into the ield,
20:12. 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,
20:13. 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 mayst go in peace, and
the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father.
20:14. And if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of the Lord: but
if I die,
20:15. 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.
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 May he take away Jonathan, etc.... It is a curse upon himself, if he should not be
faithful to his promise.—Ibid. Require it, etc.... That is, revenge it upon David’s
enemies, and upon me, if I should fail of my word given to him.
20:16. Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of David:
and the Lord required it at the hands of David’s enemies.
20:17. And Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved him:
for he loved him as his own soul.
20:18. And Jonathan said to him: To morrow is the new moon, and
thou wilt be missed:
20:19. For thy seat will be empty till after to morrow. So thou shalt
go down quickly, and come to the place where thou must he hid, on the
day when it is lawful to work, and thou shalt remain beside the stone,
which is called Ezel.
20:20. And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot as if I
were exercising myself at a mark.
20:21. And I will send a boy, saying to him: Go and fetch me the
arrows.
20:22. 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.
20:23. And concerning the word which I and thou have spoken, the
Lord be between thee and me forever.
20:24. So David was hid in the ield, and the new moon came, and
the king sat down to eat bread.
20:25. 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.
20:26. And Saul said nothing that day, for he thought it might have
happened to him, that he was not clean, nor puri ied.

 20:27. 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?
20:28. And Jonathan answered Saul: He asked leave of me earnestly
to go to Bethlehem.
20:29. And he said: Let me go, for there is a solemn sacri ice 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.
20:30. 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?
20:31. 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.
The son of death.... That is, one that deserveth death, and shall surely be put to
death.
20:32. And Jonathan answering Saul, his father, said: Why shall he
die? What hath he done?
20:33. And Saul caught up a spear to strike him. And Jonathan
understood that it was determined by his father to kill David.
20:34. 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.
20:35. And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the ield
according to the appointment with David, and a little boy with him.
20:36. 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.

 20:37. 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.
20:38. 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:
20:39. And he knew not at all what was doing: for only Jonathan
and David knew the matter.
20:40. Jonathan therefore gave his arms to the boy, and said to him:
Go, and carry them into the city.
20:41. And when the boy was gone, David rose out of his place,
which was toward the south, and falling on his face to the ground,
adored thrice: and kissing one another, they wept together; but David
more.
20:42. 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.
20:43. And David arose, and departed: and Jonathan went into the
city.
1 Kings Chapter 21

David receiveth holy bread of Achimelech, the priest: and feigneth

himself mad before Achis, king of Geth.
21:1. 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?
Nobe.... A city in the tribe of Benjamin, to which the tabernacle of the Lord had
been translated from Silo.
21:2. 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.
21:3. Now therefore if thou have any thing at hand, though it were
but ive loaves, give me, or whatsoever thou canst ind.
21:4. 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?
If the young men be clean, etc.... If this cleanness was required of them that were
to eat that bread, which was a igure of the bread of life which we receive in the
blessed sacrament; how clean ought Christians to be when they approach to our
tremendous mysteries. And what reason hath the church of God to admit none to
be her ministers to consecrate and daily receive this most pure sacrament, but
such as devote themselves to a life of perpetual purity.
21:5. 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 de iled, but it shall also be sancti ied
this day in the vessels.
The vessels.... i. e., the bodies, have been holy, that is, have been kept from
impurity.—Ibid. Is de iled.... Is liable to expose us to dangers of uncleanness.—
Ibid. Be sancti ied, etc.... That is, we shall take care, notwithstanding these
dangerous circumstances, to keep our vessels holy, that is, to keep our bodies
from every thing that may de ile us.
21:6. 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.
21:7. 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.
21:8. 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.
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 21:9. 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.
21:10. And David arose and led that day from the face of Saul: and
came to Achis, the king of Geth:
21:11. 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?
21:12. But David laid up these words in his heart, and was
exceedingly afraid at the face of Achis, the king of Geth.
21:13. 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.
21:14. And Achis said to his servants: You saw the man was mad:
why have you brought him to me?
21:15. 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 Kings Chapter 22

Many resort to David. Doeg accuseth Achimelech to Saul. He ordereth

him and all the other priests of Nobe to be slain. Abiathar escapeth.
22:1. David therefore went from thence, and led 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.
22:2. And all that were in distress, and oppressed with debt, and
under af liction of mind, gathered themselves unto him: and he
became their prince, and there were with him about four hundred
men.

 22:3. 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.
22:4. 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.
The hold.... The strong hold, or fortress of Maspha.
22:5. 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.
22:6. 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,
22:7. 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 ields, and
vineyards, and make you all tribunes, and centurions:
22:8. 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.
22:9. 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.
22:10. And he consulted the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and
gave him the sword of Goliath, the Philistine.
22:11. 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.
22:12. And Saul said to Achimelech: Hear, thou son of Achitob. He
answered: Here I am, my lord.

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 22:13. 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.
22:14. 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?
22:15. 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.
22:16. And the king said: Dying thou shalt die, Achimelech, thou and
all thy father’s house.
22:17. 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 led, and they told it not to me. And the
king’s servants would not put forth their hands against the priests of
the Lord.
22:18. 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- ive men that wore the linen ephod.
22:19. And Nobe, the city of the priests, he smote with the edge of
the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and ox, and
ass, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.
22:20. But one of the sons of Achimelech, the son of Achitob, whose
name was Abiathar, escaped, and led to David,
22:21. And told him that Saul had slain the priests of the Lord.
22:22. 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.
22:23. Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life,
seeketh thy life also, and with me thou shalt be saved.

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 1 Kings Chapter 23

David relieveth Ceila, besieged by the Philistines. He leeth into the

desert of Ziph. Jonathan and he con irm their former covenant. The
Ziphites discover him to Saul, who pursuing close after him, is called
away by an invasion from the Philistines.
23:1. And they told David, saying: Behold the Philistines ight
against Ceila, and they rob the barns.
23:2. 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.
23:3. 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?
23:4. 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.
23:5. 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.
23:6. Now at that time, when Abiathar, the son of Achimelech, led to
David, to Ceila, he came down, having an ephod with him.
An ephod.... Or the ephod. That is, the vestment of the high priest, with the urim
and thummim, by which the Lord gave his oracle.
23:7. 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.
23:8. And Saul commanded all the people to go down to ight
against Ceila, and to besiege David and his men.
23:9. Now when David understood that Saul secretly prepared evil
against him, he said to Abiathar, the priest: Bring hither the ephod.

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 23:10. 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:
23:11. 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.
23:12. 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.
23:13. 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 led from Ceila,
and had escaped: wherefore he forbore to go out.
23:14. 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.
23:15. And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life. And
David was in the desert of Ziph, in a wood.
23:16. 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:
23:17. Fear not: for the hand of my father, Saul, shall not ind thee,
and thou shalt reign over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; yea and my
father knoweth this.
23:18. And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David
abode in the wood: but Jonathan returned to his house.
23:19. 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.
23:20. 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.
23:21. And Saul said: Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have pitied
my case.

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 23:22. 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.
23:23. 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.
23:24. 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.
23:25. 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.
23:26. 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.
23:27. And a messenger came to Saul, saying: Make haste to come,
for the Philistines have poured in themselves upon the land.
23:28. 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 Kings Chapter 24

Saul seeketh David in the wilderness of Engaddi: he goeth into a cave

where David hath him in his power.
24:1. Then David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds of
Engaddi.
24:2. And when Saul was returned from following the Philistines,
they told him, saying: Behold, David is in the desert of Engaddi.

 24:3. 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.
24:4. And he came to the sheepcotes 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.
24:5. 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
mayst do to him as it shall seem good in thy eyes. Then David arose,
and secretly cut off the hem of Saul’s robe.
24:6. After which David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off
the hem of Saul’s robe.
Heart struck him.... Viz., with remorse, as fearing he had done amiss.
24:7. 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.
24:8. 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.
24:9. 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,
24:10. And said to Saul: Why dost thou hear the words of men that
say: David seeketh thy hurt?
24:11. 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.
A thought to kill thee.... That is, a suggestion, to which I did not consent.
24:12. 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. Re lect, 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.
24:13. The Lord judge between me and thee and the Lord revenge
me of thee: but my hand shall not be upon thee.
Revenge me of thee.... Or, as it is in the Hebrew, will revenge me. The meaning is,
that he refers his whole cause to God, to judge and punish according to his
justice: yet so as to keep himself in the mean time, from all personal hatred to
Saul, or desire of gratifying his own passion, by seeking revenge. So far from it,
that when Saul was afterwards slain, we ind, that instead of rejoicing at his
death, he mourned most bitterly for him.
24:14. 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?
24:15. After whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a lea.
24:16. Be the Lord judge, and judge between me and thee, and see,
and judge my cause, and deliver me out of thy hand.
24:17. 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:
24:18. 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.
24:19. 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.
24:20. 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.
24:21. And now as I know that thou shalt surely be king, and have
the kingdom of Israel in thy hand:
24:22. 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.

 24:23. And David swore to Saul. So Saul went home: and David and
his men went up into safer places.
1 Kings Chapter 25

The death of Samuel. David, provoked by Nabal, threateneth to destroy

him: but is appeased by Abigail.
25:1. 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.
25:2. 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.
25:3. 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.
25:4. And when David heard in the wilderness, that Nabal was
shearing his sheep,
25:5. 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.
25:6. And you shall say: Peace be to my brethren, and to thee, and
peace to thy house, and peace to all that thou hast.
25:7. 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 lock at any time, all the while they were with
us in Carmel.
25:8. Ask thy servants, and they will tell thee. Now therefore let thy
servants ind favour in thy eyes: for we are come in a good day,
whatsoever thy hand shall ind give to thy servants, and to thy son
David.

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 25:9. And when David’s servants came, they spoke to Nabal all these
words in David’s name, and then held their peace.
25:10. But Nabal answering the servants of David, said: Who is
David? and what is the son of Isai? servants are multiplied now days
who lee from their masters.
25:11. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and the lesh of my
cattle, which I have killed for my shearers, and give to men whom I
know not whence they are?
25:12. So the servants of David went back their way, and returning
came and told him all the words that he said.
25:13. 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.
25:14. 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.
25:15. 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.
25:16. They were a wall unto us, both by night and day, all the while
we were with them keeping the sheep.
25:17. 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.
25:18. Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, and
two vessels of wine, and ive sheep ready dressed, and ive measures of
parched corn, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred
cakes of dry igs, and laid them upon asses:
25:19. And she said to her servants: Go before me: behold, I will
follow after you: but she told not her husband, Nabal.
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 25:20. 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.
25:21. 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.
25:22. 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.
If I leave, etc.... David certainly sinned in his designs against Nabal and his family,
as he himself was afterwards sensible, when he blessed God for hindering him
from executing the revenge he had proposed.
25:23. 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.
25:24. 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.
25:25. 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.
His name.... Nabal, in Hebrew, signi ies a fool.
25:26. 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.
25:27. 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.
25:28. Forgive the iniquity of thy handmaid: for the Lord will surely
make for my lord a faithful house, because thou, my lord, ightest the

f
 battles of the Lord: let not evil therefore be found in thee all the days
of thy life.
25:29. 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.
25:30. 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,
25:31. 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.
25:32. 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:
25:33. And blessed be thou, who hast kept me to day from coming to
blood, and revenging me with my own hand.
25:34. 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.
25:35. 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 honoured thy face.
25:36. 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.
25:37. 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.
25:38. And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal, and he
died.

 25:39. 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.
Blessed be, etc.... David praiseth God, on this occasion, not out of joy for the death
of Nabal (which would have argued a rancour of heart), but because he saw that
God had so visibly taken his cause in hand, in punishing the injury done to him;
whilst, by a merciful providence he kept him from revenging himself.
25:40. 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.
25:41. 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.
25:42. And Abigail arose, and made haste, and got upon an ass, and
ive damsels went with her, her waiting maids, and she followed the
messengers of David, and became his wife.
25:43. Moreover David took also Achinoam of Jezrahel: and they
were both of them his wives.
25:44. But Saul gave Michol, his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti, the
son of Lais, who was of Gallim.
1 Kings Chapter 26

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.
26:1. 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.
26:2. 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.
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 26:3. 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,
26:4. He sent spies, and learned that he was most certainly come
thither.
26:5. 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,
26:6. 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.
26:7. So David and Abisai came to the people by night, and found
Saul lying and sleeping in the tent, and his spear ixed in the ground at
his head: and Abner and the people sleeping round about him.
26:8. 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.
26:9. And David said to Abisai: Kill him not: for who shall put forth
his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and shall be guiltless?
26:10. 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:
26:11. The Lord be merciful unto me, that I extend not my hand
upon the Lord’s anointed. But now take the spear, which is at his head,
and the cup of water, and let us go.
26:12. 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.
26:13. 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,

 26:14. 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?
26:15. And David said to Abner: Art not thou a man? and who is like
unto 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.
26:16. 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?
26:17. 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.
26:18. And he said: Wherefore doth my lord persecute his servant?
What have I done? or what evil is there in my hand?
26:19. 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
sacri ice: 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.
26:20. 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 lea, as the partridge is
hunted in the mountains.
26:21. 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.
26:22. And David answering, said: Behold the king’s spear: let one of
the king’s servants come over and fetch it.
26:23. 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.
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 26:24. 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.
26:25. 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 Kings Chapter 27

David goeth again to Achis king of Geth, and obtaineth of him the city
of Siceleg.
27:1. 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 lee, 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 lee then out of his hands.
27:2. 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.
27:3. 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.
27:4. And it was told Saul that David was led to Geth, and he sought
no more after him.
27:5. 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?
27:6. Then Achis gave him Siceleg that day: for which reason Siceleg
belongeth to the kings of Juda unto this day.
27:7. And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines,
was four months.
27:8. 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.

f
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 Pillaged Gessuri, etc.... These probably were enemies of the people of God: and
some, if not all of them, were of the number of those whom God had ordered to
be destroyed: which justi ies David’s proceedings in their regard. Though it is to
be observed here, that we are not under an obligation of justifying every thing
that he did: for the scripture, in relating what was done, does not say that it was
well done. And even such as are true servants of God, are not to be imitated in all
they do.
27:9. 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.
27:10. 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.
27:11. 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.
27:12. And Achis believed David, saying: He hath done much harm
to his people Israel: Therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
1 Kings Chapter 28

The Philistines go out to war against Israel. Saul being forsaken by

God, hath recourse to a witch. Samuel appeareth to him.
28:1. 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.
28:2. 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.
28:3. 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.

 28:4. And the Philistines were gathered together, and came and
encamped in Sunam: and Saul also gathered together all Israel, and
came to Gelboe.
28:5. And Saul saw the army of the Philistines, and was afraid, and
his heart was very much dismayed.
28:6. And he consulted the Lord, and he answered him not, neither
by dreams, nor by priests, nor by prophets.
28:7. 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.
28:8. 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.
28:9. 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?
28:10. And Saul swore unto her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord
liveth, there shall no evil happen to thee for this thing.
28:11. And the woman said to him: Whom shall I bring up to thee?
And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
28:12. 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.
28:13. 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.
28:14. 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.

 Understood that it was Samuel.... It is the more common opinion of the holy
fathers, and interpreters, that the soul of Samuel appeared indeed: and not, as
some have imagined, an evil spirit in his shape. Not that the power of her magic
could bring him thither, but that God was pleased for the punishment of Saul,
that Samuel himself should denounce unto him the evils that were falling upon
him. See Eccli. 46.23.
28:15. 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 ight 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 mayst shew me what I shall do.
28:16. And Samuel said: Why askest thou me, seeing the Lord has
departed from thee, and is gone over to thy rival?
28:17. 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:
28:18. 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.
28:19. 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.
With me.... That is, in the state of the dead, and in another world, though not in
the same place.
28:20. 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.
28:21. 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.

 28:22. Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of
thy handmaid, and let me set before thee a morsel of bread, that thou
mayst eat and recover strength, and be able to go on thy journey.
28:23. 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.
28:24. 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,
28:25. And set it before Saul, and before his servants. And when they
had eaten they rose up, and walked all that night.
1 Kings Chapter 29

David going with the Philistines is sent back by their princes.

29:1. Now all the troops of the Philistines were gathered together to
Aphec: and Israel also encamped by the fountain, which is in Jezrahel.
29:2. And the lords of the Philistines marched with their hundreds
and their thousands: but David and his men were in the rear with
Achis.
29:3. 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 led over to me until this day?
29:4. 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 ight: for how can
he otherwise appease his master, but with our heads?
29:5. Is not this David, to whom they sung in their dances, saying:
Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

 29:6. 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.
29:7. Return therefore, and go in peace, and offend not the eyes of
the princes of the Philistines.
29:8. And David said to Achis: But what have I done, or 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 ight against the enemies of
my lord the king?
29:9. 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.
29:10. 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.
29:11. 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 Kings Chapter 30

The Amalecites burn Siceleg, and carry off the prey: David pursueth
after them, and recovereth all out of their hands.
30:1. 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 ire,
30:2. 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.

 30:3. So when David and his men came to the city, and found it
burnt with ire, and that their wives, and their sons, and their
daughters, were taken captives,
30:4. David and the people that were with him, lifted up their voices,
and wept till they had no more tears.
30:5. For the two wives also of David were taken captives,
Achinoam, the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.
30:6. And David was greatly af licted: 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.
30:7. And he said to Abiathar, the priest, the son of Achimelech:
Bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
30:8. 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.
30:9. 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.
30:10. But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two
hundred stayed, who, being weary, could not go over the torrent Besor.
30:11. And they found an Egyptian in the ield, and brought him to
David: and they gave him bread to eat, and water to drink,
30:12. As also a piece of a cake of igs, 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.
30:13. 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.

 30:14. 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 ire.
30:15. 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.
30:16. And when he had brought him, behold they were lying spread
abroad 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.
30:17. 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 led.
30:18. So David recovered all that the Amalecites had taken, and he
rescued his two wives.
30:19. 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.
30:20. And he took all the locks and the herds, and made them go
before him: and they said: This is the prey of David.
30:21. 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.
30:22. 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.

 30:23. 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:
30:24. 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.
30:25. And this hath been done from that day forward, and since
was made a statute and an ordinance, and as a law in Israel.
30:26. 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.
30:27. To them that were in Bethel, and that were in Ramoth to the
south, and to them that were in Jether.
30:28. And to them that were in Aroer, and that were in Sephamoth,
and that were in Esthamo,
30:29. And that were in Rachal, and that were in the cities of
Jerameel, and that were in the cities of Ceni,
30:30. And that were in Arama, and that were in the lake Asan, and
that were in Athach,
30:31. And that were in Hebron, and to the rest that were in those
places, in which David had abode with his men.
1 Kings Chapter 31

Israel is defeated by the Philistines: Saul and his sons are slain.
31:1. And the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel
led from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gelboe.
31:2. And the Philistines fell upon Saul, and upon his sons, and they
slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchisua, the sons of Saul.
31:3. And the whole weight of the battle was turned upon Saul: and
the archers overtook him, and he was grievously wounded by the
archers.
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 31:4. Then Saul said to his armourbearer: Draw thy sword, and kill
me: lest these uncircumcised come, and slay me, and mock at me. And
his armourbearer would not: for he was struck with exceeding great
fear. Then Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.
31:5. And when his armourbearer saw this, to wit, that Saul was
dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.
31:6. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all
his men that same day together.
31:7. And the men of Israel, that were beyond the valley, and beyond
the Jordan, seeing that the Israelites were led, and that Saul was dead,
and his sons, forsook their cities, and led: and the Philistines came and
dwelt there.
31:8. And on the morrow the Philistines came to strip the slain, and
they found Saul and his three sons lying in mount Gelboe.
31:9. 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.
31:10. And they put his armour in the temple of Astaroth, but his
body they hung on the wall of Bethsan.
31:11. Now when the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad had heard all that
the Philistines had done to Saul,
31:12. 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.
31:13. And they took their bones, and buried them in the wood of
Jabes: and fasted seven days.

THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL, OTHERWISE

CALLED THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS

 This Book relates the transactions from the death of Saul until the end
of David’s reign, being a history for the space of about forty-six years.
2 Kings Chapter 1

David mourneth for the death of Saul and Jonathan: he ordereth the
man to be slain who pretended he had killed Saul.
1:1. Now it came to pass, after Saul was dead, that David returned
from the slaughter of the Amalecites, and abode two days in Siceleg.
1:2. And on the third day, there appeared a man who came out of
Saul’s camp, with his garments rent, and dust strewed on his head:
and when he came to David, he fell upon his face, and adored.
1:3. And David said to him: From whence comest thou? And he said
to him: I am led out of the camp of Israel.
1:4. And David said unto him: What is the matter that is come to
pass? tell me: He said: The people are led from the battle, and many of
the people are fallen and dead: moreover Saul and Jonathan his son
are slain.
1:5. And David said to the young man that told him: How knowest
thou that Saul and Jonathan his son, are dead?
1:6. And the young man that told him, said: I came by chance upon
mount Gelboe, and Saul leaned upon his spear: and the chariots and
horsemen drew nigh unto him,
1:7. And looking behind him, and seeing me, he called me. And I
answered, Here am I.
1:8. And he said to me: Who art thou? And I said to him: I am an
Amalecite.
1:9. And he said to me: Stand over me, and kill me: for anguish is
come upon me, and as yet my whole life is in me.
1:10. So standing over him, I killed him: for I knew that he could not
live after the fall: and I took the diadem that was on his head, and the

 bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither to thee,
my lord.
I killed him.... This story of the young Amalecite was not true, as may easily be
proved by comparing it with the last chapter of the foregoing book.
1:11. Then David took hold of his garments and rent them, and
likewise all the men that were with him.
1:12. And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul,
and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the
house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword.
1:13. And David said to the young man that told him: Whence art
thou? He answered: I am the son of a stranger of Amalec.
1:14. David said to him: Why didst thou not fear to put out thy hand
to kill the Lord’s anointed?
1:15. And David calling one of his servants, said: Go near and fall
upon him. And he struck him so that he died.
1:16. And David said to him: Thy blood be upon thy own head: for
thy own mouth hath spoken against thee, saying: I have slain the
Lord’s anointed.
1:17. And David made this kind of lamentation over Saul, and over
Jonathan his son.
1:18. (Also he commanded that they should teach the children of
Juda the use of the bow, as it is written in the book of the just.) And he
said: Consider, O Israel, for them that are dead, wounded on thy high
places.
1:19. The illustrious of Israel are slain upon thy mountains: how are
the valiant fallen?
1:20. Tell it not in Geth, publish it not in the streets of Ascalon: lest
the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the
uncircumcised triumph.
1:21. Ye mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew, nor rain come upon
you, neither be they ields of irstfruits: for there was cast away the

 shield of the valiant, the shield of Saul as though he had not been
anointed with oil.
1:22. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the valiant, the
arrow of Jonathan never turned back, and the sword of Saul did not
return empty.
1:23. Saul and Jonathan, lovely, and comely in their life, even in
death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, stronger
than lions.
1:24. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with
scarlet in delights, who gave ornaments of gold for your attire.
1:25. How are the valiant fallen in battle? Jonathan slain in the high
places?
1:26. I grieve for thee, my brother Jonathan: exceeding beautiful,
and amiable to me above the love of women. As the mother loveth her
only son, so did I love thee.
1:27. How are the valiant fallen, and the weapons of war perished?
2 Kings Chapter 2

David is received and anointed king of Juda. Isboseth the son of Saul
reigneth over the rest of Israel. A battle between Abner and Joab.
2:1. And after these things David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I
go up into one of the cities of Juda? And the Lord said to him: Go up.
And David said: Whither shall I go up? And he answered him: Into
Hebron.
2:2. So David went up, and his two wives Achinoam the Jezrahelitess,
and Abigail the wife of Nabal of Carmel:
2:3. And the men also that were with him, David brought up every
man with his household: and they abode in the towns of Hebron.
2:4. And the men of Juda came, and anointed David there, to be king
over the house of Juda. And it was told David that the men of Jabes
Galaad had buried Saul.

 2:5. David therefore sent messengers to the men of Jabes Galaad,

and said to them: Blessed be you to the Lord, who have shewn this
mercy to your master Saul, and have buried him.
2:6. And now the Lord surely will render you mercy and truth, and I
also will requite you for this good turn, because you have done this
thing.
2:7. Let your hands be strengthened, and be ye men of valour: for
although your master Saul be dead, yet the house of Juda hath
anointed me to be their king.
2:8. But Abner the son of Ner, general of Saul’s army, took Isboseth
the son of Saul, and led him about through the camp,
2:9. And made him king over Galaad, and over Gessuri, and over
Jezrahel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
2:10. Isboseth the son of Saul was forty years old when he began to
reign over Israel, and he reigned two years; and only the house of Juda
followed David.
He reigned two years.... Viz., before he began visibly to decline: but in all he
reigned seven years and six months; for so long David reigned in Hebron.
2:11. And the number of the days that David abode, reigning in
Hebron over the house of Juda, was seven years and six months.
2:12. And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Isboseth the son
of Saul, went out from the camp to Gabaon.
2:13. And Joab the son of Sarvia, and the servants of David went out,
and met them by the pool of Gabaon. And when they were come
together, they sat down over against one another: the one on the one
side of the pool, and the other on the other side.
2:14. And Abner said to Joab: Let the young men rise, and play
before us. And Joab answered: Let them rise.
2:15. Then there arose and went over twelve in number of Benjamin,
of the part of Isboseth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of
David.

 2:16. And every one catching his fellow by the head, thrust his sword
into the side of his adversary, and they fell down together: and the
name of the place was called: The ield of the valiant, in Gabaon.
2:17. And there was a very ierce battle that day: and Abner was put
to light, with the men of Israel, by the servants of David.
2:18. And there were the three sons of Sarvia there, Joab, and Abisai,
and Asael: now Asael was a most swift runner, like one of the roes that
abide in the woods.
2:19. And Asael pursued after Abner, and turned not to the right
hand nor to the left from following Abner.
2:20. And Abner looked behind him, and said: Art thou Asael? And he
answered: I am.
2:21. And Abner said to him: Go to the right hand or to the left, and
lay hold on one of the young men and take thee his spoils. But Asael
would not leave off following him close.
2:22. And again Abner said to Asael: Go off, and do not follow me,
lest I be obliged to stab thee to the ground, and I shall not be able to
hold up my face to Joab thy brother.
2:23. But he refused to hearken to him, and would not turn aside:
wherefore Abner struck him with his spear with a back stroke in the
groin, and thrust him through, and he died upon the spot: and all that
came to the place where Asael fell down and died stood still.
2:24. Now while Joab and Abisai pursued after Abner, the sun went
down: and they came as far as the hill of the aqueduct, that lieth over
against the valley by the way of the wilderness in Gabaon.
2:25. And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together to
Abner: and being joined in one body, they stood on the top of a hill.
2:26. And Abner cried out to Joab, and said: Shall thy sword rage
unto utter destruction? knowest thou not that it is dangerous to drive
people to despair? how long dost thou defer to bid the people cease
from pursuing after their brethren?
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 2:27. And Joab said: As the Lord liveth, if thou hadst spoke sooner,
even in the morning the people should have retired from pursuing
after their brethren.
2:28. Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and all the army stood still,
and did not pursue after Israel any farther, nor ight any more.
2:29. And Abner and his men walked all that night through the
plains: and they passed the Jordan, and having gone through all Beth-
horon, came to the camp.
2:30. And Joab returning, after he had left Abner, assembled all the
people: and there were wanting of David’s servants nineteen men,
beside Asael.
2:31. But the servants of David had killed of Benjamin, and of the
men that were with Abner, three hundred and sixty, who all died.
2:32. And they took Asael, and buried him in the sepulchre of his
father in Bethlehem and Joab, and the men that were with him,
marched all the night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.
2 Kings Chapter 3

David groweth daily stronger. Abner cometh over to him: he is

treacherously slain by Joab.
3:1. Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the
house of David: David prospering and growing always stronger and
stronger, but the house of Saul decaying daily.
There was a long war between the house of Saul, etc.... Rather a strife or
emulation than a war with arms; it lasted ive years and a half.
3:2. And sons were born to David in Hebron: and his irstborn was
Amnon of Achinoam the Jezrahelitess:
3:3. And his second Cheleab of Abigail the wife of Nabal of Carmel:
and the third Absalom the son of Maacha the daughter of Tholmai
king of Gessur:

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 3:4. And the fourth Adonias, the son of Haggith: and the ifth
Saphathia the son of Abital:
3:5. And the sixth Jethraam of Egla the wife of David: these were
born to David in Hebron.
3:6. Now while there was war between the house of Saul and the
house of David, Abner the son of Ner ruled the house of Saul.
3:7. And Saul had a concubine named Respha, the daughter of Aia.
And Isboseth said to Abner:
3:8. Why didst thou go in to my father’s concubine? And he was
exceedingly angry for the words of Isboseth, and said: Am I a dog’s
head against Juda this day, who have shewn mercy to the house of Saul
thy father, and to his brethren and friends, and have not delivered thee
into the hands of David, and hast thou sought this day against me to
charge me with a matter concerning a woman?
3:9. So do God to Abner, and more also, unless as the Lord hath
sworn to David, so I do to him,
3:10. That the kingdom be translated from the house of Saul, and
the throne of David be set up over Israel, and over Juda from Dan to
Bersabee.
3:11. And he could not answer him a word, because he feared him.
3:12. Abner therefore sent messengers to David for himself, saying:
Whose is the land? and that they should say: Make a league with me,
and my hand shall be with thee: and I will bring all Israel to thee.
3:13. And he said: Very well: I will make a league with thee: but one
thing I require of thee, saying: Thou shalt not see my face before thou
bring Michol the daughter of Saul: and so thou shalt come, and see me.
3:14. And David sent messengers to Isboseth the son of Saul, saying:
Restore my wife Michol, whom I espoused to me for a hundred
foreskins of the Philistines.
3:15. And Isboseth sent, and took her from her husband Phaltiel, the
son of Lais.

 3:16. And her husband followed her, weeping as far as Bahurim: and
Abner said to him: Go and return. And he returned.
3:17. Abner also spoke to the ancients of Israel, saying: Both
yesterday and the day before you sought for David that he might reign
over you.
3:18. Now then do it: because the Lord hath spoken to David, saying:
By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the
hands of the Philistines, and of all their enemies.
3:19. And Abner spoke also to Benjamin. And he went to speak to
David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel, and to all Benjamin.
3:20. And he came to David in Hebron with twenty men: and David
made a feast for Abner, and his men that came with him.
3:21. And Abner said to David: I will rise, that I may gather all Israel
unto thee my lord the king, and may enter into a league with thee, and
that thou mayst reign over all as thy soul desireth. Now when David
had brought Abner on his way, and he was gone in peace,
3:22. Immediately, David’s servants and Joab came, after having
slain the robbers, with an exceeding great booty. And Abner was not
with David in Hebron, for he had now sent him away, and he was gone
in peace.
3:23. And Joab and all the army that was with him, came
afterwards: and it was told Joab, that Abner the son of Ner came to the
king, and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace.
3:24. And Joab went in to the king, and said: What hast thou done?
Behold Abner came to thee: Why didst thou send him away, and he is
gone and departed?
3:25. Knowest thou not Abner the son of Ner, that to this end he
came to thee, that he might deceive thee, and to know thy going out,
and thy coming in, and to know all thou dost?
3:26. Then Joab going out from David, sent messengers after Abner,
and brought him back from the cistern of Sira, David knowing nothing
of it.

 3:27. And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside
to the middle of the gate, to speak to him treacherously: and he
stabbed him there in the groin, and he died, in revenge of the blood of
Asael his brother.
3:28. And when David heard of it, after the thing was now done, he
said: I, and my kingdom are innocent before the Lord for ever of the
blood of Abner the son of Ner:
3:29. And may it come upon the head of Joab, and upon all his
father’s house: and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that
hath an issue of seed, or that is a leper, or that holdeth the distaff, or
that falleth by the sword, or that wanteth bread.
3:30. So Joab and Abisai his brother slew Abner, because he had
killed their brother Asael at Gabaon in the battle.
3:31. And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with
him: Rend your garments, and gird yourselves with sackcloths, and
mourn before the funeral of Abner. And king David himself followed
the bier.
3:32. And when they had buried Abner in Hebron, king David lifted
up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner: and all the people also
wept.
3:33. And the king mourning and lamenting over Abner, said: Not as
cowards are wont to die, hath Abner died.
3:34. Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet laden with fetters: but
as men fall before the children of iniquity, so didst thou fall. And all the
people repeating it wept over him.
3:35. And when all the people came to take meat with David, while
it was yet broad day, David swore, saying: So do God to me, and more
also, if I taste bread or any thing else before sunset.
3:36. And all the people heard, and they were pleased, and all that
the king did seemed good in the sight of all the people.
3:37. And all the people, and all Israel understood that day that it
was not the king’s doing, that Abner the son of Ner was slain.

 3:38. The king also said to his servants: Do you not know that a
prince and a great man is slain this day in Israel?
3:39. But I as yet am tender, though anointed king. And these men
the sons of Sarvia are too hard for me: the Lord reward him that doth
evil according to his wickedness.
2 Kings Chapter 4

Isboseth is murdered by two of his servants. David punisheth the

murderers.
4:1. And Isboseth the son of Saul heard that Abner was slain in
Hebron: and his hands were weakened, and all Israel was troubled.
4:2. Now the son of Saul had two men captains of his bands, the
name of the one was Baana, and the name of the other Rechab, the
sons of Remmon a Berothite of the children of Benjamin: for Beroth
also was reckoned in Benjamin.
4:3. And the Berothites led into Gethaim, and were sojourners there
until that time.
4:4. And Jonathan the son of Saul had a son that was lame of his
feet: for he was ive years old when the tidings came of Saul and
Jonathan from Jezrahel. And his nurse took him up and led: and as she
made haste to lee, he fell and became lame: and his name was
Miphiboseth.
4:5. And the sons of Remmon the Berothite, Rechab and Baana
coming, went into the house of Isboseth in the heat of the day: and he
was sleeping upon his bed at noon. And the doorkeeper of the house,
who was cleansing wheat, was fallen asleep.
4:6. And they entered into the house secretly taking ears of corn,
and Rechab and Baana his brother stabbed him in the groin, and led
away.
4:7. For when they came into the house, he was sleeping upon his
bed in a parlour, and they struck him and killed him and taking away
his head they went off by the way of the wilderness, walking all night.

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 4:8. And they brought the head of Isboseth to David to Hebron: and
they said to the king: Behold the head of Isboseth the son of Saul thy
enemy who sought thy life: and the Lord hath revenged my lord the
king this day of Saul, and of his seed.
4:9. But David answered Rechab, and Baana his brother, the sons of
Remmon the Berothite, and said to them: As the Lord liveth, who hath
delivered my soul out of all distress,
4:10. The man that told me, and said: Saul is dead, who thought he
brought good tidings, I apprehended, and slew him in Siceleg, who
should have been rewarded for his news.
4:11. How much more now when wicked men have slain an innocent
man in his own house, upon his bed, shall I not require his blood at
your hand, and take you away from the earth?
4:12. And David commanded his servants and they slew them: and
cutting off their hands and feet, hanged them up over the pool in
Hebron: but the head of Isboseth they took and buried in the sepulchre
of Abner in Hebron.
2 Kings Chapter 5

David is anointed king of all Israel. He taketh Jerusalem, and dwelleth

there. He defeateth the Philistines.
5:1. Then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, saying:
Behold we are thy bone and thy lesh.
5:2. Moreover yesterday also and the day before, when Saul was
king over us, thou wast he that did lead out and bring in Israel: and
the Lord said to thee: Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt
be prince over Israel.
5:3. The ancients also of Israel came to the king of Hebron, and king
David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they
anointed David to be king over Israel.
5:4. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned forty years.

 5:5. In Hebron he reigned over Juda seven years and six months: and
in Jerusalem he reigned three and thirty years over all Israel and Juda.
5:6. And the king and all the men that were with him went to
Jerusalem to the Jebusites the inhabitants of the land: and they said to
David: Thou shalt not come in hither unless thou take away the blind
and the lame that say: David shall not come in hither.
5:7. But David took the castle of Sion, the same is the city of David.
5:8. For David had offered that day a reward to whosoever should
strike the Jebusites and get up to the gutters of the tops of the houses,
and take away the blind and the lame that hated the soul of David:
therefore it is said in the proverb: The blind and the lame shall not
come into the temple.
5:9. And David dwelt in the castle, and called it, The city of David:
and built round about from Mello and inwards.
5:10. And he went on prospering and growing up, and the Lord God
of hosts was with him.
5:11. And Hiram the king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and
cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons for walls: and they built a
house for David.
5:12. And David knew that the Lord had con irmed him king over
Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom over his people Israel.
5:13. And David took more concubines and wives of Jerusalem, after
he was come from Hebron: and there were born to David other sons
also and daughters:
David took more concubines and wives of Jerusalem.... Not harlots, but wives of
an inferior condition; for such, in scripture, are styled concubines.
5:14. And these are the names of them, that were born to him in
Jerusalem, Samua, and Sobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
5:15. And Jebahar, and Elisua, and Nepheg,
5:16. And Japhia, and Elisama, and Elioda, and Eliphaleth.

 5:17. And the Philistines heard that they had anointed David to be
king over Israel: and they all came to seek David: and when David
heard of it, he went down to a strong hold.
5:18. And the Philistines coming spread themselves in the valley of
Raphaim.
5:19. And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go up to the
Philistines? and wilt thou deliver them into my hand? And the Lord
said to David: Go up, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into thy
hand.
5:20. And David came to Baal Pharisim: and defeated them there,
and he said, The Lord hath divided my enemies before me, as waters
are divided. Therefore the name of the place was called Baal Pharisim.
5:21. And they left there their idols: which David and his men took
away.
5:22. And the Philistines came up again and spread themselves into
the valley of Raphaim.
5:23. And David consulted the Lord: Shall I go up against the
Philistines, and wilt thou deliver them into my hands? He answered: Go
not up against them but fetch a compass behind them, and thou shalt
come upon them over against the pear trees.
5:24. And when thou shalt hear the sound of one going in the tops of
the pear trees, then shalt thou join battle: for then will the Lord go out
before thy face to strike the army of the Philistines.
5:25. And David did as the Lord had commanded him, and he smote
the Philistines from Gabaa until thou come to Gezer.
2 Kings Chapter 6

David fetcheth the ark from Cariathiarim. Oza is struck dead for
touching it. It is deposited in the house of Obededom: and from thence
carried to David’s house.
6:1. And David again gathered together all the chosen men of Israel,
thirty thousand.

 6:2. And David arose and went, with all the people that were with
him of the men of Juda to fetch the ark of God, upon which the name of
the Lord of Hosts is invoked, who sitteth over it upon the cherubims.
6:3. And they laid the ark of God upon a new cart: and took it out of
the house of Abinadab, who was in Gabaa, and Oza and Ahio, the sons
of Abinadab, drove the new cart.
Gabaa.... The hill of Cariathiarim, where the ark had been in the house of
Abinadab, from the time of its being restored back by the Philistines.
6:4. And when they had taken it out of the house of Abinadab, who
was in Gabaa, Ahio having care of the ark of God went before the ark.
6:5. But David and all Israel played before the Lord on all manner of
instruments made of wood, on harps and lutes and timbrels and
cornets and cymbals.
6:6. And when they came to the loor of Nachon, Oza put forth his
hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it: because the oxen kicked
and made it lean aside.
6:7. And the indignation of the Lord was enkindled against Oza, and
he struck him for his rashness: and he died there before the ark of God.
6:8. And David was grieved because the Lord had struck Oza, and
the name of that place was called: The striking of Oza, to this day.
6:9. And David was afraid of the Lord that day, saying: How shall the
ark of the Lord come to me?
6:10. And he would not have the ark of the Lord brought in to
himself into the city of David: but he caused it to be carried into the
house of Obededom the Gethite.
6:11. And the ark of the Lord abode in the house of Obededom the
Gethite three months: and the Lord blessed Obededom, and all his
household.
6:12. And it was told king David, that the Lord had blessed
Obededom, and all that he had, because of the ark of God. So David
went, and brought away the ark of God out of the house of Obededom

 into the city of David with joy. And there were with David seven choirs,
and calves for victims.
Choirs.... Or companies of musicians.
6:13. And when they that carried the ark of the Lord had gone six
paces, he sacri iced an ox and a ram:
6:14. And David danced with all his might before the Lord: and
David was girded with a linen ephod.
6:15. And David and all the house of Israel brought the ark of the
covenant of the Lord with joyful shouting, and with sound of trumpet.
6:16. And when the ark of the Lord was come into the city of David,
Michol the daughter of Saul, looking out through a window, saw king
David leaping and dancing before the Lord: and she despised him in
her heart.
6:17. And they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in
the midst of the tabernacle, which David had pitched for it: and David
offered holocausts, and peace offerings before the Lord.
6:18. And when he had made an end of offering holocausts and
peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.
6:19. And he distributed to all the multitude of Israel, both men and
women, to every one, a cake of bread, and a piece of roasted beef, and
ine lour fried with oil: and all the people departed every one to his
own house.
6:20. And David returned to bless his own house: and Michol the
daughter of Saul coming out to meet David, said: How glorious was
the king of Israel to day, uncovering himself before the handmaids of
his servants, and was naked, as if one of the buffoons should be naked.
6:21. And David said to Michol: Before the Lord, who chose me
rather than thy father, and than all his house, and commanded me to
be ruler over the people of the Lord in Israel,
6:22. I will both play and make myself meaner than I have done: and
I will be little in my own eyes: and with the handmaids of whom thou
speakest, I shall appear more glorious.
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 6:23. Therefore Michol the daughter of Saul had no child to the day
of her death.
2 Kings Chapter 7

David’s purpose to build a temple is rewarded with the promise of

great blessings in his seed: his prayer and thanksgiving.
7:1. And it came to pass when the king sat in his house, and the Lord
had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,
7:2. He said to Nathan the prophet: Dost thou see that I dwell in a
house of cedar, and the ark of God is lodged within skins?
7:3. And Nathan said to the king: Go, do all that is in thy heart:
because the Lord is with thee.
7:4. But it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came
to Nathan, saying:
7:5. Go, and say to my servant David: Thus saith the Lord: Shalt thou
build me a house to dwell in?
7:6. Whereas I have not dwelt in a house from the day that I brought
the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt even to this day: but have
walked in a tabernacle, and in a tent.
7:7. In all the places that I have gone through with all the children
of Israel, did ever I speak a word to any one of the tribes of Israel,
whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying: Why have you
not built me a house of cedar?
7:8. And now thus shalt thou speak to my servant David: Thus saith
the Lord of hosts: I took thee out of the pastures from following the
sheep to be ruler over my people Israel:
7:9. And I have been with thee wheresoever thou hast walked, and
have slain all thy enemies from before thy face: and I have made thee a
great man, like unto the name of the great ones that are on the earth.
7:10. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant
them, and they shall dwell therein, and shall be disturbed no more:

 neither shall the children of iniquity af lict them any more as they did
before,
7:11. From the day that I appointed judges over my people Israel:
and I will give thee rest from all thy enemies. And the Lord foretelleth
to thee, that the Lord will make thee a house.
7:12. And when thy days shall be ful illed, and thou shalt sleep with
thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out
of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
I will establish his kingdom.... This prophecy partly relateth to Solomon: but
much more to Christ, who is called the son of David in scripture, and who is the
builder of the true temple, which is the church, his everlasting kingdom, which
shall never fail.
7:13. He shall build a house to my name, and I will establish the
throne of his kingdom for ever.
7:14. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son: and if he
commit any iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men, and with
the stripes of the children of men.
7:15. But my mercy I will not take away from him, as I took it from
Saul, whom I removed from before my face.
7:16. And thy house shall be faithful, and thy kingdom for ever
before thy face, and thy throne shall be irm for ever.
7:17. According to all these words and according to all this vision so
did Nathan speak to David.
7:18. And David went in, and sat before the Lord, and said: Who am
I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus
far?
7:19. But yet this hath seemed little in thy sight, O Lord God, unless
thou didst also speak of the house of thy servant for a long time to
come: for this is the law of Adam, O Lord God:
7:20. And what can David say more unto thee? for thou knowest thy
servant, O Lord God:

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 7:21. For thy word’s sake, and according to thy own heart thou has
done all these great things, so that thou wouldst make it known to thy
servant.
7:22. Therefore thou art magni ied, O Lord God, because there is
none like to thee, neither is there any God besides thee, in all the things
that we have heard with our ears.
7:23. And what nation is there upon earth, as thy people Israel,
whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a
name, and to do for them great and terrible things, upon the earth,
before the face of thy people, whom thou redeemedst to thyself out of
Egypt, from the nations and their gods.
7:24. For thou hast con irmed to thyself thy people Israel to be an
everlasting people: and thou, O Lord God, art become their God.
7:25. And now, O Lord God, raise up for ever the word that thou hast
spoken, concerning thy servant and concerning his house: and do as
thou hast spoken,
7:26. That thy name may be magni ied for ever, and it may be said:
The Lord of hosts is God over Israel. And the house of thy servant David
shall be established before the Lord.
7:27. Because thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to
the ear of thy servant, saying: I will build thee a house: therefore hath
thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer to thee.
7:28. And now, O Lord God, thou art God, and thy words shall be
true: for thou hast spoken to thy servant these good things.
7:29. And now begin, and bless the house of thy servant, that it may
endure for ever before thee: because thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it,
and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.
2 Kings Chapter 8

David’s victories, and his chief of icers.

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 8:1. And it came to pass after this that David defeated the
Philistines, and brought them down, and David took the bridle of
tribute out of the hand of the Philistines,
8:2. And he defeated Moab, and measured them with a line, casting
them down to the earth: and he measured with two lines, one to put to
death, and one to save alive: and Moab was made to serve David under
tribute.
8:3. David defeated also Adarezer the son of Rohob king of Soba,
when he went to extend his dominion over the river Euphrates.
8:4. And David took from him a thousand and seven hundred
horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, and houghed all the chariot
horses: and only reserved of them for one hundred chariots.
8:5. And the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Adarezer the king
of Soba: and David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
8:6. And David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and Syria served
David under tribute, and the Lord preserved David in all his
enterprises, whithersoever he went.
8:7. And David took the arms of gold, which the servants of Adarezer
wore and brought them to Jerusalem.
8:8. And out of Bete, and out of Beroth, cities of Adarezer, king David
took an exceeding great quantity of brass.
8:9. And Thou the king of Emath heard that David had defeated all
the forces of Adarezer.
8:10. And Thou sent Joram his son to king David, to salute him, and
to congratulate with him, and to return him thanks: because he had
fought against Adarezer, and had defeated him. For Thou was an
enemy to Adarezer, and in his hand were vessels of gold, and vessels of
silver, and vessels of brass:
8:11. And king David dedicated them to the Lord, together with the
silver and gold that he had dedicated of all the nations, which he had
subdued:

 8:12. Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of

the Philistines, and of Amalec, and of the spoils of Adarezer the son of
Rohob king of Soba.
8:13. David also made himself a name, when he returned after
taking Syria in the valley of the saltpits, killing eighteen thousand:
8:14. And he put guards in Edom, and placed there a garrison: and
all Edom was made to serve David: and the Lord preserved David in all
enterprises he went about.
8:15. And David reigned over all Israel: and David did judgment and
justice to all his people.
8:16. And Joab the son of Sarvia was over the army: and Josaphat
the son of Ahilud was recorder:
Recorder.... Or chancellor.
8:17. And Sadoc the son of Achitob, and Achimelech the son of
Abiathar, were the priests: and Saraias was the scribe:
Scribe.... Or secretary.
8:18. And Banaias the son of Joiada was over the Cerethi and
Phelethi: and the sons of David were the princes.
The Cerethi and Phelethi.... The king’s guards.—Ibid. Princes.... Literally priests.
(Cohen) So called, by a title of honour, and not from exercising the priestly
functions.
2 Kings Chapter 9

David’s kindness to Miphiboseth for the sake of his father Jonathan.

9:1. And David said: Is there any one, think you, left of the house of
Saul, that I may shew kindness to him for Jonathan’s sake?
9:2. Now there was of the house of Saul, a servant named Siba: and
when the king had called him to him, he said to him: Art thou Siba?
And he answered: I am Siba thy servant.

 9:3. And the king said: Is there any one left of the house of Saul, that
I may shew the mercy of God unto him? And Siba said to the king:
There is a son of Jonathan left, who is lame of his feet.
9:4. Where is he? said he. And Siba said to the king: Behold he is in
the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lodabar.
9:5. Then King David sent, and brought him out of the house of
Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodabar.
9:6. And when Miphiboseth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul was
come to David, he fell on his face and worshipped. And David said:
Miphiboseth? And he answered: Behold thy servant.
9:7. And David said to him: Fear not, for I will surely shew thee
mercy for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and I will restore the lands of
Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table always.
9:8. He bowed down to him, and said: Who am I thy servant, that
thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am?
9:9. Then the King called Siba the servant of Saul, and said to him:
All that belonged to Saul, and all his house, I have given to thy master’s
son.
9:10. Thou therefore and thy sons and thy servants shall till the land
for him: and thou shalt bring in food for thy master’s son, that he may
be maintained: and Miphiboseth the son of thy master shall always eat
bread at my table. And Siba had ifteen sons and twenty servants.
9:11. And Siba said to the king: As thou my lord the king hast
commanded thy servant, so will thy servant do: and Miphiboseth shall
eat at my table, as one of the sons of the King.
9:12. And Miphiboseth had a young son whose name was Micha:
and all that kindred of the house of Siba served Miphiboseth.
9:13. But Miphiboseth dwelt in Jerusalem: because he ate always of
the king’s table: and he was lame of both feet.

 2 Kings Chapter 10

The Ammonites shamefully abuse the ambassadors of David: they hire

the Syrians to the their assistance: but are overthrown with their
allies.
10:1. And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of
Ammon died, and Hanon his son reigned in his stead.
10:2. And David said: I will shew kindness to Hanon the son of Daas,
as his father shewed kindness to me. So David sent his servants to
comfort him for the death of his father. But when the servants of David
were come into the land of the children of Ammon,
10:3. The princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanon their lord:
Thinkest thou that for the honour of thy father, David hath sent
comforters to thee, and hath not David rather sent his servants to thee
to search, and spy into the city, and overthrow it?
10:4. Wherefore Hanon took the servants of David, and shaved off
the one half of their beards, and cut away half of their garments even
to the buttocks, and sent them away.
10:5. When this was told David, he sent to meet them: for the men
were sadly put to confusion, and David commanded them, saying: Stay
at Jericho, till your beards be grown, and then return.
10:6. And the children of Ammon seeing that they had done an
injury to David, sent and hired the Syrians of Rohob, and the Syrians of
Soba, twenty thousand footmen, and of the king of Maacha a thousand
men, and of Istob twelve thousand men.
10:7. And when David heard this, he sent Joab and the whole army
of warriors.
10:8. And the children of Ammon came out, and set their men in
array at the entering in of the gate: but the Syrians of Soba, and of
Rohob, and of Istob, and of Maacha were by themselves in the ield.

 10:9. Then Joab seeing that the battle was prepared against him,
both before and behind, chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put
them in array against the Syrians:
10:10. And the rest of the people he delivered to Abisai his brother,
who set them in array against the children of Ammon.
10:11. And Joab said: If the Syrians are too strong for me, then thou
shalt help me, but if the children of Ammon are too strong for thee,
then I will help thee.
10:12. Be of good courage, and let us ight for our people, and for
the city of our God: and the Lord will do what is good in his sight.
10:13. And Joab and the people that were with him, began to ight
against the Syrians: and they immediately led before him.
10:14. And the children of Ammon seeing that the Syrians were led,
they led also before Abisai, and entered into the city: and Joab
returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
10:15. Then the Syrians seeing that they had fallen before Israel,
gathered themselves together.
10:16. And Adarezer sent and fetched the Syrians, that were beyond
the river, and brought over their army: and Sobach, the captain of the
host of Adarezer, was their general.
10:17. And when this was told David, he gathered all Israel together,
and passed over the Jordan, and came to Helam: and the Syrians set
themselves in array against David, and fought against him.
10:18. And the Syrians led before Israel, and David slew of the
Syrians the men of seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand
horsemen: and smote Sobach the captain of the army, who presently
died.
10:19. And all the kings that were auxiliaries of Adarezer, seeing
themselves overcome by Israel, were afraid and led away, eight and
ifty thousand men before Israel. And they made peace with Israel: and
served them, and all the Syrians were afraid to help the children of
Ammon any more.
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 2 Kings Chapter 11

David falleth into the crime of adultery with Bethsabee: and not
inding other means to conceal it, causeth her husband Urias to be
slain. Then marrieth her, who beareth him a son.
11:1. And it came to pass at the return of the year, at the time when
kings go forth to war, that David sent Joab and his servants with him,
and all Israel, and they spoiled the children of Ammon, and besieged
Rabba: but David remained in Jerusalem.
11:2. In the mean time it happened that David arose from his bed
after noon, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: And he saw
from the roof of his house a woman washing herself, over against him:
and the woman was very beautiful.
11:3. And the king sent, and inquired who the woman was. And it
was told him, that she was Bethsabee the daughter of Eliam, the wife
of Urias the Hethite.
11:4. And David sent messengers, and took her, and she came in to
him, and he slept with her: and presently she was puri ied from her
uncleanness:
11:5. And she returned to her house having conceived. And she sent
and told David, and said: I have conceived.
11:6. And David sent to Joab, saying: Send me Urias the Hethite. And
Joab sent Urias to David.
11:7. And Urias came to David. And David asked how Joab did, and
the people, and how the war was carried on.
11:8. And David said to Urias: Go into thy house, and wash thy feet.
And Urias went out from the king’s house, and there went out after
him a mess of meat from the king.
11:9. But Urias slept before the gate of the king’s house, with the
other servants of his lord, and went not down to his own house.
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 11:10. And it was told David by some that said: Urias went not to his
house. And David said to Urias: Didst thou not come from thy journey?
why didst thou not go down to thy house?
11:11. And Urias said to David: The ark of God and Israel and Juda
dwell in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord abide
upon the face of the earth: and shall I go into my house, to eat and to
drink, and to sleep with my wife? By thy welfare and by the welfare of
thy soul I will not do this thing.
11:12. Then David said to Urias: Tarry here to day, and to morrow I
will send thee away. Urias tarried in Jerusalem that day and the next.
11:13. And David called him to eat and to drink before him, and he
made him drunk: and he went out in the evening, and slept on his
couch with the servants of his lord, and went not down into his house.
11:14. And when the morning was come, David wrote a letter to
Joab: and sent it by the hand of Urias,
11:15. Writing in the letter: Set ye Urias in the front of the battle,
where the ight is strongest: and leave ye him, that he may be wounded
and die.
11:16. Wherefore as Joab was besieging the city, he put Urias in the
place where he knew the bravest men were.
11:17. And the men coming out of the city, fought against Joab, and
there fell some of the people of the servants of David, and Urias the
Hethite was killed also.
11:18. Then Joab sent, and told David all things concerning the
battle.
11:19. And he charged the messenger, saying: When thou hast told
all the words of the battle to the king,
11:20. If thou see him to be angry, and he shall say: Why did you
approach so near to the wall to ight? knew you not that many darts
are thrown from above off the wall?
11:21. Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerobaal? did not a woman
cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall and slew him in

Thebes? Why did you go near the wall? Thou shalt say: Thy servant
Urias the Hethite is also slain.
11:22. So the messenger departed, and came and told David all that
Joab had commanded him.
11:23. And the messenger said to David: The men prevailed against
us, and they came out to us into the ield: and we vigorously charged
and pursued them even to the gate of the city.
11:24. And the archers shot their arrows at thy servants from off the
wall above: and some of the king’s servants are slain, and thy servant
Urias the Hethite is also dead.
11:25. And David said to the messenger: Thus shalt thou say to Joab:
Let not this thing discourage thee: for various is the event of war: and
sometimes one, sometimes another is consumed by the sword:
encourage thy warriors against the city, and exhort them that thou
mayest overthrow it.
11:26. And the wife of Urias heard that Urias her husband was dead,
and she mourned for him.
11:27. And the mourning being over, David sent and brought her
into his house, and she became his wife, and she bore him a son: and
this thing which David had done, was displeasing to the Lord.
2 Kings Chapter 12

Nathan’s parable. David confesseth his sin, and is forgiven: yet so as to

be sentenced to most severe temporal punishments. The death of the
child. The birth of Solomon. The taking of Rabbath.
12:1. And the Lord sent Nathan to David: and when he was come to
him, he said to him: There were two men in one city, the one rich, and
the other poor.
12:2. The rich man had exceeding many sheep and oxen.
12:3. But the poor man had nothing at all but one little ewe lamb,
which he had bought and nourished up, and which had grown up in his

 house together with his children, eating of his bread, and drinking of
his cup, and sleeping in his bosom: and it was unto him as a daughter.
12:4. And when a certain stranger was come to the rich man, he
spared to take of his own sheep and oxen, to make a feast for that
stranger, who was come to him, but took the poor man’s ewe, and
dressed it for the man that was come to him.
12:5. And David’s anger being exceedingly kindled against that man,
he said to Nathan: As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this is a
child of death.
12:6. He shall restore the ewe fourfold, because he did this thing,
and had no pity.
12:7. And Nathan said to David: Thou art the man. Thus saith the
Lord the God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered
thee from the hand of Saul,
12:8. And gave thee thy master’s house and thy master’s wives into
thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and Juda: and if these
things be little, I shall add far greater things unto thee.
12:9. Why therefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord, to do
evil in my sight? Thou hast killed Urias the Hethite with the sword, and
hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of
the children of Ammon.
12:10. Therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house,
because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Urias the
Hethite to be thy wife.
12:11. Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will raise up evil against thee
out of thy own house, and I will take thy wives before thy eyes and give
them to thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of
this sun.
I will raise, etc.... All these evils, inasmuch as they were punishments, came upon
David by a just judgment of God, for his sin, and therefore God says, I will raise,
etc.; but inasmuch as they were sins, on the part of Absalom and his associates,
God was not the author of them, but only permitted them.

 12:12. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing in the sight
of all Israel, and in the sight of the sun.
12:13. And David said to Nathan: I have sinned against the Lord.
And Nathan said to David: The Lord also hath taken away thy sin: thou
shalt not die.
12:14. Nevertheless, because thou hast given occasion to the
enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, for this thing, the child that is born
to thee, shall surely die.
12:15. And Nathan returned to his house. The Lord also struck the
child which the wife of Urias had borne to David, and his life was
despaired of.
12:16. And David besought the Lord for the child: and David kept a
fast, and going in by himself lay upon the ground.
12:17. And the ancients of his house came, to make him rise from
the ground: but he would not, neither did he eat meat with them.
12:18. And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died:
and the servants of David feared to tell him, that the child was dead.
For they said: Behold when the child was yet alive, we spoke to him,
and he would not hearken to our voice: how much more will he af lict
himself if we tell him that the child is dead?
12:19. But when David saw his servants whispering, he understood
that the child was dead: and he said to his servants: Is the child dead?
They answered him He is dead.
12:20. Then David arose from the ground, and washed and anointed
himself: and when he had changed his apparel, he went into the house
of the Lord: and worshipped, and then he came into his own house,
and he called for bread, and ate.
12:21. And his servants said to him: What thing is this that thou
hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive,
but when the child was dead, thou didst rise up, and eat bread.

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 12:22. And he said: While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept
for him: for I said: Who knoweth whether the Lord may not give him to
me, and the child may live?
12:23. But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Shall I be able to
bring him back any more? I shall go to him rather: but he shall not
return to me.
12:24. And David comforted Bethsabee his wife, and went in unto
her, and slept with her: and she bore a son, and he called his name
Solomon, and the Lord loved him.
12:25. And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and called his
name, Amiable to the Lord, because the Lord loved him.
Amiable to the Lord.... Or, beloved of the Lord. In Hebrew, Jedidiah.
12:26. And Joab fought against Rabbath of the children of Ammon,
and laid close siege to the royal city.
12:27. And Joab sent messengers to David, saying: I have fought
against Rabbath, and the city of waters is about to be taken.
The city of waters.... Rabbath the royal city of the Ammonites, was called the city
of waters, from being encompassed with waters.
12:28. Now therefore gather thou the rest of the people together,
and besiege the city and take it: lest when the city shall be wasted by
me, the victory be ascribed to my name.
12:29. Then David gathered all the people together, and went out
against Rabbath: and after ighting, he took it.
12:30. And he took the crown of their king from his head, the weight
of which was a talent of gold, set with most precious stones, and it was
put upon David’s head, and the spoils of the city which were very great
he carried away.
12:31. And bringing forth the people thereof he sawed them, and
drove over them chariots armed with iron: and divided them with
knives, and made them pass through brickkilns: so did he to all the
cities of the children of Ammon: and David returned, with all the army
to Jerusalem.

 2 Kings Chapter 13

Ammon ravisheth Thamar. For which Absalom killeth him, and lieth
to Gessur.
13:1. And it came to pass after this that Amnon the son of David
loved the sister of Absalom the son of David, who was very beautiful,
and her name was Thamar.
13:2. And he was exceedingly fond of her, so that he fell sick for the
love of her: for as she was a virgin, he thought it hard to do any thing
dishonestly with her.
13:3. Now Amnon had a friend, named Jonadab the son of Semmaa
the brother of David, a very wise man:
A very wise man.... That is, a crafty and subtle man: for the counsel he gave on
this occasion shews that his wisdom was but carnal and worldly.
13:4. And he said to him: Why dost thou grow so lean from day to
day, O son of the king? why dost thou not tell me the reason of it? And
Amnon said to him: I am in love with Thamar the sister of my brother
Absalom.
13:5. And Jonadab said to him: Lie down upon thy bed, and feign
thyself sick: and when thy father shall come to visit thee, say to him:
Let my sister Thamar, I pray thee, come to me, to give me to eat, and to
make me a mess, that I may eat it at her hand.
13:6. So Amnon lay down, and made as if he were sick: and when the
king came to visit him, Amnon said to the king: I pray thee let my sister
Thamar come, and make in my sight two little messes, that I may eat
at her hand.
13:7. Then David sent home to Thamar, saying: Come to the house of
thy brother Amnon, and make him a mess.
13:8. And Thamar came to the house of Amnon her brother: but he
was laid down: and she took meal and tempered it: and dissolving it in
his sight she made little messes.

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 13:9. And taking what she had boiled, she poured it out, and set it
before him, but he would not eat: and Amnon said: Put out all persons
from me. And when they had put all persons out,
13:10. Amnon said to Thamar: Bring the mess into the chamber,
that I may eat at thy hand. And Thamar took the little messes which
she had made, and brought them in to her brother Amnon in the
chamber.
13:11. And when she had presented him the meat, he took hold of
her, and said: Come lie with me, my sister.
13:12. She answered him: Do not so, my brother, do not force me: for
no such thing must be done in Israel. Do not thou this folly.
13:13. For I shall not be able to bear my shame, and thou shalt be as
one of the fools in Israel: but rather speak to the king, and he will not
deny me to thee.
13:14. But he would not hearken to her prayers, but being stronger
overpowered her and lay with her.
13:15. Then Amnon hated her with an exceeding great hatred: so
that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love with
which he had loved her before. And Amnon said to her: Arise, and get
thee gone.
13:16. She answered him: This evil which now thou dost against me,
in driving me away, is greater than that which thou didst before. And
he would not hearken to her:
13:17. But calling the servants that ministered to him, he said:
Thrust this woman out from me: and shut the door after her.
13:18. And she was clothed with a long robe: for the king’s
daughters that were virgins, used such kind of garments. Then his
servant thrust her out: and shut the door after her.
13:19. And she put ashes on her head, and rent her long robe and
laid her hands upon her head, and went on crying.
13:20. And Absalom her brother said to her: Hath thy brother
Amnon lain with thee? but now, sister, hold thy peace, he is thy

 brother: and af lict not thy heart for this thing. So Thamar remained
pining away in the house of Absalom her brother.
13:21. And when king David heard of these things he was
exceedingly grieved: and he would not af lict the spirit of his son
Amnon, for he loved him, because he was his irstborn.
13:22. But Absalom spoke not to Amnon neither good nor evil: for
Absalom hated Amnon because he had ravished his sister Thamar.
13:23. And it came to pass after two years, that the sheep of
Absalom were shorn in Baalhasor, which is near Ephraim: and
Absalom invited all the king’s sons:
13:24. And he came to the king, and said to him: Behold thy
servant’s sheep are shorn. Let the king, I pray, with his servants come
to his servant.
13:25. And the king said to Absalom: Nay, my son, do not ask that
we should all come, and be chargeable to thee. And when he pressed
him, and he would not go, he blessed him.
13:26. And Absalom said: If thou wilt not come, at least let my
brother Amnon, I beseech thee, come with us. And the king said to him:
It is not necessary that he should go with thee.
13:27. But Absalom pressed him, so that he let Amnon and all the
king’s sons go with him. And Absalom made a feast as it were the feast
of a king.
13:28. And Absalom had commanded his servants, saying: Take
notice when Amnon shall be drunk with wine, and when I shall say to
you: Strike him, and kill him, fear not: for it is I that command you:
take courage, and be valiant men.
13:29. And the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had
commanded them. And all the king’s sons arose and got up every man
upon his mule, and led.
13:30. And while they were yet in the way, a rumour came to David,
saying: Absalom hath slain all the king’s sons, and there is not one of
them left.

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 13:31. Then the king rose up, and rent his garments: and fell upon
the ground, and all his servants, that stood about him, rent their
garments.
13:32. But Jonadab the son of Semmaa David’s brother answering,
said: Let not my lord the king think that all the king’s sons are slain:
Amnon only is dead, for he was appointed by the mouth of Absalom
from the day that he ravished his sister Thamar.
13:33. Now therefore let not my lord the king take this thing into his
heart, saying: All the king’s sons are slain: for Amnon only is dead.
13:34. But Absalom led away: and the young man that kept the
watch, lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold there came much
people by a by-way on the side of the mountain.
13:35. And Jonadab said to the king: Behold the king’s sons are
come: as thy servant said, so it is.
13:36. And when he made an end of speaking, the king’s sons also
appeared: and coming in they lifted up their voice, and wept: and the
king also and all his servants wept very much.
13:37. But Absalom led, and went to Tholomai the son of Ammiud
the king of Gessur. And David mourned for his son every day.
13:38. And Absalom after he was led, and come into Gessur, was
there three years. And king David ceased to pursue after Absalom,
because he was comforted concerning the death of Amnon.
2 Kings Chapter 14

Joab procureth Absalom’s return, and his admittance to the king’s

presence.
14:1. And Joab the son of Sarvia, understanding that the king’s
heart was turned to Absalom,
14:2. Sent to Thecua, and fetched from thence a wise woman: and
said to her: Feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning
apparel, and be not anointed with oil, that thou mayest be as a woman
that had a long time been mourning for one dead.

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 14:3. And thou shalt go in to the king, and shalt speak to him in this
manner. And Joab put the words in her mouth.
14:4. And when the woman of Thecua was come in to the king, she
fell before him upon the ground, and worshipped, and said: Save me, O
king.
14:5. And the king said to her: What is the matter with thee? She
answered: Alas, I am a widow woman: for my husband is dead.
14:6. And thy handmaid had two sons: and they quarrelled with
each other in the ield, and there was none to part them: and the one
struck the other, and slew him.
14:7. And behold the whole kindred rising against thy handmaid,
saith: Deliver him that hath slain his brother, that we may kill him for
the life of his brother, whom he slew, and that we may destroy the heir:
and they seek to quench my spark which is left, and will leave my
husband no name, nor remainder upon the earth.
14:8. And the king said to the woman: Go to thy house, and I will
give charge concerning thee.
14:9. And the woman of Thecua said to the king: Upon me, my lord
be the iniquity, and upon the house of my father: but may the king and
his throne be guiltless.
14:10. And the king said: If any one shall say ought against thee,
bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.
14:11. And she said: Let the king remember the Lord his God, that
the next of kin be not multiplied to take revenge, and that they may
not kill my son. And he said: As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair
of thy son fall to the earth.
14:12. Then the woman said: Let thy hand maid speak one word to
my lord the king. And he said: Speak.
14:13. And the woman said: Why hast thou thought such a thing
against the people of God, and why hath the king spoken this word, to
sin, and not bring home again his own exile?

 14:14. We all die, and like waters that return no more, we fall down
into the earth: neither will God have a soul to perish, but recalleth,
meaning that he that is cast off should not altogether perish.
14:15. Now therefore I am come, to speak this word to my lord the
king before the people. And thy handmaid said: I will speak to the king,
it maybe the king will perform the request of his handmaid.
14:16. And the king hath hearkened to me to deliver his handmaid
out of the hand of all that would destroy me and my son together out
of the inheritance of God.
14:17. Then let thy handmaid say, that the word of the Lord the king
be made as a sacri ice. For even as an angel of God, so is my lord the
king, that he is neither moved with blessing nor cursing: wherefore the
Lord thy God is also with thee.
14:18. And the king answering, said to the woman: Hide not from
me the thing that I ask thee. And the woman said to him: Speak, my
lord the king.
14:19. And the king said: Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all
this? The woman answered, and said: By the health of thy soul, my
lord, O king, it is neither on the left hand, nor on the right, in all these
things which my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he
commanded me, and he put all these words into the mouth of thy
handmaid.
14:20. That I should come about with this form of speech, thy
servant Joab commanded this: but thou, my lord, O king, art wise,
according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to understand all things
upon earth.
14:21. And the king said to Joab: Behold I am appeased and have
granted thy request: Go therefore and fetch back the boy Absalom.
14:22. And Joab falling down to the ground upon his face, adored,
and blessed the king: and Joab said: This day thy servant hath
understood, that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king: for
thou hast ful illed the request of thy servant.

 Blessed.... That is, and gave thanks to the king.

14:23. Then Joab arose and went to Gessur, and brought Absalom to
Jerusalem.
14:24. But the king said: Let him return into his house, and let him
not see my face. So Absalom returned into his house, and saw not the
king’s face.
14:25. But in all Israel there was not a man so comely, and so
exceedingly beautiful as Absalom: from the sole of the foot to the
crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
14:26. And when he polled his hair (now he was polled once a year,
because his hair was burdensome to him) he weighed the hair of his
head at two hundred sicles, according to the common weight.
14:27. And there were born to Absalom three sons: and one
daughter, whose name was Thamar, and she was very beautiful.
14:28. And Absalom dwelt two years in Jerusalem, and saw not the
king’s face.
14:29. He sent therefore to Joab, to send him to the king: but he
would not come to him. And when he had sent the second time, and he
would not come to him,
14:30. He said to his servants: You know the ield of Joab near my
ield, that hath a crop of barley: go now and set it on ire. So the
servants of Absalom set the corn on ire. And Joab’s servants coming
with their garments rent, said: The servants of Absalom have set part
of the ield on ire.
14:31. Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom to his house, and said:
Why have thy servants set my corn on ire?
14:32. And Absalom answered Joab: I sent to thee beseeching thee to
come to me, that I might send thee to the king, to say to him:
Wherefore am I come from Gessur? it had been better for me to be
there: I beseech thee therefore that I may see the face of the king: and
if he be mindful of my iniquity, let him kill me.
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 14:33. So Joab going in to the king, told him all: and Absalom was
called for, and, he went in to the king: and prostrated himself on the
ground before him: and the king kissed Absalom.
2 Kings Chapter 15

Absalom’s policy and conspiracy. David is obliged to lee.

15:1. Now after these things Absalom made himself chariots, and
horsemen, and ifty men to run before him.
15:2. And Absalom rising up early stood by the entrance of the gate,
and when any man had business to come to the king’s judgment,
Absalom called him to him, and said: Of what city art thou? He
answered, and said: Thy servant is of such tribe of Israel.
15:3. And Absalom answered him: Thy words seem to me good and
just. But there is no man appointed by the king to hear thee. And
Absalom said:
15:4. O that they would make me judge over the land, that all that
have business might come to me, that I might do them justice.
15:5. Moreover when any man came to him to salute him, he put
forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him.
15:6. And this he did to all Israel that came for judgment, to be
heard by the king, and he enticed the hearts of the men of Israel.
15:7. And after forty years, Absalom said to king David: Let me go,
and pay my vows which I have vowed to the Lord in Hebron.
15:8. For thy servant made a vow, when he was in Gessur of Syria,
saying: If the Lord shall bring me again into Jerusalem, I will offer
sacri ice to the Lord.
15:9. And king David said to him: Go in peace. And he arose, and
went to Hebron.
15:10. And Absalom sent spies into all the tribes of Israel, saying: As
soon as you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, say ye: Absalom
reigneth in Hebron.
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 15:11. Now there went with Absalom two hundred men out of
Jerusalem that were called, going with simplicity of heart, and
knowing nothing of the design.
15:12. Absalom also sent for Achitophel the Gilonite, David’s
counsellor, from his city Gilo. And while he was offering sacri ices,
there was a strong conspiracy, and the people running together
increased with Absalom.
15:13. And there came a messenger to David, saying: All Israel with
their whole heart followeth Absalom.
15:14. And David said to his servants, that were with him in
Jerusalem: Arise and let us lee: for we shall not escape else from the
face of Absalom: make haste to go out, lest he come and overtake us,
and bring ruin upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.
15:15. And the king’s servants said to him: Whatsoever our lord the
king shall command, we thy servants will willingly execute.
15:16. And the king went forth, and all his household on foot: and
the king left ten women his concubines to keep the house:
Concubines.... That is, wives of an inferior degree.
15:17. And the king going forth and all Israel on foot, stood afar off
from the house:
15:18. And all his servants walked by him, and the bands of the
Cerethi, and the Phelethi, and all the Gethites, valiant warriors, six
hundred men who had followed him from Geth on foot, went before
the king.
15:19. And the king said to Ethai the Gethite: Why comest thou with
us: return and dwell with the king, for thou art a stranger, and art
come out of thy own place.
15:20. Yesterday thou camest, and to day shalt thou be forced to go
forth with us? but I shall go whither I am going: return thou, and take
back thy brethren with thee, and the Lord will shew thee mercy, and
truth, because thou hast shewn grace and idelity.

 15:21. And Ethai answered the king, saying: As the Lord liveth, and
as my lord the king liveth: in what place soever thou shalt be, my lord,
O king, either in death, or in life, there will thy servant be.
15:22. And David said to Ethai: Come, and pass over. And Ethai the
Gethite passed, and all the men that were with him, and the rest of the
people.
15:23. And they all wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed
over: the king also himself went over the brook Cedron, and all the
people marched towards the way that looketh to the desert.
15:24. And Sadoc the priest also came, and all the Levites with him
carrying the ark of the covenant of God, and they set down the ark of
God: and Abiathar went up, till all the people that was come out of the
city had done passing.
15:25. And the king said to Sadoc: Carry back the ark of God into the
city: if I shall ind grace in the sight of the Lord, he will bring me again,
and he will shew me it, and his tabernacle.
15:26. But if he shall say to me: Thou pleasest me not: I am ready, let
him do that which is good before him.
15:27. And the king said to Sadoc the priest: O seer, return into the
city in peace: and let Achimaas thy son, and Jonathan the son of
Abiathar, your two sons, be with you.
15:28. Behold I will lie hid in the plains of the wilderness, till there
come word from you to certify me.
15:29. So Sadoc and Abiathar carried back the ark of God into
Jerusalem: and they tarried there.
15:30. But David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, going up
and weeping, walking barefoot, and with his head covered, and all the
people that were with them, went up with their heads covered
weeping.
Weeping, etc.... David on this occasion wept for his sins, which he knew were the
cause of all his sufferings.

 15:31. And it was told David that Achitophel also was in the
conspiracy with Absalom, and David said: Infatuate, O Lord, I beseech
thee, the counsel of Achitophel.
15:32. And when David was come to the top of the mountain, where
he was about to adore the Lord, behold Chusai the Arachite, came to
meet him with his garment rent and his head covered with earth.
15:33. And David said to him: If thou come with me, thou wilt be a
burden to me:
15:34. But if thou return into the city, and wilt say to Absalom: I am
thy servant, O king: as I have been thy father’s servant, so I will be thy
servant: thou shalt defeat the counsel of Achitophel.
15:35. And thou hast with thee Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests: and
what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king’s house, thou shalt
tell it to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests.
15:36. And there are with them their two sons Achimaas; the son of
Sadoc, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar: and you shall send by them
to me every thing that you shall hear.
15:37. Then Chusai the friend of David went into the city, and
Absalom came into Jerusalem.
2 Kings Chapter 16

Siba bringeth provisions to David. Semei curseth him. Absalom de ileth

his father’s wives.
16:1. And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold
Siba the servant of Miphiboseth came to meet him with two asses,
laden with two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred bunches of
raisins, a hundred cakes of igs, and a vessel of wine.
16:2. And the king said to Siba: What mean these things? And Siba
answered: The asses are for the king’s household to sit on: and the
loaves and the igs for thy servants to eat, and the wine to drink if any
man be faint in the desert.

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 16:3. And the king said: Where is thy master’s son? And Siba
answered the king: He remained in Jerusalem, saying: To day, will the
house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.
16:4. And the king said to Siba: I give thee all that belonged to
Miphiboseth. And Siba said: I beseech thee let me ind grace before
thee, my lord, O king.
16:5. And king David came as far as Bahurim: and behold there
came out from thence a man of the kindred of the house of Saul named
Semei, the son of Gera, and coming out he cursed as he went on,
16:6. And he threw stones at David, and at all the servants of king
David: and all the people, and all the warriors walked on the right,
and on the left side of the king.
16:7. And thus said Semei when he cursed the king: Come out, come
out, thou man of blood, and thou man of Belial.
16:8. The Lord hath repaid thee for all the blood of the house of
Saul: because thou hast usurped the kingdom in his stead, and the
Lord hath given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and
behold thy evils press upon thee, because thou art a man of blood.
16:9. And Abisai the son of Sarvia said to the king: Why should this
dead dog curse my lord the king? I will go, and cut off his head.
16:10. And the king said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of
Sarvia? Let him alone and let him curse: for the Lord hath bid him
curse David: and who is he that shall dare say, why hath he done so?
Hath bid him curse.... Not that the Lord was the author of Semei’s sin, which
proceeded purely from his own malice, and the abuse of his free will. But that
knowing, and suffering his malicious disposition to break out on this occasion, he
made use of him as his instrument to punish David for his sins.
16:11. And the king said to Abisai, and to all his servants: Behold my
son, who came forth from my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more
now a son of Jemini? let him alone that he may curse as the Lord hath
bidden him.

 16:12. Perhaps the Lord may look upon my af liction, and the Lord
may render me good for the cursing of this day.
16:13. And David and his men with him went by the way. And Semei
by the hill’s side went over against him, cursing, and casting stones at
him, and scattering earth.
16:14. And the king and all the people with him came weary, and
refreshed themselves there.
16:15. But Absalom and all his people came into Jerusalem, and
Achitophel was with him.
16:16. And when Chusai the Arachite, David’s friend, was come to
Absalom, he said to him: God save thee, O king, God save thee, O king.
16:17. And Absalom said to him, Is this thy kindness to thy friend?
Why wentest thou not with thy friend?
16:18. And Chusai answered Absalom: Nay: for I will be his, whom
the Lord hath chosen, and all this people, and all Israel, and with him
will I abide.
16:19. Besides this, whom shall I serve? is it not the king’s son? as I
have served thy father, so will I serve thee also.
16:20. And Absalom said to Achitophel: Consult what we are to do.
16:21. And Achitophel said to Absalom: Go in to the concubines of
thy father, whom he hath left to keep the house: that when all Israel
shall hear that thou hast disgraced thy father, their hands may be
strengthened with thee.
Their hands may be strengthened, etc.... The people might apprehend lest
Absalom should be reconciled to his father, and therefore they followed him with
some fear of being left in the lurch, till they saw such a crime committed as
seemed to make a reconciliation impossible.
16:22. So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house,
and he went in to his father’s concubines before all Israel.
16:23. Now the counsel of Achitophel, which he gave in those days,
was as if a man should consult God: so was all the counsel of

 Achitophel, both when he was with David, and when he was with
Absalom.
2 Kings Chapter 17

Achitophel’s counsel is defeated by Chusai: who sendeth intelligence to

David. Achitophel hangeth himself.
17:1. And Achitophel said to Absalom: I will choose me twelve
thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night.
17:2. And coming upon him (for he is now weary, and weak handed)
I will defeat him: and when all the people is put to light that is with
him, I will kill the king who will be left alone.
17:3. And I will bring back all the people, as if they were but one
man: for thou seekest but one man: and all the people shall be in
peace.
17:4. And his saying pleased Absalom, and all the ancients of Israel.
17:5. But Absalom said: Call Chusai the Arachite, and let us hear
what he also saith.
17:6. And when Chusai was come to Absalom, Absalom said to him:
Achitophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do it or not? what
counsel dost thou give?
17:7. And Chusai said to Absalom: The counsel that Achitophel hath
given this time is not good.
17:8. And again Chusai said: Thou knowest thy father, and the men
that are with him, that they are very valiant, and bitter in their mind,
as a bear raging in the wood when her whelps are taken away: and thy
father is a warrior, and will not lodge with the people.
17:9. Perhaps he now lieth hid in pits, or in some other place where
he list: and when any one shall fall at the irst, every one that heareth
it shall say: There is a slaughter among the people that followed
Absalom.

 17:10. And the most valiant man whose heart is as the heart of a
lion, shall melt for fear: for all the people of Israel know thy father to
be a valiant man, and that all who are with him are valiant.
17:11. But this seemeth to me to be good counsel: Let all Israel be
gathered to thee, from Dan to Bersabee, as the sand of the sea which
cannot be numbered: and thou shalt be in the midst of them.
17:12. And we shall come upon him in what place soever he shall be
found: and we shall cover him, as the dew falleth upon the ground, and
we shall not leave of the men that are with him, not so much as one.
17:13. And if he shall enter into any city, all Israel shall cast ropes
round about that city, and we will draw it into the river, so that there
shall not be found so much as one small stone thereof.
17:14. And Absalom, and all the men of Israel said: The counsel of
Chusai the Arachite is better than the counsel of Achitophel: and by the
will of the Lord the pro itable counsel of Achitophel was defeated, that
the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.
17:15. And Chusai said to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests: Thus and
thus did Achitophel counsel Absalom, and the ancients of Israel: and
thus and thus did I counsel them.
17:16. Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying: Tarry not
this night in the plains of the wilderness, but without delay pass over:
lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that is with him.
17:17. And Jonathan and Achimaas stayed by the fountain Rogel:
and there went a maid and told them: and they went forward, to carry
the message to king David, for they might not be seen, nor enter into
the city.
17:18. But a certain boy saw them, and told Absalom: but they
making haste went into the house of a certain man in Bahurim, who
had a well in his court, and they went down into it.
17:19. And a woman took, and spread a covering over the mouth of
the well, as it were to dry sodden barley and so the thing was not
known.

 17:20. And when Absalom’s servants were come into the house, they
said to the woman: Where is Achimaas and Jonathan? and the woman
answered them: They passed on in haste, after they had tasted a little
water. But they that sought them, when they found them not, returned
into Jerusalem.
17:21. And when they were gone, they came up out of the well, and
going on told king David, and said: Arise, and pass quickly over the
river: for this manner of counsel has Achitophel given against you.
17:22. So David arose, and all the people that were with him, and
they passed over the Jordan, until it grew light, and not one of them
was left that was not gone over the river.
17:23. But Achitophel seeing that his counsel was not followed,
saddled his ass, and arose and went home to his house and to his city,
and putting his house in order, hanged himself, and was buried in the
sepulchre of his father.
17:24. But David came to the camp, and Absalom passed over the
Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
To the camp.... The city of Mahanaim, the name of which, in Hebrew, signi ies The
camp. It was a city of note at that time, as appears from its having been chosen
by Isboseth for the place of his residence.
17:25. Now Absalom appointed Amasa in Joab’s stead over the
army: and Amasa was the son of a man who was called Jethra, of
Jezrael, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Naas, the sister of
Sarvia who was the mother of Joab.
17:26. And Israel camped with Absalom in the land of Galaad.
17:27. And when David was come to the camp, Sobi the son of Naas
of Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammihel
of Lodabar and Berzellai the Galaadite of Rogelim,
17:28. Brought him beds, and tapestry, and earthen vessels, and
wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils,
and fried pulse,

 17:29. And honey, and butter, and sheep, and fat calves, and they
gave to David and the people that were with him, to eat: for they
suspected that the people were faint with hunger and thirst in the
wilderness.
2 Kings Chapter 18

Absalom is defeated, and slain by Joab. David mourneth for him.

18:1. And David, having reviewed his people, appointed over them
captains of thousands and of hundreds,
18:2. And sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of
Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abisai the son of Sarvia Joab’s
brother, and a third part under the hand of Ethai, who was of Geth:
and the king said to the people: I also will go forth with you.
18:3. And the people answered: Thou shalt not go forth: for if we lee
away, they will not much mind us: or if half of us should fall, they will
not greatly care: for thou alone art accounted for ten thousand: it is
better therefore that thou shouldst be in the city to succour us.
18:4. And the king said to them: What seemeth good to you, that will
I do. And the king stood by the gate: and all the people went forth by
their troops, by hundreds and by thousands.
18:5. And the king commanded Joab, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying:
Save me the boy Absalom. And all the people heard the king giving
charge to all the princes concerning Absalom.
18:6. So the people went out into the ield against Israel, and the
battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim.
18:7. And the people of Israel were defeated there by David’s army,
and a great slaughter was made that day of twenty thousand men.
18:8. And the battle there was scattered over the face of all the
country, and there were many more of the people whom the forest
consumed, than whom the sword devoured that day.
Consumed.... Viz., by pits and precipices.

 18:9. And it happened that Absalom met the servants of David,

riding on a mule: and as the mule went under a thick and large oak,
his head stuck in the oak: and while he hung between the heaven and
the earth, the mule on which he rode passed on.
18:10. And one saw this and told Joab, saying: I saw Absalom
hanging upon an oak.
18:11. And Joab said to the man that told him: If thou sawest him,
why didst thou not stab him to the ground, and I would have given
thee ten sicles of silver, and a belt?
18:12. And he said to Joab: If thou wouldst have paid down in my
hands a thousand pieces of silver, I would not lay my hands upon the
king’s son for in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abisai, and
Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom.
18:13. Yea and if I should have acted boldly against my own life, this
could not have been hid from the king, and wouldst thou have stood by
me?
18:14. And Joab said: Not as thou wilt, but I will set upon him in thy
sight. So he took three lances in his hand, and thrust them into the
heart of Absalom: and whilst he yet panted for life, sticking on the oak,
18:15. Ten young men, armourbearers of Joab, ran up, and striking
him slew him.
18:16. And Joab sounded the trumpet, and kept back the people
from pursuing after Israel in their light, being willing to spare the
multitude.
18:17. And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the
forest, and they laid an exceeding great heap of stones upon him: but
all Israel led to their own dwellings.
18:18. Now Absalom had reared up for himself, in his lifetime, a
pillar, which is in the king’s valley: for he said: I have no son, and this
shall be the monument of my name. And he called the pillar by his own
name, and it is called the hand of Absalom, to this day.

 No son.... The sons mentioned above, chap. 14.27, were dead when this pillar was
erected: unless we suppose he raised this pillar before they were born.
18:19. And Achimaas the son of Sadoc said: I will run and tell the
king, that the Lord hath done judgment for him from the hand of his
enemies.
18:20. And Joab said to him: Thou shalt not be the messenger this
day, but shalt bear tidings another day: this day I will not have thee
bear tidings, because the king’s son is dead.
18:21. And Joab said to Chusai: Go, and tell the king what thou hast
seen. Chusai bowed down to Joab, and ran.
18:22. Then Achimaas the son of Sadoc said to Joab again: Why
might not I also run after Chusai? And Joab said to him: Why wilt thou
run, my son? thou wilt not be the bearer of good tidings.
18:23. He answered: But what if I run? And he said to him: Run.
Then Achimaas running by a nearer way passed Chusai.
18:24. And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman
that was on the top of the gate upon the wall, lifting up his eyes, saw a
man running alone.
18:25. And crying out he told the king: and the king said: If he be
alone, there are good tidings in his mouth. And as he was coming
apace, and drawing nearer,
18:26. The watchman saw another man running, and crying aloud
from above, he said: I see another man running alone. And the king
said: He also is a good messenger.
18:27. And the watchman said: The running of the foremost
seemeth to me like the running of Achimaas the son of Sadoc. And the
king said: He is a good man: and cometh with good news.
18:28. And Achimaas crying out, said to the king: God save thee, O
king. And falling down before the king with his face to the ground, he
said: Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath shut up the men that have
lifted up their hands against the lord my king.

 18:29. And the king said: Is the young man Absalom safe? And
Achimaas said: I saw a great tumult, O king, when thy servant Joab
sent me thy servant: I know nothing else.
18:30. And the king said to him: Pass, and stand here.
18:31. And when he had passed, and stood still, Chusai appeared
and coming up he said: I bring good tidings, my lord, the king, for the
Lord hath judged for thee this day from the hand of all that have risen
up against thee.
18:32. And the king said to Chusai: Is the young man Absalom safe?
And Chusai answering him, said: Let the enemies of my lord, the king,
and all that rise against him unto evil, be as the young man is.
18:33. The king therefore being much moved, went up to the high
chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went he spoke in this
manner: My son Absalom, Absalom my son: would to God that I might
die for thee, Absalom my son, my son Absalom.
Would to God.... David lamented the death of Absalom, because of the wretched
state in which he died: and therefore would have been glad to have saved his life,
even by dying for him. In which he was a igure of Christ weeping, praying and
dying for his rebellious children, and even for them that cruci ied him.
2 Kings Chapter 19

David, at the remonstrances of Joab, ceaseth his mourning. He is

invited back and met by Semei and Miphiboseth: a strife between the
men of Juda and the men of Israel.
19:1. And it was told Joab, that the king wept and mourned for his
son:
19:2. And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all
the people: for the people heard say that day: The king grieveth for his
son.
19:3. And the people shunned the going into the city that day as a
people would do that hath turned their backs, and led away from the
battle.

 19:4. And the king covered his head, and cried with a loud voice: O
my son Absalom, O Absalom my son, O my son.
19:5. Then Joab going into the house to the king, said: Thou hast
shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, that have saved thy life,
and the lives of thy sons, and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy
wives, and the lives of thy concubines.
19:6. Thou lovest them that hate thee, and thou hatest them that
love thee: and thou hast shewn this day that thou carest not for thy
nobles, nor for thy servants: and I now plainly perceive that if Absalom
had lived, and all we had been slain, then it would have pleased thee.
19:7. Now therefore arise, and go out, and speak to the satisfaction
of thy servants: for I swear to thee by the Lord, that if thou wilt not go
forth, there will not tarry with thee so much as one this night: and that
will be worse to thee, than all the evils that have befallen thee from thy
youth until now.
19:8. Then the king arose and sat in the gate: and it was told to all
the people that the king sat in the gate: and all the people came before
the king, but Israel led to their own dwellings.
19:9. And all the people were at strife in all the tribes of Israel,
saying: The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he
saved us out of the hand of the Philistines: and now he is led out of the
land for Absalom.
19:10. But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in the
battle: how long are you silent, and bring not back the king?
19:11. And king David sent to Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests,
saying: Speak to the ancients of Juda, saying: Why are you the last to
bring the king back to his house? (For the talk of all Israel was come to
the king in his house.)
19:12. You are my brethren, you are my bone, and my lesh, why are
you the last to bring back the king?

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 19:13. And say ye to Amasa: Art not thou my bone, and my lesh? So
do God to me and add more, if thou be not the chief captain of the
army before me always in the place of Joab.
19:14. And he inclined the heart of all the men of Juda, as it were of
one man: and they sent to the king, saying: Return thou, and all thy
servants.
19:15. And the king returned and came as far as the Jordan, and all
Juda came as far as Galgal to meet the king, and to bring him over the
Jordan.
19:16. And Semei the son of Gera the son of Jemini of Bahurim, made
haste and went down with the men of Juda to meet king David,
19:17. With a thousand men of Benjamin, and Siba the servant of
the house of Saul: and his ifteen sons, and twenty servants were with
him: and going over the Jordan,
19:18.They passed the fords before the king, that they might help
over the king’s household, and do according to his commandment. And
Semei the son of Gera falling down before the king, when he was come
over the Jordan,
19:19. Said to him: Impute not to me, my lord, the iniquity, nor
remember the injuries of thy servant on the day that thou, my lord, the
king, wentest out of Jerusalem, nor lay it up in thy heart, O king.
19:20. For I thy servant acknowledge my sin: and therefore I am
come this day the irst of all the house of Joseph, and am come down to
meet my lord the king.
19:21. But Abisai the son of Sarvia answering, said: Shall Semei for
these words not be put to death, because he cursed the Lord’s
anointed?
19:22. And David said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of
Sarvia? why are you a satan this day to me? shall there any man be
killed this day in Israel? do not I know that this day I am made king
over Israel?

 19:23. And the king said to Semei: Thou shalt not die. And he swore
unto him.
19:24. And Miphiboseth the son of Saul came down to meet the king,
and he had neither washed his feet, nor trimmed his beard: nor
washed his garments from the day that the king went out, until the
day of his return in peace.
19:25. And when he met the king at Jerusalem, the king said to him:
Why camest thou not with me, Miphiboseth?
19:26. And he answering, said: My lord, O king, my servant despised
me: for I thy servant spoke to him to saddle me an ass, that I might get
on and go with the king: for I thy servant am lame.
19:27. Moreover he hath also accused me thy servant to thee, my
lord the king: but thou my lord the king art as an angel of God, do
what pleaseth thee.
19:28. For all of my father’s house were no better than worthy of
death before my lord the king; and thou hast set me thy servant
among the guests of thy table: what just complaint therefore have I?
or what right to cry any more to the king?
19:29. Then the king said to him: Why speakest thou any more?
what I have said is determined: thou and Siba divide the possessions.
19:30. And Miphiboseth answered the king: Yea, let him take all,
forasmuch as my lord the king is returned peaceably into his house.
19:31. Berzellai also the Galaadite coming down from Rogelim,
brought the king over the Jordan, being ready also to wait on him
beyond the river.
19:32. Now Berzellai the Galaadite was of a great age, that is to say,
fourscore years old, and he provided the king with sustenance when he
abode in the camp: for he was a man exceeding rich.
19:33. And the king said to Berzellai: Come with me that thou
mayest rest secure with me in Jerusalem.
19:34. And Berzellai said to the king: How many are the days of the
years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

 19:35. I am this day fourscore years old, are my senses quick to

discern sweet and bitter? or can meat or drink delight thy servant? or
can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why
should thy servant be a burden to my lord, the king?
19:36. I thy servant will go on a little way from the Jordan with thee:
I need not this recompense.
19:37. But I beseech thee let thy servant return, and die in my own
city, and be buried by the sepulchre of my father, and of my mother.
But there is thy servant Chamaam, let him go with thee, my lord, the
king, and do to him whatsoever seemeth good to thee.
19:38. Then the king said to him: Let Chamaam go over with me,
and I will do for him whatsoever shall please thee, and all that thou
shalt ask of me, thou shalt obtain.
19:39. And when all the people and the king had passed over the
Jordan, the king kissed Berzellai, and blessed him: and he returned to
his own place.
19:40. So the king went on to Galgal, and Chamaam with him. Now
all the people of Juda had brought the king over, and only half of the
people of Israel were there.
19:41. Therefore all the men of Israel running together to the king,
said to him: Why have our brethren the men of Juda stolen thee away,
and have brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all
the men of David with him?
19:42. And all the men of Juda answered the men of Israel: Because
the king is nearer to me: why art thou angry for this matter? have we
eaten any thing of the king’s, or have any gifts been given us?
19:43. And the men of Israel answered the men of Juda, and said: I
have ten parts in the king more than thou, and David belongeth to me
more than to thee: why hast thou done me a wrong, and why was it
not told me irst, that I might bring back my king? And the men of Juda
answered more harshly than the men of Israel.
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 2 Kings Chapter 20

Seba’s rebellion. Amasa is slain by Joab. Abela is besieged, but upon the
citizens casting over the wall the head of Seba, Joab departeth with all
his army.
20:1. And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name
was Seba, the son of Bochri, a man of Jemini: and he sounded the
trumpet, and said: We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the
son of Isai: return to thy dwellings, O Israel.
20:2. And all Israel departed from David, and followed Seba the son
of Bochri: but the men of Juda stuck to their king from the Jordan unto
Jerusalem.
20:3. And when the king was come into his house at Jerusalem, he
took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the
house, and put them inward, allowing them provisions: and he went
not in unto them, but they were shut up unto the day of their death
living in widowhood.
20:4. And the king said to Amasa: Assemble to me all the men of
Juda against the third day, and be thou here present.
20:5. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Juda, but he tarried
beyond the set time which the king had appointed him.
20:6. 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 ind fenced cities, and escape us.
20:7. 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.
20:8. 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 lank, in a scabbard, made in such manner as to come out with the
least motion and strike.
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 20:9. And Joab said to Amasa: God save thee, my brother. And he
took Amasa by the chin with his right hand to kiss him.
20:10. 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.
20:11. In the mean time some men of Joab’s company stopping at
the dead body of Amasa, said: Behold he that would have been in
Joab’s stead the companion of David.
20:12. And Amasa imbrued with blood, lay in the midst of the way. A
certain man saw this that all the people stood still to look upon him, so
he removed Amasa out of the highway into the ield, and covered him
with a garment, that they who passed might, not stop on his account.
20:13. And when he was removed out of the way, all the people went
on following Joab to pursue after Seba the son of Bochri.
20:14. Now he had passed through all the tribes of Israel unto Abela
and Bethmaacha: and all the chosen men were gathered together unto
him.
Abela and Bethmaacha.... Cities of the tribe of Nephtali.
20:15. And they came, and besieged him in Abela, and in
Bethmaacha, and they cast up works round the city, and the city was
besieged: and all the people that were with Joab, laboured to throw
down the walls.
20:16. And a wise woman cried out from the city: Hear, hear, and
say to Joab: Come near hither, and I will speak with thee.
20:17. And when he was come near to her, she said to him: Art thou
Joab? And he answered: I am. And she spoke thus to him: Hear the
words of thy handmaid. He answered: I do hear.
20:18. And she again said: A saying was used in the old proverb:
They that inquire, let them inquire in Abela: and so they made an end.

 20:19. Am not I she that answer truth in Israel, and thou seekest to
destroy the city, and to overthrow a mother in Israel? Why wilt thou
throw down the inheritance of the Lord?
20:20. And Joab answering said: God forbid, God forbid that I
should, I do not throw down, nor destroy.
20:21. The matter is not so, but a man of mount Ephraim, Seba the
son of Bochri by name, hath lifted up his hand against king David:
deliver him only, and we will depart from the city. And the woman said
to Joab: Behold his head shall be thrown to thee from the wall.
20:22. So she went to all the people, and spoke to them wisely: and
they cut off the head of Seba the son of Bochri, and cast it out to Joab.
And he sounded the trumpet, and they departed from the city, every
one to their home: and Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
20:23. So Joab was over all the army of Israel: and Banaias the son
of Joiada was over the Cerethites and Phelethites,
20:24. But Aduram over the tributes: and Josaphat the son of Ahilud
was recorder.
20:25. And Siva was scribe: and Sadoc and Abiathar, priests.
20:26. And Ira the Jairite was the priest of David.
2 Kings Chapter 21

A famine of three years, for the sin of Saul against the Gabaonites, at
whose desire seven of Saul’s race are cruci ied. War again with the
Philistines.
21:1. 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.
21:2. 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:)
21:3. 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?
21:4. 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?
21:5. 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.
21:6. 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.
21:7. 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.
21:8. So the king took the two sons of Respha the daughter of Aia,
whom she bore to Saul, Armoni, and Miphiboseth: and the ive sons of
Michol the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Hadriel the son of
Berzellai, that was of Molathi:
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.
21:9. And gave them into the hands of the Gabaonites: and they
cruci ied them on a hill before the Lord: and these seven died together
in the irst days of the harvest, when the barley began to be reaped.
21:10. 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.
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 21:11. And it was told David, what Respha the daughter of Aia, the
concubine of Saul, had done.
21:12. 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 hanged them
when they had slain Saul in Gelboe.
21:13. 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
cruci ied,
21:14. 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 did all that the king had commanded, and God
shewed mercy again to the land after these things.
21:15. 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,
21:16. Jesbibenob, who was of the race of Arapha, the iron of whose
spear weighed three hundred ounces, being girded with a new sword,
attempted to kill David.
21:17. And Abisai the son of Sarvia rescued him, and striking 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.
21:18. 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.
21:19. And there was a third battle in Gob against the Philistines, in
which Adeodatus the son of the Forrest an embroiderer of Bethlehem
slew Goliath the Gethite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s
beam.
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 Adeodatus the son of the Forrest.... So it is rendered in the Latin Vulgate, by

giving the interpretation of the Hebrew names, which are Elhanan the son of
Jaare.
21:20. A fourth battle was in Geth: where there was a man of great
stature, that had six ingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot,
four and twenty in all, and he was of the race of Arapha.
21:21. And he reproached Israel: and Jonathan the son of Samae the
brother of David slew him.
21:22. These four were born of Arapha in Geth, and they fell by the
hand of David, and of his servants.
2 Kings Chapter 22

King David’s psalm of thanksgiving for his deliverance from all his
enemies.
22:1. And 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,
22:2. And he said: The Lord is my rock, and my strength, and my
saviour.
22:3. 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.
22:4. I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised: and I shall
be saved from my enemies.
22:5. For the pangs of death have surrounded me: the loods of
Belial have made me afraid.
22:6. The cords of hell compassed me: the snares of death prevented
me.
22:7. 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.

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 22:8. The earth shook and trembled, the foundations of the
mountains were moved, and shaken, because he was angry with them.
22:9. A smoke went up from his nostrils, and a devouring ire out of
his mouth: coals were kindled by it.
22:10. He bowed the heavens, and came down: and darkness was
under his feet.
22:11. And he rode upon the cherubims, and lew: and slid upon the
wings of the wind.
22:12. He made darkness a covering round about him: dropping
waters out of the clouds of the heavens.
22:13. By the brightness before him, the coals of ire were kindled.
22:14. The Lord shall thunder from heaven: and the most high shall
give forth his voice.
22:15. He shot arrows and scattered them: lightning, and consumed
them.
22:16. And the over lowings 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.
22:17. He sent from on high, and took me, and drew me out of many
waters.
22:18. He delivered me from my most mighty enemy, and from them
that hated me: for they were too strong for me.
22:19. He prevented me in the day of my af liction, and the Lord
became my stay.
22:20. And he brought me forth into a large place, he delivered me,
because I pleased him.
22:21. The Lord will reward me according to my justice: and
according to the cleanness of my hands he will render to me.
22:22. Because I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not
wickedly departed from my God.

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 22:23. For all his judgments are in my sight: and his precepts I have
not removed from me.
22:24. And I shall be perfect with him: and shall keep myself from
my iniquity.
22:25. And the Lord will recompense me according to my justice:
and according to the cleanness of my hands in the sight of his eyes.
22:26. With the holy one thou wilt be holy: and with the valiant
perfect.
22:27. With the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou
wilt be perverted.
22:28. And the poor people thou wilt save: and with thy eyes thou
shalt humble the haughty.
22:29. For thou art my lamp O Lord: and thou, O Lord, wilt enlighten
my darkness.
22:30. For in thee I will run girded: in my God I will leap over the
wall.
22:31. God, his way is immaculate, the word of the Lord is tried by
ire: he is the shield of all that trust in him.
22:32. Who is God but the Lord: and who is strong but our God?
22:33. God who hath girded me with strength, and made my way
perfect.
22:34. Making my feet like the feet of harts, and setting me upon my
high places.
22:35. He teacheth my hands to war: and maketh my arms like a
bow of brass.
22:36. Thou hast given me the shield of my salvation: and thy
mildness hath multiplied me.
22:37. Thou shalt enlarge my steps under me: and my ankles shall
not fail.
22:38. I will pursue after my enemies, and crush them: and will not
return again till I consume them.
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 22:39. I will consume them and break them in pieces, so that they
shall not rise: they shall fall under my feet.
22:40. Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: thou hast made
them that resisted me to bow under me.
22:41. My enemies thou hast made to turn their back to me: them
that hated me, and I shall destroy them.
22:42. They shall cry, and there shall be none to save: to the Lord,
and he shall not hear them.
22:43. I shall beat them as small as the dust of the earth: I shall
crush them and spread them abroad like the mire of the streets.
22:44. 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,
22:45. The sons of the stranger will resist me, at the hearing of the
ear they will obey me.
22:46. The strangers are melted away, and shall be straitened in
their distresses.
22:47. The Lord liveth, and my God is blessed: and the strong God of
my salvation shall be exalted:
22:48. God who giveth me revenge, and bringest down people under
me,
22:49. Who bringest me forth from my enemies, and liftest me up
from them that resist me: from the wicked man thou shalt deliver me.
22:50. Therefore will I give thanks to thee, O Lord, among the
Gentiles, and will sing to thy name.
22:51. Giving great salvation to his king, and shewing mercy to
David his anointed, and to his seed for ever.
2 Kings Chapter 23

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

 23:1. Now these are David’s last words. David the son of Isai said:
The man to whom it was appointed concerning the Christ of the God of
Jacob, the excellent psalmist of Israel said:
23:2. The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and his word by my
tongue.
23:3. 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.
23:4. 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.
As the light, etc.... So shall be the kingdom of Christ.
23:5. Neither is my house so great with God, that he should make
with me an eternal covenant, irm in all things and assured. For he is
all my salvation, and all my will: neither is there ought thereof that
springeth not up.
Neither is my house, etc.... 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.
23:6. But transgressors shall all of them be plucked up as thorns:
which are not taken away with hands.
23:7. 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 ire and burnt to
nothing.
23:8. 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.
Jesbaham.... The son of Hachamoni. For this was the name of this hero, as
appears from 1 Chron. or Paralip. 11.—Ibid. Most tender, etc.... 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

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 Jesbaham was like, instead of the name itself, which was Adino the Eznite, one
much renowned of old for his valour.
23:9. After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the
three valiant men that were with David when they de ied the
Philistines, and they were there gathered together to battle.
Dodo.... In Latin, Patrui ejus, which is the interpretation of the Hebrew name
Dodo. The same occurs in ver. 24.
23:10. 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 led away, returned to take spoils of them that were slain.
23:11. And after him was Semma the son of Age of Arari. And the
Philistines were gathered together in a troop: for there was a ield full
of lentils. And when the people were led from the face of the
Philistines,
23:12. He stood in the midst of the ield, and defended it, and
defeated the Philistines: and the Lord gave a great victory.
23:13. 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.
23:14. And David was then in a hold: and there was a garrison of the
Philistines then in Bethlehem.
23:15. And David longed, and said: O that some man would get me a
drink of the water out of the cistern, that is in Bethlehem, by the gate.
23:16. And the three valiant men broke through the camp of the
Philistines, and drew water out of the cistern of Bethlehem, that was
by the gate, and brought it to David: but he would not drink, but
offered it to the Lord,
23:17. 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
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 lives? therefore he would not drink. These things did these three
mighty men.
23:18. Abisai 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,
23:19. And the noblest of three, and was their chief, but to the three
irst he attained not.
23:20. 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 a lion in the midst of a pit, in the time of snow.
23:21. 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.
23:22. These things did Banaias the son of Joiada.
23:23. And he was renowned among the three valiant men, who
were the most honourable among the thirty: but he attained not to the
irst three: and David made him of his privy council.
23:24. Asael the brother of Joab was one of the thirty, Elehanan the
son of Dodo of Bethlehem.
23:25. Semma of Harodi, Elica of Harodi,
23:26. Heles of Phalti, Hira the son of Acces of Thecua,
23:27. Abiezer of Anathoth, Mobonnai of Husati,
23:28. Selmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
23:29. Heled the son of Baana, also a Netophathite, Ithai the son of
Ribai of Gabaath of the children of Benjamin,
23:30. Banaia the Pharathonite, Heddai of the torrent Gaas,
23:31. Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Beromi,
23:32. Eliaba of Salaboni. The sons of Jassen, Jonathan,
23:33. Semma of Orori, Aliam the son of Sarar the Arorite,
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 23:34. Eliphelet the son of Aasbai the son of Machati, Eliam the son
of Achitophel the Gelonite,
23:35. Hesrai of Carmel, Pharai of Arbi,
23:36. Igaal the son of Nathan of Soba, Bonni of Gadi,
23:37. Selec of Ammoni, Naharai the Berothite, armourbearer of
Joab the son of Sarvia,
23:38. Ira the Jethrite, Gareb also a Jethrite;
23:39. Urias the Hethite, thirty and seven in all.
2 Kings Chapter 24

David numbereth the people: God sendeth a pestilence, which is stopt

by David’s prayer and sacri ice.
24:1. And the anger of the Lord was again kindled against Israel,
and stirred up David among them, saying: Go, number Israel and Juda.
Stirred up, etc.... This stirring up was not the doing of God, but of Satan; as it is
expressly declared, 1 Chron. or Paralip. 21.1.
24:2. 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.
24:3. 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 a hundredfold in the sight of my lord the king: but what
meaneth my lord the king by this kind of thing?
24:4. 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.
24:5. And when they had passed the Jordan, they came to Aroer to
the right side of the city, which is in the vale of Gad.
24:6. 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,

 24:7. 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:
24:8. And having gone through the whole land, after nine months
and twenty days, they came to Jerusalem.
24:9. 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 ive hundred thousand ighting
men.
24:10. 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 iniquity of
thy servant, because I have done exceeding foolishly.
David’s heart struck him, after the people were numbered.... That is he was
touched with a great remorse for the vanity and pride which had put him upon
numbering the people.
24:11. And David arose in the morning, and the word of the Lord
came to Gad the prophet and the seer of David, saying:
24:12. 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.
24:13. 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 lee
three months before thy adversaries, and they shall pursue thee: or for
three days there shall be a pestilence in thy land. Now therefore
deliberate, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
24:14. And David said to Gad: I am in a great strait: but it is better
that I should fall into the hands of the Lord (for his mercies are many)
than into the hands of men.
24:15. And the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, from the morning
unto the time appointed, and there died of the people from Dan to
Bersabee seventy thousand men.

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 24:16. And when the angel of the Lord had stretched out his hand
over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord had pity on the af liction, and
said to the angel that slew the people: It is enough: now hold thy hand.
And the angel of the Lord was by the thrashing loor of Areuna the
Jebusite.
24:17. And David said to the Lord, when he saw the angel striking
the people: It is I; I am he that have sinned, I have done wickedly: these
that are the sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I beseech thee,
be turned against me, and against my father’s house.
24:18. And Gad came to David that day, and said: Go up, and build
an altar to the Lord in the thrashing loor of Areuna the Jebusite.
24:19. And David went up according to the word of Gad which the
Lord had commanded him.
24:20. And Areuna looked, and saw the king and his servants
coming towards him:
24:21. 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 thrashing loor of thee, and
build an altar to the Lord, that the plague, which rageth among the
people, may cease.
24:22. And Areuna said to David: Let my lord the 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.
24:23. All these things Areuna as a king gave to the king: and
Areuna said to the king: The Lord thy God receive thy vow.
24:24. 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 loor, and the oxen, for ifty sicles of silver:
24:25. And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered
holocausts and peace offerings: and the Lord became merciful to the
land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

 THE THIRD BOOK OF KINGS

This and the following Book are called by the holy fathers the third
and fourth book of Kings; but by the Hebrews, the irst 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 writer of
these books, it seems most probable they were not written by one man;
nor at one time; but as there was all along a succession of prophets in
Israel, who recorded, by divine inspiration, the most remarkable things
that happened in their days, these books seem to have been written by
these prophets. See 2 Paralip. alias 2 Chron. 9.29; 12.15; 13.22; 20.34;
26.22; 32.32.
3 Kings Chapter 1

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.
1:1. Now king David was old, and advanced in years: and when he
was covered with clothes he was not warm.
1:2. His servants therefore, said to him: Let us seek for our lord the
king, a young virgin, and let her stand before the king, and cherish
him, and sleep in his bosom and warm our lord the king.
1:3. 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.
1:4. And the damsel was exceedingly beautiful, and she slept with
the king, and served him, but the king did not know her.
1:5. And Adonias, the son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying: I will
be king. And he made himself chariots and horsemen, and ifty men to
run before him.

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 1:6. 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.
1:7. And he conferred with Joab, the son of Sarvia, and with
Abiathar, the priest, who furthered Adonias’s side.
1:8. 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.
1:9. 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:
1:10. But Nathan, the prophet, and Banaias, and all the valiant men,
and Solomon, his brother, he invited not.
1:11. 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?
1:12. Now then, come, take my counsel, and save thy life, and the life
of thy son Solomon.
1:13. Go, and get thee in to king David, and say to him: Didst not
thou, my lord, O king, swear to me, thy handmaid, saying: Solomon, thy
son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? why then doth
Adonias reign?
1:14. And while thou art yet speaking there with the king, I will
come in after thee, and will ill up thy words.
1:15. So Bethsabee went in to the king into the chamber. Now the
king was very old, and Abisag, the Sunamitess, ministered to him.
1:16. Bethsabee bowed herself, and worshipped the king. And the
king said to her: What is thy will?
1:17. 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.

 1:18. And behold, now Adonias reigneth, and thou, my lord the king,
knowest nothing of it.
1:19. 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.
1:20. 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.
1:21. Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king
sleepeth with his fathers, that I, and my son, Solomon, shall be
accounted offenders.
1:22. As she was yet speaking with the king, Nathan, the prophet,
came.
1:23. 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,
1:24. Nathan said: My lord, O king, hast thou said: Let Adonias reign
after me, and let him sit upon my throne?
1:25. 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:
1:26. But me, thy servant, and Sadoc, the priest, and Banaias, the
son of Joiada, and Solomon, thy servant, he hath not invited.
1:27. 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?
1:28. And king David answered, and said: Call to me Bethsabee. And
when she was come in to the king, and stood before him,
1:29. The king swore, and said: As the Lord liveth, who hath
delivered my soul out of all distress,

 1:30. 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.
1:31. And Bethsabee, bowing with her face to the earth, worshipped
the king, saying: May my lord David live for ever.
1:32. 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,
1:33. 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:
1:34. 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.
1:35. 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.
1:36. And Banaias, the son of Joiada, answered the king, saying:
Amen: so say the Lord, the God of my lord the king.
1:37. 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.
1:38. 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 upon the mule of king David, and brought him to Gihon.
1:39. 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.
1:40. 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.

 1:41. 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?
1:42. 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.
1:43. And Jonathan answered Adonias: Not so: for our lord, king
David, hath appointed Solomon king;
1:44. And hath sent with him Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the
prophet, and Banaias, the son of Joiada, and the Cerethi, and the
Phelethi, and they have set him upon the king’s mule:
1:45. 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.
1:46. Moreover, Solomon sitteth upon the throne of the kingdom.
1:47. 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:
1:48. 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.
1:49. Then all the guests of Adonias were afraid, and they all arose,
and every man went his way.
1:50. And Adonias fearing Solomon, arose and went, and took hold
of the horn of the altar.
1:51. And they told Solomon, saying: Behold Adonias fearing king
Solomon, hath taken hold of the horn of the altar, saying: Let king
Solomon swear to me this day, that he will not kill his servant with the
sword.
1:52. And Solomon said: If he be a good man, there shall not so
much as one hair of his head fall to the ground: but if evil be found in
him, he shall die.

 1:53. Then king Solomon sent, and brought him out from the altar:
and going in, he worshipped king Solomon: and Solomon said to him:
Go to thy house.
3 Kings Chapter 2

David, after giving his last charge to Solomon, dieth. Adonias is put to
death: Abiathar is banished: Joab and Semei are slain.
2:1. And the days of David drew nigh that he should die, and he
charged his son Solomon, saying:
2:2. I am going the way of all lesh: take thou courage and shew
thyself a man.
2:3. And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways,
and observe his ceremonies, and his precepts, and judgments, and
testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses: that thou mayst
understand all thou dost, and whithersoever thou shalt turn thyself:
2:4. That the Lord may con irm his words, which he hath spoken of
me, saying: If thy children shall take heed to their ways, and shall walk
before me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul, there
shall not be taken away from thee a man on the throne of Israel.
2:5. Thou knowest also what Joab, the son of Sarvia, hath done to
me, what he did to the two captains of the army of Israel, to Abner, the
son of Ner, and to Amasa, the son of Jether: whom he slew, and shed
the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his girdle that
was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.
Joab.... These instructions given by David to his son, with relation to Joab and
Semei, proceeded not from any rancour of heart, or private pique; but from a
zeal for justice, that crimes so public and heinous might not pass unpunished.
2:6. Do, therefore, according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoary
head go down to hell in peace.
To hell.... This word hell doth not here signify the place or state of damnation;
but the place and state of the dead.

 2:7. But shew kindness to the sons of Berzellai, the Galaadite, and let
them eat at thy table: for they met me when I led from the face of
Absalom, thy brother.
2:8. Thou hast also with thee Semei, the son of Gera, the son of
Jemini, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse, when I went
to the camp: but because he came down to meet me when I passed
over the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying: I will not kill
thee with the sword:
2:9. Do not thou hold him guiltless. But thou art a wise man, and
knowest what to do with him, and thou shalt bring down his grey hairs
with blood to the grave.
2:10. So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of
David.
2:11. And the days that David reigned in Israel, were forty years: in
Hebron he reigned seven years, in Jerusalem thirty-three.
2:12. And Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and his
kingdom was strengthened exceedingly.
2:13. And Adonias, the son of Haggith, came to Bethsabee the
mother of Solomon. And she said to him: Is thy coming peaceable? He
answered: It is peaceable.
2:14. And he added: I have a word to speak with thee. She said to
him: Speak. And he said:
2:15. Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had
preferred me to be their king: but the kingdom is transferred, and is
become my brother’s: for it was appointed him by the Lord.
2:16. Now therefore, I ask one petition of thee; turn not away my
face. And she said to him: Say on.
2:17. And he said I pray thee speak to king Solomon (for he cannot
deny thee any thing) to give me Abisag, the Sunamitess, to wife.
2:18. And Bethsabee said: Well, I will speak for thee to the king.

 2:19. Then Bethsabee came to king Solomon, to speak to him for

Adonias: and the king arose to meet her, and bowed to her, and sat
down upon his throne: and a throne was set for the king’s mother, and
she sat on his right hand.
2:20. And she said to him: I desire one small petition of thee; do not
put me to confusion. And the king said to her: My mother ask, for I
must not turn away thy face.
2:21. And she said: Let Abisag, the Sunamitess, be given to Adonias,
thy brother, to wife.
2:22. And king Solomon answered, and said to his mother: Why dost
thou ask Abisag, the Sunamitess, for Adonias? ask for him also the
kingdom; for he is my elder brother, and hath Abiathar, the priest, and
Joab, the son of Sarvia.
2:23. Then king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying: So and so may
God do to me, and add more, if Adonias hath not spoken this word
against his own life.
2:24. And now, as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and
placed me upon the throne of David, my father, and who hath made
me a house, as he promised, Adonias shall be put to death this day.
2:25. And king Solomon sent by the hand of Banaias, the son of
Joiada, who slew him, and he died.
2:26. And the king said also to Abiathar, the priest: Go to Anathoth,
to thy lands, for indeed thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this
time put thee to death, because thou didst carry the ark of the Lord
God before David, my father, and hast endured trouble in all the
troubles my father endured.
2:27. So Solomon cast out Abiathar from being the priest of the
Lord, that the word of the Lord might be ful illed, which he spoke
concerning the house of Heli in Silo.
2:28. And the news came to Joab, because Joab had turned after
Adonias, and had not turned after Solomon: and Joab led into the
tabernacle of the Lord, and took hold on the horn of the altar.

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 2:29. And it was told king Solomon, that Joab was led into the
tabernacle of the Lord, and was by the altar: and Solomon sent
Banaias, the son of Joiada, saying. Go, kill him.
2:30. And Banaias came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to
him: Thus saith the king: Come forth. And he said: I will not come
forth, but here I will die. Banaias brought word back to the king,
saying: Thus saith Joab, and thus he answered me.
2:31. And the king said to him: Do as he hath said; and kill him, and
bury him, and thou shalt remove the innocent blood which hath been
shed by Joab, from me, and from the house of my father:
2:32. And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head;
because he murdered two men, just and better than himself: and slew
them with the sword, my father, David, not knowing it; Abner, the son
of Ner, general of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether
general of the army of Juda;
2:33. And their blood shall return upon the head of Joab, and upon
the head of his seed for ever. But to David and his seed, and his house,
and to his throne, be peace for ever from the Lord.
2:34. So Banaias, the son of Joiada, went up, and setting upon him
slew him, and he was buried in his house in the desert.
2:35. And the king appointed Banaias, the son of Joiada in his room
over the army; and Sadoc, the priest, he put in the place of Abiathar.
2:36. The king also sent, and called for Semei, and said to him: Build
thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there: and go not out from thence
any where.
2:37. For on what day soever thou shalt go out, and shalt pass over
the brook Cedron, know that thou shalt be put to death: thy blood shall
be upon thy own head.
2:38. And Semei said to the king: The saying is good: as my lord the
king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Semei dwelt in Jerusalem
many days.

 2:39. And it came to pass after three years, that the servants of
Semei ran away to Achis, the son of Maacha, the king of Geth: and it
was told Semei that his servants were gone to Geth.
2:40. And Semei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Achis, to
Geth, to seek his servants, and he brought them out of Geth.
2:41. And it was told Solomon, that Semei had gone from Jerusalem
to Geth, and was come back.
2:42. And sending he called for him, and said to him: Did I not
protest to thee by the Lord, and tell thee before: On what day soever
thou shalt go out and walk abroad any where, know that thou shalt
die? And thou answeredst me: The word that I have heard is good.
2:43. Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the
commandment that I laid upon thee?
2:44. And the king said to Semei: Thou knowest all the evil, of which
thy heart is conscious, which thou didst to David, my father: the Lord
hath returned thy wickedness upon thy own head.
2:45. And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David
shall be established before the Lord for ever.
2:46. So the king commanded Banaias, the son of Joiada: and he
went out and struck him; and he died.
3 Kings Chapter 3

Solomon marrieth Pharao’s daughter. He sacri iceth in Gabaon: in the

choice which God gave him he preferreth wisdom. His wise judgment
between the two harlots.
3:1. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, and
he made af inity with Pharao, the king of Egypt: for he took his
daughter, and brought her into the city of David: until he had made an
end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall
of Jerusalem round about.
3:2. But yet the people sacri iced in the high places: for there was no
temple built to the name of the Lord until that day.
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High places.... That is, altars where they worshipped the Lord, but not according
to the ordinance of the law; which allowed of no other places for sacri ice but the
temple of God. Among these high places that of Gabaon was the chiefest, because
there was the tabernacle of the testimony, which had been removed from Silo to
Nobe and from Nobe to Gabaon.
3:3. And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the precepts of David,
his father; only he sacri iced in the high places, and burnt incense.
3:4. He went therefore to Gabaon, to sacri ice there: for that was the
great high place: a thousand victims for holocausts, did Solomon offer
upon that altar, in Gabaon.
3:5. And the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, saying:
Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee.
3:6. And Solomon said: Thou hast shewed great mercy to thy servant
David, my father, even as he walked before thee in truth, and justice,
and an upright heart with thee: and thou hast kept thy great mercy
for him, and hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
3:7. And now, O Lord God, thou hast made thy servant king instead
of David, my father: and I am but a child, and know not how to go out
and come in;
3:8. And thy servant is in the midst of the people which thou hast
chosen, an immense people, which cannot be numbered nor counted
for multitude.
3:9. Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart, to judge
thy people, and discern between good and evil. For who shall be able to
judge this people, thy people, which is so numerous?
3:10. And the word was pleasing to the Lord, that Solomon had
asked such a thing.
3:11. And the Lord said to Solomon: Because thou hast asked this
thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life nor riches, nor the lives of
thy enemies, but hast asked for thyself wisdom to discern judgment;

 3:12. Behold I have done for thee according to thy words, and have
given thee a wise and understanding heart, in so much that there hath
been no one like thee before thee, nor shall arise after thee.
3:13. Yea, and the things also which thou didst not ask, I have given
thee; to wit, riches and glory: so that no one hath been like thee
among the kings in all days heretofore.
3:14. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my precepts and
my commandments, as thy father walked, I will lengthen thy days.
3:15. And Solomon awaked, and perceived that it was a dream: and
when he was come to Jerusalem, he stood before the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, and offered holocausts, and sacri iced victims of
peace offerings, and made a great feast for all his servants.
3:16. Then there came two women that were harlots, to the king,
and stood before him.
3:17. And one of them said: I beseech thee, my lord, I and this
woman dwelt in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in
the chamber.
3:18. And the third day after I was delivered, she also was delivered;
and we were together, and no other person with us in the house; only
we two.
3:19. And this woman’s child died in the night: for in her sleep she
overlaid him.
3:20. And rising in the dead time of the night, she took my child from
my side, while I, thy handmaid, was asleep, and laid it in her bosom:
and laid her dead child in my bosom.
3:21. And when I arose in the morning, to give my child suck, behold
it was dead: but considering him more diligently, when it was clear
day, I found that it was not mine which I bore.
3:22. And the other woman answered: It is not so as thou sayest, but
thy child is dead, and mine is alive. On the contrary, she said; Thou
liest: for my child liveth, and thy child is dead. And in this manner they
strove before the king.

 3:23. Then said the king: The one saith, My child is alive, and thy
child is dead. And the other answereth: Nay; but thy child is dead, and
mine liveth.
3:24. The king therefore said: Bring me a sword. And when they had
brought a sword before the king,
3:25. Divide, said he, the living child in two, and give half to the one
and half to the other.
3:26. But the woman, whose child was alive, said to the king; (for
her bowels were moved upon her child) I beseech thee, my lord, give
her the child alive, and do not kill it. But the other said: Let it be
neither mine nor thine; but divide it.
3:27. The king answered, and said: Give the living child to this
woman, and let it not be killed; for she is the mother thereof.
3:28. And all Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged,
and they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God was in him to
do judgment.
3 Kings Chapter 4

Solomon’s chief of icers. His riches and wisdom.

4:1. And king Solomon reigned over all Israel:
4:2. And these were the princes which he had: Azarias, the son of
Sadoc, the priest:
4:3. Elihoreph, and Ahia, the sons of Sisa, scribes: Josaphat, the son
of Ahilud, recorder:
4:4. Banaias, the son of Joiada, over the army: and Sadoc, and
Abiathar, priests.
Abiathar.... By this it appears that Abiathar was not altogether deposed from the
high priesthood; but only banished to his country house, and by that means
excluded from the exercise of his functions.
4:5. Azarias, the son of Nathan, over them that were about the king:
Zabud, the son of Nathan, the priest, the king’s friend:

 4:6. And Ahisar, governor of the house: and Adoniram, the son of
Abda, over the tribute.
4:7. And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided
victuals for the king and for his house hold: for every one provided
necessaries, each man his month in the year.
4:8. And these are their names: Benhur, in mount Ephraim.
4:9. Bendecar, in Macces, and in Salebim, and in Bethsames, and in
Elon, and in Bethanan.
4:10. Benhesed, in Aruboth: his was Socho, and all the land of Epher.
4:11. Benabinadab, to whom belonged all Nephath-Dor: he had
Tapheth, the daughter of Solomon, to wife.
4:12. Bana, the son of Ahilud, who governed Thanac, and Mageddo,
and all Bethsan, which is by Sarthana, beneath Jezrael, from Bethsan
unto Abelmehula, over against Jecmaan.
4:13. Bengaber, in Ramoth Galaad: he had the town of Jair, the son
of Manasses, in Galaad: he was chief in all the country of Argob, which
is in Basan, threescore great cities with walls, and brazen bolts.
4:14. Ahinadab, the son of Addo, was chief in Manaim.
4:15. Achimaas, in Nephthali: he also had Basemath, the daughter
of Solomon, to wife.
4:16. Baana, the son of Husi, in Aser, and in Baloth.
4:17. Josaphat, the son of Pharue, in Issachar.
4:18. Semei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin.
4:19. Gaber, the son of Uri, in the land of Galaad, in the land of
Sehon, the king of the Amorrhites, and of Og, the king of Basan, over
all that were in that land.
4:20. Juda and Israel were innumerable, as the sand of the sea in
multitude; eating and drinking, and rejoicing.
4:21. And Solomon had under him all the kingdoms, from the river
to the land of the Philistines, even to the border of Egypt: and they
brought him presents, and served him all the days of his life.

 The river.... Euphrates.

4:22. And the provision of Solomon, for each day, was thirty
measures of ine lour, and threescore measures of meal;
4:23. Ten fat oxen, and twenty out of the pastures, and a hundred
rams; besides venison of harts, roes, and buf les, and fatted fowls.
4:24. For he had all the country which was beyond the river, from
Thaphsa to Gazan, and all the kings of those countries: and he had
peace on every side round about.
4:25. And Juda, and Israel, dwelt without any fear, every one under
his vine, and under his ig tree, from Dan to Bersabee, all the days of
Solomon.
4:26. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses, and
twelve thousand for the saddle.
4:27. And the foresaid governors of the king fed them; and they
furnished the necessaries also for king Solomon’s table, with great
care, in their time.
4:28. They brought barley also, and straw for the horses and beasts,
to the place where the king was, according as it was appointed them.
4:29. And God gave to Solomon wisdom, and understanding
exceeding much, and largeness of heart, as the sand that is on the sea
shore.
4:30. And the wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the
Orientals, and of the Egyptians;
4:31. And he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan, the Ezrahite,
and Heman, and Chalcol, and Dorda, the sons of Mahol, and he was
renowned in all nations round about.
4:32. Solomon also spoke three thousand parables: and his poems
were a thousand and ive.
Three thousand parables, etc.... These works are all lost, excepting some part of
the parables extant in the book of Proverbs; and his chief poem called the
Canticle of Canticles.

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 4:33. And he treated about trees, from the cedar that is in Libanus,
unto the hyssop that cometh out of the wall: and he discoursed of
beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of ishes.
4:34. And they came from all nations to hear the wisdom of
Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who heard of his wisdom.
3 Kings Chapter 5

Hiram king of Tyre agreeth to furnish timber and workmen for

building the temple: the number of workmen and overseers.
5:1. And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent his servants to Solomon: for he
heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for
Hiram had always been David’s friend.
5:2. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:
5:3. Thou knowest the will of David, my father, and that he could not
build a house to the name of the Lord his God, because of the wars that
were round about him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his
feet.
5:4. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest round about; and
there is no adversary nor evil occurrence.
5:5. Wherefore I purpose to build a temple to the name of the Lord
my God, as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying: Thy son, whom I
will set upon the throne, in thy place, he shall build a house to my
name.
5:6. Give orders, therefore, that thy servants cut me down cedar
trees, out of Libanus, and let my servants be with thy servants: and I
will give thee the hire of thy servants whatsoever thou wilt ask: for
thou knowest how there is not among my people a man that has skill
to hew wood like to the Sidonians.
5:7. Now when Hiram had heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced
exceedingly, and said: Blessed be the Lord God this day, who hath given
to David a very wise son over this numerous people.

 5:8. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: I have heard all thou hast
desired of me; and I will do all thy desire concerning cedar trees, and
ir trees.
5:9. My servants shall bring them down from Libanus to the sea: and
I will put them together in loats, on the sea, and convey them to the
place, which thou shalt signify to me, and will land them there, and
thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt allow me necessaries to
furnish food for my household.
5:10. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees, and ir trees, according to
all his desire.
5:11. And Solomon allowed Hiram twenty thousand measures of
wheat, for provision for his house, and twenty measures of the purest
oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram every year.
5:12. And the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, as he promised him:
and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they two made
a league together.
5:13. And king Solomon chose workmen out of all Israel, and the
levy was of thirty thousand men.
5:14. And he sent them to Libanus, ten thousand every month, by
turns, so that two months they were at home: and Adoniram was over
this levy.
5:15. And Solomon had seventy thousand to carry burdens, and
eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountain:
5:16. Besides the overseers who were over every work, in number
three thousand and three hundred, that ruled over the people, and
them that did the work.
5:17. And the king commanded that they should bring great stones,
costly stones, for the foundation of the temple, and should square
them:
5:18. And the masons of Solomon, and the masons of Hiram, hewed
them: and the Giblians prepared timber and stones to build the house.
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 3 Kings Chapter 6

The building of Solomon’s temple.

6:1. And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after
the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year
of the reign of Solomon over Israel, in the month Zio, (the same is the
second month) he began to build a house to the Lord.
6:2. And the house, which king Solomon built to the Lord, was
threescore cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and thirty
cubits in height.
6:3. And there was a porch before the temple, of twenty cubits in
length, according to the measure of the breadth of the temple: and it
was ten cubits in breadth, before the face of the temple.
6:4. And he made in the temple oblique windows.
6:5. And upon the wall of the temple, he built loors round about, in
the walls of the house, round about the temple and the oracle, and he
made chambers in the sides round about.
Upon the wall, i. e., joining to the wall.—Ibid. He built loors round about....
Chambers or cells adjoining to the temple, for the use of the temple and of the
priests, so contrived as to be between the inward and outward wall of the
temple, in three stories, one above another.—Ibid. The oracle.... The inner temple
or holy of holies, where God gave his oracles.
6:6. The loor that was underneath was ive cubits in breadth, and
the middle loor was six cubits in breadth, and the third loor was
seven cubits in breadth. And he put beams in the house round about on
the outside, that they might not be fastened in the walls of the temple.
6:7. And the house, when it was in building, was built of stones,
hewed and made ready: so that there was neither hammer nor axe,
nor any tool of iron heard in the house when it was in building.
Made ready, etc.... So the stones for the building of God’s eternal temple in the
heavenly Jerusalem, (who are the faithful,) must irst be hewn and polished here
by many trials and sufferings, before they can be admitted to have a place in that
celestial structure.
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 6:8. The door, for the middle side, was on the right hand of the
house: and by winding stairs they went up to the middle room, and
from the middle to the third.
6:9. So he built the house, and inished it: and he covered the house
with roofs of cedar.
6:10. And he built a loor over all the house, ive cubits in height, and
he covered the house with timber of cedar.
6:11. And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying:
6:12. As for this house, which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in
my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my
commandments, walking in them, I will ful il my word to thee, which I
spoke to David thy father.
6:13. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will
not forsake my people Israel.
6:14. So Solomon built the house, and inished it.
6:15. And he built the walls of the house on the inside, with boards
of cedar, from the loor of the house to the top of the walls, and to the
roofs, he covered it with boards of cedar on the inside: and he covered
the loor of the house with planks of ir.
6:16. And he built up twenty cubits with boards of cedar at the
hinder part of the temple, from the loor to the top: and made the
inner house of the oracle to be the holy of holies.
6:17. And the temple itself, before the doors of the oracle, was forty
cubits long.
6:18. And all the house was covered within with cedar, having the
turnings, and the joints thereof artfully wrought, and carvings
projecting out: all was covered with boards of cedar: and no stone
could be seen in the wall at all.
6:19. And he made the oracle in the midst of the house, in the inner
part, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
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 6:20. Now the oracle was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits
in breadth, and twenty cubits in height. And he covered it, and overlaid
it with most pure gold. And the altar also he covered with cedar.
6:21. And the house before the oracle he overlaid with most pure
gold, and fastened on the plates with nails of gold.
6:22. And there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with
gold: the whole altar of the oracle he covered also with gold.
6:23. And he made in the oracle two cherubims of olive tree, of ten
cubits in height.
6:24. One wing of the cherub was ive cubits, and the other wing of
the cherub was ive cubits: that is, in all ten cubits, from the extremity
of one wing to the extremity of the other wing.
6:25. The second cherub also was ten cubits: and the measure, and
the work was the same in both the cherubims:
6:26. That is to say, one cherub was ten cubits high, and in like
manner the other cherub.
6:27. And he set the cherubims in the midst of the inner temple: and
the cherubims stretched forth their wings, and the wing of the one
touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other
wall: and the other wings in the midst of the temple touched one
another.
6:28. And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.
6:29. And all the walls of the temple round about he carved with
divers igures and carvings: and he made in them cherubims and palm
trees, and divers representations, as it were standing out, and coming
forth from the wall.
6:30. And the loor of the house he also overlaid with gold within
and without.
6:31. And in the entrance of the oracle, he made little doors of olive
tree, and posts of ive corners,
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 6:32. And two doors of olive tree: and he carved upon them igures
of cherubims, and igures of palm trees, and carvings very much
projecting; and he overlaid them with gold: and he covered both the
cherubims and the palm trees, and the other things, with gold.
6:33. And he made in the entrance of the temple posts of olive tree
foursquare:
6:34. And two doors of ir tree, one of each side: and each door was
double, and so opened with folding leaves.
6:35. And he carved cherubims, and palm trees, and carved work
standing very much out: and he overlaid all with golden plates in
square work by rule.
6:36. And he built the inner court with three rows of polished stones,
and one row of beams of cedar.
6:37. In the fourth year was the house of the Lord founded, in the
month Zio:
6:38. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul. (which is the eighth
month) the house was inished in all the works thereof, and in all the
appurtenances thereof: and he was seven years in building it.
3 Kings Chapter 7

Solomon’s palace, his house in the forest, and the queen’s house: the
work of the two pillars: the sea (or laver) and other vessels.
7:1. And Solomon built his own house in thirteen years, and brought
it to perfection.
7:2. He built also the house of the forest of Libanus; the length of it
was a hundred cubits, and the breadth ifty cubits, and the height
thirty cubits: and four galleries between pillars of cedar: for he had
cut cedar trees into pillars.
7:3. And he covered the whole vault with boards of cedar, and it was
held up with ive and forty pillars. And one row had ifteen pillars,
7:4. Set one against another,

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 7:5. And looking one upon another, with equal space between the
pillars, and over the pillars were square beams in all things equal.
7:6. And he made a porch of pillars of ifty cubits in length, and
thirty cubits in breadth: and another porch before the greater porch,
and pillars, and chapiters upon the pillars.
7:7. He made also the porch of the throne wherein is the seat of
judgment; and covered it with cedar wood from the loor to the top.
7:8. And in the midst of the porch, was a small house, where he sat in
judgment of the like work. He made also a house for the daughter of
Pharao (whom Solomon had taken to wife) of the same work, as this
porch;
7:9. All of costly stones, which were sawed by a certain rule and
measure, both within and without: from the foundation to the top of
the walls, and without, unto the great court.
7:10. And the foundations were of costly stones, great stones of ten
cubits or eight cubits.
7:11. And above there were costly stones of equal measure hewed,
and in like manner planks of cedar.
7:12. And the great court was made round with three rows of hewed
stones, and one row of planks of cedar, which also was observed in the
inner court of the house of the Lord, and in the porch of the house.
7:13. And king Solomon sent, and brought Hiram from Tyre,
7:14. The son of a widow woman, of the tribe of Nephthali, whose
father was a Tyrian, an arti icer in brass, and full of wisdom, and
understanding, and skill to work all work in brass. And when he was
come to king Solomon, he wrought all his work.
7:15. And he cast two pillars in brass, each pillar was eighteen
cubits high: and a line of twelve cubits compassed both the pillars.
7:16. He made also two chapiters of molten brass, to be set upon the
tops of the pillars: the height of one chapiter was ive cubits, and the
height of the other chapiter was ive cubits:

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 7:17. And a kind of network, and chain work wreathed together

with wonderful art. Both the chapiters of the pillars were cast: seven
rows of nets were on one chapiter, and seven nets on the other
chapiter.
7:18. And he made the pillars, and two rows round about each
network to cover the chapiters, that were upon the top, with
pomegranates: and in like manner did he to the other chapiter.
7:19. And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars, were of
lily work, in the porch of four cubits.
7:20. And again there were other chapiters on the top of the pillars
above, according to the measure of the pillar over against the
network: and of pomegranates there were two hundred, in rows round
about the other chapiter.
7:21. And he set up the two pillars in the porch of the temple: and
when he had set up the pillar on the right hand, he called the name
thereof Jachin: in like manner he set up the second pillar, and called
the name thereof Booz.
Jachin.... That is, irmly established.—Ibid. Booz.... That is, in its strength. By
recording these names in holy writ, the spirit of God would have us understand
the invincible irmness and strength of the pillars on which the true temple of
God, which is the church, is established.
7:22. And upon the tops of the pillars he made lily work: so the work
of the pillars was inished.
7:23. He made also a molten sea, of ten cubits, from brim to brim,
round all about; the height of it was ive cubits, and a line of thirty
cubits compassed it round about.
7:24. And a graven work, under the brim of it, compassed it for ten
cubits going about the sea: there were two rows cast of chamfered
sculptures.
7:25. And it stood upon twelve oxen, of which three looked towards
the north, and three towards the west, and three towards the south,

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and three towards the east: and the sea was above upon them, and
their hinder parts were all hid within.
7:26. And the laver was a hand breadth thick: and the brim thereof
was like the brim of a cup, or the leaf of a crisped lily: it contained two
thousand bates.
Two thousand bates.... That is, about ten thousand gallons. This was the quantity
of water which was usually put into it: but it was capable, if brimful, of holding
three thousand. See 2 Par. 4.5.
7:27. And he made ten bases of brass, every base was four cubits in
length, and four cubits in breadth, and three cubits high.
7:28. And the work itself of the bases, was intergraven: and there
were gravings between the joinings.
7:29. And between the little crowns and the ledges, were lions, and
oxen, and cherubims; and in the joinings likewise above: and under the
lions and oxen, as it were bands of brass hanging down.
7:30. And every base had four wheels, and axletrees of brass: and at
the four sides were undersetters, under the laver molten, looking one
against another.
7:31. The mouth also of the laver within, was in the top of the
chapiter: and that which appeared without, was of one cubit all round,
and together it was one cubit and a half: and in the corners of the
pillars were divers engravings: and the spaces between the pillars
were square, not round.
7:32. And the four wheels, which were at the four corners of the
base, were joined one to another under the base: the height of a wheel
was a cubit and a half.
7:33. And they were such wheels as are used to be made in a chariot:
and their axletrees, and spokes, and strakes, and naves, were all cast.
7:34. And the four undersetters, that were at every corner of each
base, were of the base itself, cast and joined together.

 7:35. And on the top of the base, there was a round compass of half
a cubit, so wrought that the laver might be set thereon, having its
gravings, and divers sculptures of itself.
7:36. He engraved also in those plates, which were of brass, and in
the corners, cherubims, and lions, and palm trees, in likeness of a man
standing, so that they seemed not to be engraven, but added round
about.
7:37. After this manner, he made ten bases, of one casting and
measure, and the like graving.
7:38. He made also ten lavers of brass: one laver contained four
bases, and was of four cubits: and upon every base, in all ten, he put as
many lavers.
7:39. And he set the ten bases, ive on the right side of the temple,
and ive on the left: and the sea he put on the right side of the temple,
over against the east southward.
7:40. And Hiram made cauldrons, and shovels, and basins, and
inished all the work of king Solomon in the temple of the Lord.
7:41. The two pillars and the two cords of the chapiters, upon the
chapiters of the pillars: and the two networks, to cover the two cords,
that were upon the top of the pillars.
7:42. And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks: two
rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the cords of the
chapiters, which were upon the tops of the pillars.
7:43. And the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases.
7:44. And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea.
7:45. And the cauldrons, and the shovels, and the basins. All the
vessels that Hiram made for king Solomon, for the house of the Lord,
were of ine brass.
7:46. In the plains of the Jordan, did the king cast them in a clay
ground, between Socoth and Sartham.
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 7:47. And Solomon placed all the vessels: but for its exceeding great
multitude the brass could not be weighed.
7:48. And Solomon made all the vessels for the house of the Lord: the
altar of gold, and the table of gold, upon which the loaves of
proposition should be set:
7:49. And the golden candlesticks, ive on the right hand, and ive on
the left, over against the oracle, of pure gold: and the lowers like lilies,
and the lamps over them of gold: and golden snuffers,
7:50. And pots, and leshhooks, and bowls, and mortars, and censers,
of most pure gold: and the hinges for the doors of the inner house of
the holy of holies, and for the doors of the house of the temple, were of
gold.
7:51. And Solomon inished all the work that he made in the house
of the Lord, and brought in the things that David, his father, had
dedicated, the silver and the gold, and the vessels, and laid them up in
the treasures of the house of the Lord.
3 Kings Chapter 8

The dedication of the temple: Solomon’s prayer and sacri ices.

8:1. Then all the ancients of Israel, with the princes of the tribes, and
the heads of the families of the children of Israel, were assembled to
king Solomon, in Jerusalem: that they might carry the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, out of the city of David, that is, out of Sion.
8:2. And all Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon, on the
festival day, in the month of Ethanim, the same is the seventh month.
8:3. And all the ancients of Israel came, and the priests took up the
ark,
8:4. And carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the
covenant, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, that were in the
tabernacle: and the priests and the Levites carried them.

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 8:5. And king Solomon, and all the multitude of Israel, that were
assembled unto him, went with him before the ark, and they sacri iced
sheep and oxen, that could not be counted or numbered.
8:6. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord
into its place, into the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies,
under the wings of the cherubims.
8:7. For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the
ark, and covered the ark, and the staves thereof above.
8:8. And whereas the staves stood out, the ends of them were seen
without, in the sanctuary before the oracle, but were not seen farther
out, and there they have been unto this day.
8:9. Now in the ark there was nothing else but the two tables of
stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a
covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of
Egypt.
Nothing else, etc.... There was nothing else but the tables of the law within the
ark: but on the outside of the ark, or near the ark were also the rod of Aaron, and
a golden urn with manna, Heb. 9.4.
8:10. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the
sanctuary, that a cloud illed the house of the Lord,
8:11. And the priests could not stand to minister because of the
cloud: for the glory of the Lord had illed the house of the Lord.
8:12. Then Solomon said: The Lord said that he would dwell in a
cloud.
8:13. Building, I have built a house for thy dwelling, to be thy most
irm throne for ever.
8:14. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of
Israel: for all the assembly of Israel stood.
8:15. And Solomon said: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who
spoke with his mouth to David, my father, and with his own hands hath
accomplished it, saying:
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 8:16. Since the day that I brought my people Israel, out of Egypt, I
chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built, that
my name might be there: but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
8:17. And David, my father, would have built a house to the name of
the Lord, the God of Israel:
8:18. And the Lord said to David, my father: Whereas, thou hast
thought in thy heart to build a house to my name, thou hast done well
in having this same thing in thy mind.
8:19. Nevertheless, thou shalt not build me a house, but thy son, that
shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name.
8:20. The Lord hath performed his word which he spoke. And I stand
in the room of David, my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as
the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord, the
God of Israel.
8:21. And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the
covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when they came
out of the land of Egypt.
8:22. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of
the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven,
8:23. And said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in
heaven above, or on the earth beneath: who keepest covenant and
mercy with thy servants, that have walked before thee with all their
heart:
8:24. Who hast kept with thy servant David, my father, what thou
hast promised him: with thy mouth thou didst speak, and with thy
hands thou hast performed, as this day proveth.
8:25. Now, therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant
David, my father, what thou hast spoken to him, saying: There shall
not be taken away of thee a man in my sight, to sit on the throne of
Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk
before me as thou hast walked in my sight.

 8:26. And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy words be established,
which thou hast spoken to thy servant David, my father.
8:27. Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell upon
earth? for if heaven, and the heavens of heavens, cannot contain thee,
how much less this house which I have built?
8:28. But have regard to the prayer of thy servant, and to his
supplications, O Lord, my God: hear the hymn and the prayer, which
thy servant prayeth before thee this day:
8:29. That thy eyes may be open upon this house, night and day:
upon the house of which thou hast said: My name shall be there: that
thou mayst hearken to the prayer which thy servant prayeth, in this
place to thee:
8:30. That thou mayst hearken to the supplication of thy servant,
and of thy people Israel, whatsoever they shall pray for in this place,
and hear them in the place of thy dwelling in heaven; and when thou
hearest, shew them mercy.
8:31. If any man trespass against his neighbour, and have an oath
upon him, wherewith he is bound, and come, because of the oath,
before thy altar, to thy house,
8:32. Then hear thou in heaven: and do and judge thy servants,
condemning the wicked, and bringing his way upon his own head, and
justifying the just, and rewarding him according to his justice.
8:33. If thy people Israel shall ly before their enemies (because they
will sin against thee) and doing penance, and confessing to thy name,
shall come and pray, and make supplications to thee in this house:
8:34. Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people
Israel, and bring them back to the land which thou gavest to their
fathers.
8:35. If heaven shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain, because
of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to thy
name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their
af lictions:
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 8:36. Then hear thou them in heaven, and forgive the sins of thy
servants, and of thy people Israel: and shew them the good way
wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou
hast given to thy people in possession.
8:37. If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence, or corrupt air, or
blasting, or locust, or mildew; if their enemy af lict them, besieging the
gates, whatsoever plague, whatsoever in irmity,
8:38. Whatsoever curse or imprecation shall happen to any man of
thy people Israel: when a man shall know the wound of his own heart,
and shall spread forth his hands in this house;
8:39. Then hear thou in heaven, in the place of thy dwelling, and
forgive, and do so as to give to every one according to his ways, as thou
shalt see his heart (for thou only knowest the heart of all the children
of men)
8:40. That they may fear thee all the days that they live upon the
face of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers.
8:41. Moreover also the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel,
when he shall come out of a far country for thy name’s sake, (for they
shall hear every where of thy great name, and thy mighty hand,
8:42. And thy stretched out arm) so when he shall come, and shall
pray in this place,
8:43. Then hear thou in heaven, in the irmament of thy dwelling
place, and do all those things, for which that stranger shall call upon
thee: that all the people of the earth may learn to fear thy name, as do
thy people Israel, and may prove that thy name is called upon on this
house, which I have built.
8:44. If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by what way
soever thou shalt send them, they shall pray to thee towards the way of
the city, which thou hast chosen, and towards the house, which I have
built to thy name:
8:45. And then hear thou in heaven their prayers, and their
supplications, and do judgment for them.

 8:46. But if they sin against thee, (for there is no man who sinneth
not) and thou being angry, deliver them up to their enemies, so that
they be led away captives into the land of their enemies, far or near;
8:47. Then if they do penance in their heart, in the place of captivity,
and being converted, make supplication to thee in their captivity,
saying: We have sinned, we have done unjustly, we have committed
wickedness:
8:48. And return to thee with all their heart, and all their soul, in the
land of their enemies, to which they have been led captives: and pray
to thee towards the way of their land, which thou gavest to their
fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the temple
which I have built to thy name:
8:49. Then hear thou in heaven, in the irmament of thy throne,
their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them:
8:50. And forgive thy people, that have sinned against thee, and all
their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against thee: and give
them mercy before them that have made them captives, that they may
have compassion on them.
8:51. For they are thy people, and thy inheritance, whom thou hast
brought out of the land of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron.
8:52. That thy eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant,
and of thy people Israel, to hear them in all things for which they shall
call upon thee.
8:53. For thou hast separated them to thyself for an inheritance,
from amongst all the people of the earth, as thou hast spoken by
Moses, thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O
Lord God.
8:54. And it came to pass, when Solomon had made an end of
praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he rose from
before the altar of the Lord: for he had ixed both knees on the ground,
and had spread his hands towards heaven.

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 8:55. And he stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud
voice, saying:
8:56. Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest to his people Israel,
according to all that he promised: there hath not failed so much as one
word of all the good things that he promised by his servant Moses.
8:57. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, and
not leave us, nor cast us off:
8:58. But may he incline our hearts to himself, that we may walk in
all his ways, and keep his commandments, and his ceremonies, and all
his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.
8:59. And let these my words, wherewith I have prayed before the
Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he may do
judgment for his servant, and for his people Israel, day by day:
8:60. That all the people of the earth may know, that the Lord he is
God, and there is no other besides him.
8:61. Let our hearts also be perfect with the Lord our God, that we
may walk in his statutes, and keep his commandments, as at this day.
8:62. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered victims before the
Lord.
8:63. And Solomon slew victims of peace offerings, which he
sacri iced to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred
and twenty thousand sheep so the king, and all the children of Israel,
dedicated the temple of the Lord.
8:64. In that day the king sancti ied the middle of the court, that
was before the house of the Lord for there he offered the holocaust,
and sacri ice, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen
altar that was before the Lord, was too little to receive the holocaust,
and sacri ice, and the fat of the peace offerings.
8:65. And Solomon made at the same time a solemn feast, and all
Israel with him, a great multitude, from the entrance of Emath to the
river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days,
that is, fourteen days.
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 8:66. And on the eighth day, he sent away the people: and they
blessed the king, and went to their dwellings, rejoicing, and glad in
heart, for all the good things that the Lord had done for David, his
servant, and for Israel, his people.
3 Kings Chapter 9

The Lord appeareth again to Solomon: he buildeth cities: he sendeth a

leet to Ophir.
9:1. And it came to pass when Solomon had inished the building of
the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all that he desired and
was pleased to do,
9:2. That the Lord appeared to him the second time, as he had
appeared to him in Gabaon.
9:3. And the Lord said to him: I have heard thy prayer and thy
supplication, which thou hast made before me: I have sancti ied this
house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and my
eyes, and my heart, shall be there always.
9:4. And if thou wilt walk before me, as thy father walked, in
simplicity of heart, and in uprightness: and wilt do all that I have
commanded thee, and wilt keep my ordinances, and my judgments,
As thy father walked, in simplicity of heart.... That is, in the sincerity and
integrity of a single heart, as opposite to all double dealing and deceit.
9:5. I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, as
I promised David, thy father, saying: There shall not fail a man of thy
race upon the throne of Israel.
9:6. But if you and your children, revolting, shall turn away from
following me, and will not keep my commandments, and my
ceremonies, which I have set before you, but will go and worship
strange gods, and adore them:
9:7. I will take away Israel from the face of the land which I have
given them; and the temple which I have sancti ied to my name, I will
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 cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb, and a byword

among all people.
9:8. And this house shall be made an example of: every one that
shall pass by it, shall be astonished, and shall hiss, and say: Why hath
the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house?
9:9. And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord their God,
who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and followed
strange gods, and adored them, and worshipped them: therefore hath
the Lord brought upon them all this evil.
9:10. And when twenty years were ended, after Solomon had built
the two houses; that is, the house of the Lord, and the house of the
king,
9:11. (Hiram, the king of Tyre, furnishing Solomon with cedar trees,
and ir trees, and gold, according to all he had need of) then Solomon
gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
9:12. And Hiram came out of Tyre, to see the towns which Solomon
had given him, and they pleased him not;
9:13. And he said: Are these the cities which thou hast given me,
brother? And he called them the land of Chabul, unto this day.
Chabul.... That is, dirty or displeasing.
9:14. And Hiram sent to king Solomon a hundred and twenty talents
of gold.
9:15. This is the sum of the expenses, which king Solomon offered to
build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Mello, and the wall
of Jerusalem, and Heser, and Mageddo, and Gazer.
9:16. Pharao, the king of Egypt, came up and took Gazer, and burnt
it with ire: and slew the Chanaanite that dwelt in the city, and gave it
for a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
9:17. So Solomon built Gazer, and Bethhoron the nether,
9:18. And Baalath, and Palmira, in the land of the wilderness.
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 9:19. And all the towns that belonged to himself, and were not
walled, he forti ied; the cities also of the chariots, and the cities of the
horsemen, and whatsoever he had a mind to build in Jerusalem, and in
Libanus, and in all the land of his dominion.
9:20. All the people that were left of the Amorrhites, and Hethites,
and Pherezites, and Hevites, and Jebusites, that are not of the children
of Israel:
9:21. Their children, that were left in the land; to wit, such as the
children of Israel had not been able to destroy, Solomon made
tributary unto this day.
9:22. But of the children of Israel, Solomon made not any to be
bondmen, but they were warriors, and his servants, and his princes,
and captains, and overseers of the chariots and horses.
9:23. And there were ive hundred and ifty chief of icers set over all
the works of Solomon, and they had people under them, and had
charge over the appointed works.
9:24. And the daughter of Pharao came up out of the city of David to
her house, which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Mello.
9:25. Solomon also offered three times every year holocausts, and
victims of peace offerings, upon the altar which he had built to the
Lord, and he burnt incense before the Lord: and the temple was
inished.
9:26. And king Solomon made a leet in Asiongaber, which is by
Ailath, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
9:27. And Hiram sent his servants in the leet, sailors that had
knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
9:28. And they came to Ophir; and they brought from thence to king
Solomon four hundred and twenty talents of gold.
3 Kings Chapter 10

The queen of Saba cometh to king Solomon: his riches and glory.
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 10:1. And the queen of Saba having heard of the fame of Solomon in
the name of the Lord, came to try him with hard questions.
10:2. And entering into Jerusalem with a great train, and riches, and
camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold, and
precious stones, she came to king Solomon, and spoke to him all that
she had in her heart.
10:3. And Solomon informed her of all the things she proposed to
him: there was not any word the king was ignorant of, and which he
could not answer her.
10:4. And when the queen of Saba saw all the wisdom of Solomon,
and the house which he had built,
10:5. And the meat of his table, and the apartments of his servants,
and the order of his ministers, and their apparel, and the cupbearers,
and the holocausts, which he offered in the house of the Lord, she had
no longer any spirit in her;
10:6. And she said to the king: The report is true, which I heard in
my own country,
10:7. Concerning thy words, and concerning thy wisdom. And I did
not believe them that told me, till I came myself, and saw with my own
eyes, and have found that the half hath not been told me: thy wisdom
and thy works exceed the fame which I heard.
10:8. Blessed are thy men, and blessed are thy servants, who stand
before thee always, and hear thy wisdom.
10:9. Blessed be the Lord thy God, whom thou hast pleased, and who
hath set thee upon the throne of Israel, because the Lord hath loved
Israel for ever, and hath appointed thee king, to do judgment and
justice.
10:10. And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold,
and of spices a very great store, and precious stones: there was
brought no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of
Saba gave to king Solomon.

 10:11. (The navy also of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir,
brought from Ophir great plenty of thyine trees, and precious stones.
10:12. And the king made of the thyine trees the rails of the house of
the Lord, and of the king’s house: and citterns and harps for singers:
there were no such thyine trees as these brought nor seen unto this
day.)
10:13. And king Solomon gave the queen of Saba all that she
desired, and asked of him: besides what he offered her of himself of his
royal bounty. And she returned, and went to her own country, with her
servants.
10:14. And the weight of the gold that was brought to Solomon
every year, was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold:
10:15. Besides that which the men brought him that were over the
tributes, and the merchants, and they that sold by retail, and all the
kings of Arabia, and the governors of the country.
10:16. And Solomon made two hundred shields of the purest gold:
he allowed six hundred sicles of gold for the plates of one shield.
10:17. And three hundred targets of ine gold: three hundred pounds
of gold covered one target: and the king put them in the house of the
forest of Libanus.
10:18. King Solomon also made a great throne of ivory: and overlaid
it with the inest gold.
10:19. It had six steps: and the top of the throne was round behind:
and there were two hands on either side holding the seat: and two
lions stood, one at each hand,
10:20. And twelve little lions stood upon the six steps, on the one
side and on the other: there was no such work made in any kingdom.
10:21. Moreover, all the vessels out of which king Solomon drank,
were of gold: and all the furniture of the house of the forest of Libanus
was of most pure gold: there was no silver, nor was any account made
of it in the days of Solomon:

 10:22. For the king’s navy, once in three years, went with the navy of
Hiram by sea to Tharsis, and brought from thence gold, and silver, and
elephants’ teeth, and apes, and peacocks.
10:23. And king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in
riches and wisdom.
10:24. And all the earth desired to see Solomon’s face, to hear his
wisdom, which God had given in his heart.
10:25. And every one brought him presents, vessels of silver and of
gold, garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules, every
year.
10:26. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen, and
he had a thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand
horsemen: and he bestowed them in fenced cities, and with the king in
Jerusalem.
10:27. And he made silver to be as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones:
and cedars to be as common as sycamores which grow in the plains.
10:28. And horses were brought for Solomon out of Egypt, and Coa:
for the king’s merchants bought them out of Coa, and brought them at
a set price.
10:29. And a chariot of four horses came out of Egypt, for six
hundred sicles of silver, and a horse for a hundred and ifty. And after
this manner did all the kings of the Hethites, and of Syria, sell horses.
3 Kings Chapter 11

Solomon by means of his wives falleth into idolatry: God raiseth him
adversaries, Adad, Razon, and Jeroboam: Solomon dieth.
11:1. And king Solomon loved many strange women, besides the
daughter of Pharao, and women of Moab, and of Ammon, and of Edom,
and of Sidon, and of the Hethites:
11:2. Of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children
of Israel: You shall not go in unto them, neither shall any of them come

 into yours: for they will most certainly turn away your hearts to follow
their gods. And to these was Solomon joined with a most ardent love.
11:3. And he had seven hundred wives as queens, and three hundred
concubines: and the women turned away his heart.
11:4. And when he was now old, his heart was turned away by
women to follow strange gods: and his heart was not perfect with the
Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father.
11:5. But Solomon worshipped Astarthe, the goddess of the
Sidonians, and Moloch, the idol of the Ammonites.
11:6. And Solomon did that which was not pleasing before the Lord,
and did not fully follow the Lord, as David, his father.
11:7. Then Solomon built a temple for Chamos, the idol of Moab, on
the hill that is over against Jerusalem, and for Moloch, the idol of the
children of Ammon.
11:8. And he did in this manner for all his wives that were strangers,
who burnt incense, and offered sacri ice to their gods.
11:9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his mind was
turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to
him twice;
11:10. And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he
should not follow strange gods: but he kept not the things which the
Lord commanded him.
11:11. The Lord therefore said to Solomon: Because thou hast done
this, and hast not kept my covenant, and my precepts, which I have
commanded thee, I will divide and rend thy kingdom, and will give it
to thy servant.
11:12. Nevertheless, in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father’s
sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
11:13. Neither will I take away the whole kingdom; but I will give
one tribe to thy son, for the sake of David, my servant, and Jerusalem,
which I have chosen.
One tribe.... Besides that of Juda, his own native tribe.

 11:14. And the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Adad, the

Edomite, of the king’s seed, in Edom.
11:15. For when David was in Edom, and Joab, the general of the
army, was gone up to bury them that were slain, and had killed every
male in Edom,
11:16. (For Joab remained there six months with all Israel, till he
had slain every male in Edom,)
11:17. Then Adad led, he and certain Edomites of his father’s
servants, with him, to go into Egypt: and Adad was then a little boy.
11:18. And they arose out of Madian, and came into Pharan, and
they took men with them from Pharan, and went into Egypt, to
Pharao, the king of Egypt: who gave him a house, and appointed him
victuals, and assigned him land.
11:19. And Adad found great favour before Pharao, insomuch that
he gave him to wife the own sister of his wife, Taphnes, the queen.
11:20. And the sister of Taphnes bore him his son, Genubath; and
Taphnes brought him up in the house of Pharao: and Genubath dwelt
with Pharao among his children.
11:21. And when Adad heard in Egypt that David slept with his
fathers, and that Joab, the general of the army, was dead, he said to
Pharao: Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.
11:22. And Pharao said to him: Why, what is wanting to thee with
me, that thou seekest to go to thy own country? But he answered:
Nothing; yet I beseech thee to let me go.
11:23. God also raised up against him an adversary, Razon, the son
of Eliada, who had led from his master, Adarezer, the king of Soba.
11:24. And he gathered men against him, and he became a captain
of robbers, when David slew them of Soba: and they went to
Damascus, and dwelt there, and they made him king in Damascus.
11:25. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon:
and this is the evil of Adad, and his hatred against Israel; and he
reigned in Syria.

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 11:26. Jeroboam also, the son of Nabat, an Ephrathite, of Sareda, a

servant of Solomon, whose mother was named Sarua, a widow
woman, lifted up his hand against the king.
11:27. And this is the cause of his rebellion against him; for Solomon
built Mello, and illed up the breach of the city of David, his father.
11:28. And Jeroboam was a valiant and mighty man: and Solomon
seeing him a young man ingenious and industrious, made him chief
over the tributes of all the house of Joseph.
11:29. So it came to pass at that time, that Jeroboam went out of
Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahias, the Silonite, clad with a new
garment, found him in the way: and they two were alone in the ield.
11:30. And Ahias taking his new garment, wherewith he was clad,
divided it into twelve parts:
11:31. And he said to Jeroboam: Take to thee ten pieces: for thus
saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of
the hand of Solomon, and will give thee ten tribes.
11:32. But one tribe shall remain to him for the sake of my servant,
David, and Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes
of Israel:
11:33. Because he hath forsaken me, and hath adored Astarthe, the
goddess of the Sidonians, and Chamos, the god of Moab, and Moloch,
the god of the children of Ammon: and hath not walked in my ways, to
do justice before me, and to keep my precepts, and judgments, as did
David, his father.
11:34. Yet I will not take away all the kingdom out of his hand, but I
will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant’s
sake, whom I chose, who kept my commandments, and my precepts.
11:35. But I will take away the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and
will give thee ten tribes:
11:36. And to his son I will give one tribe, that there may remain a
lamp for my servant, David, before me always in Jerusalem, the city
which I have chosen, that my name might be there.

 11:37. And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign over all that thy
soul desireth, and thou shalt be king over Israel.
11:38. If then thou wilt hearken to all that I shall command thee,
and wilt walk in my ways, and do what is right before me, keeping my
commandments and my precepts, as David, my servant, did: I will be
with thee, and will build thee up a faithful house, as I built a house for
David, and I will deliver Israel to thee:
11:39. And I will for this af lict the seed of David, but yet not for
ever.
11:40. Solomon, therefore, sought to kill Jeroboam: but he arose,
and led into Egypt, to Sesac, the king of Egypt, and was in Egypt till
the death of Solomon.
11:41. And the rest of the words of Solomon, and all that he did and
his wisdom: behold they are all written in the book of the words of the
days of Solomon.
The book of the words, etc.... This book is lost, with divers others mentioned in
holy writ.
11:42. And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all
Israel, were forty years.
11:43. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city
of David, his father; and Roboam, his son, reigned in his stead.
Solomon slept, etc.... That is, died. He was then about ifty-eight years of age,
having reigned forty years.
3 Kings Chapter 12

Roboam, following the counsel of young men alienateth from him the
minds of the people. They make Jeroboam king over ten tribes: he
setteth up idolatry.
12:1. And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither were all Israel come
together to make him king.
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 12:2. But Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who was yet in Egypt, a
fugitive from the face of king Solomon, hearing of his death, returned
out of Egypt.
12:3. And they sent and called him: and Jeroboam came, and all the
multitude of Israel, and they spoke to Roboam, saying:
12:4. Thy father laid a grievous yoke upon us: now, therefore, do
thou take off a little of the grievous service of thy father, and of his
most heavy yoke, which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.
12:5. And he said to them: Go till the third day, and come to me
again. And when the people was gone,
12:6. King Roboam took counsel with the old men, that stood before
Solomon, his father, while he yet lived, and he said: What counsel do
you give me, that I may answer this people?
12:7. They said to him: If thou wilt yield to this people to day, and
condescend to them, and grant their petition, and wilt speak gentle
words to them, they will be thy servants always.
12:8. But he left the counsel of the old men, which they had given
him, and consulted with the young men that had been brought up with
him, and stood before him.
12:9. And he said to them: What counsel do you give me, that I may
answer this people, who have said to me: Make the yoke, which thy
father put upon us, lighter?
12:10. And the young men that had been brought up with him, said:
Thus shalt thou speak to this people, who have spoken to thee, saying:
Thy father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease us. Thou shalt say to
them: My little inger is thicker than the back of my father.
12:11. And now my father put a heavy yoke upon you, but I will add
to your yoke: my father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with
scorpions.
12:12. So Jeroboam, and all the people, came to Roboam the third
day, as the king had appointed, saying: Come to me again the third
day.

 12:13. And the king answered the people roughly, leaving the
counsel of the old men, which they had given him,
12:14. And he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young
men, saying: My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your
yoke: My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with
scorpions.
12:15. And the king condescended not to the people: for the Lord
was turned away from him, to make good his word, which he had
spoken in the hand of Ahias, the Silonite, to Jeroboam, the son of
Nabat.
12:16. Then the people, seeing that the king would not hearken to
them, answered him, saying: What portion have we in David? or what
inheritance in the son of Isai? Go home to thy dwellings, O Israel: now,
David, look to thy own house. So Israel departed to their dwellings.
12:17. But as for all the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of
Juda, Roboam reigned over them.
12:18. Then king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tribute:
and all Israel stoned him, and he died. Wherefore king Roboam made
haste to get him up into his chariot, and he led to Jerusalem:
12:19. And Israel revolted from the house of David, unto this day.
12:20. And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was
come again, that they gathered an assembly, and sent and called him,
and made him king over all Israel, and there was none that followed
the house of David but the tribe of Juda only.
Juda only.... Benjamin was a small tribe, and so intermixed with the tribe of Juda,
(the very city of Jerusalem being partly in Juda, partly in Benjamin,) that they
are here counted but as one tribe.
12:21. And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and gathered together all
the house of Juda, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred fourscore
thousand chosen men for war, to ight against the house of Israel, and
to bring the kingdom again under Roboam, the son of Solomon.

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 12:22. But the word of the Lord came to Semeias, the man of God,
saying:
12:23. Speak to Roboam, the son of Solomon, the king of Juda, and to
all the house of Juda, and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying:
12:24. Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up, nor ight against
your brethren, the children of Israel: let every man return to his house,
for this thing is from me. They hearkened to the word of the Lord, and
returned from their journey, as the Lord had commanded them.
12:25. And Jeroboam built Sichem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt
there, and going out from thence, he built Phanuel.
12:26. And Jeroboam said in his heart: Now shall the kingdom
return to the house of David,
12:27. If this people go up to offer sacri ices in the house of the Lord
at Jerusalem: and the heart of this people will turn to their lord
Roboam, the king of Juda, and they will kill me, and return to him.
12:28. And inding out a device, he made two golden calves, and said
to them: Go ye up no more to Jerusalem: Behold thy gods, O Israel, who
brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
Golden calves.... It is likely, by making his gods in this form, he mimicked the
Egyptians, among whom he had sojourned, who worshipped their Apis and their
Osiris under the form of a bullock.
12:29. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other in Dan:
Bethel and Dan.... Bethel was a city of the tribe of Ephraim in the southern part
of the dominions of Jeroboam, about six leagues from Jerusalem; Dan was in the
extremity of his dominions to the north in the con ines of Syria.
12:30. And this thing became an occasion of sin: for the people went
to adore the calf as far as Dan.
12:31. And he made temples in the high places, and priests of the
lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
12:32. And he appointed a feast in the eighth month, on the ifteenth
day of the month, after the manner of the feast that was celebrated in
Juda. And going up to the altar, he did in like manner in Bethel, to

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 sacri ice to the calves, which he had made: and he placed in Bethel
priests of the high places, which he had made.
12:33. And he went up to the altar, which he had built in Bethel, on
the ifteenth day of the eighth month, which he had devised of his own
heart: and he ordained a feast to the children of Israel, and went up on
the altar to burn incense.
3 Kings Chapter 13

A prophet sent from Juda to Bethel foretelleth the birth of Josias, and
the destruction of Jeroboam’s altar. Jeroboam’s hand offering violence
to the prophet withereth, but is restored by the prophet’s prayer: the
same prophet is deceived by another prophet, and slain by a lion.
13:1. And behold there came a man of God out of Juda, by the word
of the Lord, to Bethel, when Jeroboam was standing upon the altar,
and burning incense.
13:2. And he cried out against the altar in the word of the Lord, and
said: O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord: Behold a child shall be born to
the house of David, Josias by name, and he shall immolate upon thee
the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon thee, and he
shall burn men’s bones upon thee.
13:3. And he gave a sign the same day, saying: This shall be the sign,
that the Lord hath spoken: Behold the altar shall be rent, and the
ashes that are upon it, shall be poured out.
13:4. And when the king had heard the word of the man of God,
which he had cried out against the altar in Bethel, he stretched forth
his hand from the altar, saying: Lay hold on him. And his hand which
he stretched forth against him, withered: and he was not able to draw
it back again to him.
13:5. The altar also was rent, and the ashes were poured out from
the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given before
in the word of the Lord.
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 13:6. And the king said to the man of God: Entreat the face of the
Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.
And the man of God besought the face of the Lord, and the king’s hand
was restored to him, and it became as it was before.
13:7. And the king said to the man of God: Come home with me to
dine, and I will make thee presents.
13:8. And the man of God answered the king: If thou wouldst give
me half thy house, I will not go with thee, nor eat bread, nor drink
water in this place:
13:9. For so it was enjoined me by the word of the Lord commanding
me: Thou shalt not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same
way that thou camest.
13:10. So he departed by another way, and returned not by the way
that he came into Bethel.
13:11. Now a certain old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came
to him, and told him all the works that the man of God had done that
day in Bethel: and they told their father the words which he had
spoken to the king.
13:12. And their father said to them: What way went he? His sons
shewed him the way by which the man of God went, who came out of
Juda.
13:13. And he said to his sons: Saddle me the ass. And when they had
saddled it, he got up,
13:14. And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a
turpentine tree: and he said to him: Art thou the man of God who
camest from Juda? He answered: I am.
13:15. And he said to him: Come home with me to eat bread.
13:16. But he said: I must not return, nor go with thee, neither will I
eat bread, or drink water in this place:
13:17. Because the Lord spoke to me, in the word of the Lord,
saying: Thou shalt not eat bread, and thou shalt not drink water there,
nor return by the way thou wentest.

 13:18. He said to him: I also am a prophet like unto thee: and an

angel spoke to me, in the word of the Lord, saying: Bring him back
with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread, and drink water. He
deceived him,
An angel spoke to me, etc.... This old man of Bethel was indeed a prophet, but he
sinned in thus deceiving the man of God; the more because he pretended a
revelation for what he did.
13:19. And brought him back with him: so he ate bread, and drank
water in his house.
13:20. And as they sat at table, the word of the Lord came to the
prophet that brought him back:
13:21. And he cried out to the man of God who came out of Juda,
saying: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast not been obedient to
the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God
commanded thee,
13:22. And hast returned, and eaten bread, and drunk water in the
place wherein he commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat bread,
nor drink water, thy dead body shall not be brought into the sepulchre
of thy fathers.
13:23. And when he had eaten and drunk, he saddled his ass for the
prophet, whom he had brought back.
13:24. And when he was gone, a lion found him in the way, and
killed him, and his body was cast in the way: and the ass stood by him,
and the lion stood by the dead body.
Killed him.... Thus the Lord often punishes his servants here, that he may spare
them hereafter. For the generality of divines are of opinion, that the sin of this
prophet, considered with all its circumstances, was not mortal.
13:25. And behold, men passing by, saw the dead body cast in the
way, and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in
the city, wherein that old prophet dwelt.
13:26. And when that prophet, who had brought him back out of the
way, heard of it, he said: It is the man of God, that was disobedient to

 the mouth of the Lord, and the Lord hath delivered him to the lion, and
he hath torn him, and killed him, according to the word of the Lord,
which he spoke to him.
13:27. And he said to his sons: Saddle me an ass. And when they had
saddled it,
13:28. And he was gone, he found the dead body cast in the way, and
the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten of
the dead body, nor hurt the ass.
13:29. And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid
it upon the ass, and going back brought it into the city of the old
prophet, to mourn for him.
13:30. And he laid his dead body in his own sepulchre: and they
mourned over him, saying: Alas! alas, my brother.
13:31. And when they had mourned over him, he said to his sons:
When I am dead, bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is
buried: lay my bones beside his bones.
13:32. For assuredly the word shall come to pass which he hath
foretold in the word of the Lord, against the altar that is in Bethel: and
against all the temples of the high places, that are in the cities of
Samaria.
13:33. After these words, Jeroboam came not back from his wicked
way: but on the contrary, he made of the meanest of the people priests
of the high places: whosoever would, he illed his hand, and he was
made a priest of the high places.
13:34. And for this cause did the house of Jeroboam sin, and was cut
off, and destroyed from the face of the earth.
3 Kings Chapter 14

Ahias prophesieth the destruction of the family of Jeroboam. He dieth,

and is succeeded by his son Nadab. The king of Egypt taketh and
pillageth Jerusalem. Roboam dieth and his son Abiam succeedeth.
14:1. At that time Abia, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick.

 14:2. And Jeroboam said to his wife: Arise, and change thy dress,
that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Silo,
where Ahias, the prophet is, who told me that I should reign over this
people.
14:3. Take also with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a pot of
honey, and go to him: for he will tell thee what will become of this
child.
14:4. Jeroboam’s wife did as he told her: and rising up, went to Silo,
and came to the house of Ahias; but he could not see, for his eyes were
dim by reason of his age.
14:5. And the Lord said to Ahias: Behold the wife of Jeroboam
cometh in, to consult thee concerning her son, that is sick: thus and
thus shalt thou speak to her. So when she was coming in, and made as
if she were another woman,
14:6. Ahias heard the sound of her feet, coming in at the door, and
said: Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam: why dost thou feign thyself to be
another? But I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.
14:7. Go, and tell Jeroboam: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel:
For as much as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee
prince over my people Israel;
14:8. And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave
it to thee, and thou hast not been as my servant, David, who kept my
commandments, and followed me with all his heart, doing that which
was well pleasing in my sight:
14:9. But hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast
made thee strange gods, and molten gods, to provoke me to anger, and
hast cast me behind thy back:
14:10. Therefore, behold I will bring evils upon the house of
Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the
wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel: and I will sweep
away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as dung is swept away till
all be clean.

 14:11. Them that shall die of Jeroboam in the city, the dogs shall eat:
and them that shall die in the ield, the birds of the air shall devour: for
the Lord hath spoken it.
14:12. Arise thou, therefore, and go to thy house: and when thy feet
shall be entering into the city, the child shall die,
14:13. And all Israel shall mourn for him, and shall bury him: for he
only of Jeroboam shall be laid in a sepulchre, because in his regard
there is found a good word from the Lord, the God of Israel, in the
house of Jeroboam.
14:14. And the Lord hath appointed himself a king over Israel, who
shall cut off the house of Jeroboam in this day, and in this time:
14:15. And the Lord God shall strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the
water: and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave
to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river: because they
have made to themselves groves, to provoke the Lord.
14:16. And the Lord shall give up Israel for the sins of Jeroboam,
who hath sinned, and made Israel to sin.
14:17. And the wife of Jeroboam arose, and departed, and came to
Thersa: and when she was coming in to the threshold of the house, the
child died,
14:18. And they buried him. And all Israel mourned for him,
according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of his
servant Ahias, the prophet.
14:19. And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how
he reigned, behold they are written in the book of the words of the
days of the kings of Israel.
The book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel.... This book, which is
often mentioned in the Book of Kings, is long since lost. For as to the books of
Paralipomenon, or Chronicles, (which the Hebrews call the words of the days,)
they were certainly written after the Book of Kings, since they frequently refer to
them.

 14:20. And the days that Jeroboam reigned, were two and twenty
years: and he slept with his fathers: and Nadab, his son, reigned in his
stead.
14:21. And Roboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Juda: Roboam
was one and forty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned
seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose out of all
the tribes of Israel to put his name there. And his mother’s name was
Naama, an Ammonitess.
14:22. And Juda did evil in the sight of the Lord, and provoked him
above all that their fathers had done, in their sins which they
committed.
14:23. For they also built them altars, and statues, and groves, upon
every high hill, and under every green tree:
14:24. There were also the effeminate in the land, and they did
according to all the abominations of the people, whom the Lord had
destroyed before the face of the children of Israel.
The effeminate.... Catamites, or men addicted to unnatural lust.
14:25. And in the ifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac, king of
Egypt, came up against Jerusalem.
14:26. And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and
the king’s treasures, and carried all off: as also the shields of gold
which Solomon had made:
14:27. And Roboam made shields of brass instead of them, and
delivered them into the hand of the captains of the shieldbearers, and
of them that kept watch before the gate of the king’s house.
14:28. And when the king went into the house of the Lord, they
whose of ice it was to go before him, carried them: and afterwards
they brought them back to the armoury of the shieldbearers.
14:29. Now the rest of the acts of Roboam, and all that he did,
behold they are written in the book of the words of the days of the
kings of Juda.
14:30. And there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam always.

 14:31. And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with
them, in the city of David: and his mother’s name was Naama, an
Ammonitess: and Abiam, his son, reigned in his stead.
3 Kings Chapter 15

The acts of Abiam and of Asa kings of Juda. And of Nadab and Baasa
kings of Israel.
15:1. Now in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, the son of
Nabat, Abiam reigned over Juda.
15:2. He reigned three years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother
was Maacha, the daughter of Abessalom.
Maacha, etc.... She is called elsewhere Michaia, daughter of Uriel; but it was
common in those days for the same person to have two names.
15:3. And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done
before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was
the heart of David, his father.
15:4. But for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in
Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:
15:5. Because David had done that which was right in the eyes of
the Lord, and had not turned aside from any thing that he commanded
him, all the days of his life, except the matter of Urias, the Hethite.
15:6. But there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam all the time
of his life.
15:7. And the rest of the words of Abiam, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Juda? And there was war between Abiam and Jeroboam.
15:8. And Abiam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the
city of David: and Asa, his son, reigned in his stead.
15:9. So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, reigned
Asa, king of Juda,

 15:10. And he reigned one and forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s
name was Maacha, the daughter of Abessalom.
His mother, etc.... That is, his grandmother; unless we suppose, which is not
improbable, that the Maacha here named is different from the Maacha
mentioned, ver. 2.
15:11. And Asa did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, as
did David, his father:
15:12. And he took away the effeminate out of the land, and
removed all the ilth of the idols, which his fathers had made.
15:13. Moreover, he also removed his mother, Maacha, from being
the princess in the sacri ices of Priapus, and in the grove which she had
consecrated to him: and he destroyed her den, and broke in pieces the
ilthy idol, and burnt it by the torrent Cedron:
15:14. But the high places he did not take away. Nevertheless, the
heart of Asa was perfect with the Lord all his days:
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 Par. 14.2; others were only altars of the true God, but were erected
contrary to the law, which allowed of no sacri ices but in the temple; and these
were not removed by Asa.—Ibid. Perfect with the Lord.... Asa had his faults; but
never forsook the worship of the Lord.
15:15. And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated,
and he had vowed, into the house of the Lord, silver and gold, and
vessels.
15:16. And there was war between Asa, and Baasa, king of Israel, all
their days.
15:17. And Baasa, king of Israel, went up against Juda, and built
Rama, that no man might go out or come in of the side of Asa, king of
Juda.
15:18. Then Asa took all the silver and gold that remained in the
treasures of the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s
house, and delivered it into the hands of his servants: and sent them to
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 Benadad, son of Tabremon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt
in Damascus, saying:
15:19. There is a league between me and thee, and between my
father and thy father: therefore I have sent thee presents of silver and
gold: and I desire thee to come, and break thy league with Baasa, king
of Israel, that he may depart from me.
15:20. Benadad, hearkening to king Asa, sent the captains of his
army against the cities of Israel, and they smote Ahion, and Dan, and
Abeldomum Maacha, and all Cenneroth; that is all the land of
Nephthali.
15:21. And when Baasa had heard this, he left off building Rama,
and returned into Thersa.
15:22. But king Asa sent word into all Juda, saying: Let no man be
excused: and they took away the stones from Rama, and the timber
thereof, wherewith Baasa had been building, and with them king Asa
built Gabaa of Benjamin, and Maspha.
15:23. But the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his strength, and all
that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the
book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? But in the time of
his old age he was diseased in his feet.
15:24. And he slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in
the city of David, his father. And Josaphat, his son, reigned in his place.
15:25. But Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, reigned over Israel the
second year of Asa, king of Juda: and he reigned over Israel two years.
15:26. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the
ways of his father, and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin.
15:27. And Baasa, the son of Ahias, of the house of Issachar,
conspired against him, and slew him in Gebbethon, which is a city of
the Philistines: for Nadab and all Israel besieged Gebbethon.
15:28. So Baasa slew him in the third year of Asa, king of Juda, and
reigned in his place.

 15:29. And when he was king, he cut off all the house of Jeroboam:
he left not so much as one soul of his seed, till he had utterly destroyed
him, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken in the
hand of Ahias, the Silonite:
15:30. Because of the sin of Jeroboam, which he had sinned, and
wherewith he had made Israel to sin, and for the offence wherewith he
provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.
15:31. But the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
15:32. And there was war between Asa and Baasa, the king of Israel,
all their days.
15:33. In the third year of Asa, king of Juda, Baasa, the son of Ahias,
reigned over all Israel, in Thersa, four and twenty years.
15:34. And he did evil before the Lord, and walked in the ways of
Jeroboam, and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin.
3 Kings Chapter 16

Jehu prophesieth against Baasa: his son Ela is slain and all his family
destroyed by Zambri. Of the reign of Amri father of Achab.
16:1. Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hanani,
against Baasa, saying:
16:2. For as much as I have exalted thee out of the dust and made
thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of
Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to
anger with their sins:
16:3. Behold I will cut down the posterity of Baasa, and the posterity
of his house, and I will make thy house as the house of Jeroboam, the
son of Nabat.
16:4. Him that dieth of Baasa, in the city, the dogs shall eat: and him
that dieth of his in the country, the fowls of the air shall devour.

 16:5. But the rest of the acts of Baasa, and all that he did, and his
battles, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the
kings of Israel?
16:6. So Baasa slept with his fathers, and was buried in Thersa: and
Ela, his son, reigned in his stead.
16:7. And when the word of the Lord came in the hand of Jehu, the
son of Hanani, the prophet, against Baasa, and against his house, and
against all the evil that he had done before the Lord, to provoke him to
anger by the works of his hands, to become as the house of Jeroboam:
for this cause he slew him; that is to say, Jehu, the son of Hanani, the
prophet.
16:8. In the six and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Ela, the son
of Baasa, reigned over Israel, in Thersa, two years.
16:9. And his servant Zambri, who was captain of half the horsemen,
rebelled against him: now Ela was drinking in Thersa, and drunk in
the house of Arsa, the governor of Thersa.
16:10. And Zambri rushing in, struck him, and slew him, in the seven
and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda and he reigned in his stead.
16:11. And when he was king, and sat upon his throne, he slew all
the house of Baasa, and he left not one thereof to piss against a wall
and all his kinsfolks and friends.
16:12. And Zambri destroyed all the house of Baasa, according to
the word of the Lord, that he had spoken to Baasa, in the hand of Jehu,
the prophet,
16:13. For all the sins of Baasa, and the sins of Ela, his son, who
sinned, and made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel,
with their vanities.
16:14. But the rest of the acts of Ela, and all that he did, are they not
written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
16:15. In the seven and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Zambri
reigned seven days in Thersa: now the army was besieging Gebbethon,
a city of the Philistines.

 16:16. And when they heard that Zambri had rebelled, and slain the
king, all Israel made Amri their king, who was general over Israel in
the camp that day.
16:17. And Amri went up, and all Israel with him, from Gebbethon,
and they besieged Thersa.
16:18. And Zambri, seeing that the city was about to be taken, went
into the palace, and burnt himself with the king’s house: and he died
16:19. In his sins, which he had sinned, doing evil before the Lord,
and walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin, wherewith he
made Israel to sin.
16:20. But the rest of the acts of Zambri, and of his conspiracy and
tyranny, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of
the kings of Israel?
16:21. Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: one
half of the people followed Thebni, the son of Gineth, to make him king:
and one half followed Amri.
16:22. But the people that were with Amri, prevailed over the people
that followed Thebni, the son of Gineth: and Thebni died, and Amri
reigned.
16:23. In the one and thirtieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Amri
reigned over Israel twelve years: in Thersa he reigned six years.
In the one and thirtieth year, etc.... Amri began to reign in the seven and
twentieth year of Asa; but had not quiet possession of the kingdom till the death
of his competitor Thebni, which was in the one and thirtieth year of Asa’s reign.
16:24. And he bought the hill of Samaria of Semer, for two talents of
silver: and he built upon it, and he called the city which he built
Samaria, after the name of Semer, the owner of the hill.
16:25. And Amri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted wickedly
above all that were before him.
16:26. And he walked in all the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat,
and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin: to provoke the Lord,
the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities.

 With their vanities.... That is, their idols their golden calves, vain, false, deceitful
things.
16:27. Now the rest of the acts of Amri, and the battles he fought,
are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Israel?
16:28. And Amri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria,
and Achab, his son, reigned in his stead.
16:29. Now Achab, the son of Amri, reigned over Israel in 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.
16:30. And Achab, the son of Amri, did evil in the sight of the Lord
above all that were before him.
16:31. 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.
16:32. And he set up an altar for Baal, in the temple of Baal, which
he had built in Samaria;
16:33. 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.
16:34. In his days Hiel, of Bethel, built Jericho: in Abiram, his
irstborn, 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.
3 Kings Chapter 17

Elias shutteth up the heaven from raining. He is fed by ravens, and

afterwards by a widow of Sarephta. He raiseth the window’s son to life.
17:1. And Elias the Thesbite, of the inhabitants of Galaad, said to
Achab: As the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand,
there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to the words
of my mouth.
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 17:2. And the word of the Lord came to him, saying:

17:3. Get thee hence, and go towards the east, and hide thyself by
the torrent of Carith, which is over against the Jordan;
17:4. And there thou shalt drink of the torrent: and I have
commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
17:5. 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.
17:6. And the ravens brought him bread and lesh in the morning,
and bread and lesh in the evening; and he drank of the torrent.
17:7. But after some time the torrent was dried up: for it had not
rained upon the earth.
17:8. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying:
17:9. Arise, and go to Sarephta of the Sidonians, and dwell there: for
I have commanded a widow woman there to feed thee.
Sarephta of the Sidonians.... That is, a city of the Sidonians.
17:10. He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to
the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he
called her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may
drink.
17:11. And when she was going to fetch it, he called after her,
saying: Bring me also, I beseech thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.
17:12. And she answered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no
bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruise:
behold I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it, for me
and my son, that we may eat it and die.
17:13. And Elias said to her: Fear not; but go, and do as thou hast
said but irst make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and
bring it to me, and after make for thyself and thy son.
17:14. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: The pot of meal
shall not waste, nor the cruise of oil be diminished, until the day
wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth.

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 17:15. She went, and did according to the word of Elias: and he ate,
and she, and her house: and from that day
17:16. The pot of meal wasted not, and the cruise of oil was not
diminished according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the
hand of Elias.
17:17. 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.
17:18. And she said to Elias: What have I to do with thee, thou man
of God? art thou come to me, that my iniquities should be remembered,
and that thou shouldst kill my son?
17:19. 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.
17:20. And he cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord, my God, hast thou
af licted also the widow, with whom I am after a sort maintained, so as
to kill her son?
17:21. 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.
17:22. And the Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of the
child returned into him, and he revived.
17:23. 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.
17:24. 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.
3 Kings Chapter 18

Elias cometh before Achab. He convinceth the false prophets by

bringing ire from heaven: he obtaineth rain by his prayer.
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 18:1. After many days, the word of the Lord came to Elias, in the
third year, saying: Go, and shew thyself to Achab, that I may give rain
upon the face of the earth.
18:2. And Elias went to shew himself to Achab, and there was a
grievous famine in Samaria.
18:3. And Achab called Abdias the governor of his house: now
Abdias feared the Lord very much.
18:4. For when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, he took a
hundred prophets, and hid them by ifty and ifty in caves, and fed
them with bread and water.
18:5. And Achab said to Abdias: Go into the land unto all fountains
of waters, and into all valleys, to see if we can ind grass, and save the
horses and mules, that the beasts may not utterly perish.
18:6. And they divided the countries between them, that they might
go round about them: Achab went one way, and Abdias another way
by himself.
18:7. 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?
18:8. And he answered: I am. Go, and tell thy master: Elias is here.
18:9. And he said: What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver me,
thy servant, into the hand of Achab, that he should kill me?
18:10. 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.
18:11. And now thou sayest to me: Go and tell thy master: Elias is
here.
18:12. And when I am gone from thee, the Spirit of the Lord will
carry thee into a place that I know not: and I shall go in and tell
Achab; and he, not inding thee, will kill me: but thy servant feareth
the Lord from his infancy.

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 18:13. Hath it not been told thee, my lord, what I did when Jezabel
killed the prophets of the Lord; how I hid a hundred men of the
prophets of the Lord, by ifty and ifty in caves, and fed them with
bread and water?
18:14. And now thou sayest: Go and tell thy master: Elias is here:
that he may kill me.
18:15. And Elias said: As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whose face I
stand, this day I will shew myself unto him.
18:16. Abdias therefore went to meet Achab, and told him: and
Achab came to meet Elias.
18:17. And when he had seen him, he said: Art thou he that troublest
Israel?
18:18. And he said: I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy
father’s house, who have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and
have followed Baalim.
18:19. Nevertheless send now, and gather unto me all Israel, unto
Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and ifty, and
the prophets of the groves four hundred, who eat at Jezabel’s table.
18:20. Achab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered together
the prophets unto mount Carmel.
18:21. And Elias coming to all the people, said: How long do you halt
between two sides? If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then
follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.
18:22. And Elias said again to the people: I only remain a prophet of
the Lord: but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and ifty men.
18:23. Let two bullocks be given us, and let them choose one bullock
for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it upon wood, but put no
ire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and
put no ire under it.
18:24. Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the name
of my Lord: and the God that shall answer by ire, let him be God. And
all the people answering, said: A very good proposal.
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 18:25. Then Elias said to the prophets of Baal: Choose you one
bullock and dress it irst, because you are many: and call on the names
of your gods; but put no ire under.
18:26. And they took the bullock, which he gave them, and dressed
it: and they called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon,
saying: O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered:
and they leaped over the altar that they had made.
18:27. And when it was now noon, Elias jested at them, saying: Cry
with a louder voice: for he is a god; and perhaps he is talking, or is in
an inn, or on a journey; or perhaps he is asleep, and must be awaked.
18:28. So they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their
manner with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood.
18:29. And after midday was past, and while they were prophesying,
the time was come of offering sacri ice, and there was no voice heard,
nor did any one answer, nor regard them as they prayed.
18:30. Elias said to all the people: Come ye unto me. And the people
coming near unto him, he repaired the altar of the Lord, that was
broken down:
18:31. And he took twelve stones, according to the number of the
tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord came, saying:
Israel shall be thy name.
18:32. And he built with the stones an altar to the name of the Lord:
and he made a trench for water, of the breadth of two furrows, round
about the altar.
18:33. And he laid the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces,
and laid it upon the wood.
18:34. And he said: Fill four buckets with water, and pour it upon
the burnt offering, and upon the wood. And again he said: Do the same
the second time. And when they had done it the second time, he said:
Do the same also the third time. And they did so the third time.
18:35. And the water run round about the altar, and the trench was
illed with water.
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 18:36. And when it was now time to offer the holocaust, Elias, the
prophet, came near and said: O Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and
Israel, shew this day that thou art the God of Israel, and I thy servant,
and that according to thy commandment I have done all these things.
18:37. Hear me, O Lord, hear me: that this people may learn that
thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart again.
18:38. Then the ire of the Lord fell, and consumed the holocaust,
and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water
that was in the trench.
18:39. And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and
they said: The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.
18:40. And Elias said to them: Take the prophets of Baal, and let not
one of them escape. And when they had taken them, Elias brought
them down to the torrent Cison, and killed them there.
18:41. And Elias said to Achab: Go up, eat and drink: for there is a
sound of abundance of rain.
18:42. Achab went up to eat and drink: and Elias went up to the top
of Carmel, and casting himself down upon the earth, put his face
between his knees,
18:43. And he said to his servant: Go up, and look towards the sea.
And he went up, and looked, and said: There is nothing. And again he
said to him: Return seven times.
18:44. And at the seventh time: Behold a little cloud arose out of the
sea like a man’s foot. And he said: Go up, and say to Achab: Prepare thy
chariot, and go down, lest the rain prevent thee.
18:45. And while he turned himself this way and that way, behold
the heavens grew dark, with clouds and wind, and there fell a great
rain. And Achab getting up, went away to Jezrahel:
18:46. And the hand of the Lord was upon Elias, and he girded up
his loins, and ran before Achab, till he came to Jezrahel.
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 3 Kings Chapter 19

Elias, leeing from Jezabel, is fed by an angel in the desert; and by the
strength of that food walketh forty days, till he cometh to Horeb,
where he hath a vision of God.
19:1. And Achab told Jezabel all that Elias had done, and how he had
slain all the prophets with the sword.
19:2. And Jezabel sent a messenger to Elias, saying: Such and such
things may the gods do to me, and add still more, if by this hour to
morrow I make not thy life as the life of one of them.
19:3. Then Elias was afraid, and rising up, he went whithersoever he
had a mind: and he came to Bersabee of Juda, and left his servant
there,
19:4. And he went forward, one day’s journey into the desert. And
when he was there, and sat under a juniper tree, he requested for his
soul that he might die, and said: It is enough for me, Lord; take away
my soul: for I am no better than my fathers.
That he might die.... Elias requested to die, not out of impatience or
pusillanimity, but out of zeal against sin; and that he might no longer be witness
of the miseries of his people; and the war they were waging against God and his
servants. See ver. 10.
19:5. And he cast himself down, and slept in the shadow of the
juniper tree: and behold an angel of the Lord touched him, and said to
him: Arise and eat.
19:6. He looked, and behold there was at his head a hearth cake,
and a vessel of water: and he ate and drank, and he fell asleep again.
19:7. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and
touched him, and said to him: Arise, eat: for thou hast yet a great way
to go.
19:8. And he arose, and ate and drank, and walked in the strength of
that food forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God, Horeb.

 In the strength of that food, etc.... This bread, with which Elias was fed in the
wilderness, was a igure of the bread of life which we receive in the blessed
sacrament; by the strength of which we are to be supported in our journey
through the wilderness of this world till we come to the true mountain of God,
and his vision in a happy eternity.
19:9. And when he was come thither, he abode in a cave: and behold
the word of the Lord came unto him, and he said to him: What dost
thou here, Elias?
19:10. And he answered: With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord
God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant:
they have thrown down thy altars, they have slain thy prophets with
the sword, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away.
I alone am left.... Viz., of the prophets in the kingdom of Israel, or of the ten
tribes; for in the kingdom of Juda religion was at that time in a very lourishing
condition under the kings Asa and Josaphat. And even in Israel there remained
several prophets, though not then known to Elias. See chap. 20.13, 28, 35.
19:11. And he said to him: Go forth, and stand upon the mount
before the Lord: and behold the Lord passeth, and a great and strong
wind before the Lord, overthrowing the mountains, and breaking the
rocks in pieces: but the Lord is not in the wind. And after the wind, an
earthquake: but the Lord is not in the earthquake.
19:12. And after the earthquake, a ire: but the Lord is not in the
ire. And after the ire, a whistling of a gentle air.
19:13. And when Elias heard it, he covered his face with his mantle,
and coming forth, stood in the entering in of the cave, and behold a
voice unto him, saying: What dost thou here, Elias? And he answered:
19:14. With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts:
because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant: they have
destroyed thy altars, they have slain thy prophets with the sword; and
I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away.
19:15. And the Lord said to him: Go, and return on thy way, through
the desert, to Damascus: and when thou art come thither, thou shalt
anoint Hazael to be king over Syria;
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 19:16. And thou shalt anoint Jehu, the son of Namsi, to be king over
Israel: and Eliseus, the son of Saphat, of Abelmeula, thou shalt anoint
to be prophet in thy room.
19:17. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall escape the
sword of Hazael, shall be slain by Jehu: and whosoever shall escape the
sword of Jehu, shall be slain by Eliseus.
Shall be slain by Eliseus.... Eliseus did not kill any of the idolaters with the
material sword: but he is here joined with Hazael and Jehu, the great
instruments of God in punishing the idolatry of Israel, because he foretold to the
former his exaltation to the kingdom of Syria, and the vengeance he would
execute against Israel, and anointed the latter by one of his disciples to be king of
Israel, with commission to extirpate the house of Achab.
19:18. And I will leave me seven thousand men in Israel, whose
knees have not been bowed before Baal, and every mouth that hath
not worshipped him, kissing the hands.
19:19. And Elias departing from thence, found Eliseus, the son of
Saphat, ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen: and he was one of them
that were ploughing with, twelve yoke of oxen: and when Elias came
up to him, he cast his mantle upon him.
19:20. And he forthwith left the oxen, and ran after Elias, and said:
Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will
follow thee. And he said to him: Go, and return back: for that which
was my part, I have done to thee.
19:21. And returning back from him, he took a yoke of oxen, and
killed them, and boiled the lesh with the plough of the oxen, and gave
to the people, and they ate: and rising up, he went away, and followed
Elias, and ministered to him.
3 Kings Chapter 20

The Syrians besiege Samaria: they are twice defeated by Achab: who is
reprehended by a prophet for letting Benadad go.

 20:1. And Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his host, and
there were two and thirty kings with him, and horses, and chariots:
and going up, he fought against Samaria, and besieged it.
20:2. And sending messengers to Achab, king of Israel, into the city,
20:3. He said: Thus saith Benadad: Thy silver and thy gold is mine:
and thy wives and thy goodliest children are mine.
20:4. And the king of Israel answered: According to thy word, my
lord, O king, I am thine, and all that I have.
20:5. And the messengers came again, and said: Thus saith
Benadad, who sent us unto thee: Thy silver and thy gold, and thy wives
and thy children, thou shalt deliver up to me.
20:6. To morrow, therefore, at this same hour, I will send my
servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy
servants: and all that pleaseth them, they shall put in their hands, and
take away.
20:7. And the king of Israel called all the ancients of the land, and
said: Mark, and see that he layeth snares for us. For he sent to me for
my wives, and for my children, and for my silver and gold: and I said
not nay.
20:8. And all the ancients, and all the people said to him: Hearken
not to him, nor consent to him.
20:9. Wherefore he answered the messengers of Benadad: Tell my
lord, the king: All that thou didst send for to me, thy servant at irst, I
will do: but this thing I cannot do.
20:10. And the messengers returning brought him word. And he sent
again, and said: Such and such things may the gods do to me, and
more may they add, if the dust of Samaria shall suf ice for handfuls for
all the people that follow me.
20:11. And the king of Israel answering, said: Tell him: Let not the
girded boast himself as the ungirded.
Let not the girded, etc.... Let him not boast before the victory: it will then be time
to glory when he putteth off his armour, having overcome his adversary.

 20:12. And it came to pass, when Benadad heard this word, that he
and the kings were drinking in pavilions, and he said to his servants:
Beset the city. And they beset it.
20:13. And behold a prophet coming to Achab, king of Israel, said to
him: Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou seen all this exceeding great
multitude? behold I will deliver them into thy hand this day: that thou
mayst know that I am the Lord.
20:14. And Achab said: By whom? And he said to him: Thus saith the
Lord: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. And he said: Who
shall begin to ight? And he said: Thou.
20:15. So he mustered the servants of the princes of the provinces,
and he found the number of two hundred and thirty-two: and he
mustered after them the people, all the children of Israel, seven
thousand:
20:16. And they went out at noon. But Benadad was drinking
himself drunk in his pavilion, and the two and thirty kings with him,
who were come to help him.
20:17. And the servants of the princes of the provinces went out
irst. And Benadad sent. And they told him, saying: There are men
come out of Samaria.
20:18. And he said: Whether they come for peace, take them alive:
or whether they come to ight, take them alive.
20:19. So the servants of the princes of the provinces went out, and
the rest of the army followed:
20:20. And every one slew the man that came against him: and the
Syrians led, and Israel pursued after them. And Benadad, king of
Syria, led away on horseback with his horsemen.
20:21. But the king of Israel going out overthrew the horses and
chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
20:22. (And a prophet coming to the king of Israel, said to him: Go,
and strengthen thyself, and know, and see what thou dost: for the next
year the king of Syria will come up against thee.)
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 20:23. But the servants of the king of Syria said to him: Their gods
are gods of the hills, therefore they have overcome us: but it is better
that we should ight against them in the plains, and we shall overcome
them.
20:24. Do thou, therefore, this thing: Remove all the kings from thy
army, and put captains in their stead:
20:25. And make up the number of soldiers that have been slain of
thine, and horses, according to the former horses, and chariots,
according to the chariots which thou hadst before: and we will ight
against them in the plains, and thou shalt see that we shall overcome
them. He believed their counsel, and did so.
20:26. Wherefore, at the return of the year, Benadad mustered the
Syrians, and went up to Aphec, to ight against Israel.
20:27. And the children of Israel were mustered, and taking victuals,
went out on the other side, and encamped over against them, like two
little locks of goats: but the Syrians illed the land.
20:28. (And a man of God coming, said to the king of Israel: Thus
saith the Lord: Because the Syrians have said: The Lord is God of the
hills, but is not God of the valleys: I will deliver all this great multitude
into thy hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.)
20:29. And both sides set their armies in array one against the other
seven days, and on the seventh day the battle was fought: and the
children of Israel slew, of the Syrians, a hundred thousand footmen in
one day.
20:30. And they that remained led to Aphec, into the city: and the
wall fell upon seven and twenty thousand men, that were left. And
Benadad leeing, went into the city, into a chamber that was within a
chamber.
20:31. And his servants said to him: Behold, we have heard that the
kings of the house of Israel are merciful; so let us put sackcloths on our
loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps
he will save our lives.
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 20:32. So they girded sackcloths on their loins, and put ropes on
their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said to him: Thy
servant, Benadad, saith: I beseech thee let me have my life. And he
said: If he be yet alive, he is my brother.
20:33. The men took this for good luck: and in haste caught the
word out of his mouth, and said: Thy brother Benadad. And he said to
them: Go, and bring him to me. Then Benadad came out to him, and he
lifted him up into his chariot.
20:34. And he said to him: The cities which my father took from thy
father, I will restore: and do thou make thee streets in Damascus, as
my father made in Samaria and having made a league, I will depart
from thee. So he made a league with him, and let him go.
20:35. Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets, said to his
companion, in the word of the Lord: Strike me. But he would not strike.
20:36. Then he said to him: Because thou wouldst not hearken to the
word of the Lord, behold thou shalt depart from me, and a lion shall
slay thee. And when he was gone a little from him, a lion found him,
and slew him.
20:37. Then he found another man, and said to him: Strike me. And
he struck him and wounded him.
20:38. So the prophet went, and met the king in the way, and
disguised himself by sprinkling dust on his face and his eyes.
20:39. And as the king passed by, he cried to the king, and said: Thy
servant went out to ight hand to hand: and when a certain man was
run away, one brought him to me, and said: Keep this man: and if he
shall slip away, thy life shall be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of
silver.
20:40. And whilst I, in the hurry, turned this way and that, on a
sudden he was not to be seen. And the king of Israel said to him: This is
thy judgment, which thyself hast decreed.
20:41. But he forthwith wiped off the dust from his face, and the
king of Israel knew him, that he was one of the prophets.

 20:42. And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord. Because thou hast let
go out of thy hand a man worthy of death, thy life shall be for his life,
and thy people for his people.
20:43. And the king of Israel returned to his house, slighting to hear,
and raging came into Samaria.
3 Kings Chapter 21

Naboth, for denying his vineyard to king Achab, is by Jezabel’s

commandment, falsely accused and stoned to death. For which crime
Elias denounceth to Achab the judgments of God: upon his humbling
himself the sentence is mitigated.
21:1. And after these things, Naboth the Jezrahelite, who was in
Jezrahel, had at that time a vineyard, near the palace of Achab, king of
Samaria.
21:2. And Achab spoke to Naboth, saying: Give me thy vineyard, that
I may make me a garden of herbs, because it is nigh, and adjoining to
my house; and I will give thee for it a better vineyard: or if thou think
it more convenient for thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.
21:3. Naboth answered him: The Lord be merciful to me, and not let
me give thee the inheritance of my fathers.
21:4. And Achab came into his house angry and fretting, because of
the word that Naboth, the Jezrahelite, had spoken to him, saying: I will
not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And casting himself upon
his bed, he turned away his face to the wall, and would eat no bread.
21:5. And Jezabel, his wife, went in to him, and said to him: What is
the matter that thy soul is so grieved? and why eatest thou no bread?
21:6. And he answered her: I spoke to Naboth, the Jezrahelite, and
said to him: Give me thy vineyard, and take money for it: or if it please
thee, I will give thee a better vineyard for it. And he said: I will not give
thee my vineyard.
21:7. Then Jezabel, his wife, said to him. Thou art of great authority
indeed, and governest well the kingdom of Israel. Arise, and eat bread,

 and be of good cheer; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth, the
Jezrahelite.
21:8. So she wrote letters in Achab’s name, and sealed them with his
ring, and sent them to the ancients, and the chief men that were in his
city, and that dwelt with Naboth.
21:9. And this was the tenor of the letters: Proclaim a fast, and make
Naboth sit among the chief of the people;
21:10. And suborn two men, sons of Belial, against him, and let them
bear false witness; that he hath blasphemed God and the king: and
then carry him out, and stone him, and so let him die.
21:11. And the men of his city, the ancients and nobles, that dwelt
with him in the city, did as Jezabel had commanded them, and as it
was written in the letters which she had sent to them;
21:12. They proclaimed a fast, and made Naboth sit among the chief
of the people.
21:13. And bringing two men, sons of the devil, they made them sit
against him: and they, like men of the devil, bore witness against him
before the people: saying: Naboth hath blasphemed God and the king.
Wherefore they brought him forth without the city, and stoned him to
death.
21:14. And they sent to Jezabel, saying: Naboth is stoned, and is
dead.
21:15. And it came to pass, when Jezabel heard that Naboth was
stoned, and dead, that she said to Achab: Arise, and take possession of
the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, who would not agree with
thee, and give it thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.
21:16. And when Achab heard this, to wit, that Naboth was dead, he
arose, and went down into the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, to
take possession of it.
21:17. And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying:

 21:18. Arise, and go down to meet Achab, king of Israel, who is in

Samaria: behold he is going down to the vineyard of Naboth, to take
possession of it:
21:19. And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord:
Thou hast slain: moreover also thou hast taken possession. And after
these words thou shalt add: Thus saith the Lord: In this place, wherein
the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also.
21:20. And Achab said to Elias: Hast thou found me thy enemy? He
said: I have found thee because thou art sold, to do evil in the sight of
the Lord.
Sold, to do evil in the sight, etc.... That is, so addicted to evil, as if thou hadst sold
thyself to the devil, to be his slave to work all kinds of evil.
21:21. Behold I will bring evil upon thee, and I will cut down thy
posterity, and I will kill of Achab him that pisseth against the wall, and
him that is shut up, and the last in Israel.
21:22. And I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son
of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahias: for what thou
hast done to provoke me to anger, and for making Israel to sin.
21:23. And of Jezabel also, the Lord spoke, saying: The dogs shall eat
Jezabel in the ield of Jezrahel.
21:24. If Achab die in the city, the dogs shall eat him: but if he die in
the ield, the birds of the air shall eat him.
21:25. Now, there was not such another as Achab, who was sold to
do evil in the sight of the Lord: for his wife, Jezabel, set him on,
21:26. And he became abominable, insomuch that he followed the
idols which the Amorrhites had made, whom the Lord destroyed before
the face of the children of Israel.
21:27. And when Achab had heard these words, he rent his
garments, and put haircloth upon his lesh, and fasted, and slept in
sackcloth, and walked with his head cast down.
21:28. And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying:
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 21:29. Hast thou not seen Achab humbled before me? therefore,
because he hath humbled himself, for my sake, I will not bring the evil
in his days, but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.
3 Kings Chapter 22

Achab believing his false prophets, rather than Micheas, is slain in

Ramoth Galaad. Ochozias succeedeth him. Good king Josaphat dieth,
and his son Joram succeedeth him.
22:1. And there passed three years without war between Syria and
Israel.
22:2. And in the third year, Josaphat, king of Juda, came down to the
king of Israel.
22:3. (And the king of Israel said to his servants: Know ye not that
Ramoth Galaad is ours, and we neglect to take it out of the hand of the
king of Syria?)
22:4. And he said to Josaphat: Wilt thou come with me to battle to
Ramoth Galaad?
22:5. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: As I am, so art thou: my
people and thy people are one: and my horsemen are thy horsemen.
And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: Inquire, I beseech thee, this day
the word of the Lord.
22:6. Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four
hundred men, and he said to them: Shall I go to Ramoth Galaad to
ight, or shall I forbear? They answered: Go up, and the Lord will
deliver it into the hand of the king.
22:7. And Josaphat said: Is there not here some prophet of the Lord,
that we may inquire by him?
22:8. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat. There is one man left,
by whom we may inquire of the Lord; Micheas, the son of Jemla: but I
hate him, for he doth not prophecy good to me, but evil. And Josaphat
said: Speak not so, O king.
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 22:9. Then the king of Israel called an eunuch, and said to him:
Make haste, and bring hither Micheas, the son of Jemla.
22:10. And the king of Israel, and Josaphat, king of Juda, sat each on
his throne, clothed with royal robes, in a court, by the entrance of the
gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them.
22:11. And Sedecias, the son of Chanaana, made himself horns of
iron, and said: Thus saith the Lord: With these shalt thou push Syria,
till thou destroy it.
22:12. And all the prophets prophesied in like manner, saying: Go up
to Ramoth Galaad, and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the
king’s hands.
22:13. And the messenger that went to call Micheas, spoke to him,
saying: Behold the words of the prophets with one mouth declare good
things to the king: let thy word, therefore, be like to theirs, and speak
that which is good.
22:14. But Micheas said to him: As the Lord liveth, whatsoever the
Lord shall say to me, that will I speak.
22:15. So he came to the king, and the king said to him: Micheas,
shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to battle, or shall we forbear? He
answered him: Go up, and prosper, and the Lord shall deliver it into
the king’s hands.
Go up, etc.... This was spoken ironically, and by way of jesting at the lattering
speeches of the false prophets: and so the king understood it, as appears by his
adjuring Micheas, in the following verse, to tell him the truth in the name of the
Lord.
22:16. But the king said to him: I adjure thee again and again, that
thou tell me nothing but that which is true, in the name of the Lord.
22:17. And he said: I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, like
sheep that have no shepherd; and the Lord said: These have no master:
let every man of them return to his house in peace.
22:18. (Then the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Did I not tell thee,
that he prophesieth no good to me, but always evil?)

 22:19. And he added and said: Hear thou, therefore, the word of the
Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven
standing by him on the right hand and on the left:
22:20. And the Lord said: Who shall deceive Achab, king of Israel,
that he may go up, and fall at Ramoth Galaad? And one spoke words of
this manner, and another otherwise.
The Lord said, etc.... God standeth not in need of any counsellor; nor are we to
suppose that things pass in heaven in the manner here described: but this
representation was made to the prophet, to be delivered by him in a manner
adapted to the common ways and notions of men.
22:21. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and
said: I will deceive him. And the Lord said to him: By what means?
22:22. And he said: I will go forth, and be a lying spirit, in the mouth
of all his prophets. And the Lord said: Thou shalt deceive him, and
shalt prevail: go forth, and do so.
Go forth, and do so.... This was not a command, but a permission: for God never
ordaineth lies; though he often permitteth the lying spirit to deceive those who
love not the truth. 2 Thess. 2.10. And in this sense it is said in the following verse,
The Lord hath given a lying spirit in the mouth of all thy prophets.
22:23. Now, therefore, behold the Lord hath given a lying spirit in
the mouth of all thy prophets that are here, and the Lord hath spoken
evil against thee.
22:24. And Sedecias, the son of Chanaana, came, and struck Micheas
on the cheek, and said: Hath then the spirit of the Lord left me, and
spoken to thee?
22:25. And Micheas said: Thou shalt see in the day when thou shalt
go into a chamber within a chamber to hide thyself.
Go into a chamber, etc.... This happened when he heard the king was slain, and
justly apprehended that he should be punished for his false prophecy.
22:26. And the king of Israel said: Take Micheas and let him abide
with Amon, the governor of the city, and with Joas, the son of Amalech;

 22:27. And tell them: Thus saith the king: Put this man in prison,
and feed him with bread of af liction, and water of distress till I return
in peace.
22:28. And Micheas said: If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not
spoken by me. And he said: Hear, all ye people.
22:29. So the king of Israel, and Josaphat, king of Juda, went up to
Ramoth-Galaad.
22:30. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Take thy armour, and
go into the battle, and put on thy own garments. But the king of Israel
changed his dress, and went into the battle.
22:31. And the king of Syria had commanded the two and thirty
captains of the chariots, saying: You shall not ight against any, small
or great, but against the king of Israel only.
22:32. So when the captains of the chariots saw Josaphat, they
suspected that he was the king of Israel, and making a violent assault,
they fought against him: and Josaphat cried out.
22:33. And the captains of the chariots perceived that he was not
the king of Israel, and they turned away from him.
22:34. And a certain man bent his bow, shooting at a venture, and
chanced to strike the king of Israel, between the lungs and the
stomach. But he said to the driver of his chariot: Turn thy hand, and
carry me out of the army, for I am grievously wounded.
22:35. And the battle was fought that day, and the king of Israel
stood in his chariot against the Syrians, and he died in the evening:
and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.
22:36. And the herald proclaimed through all the army, before the
sun set, saying: Let every man return to his own city, and to his own
country.
22:37. And the king died, and was carried into Samaria: and they
buried the king in Samaria.

 22:38. And they washed his chariot in the pool of Samaria and the
dogs licked up his blood, and they washed the reins according to the
word of the Lord which he had spoken.
22:39. But the rest of the acts of Achab, and all that he did, and the
house of ivory that he made, and all the cities that he built, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
22:40. So Achab slept with his fathers; and Ochozias, his son,
reigned in his stead.
22:41. But Josaphat, the son of Asa, began to reign over Juda, in the
fourth year of Achab, king of Israel.
22:42. He was ive and thirty years old when he began to reign, and
he reigned ive and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother
was Azuba, the daughter of Salai.
22:43. And he walked in all the way of Asa, his father, and he
declined not from it: and he did that which was right in the sight of the
Lord.
22:44. Nevertheless, he took not away the high places for as yet the
people offered sacri ice, and burnt incense in the high places.
He took not away, etc.... He left some of the high places, viz., those in which they
worshipped the true God: but took away all others, 2 Par. 17.6, and note ver. 14
of chap. 15. 3 Kings.
22:45. And Josaphat had peace with the king of Israel.
22:46. But the rest of the acts of Josaphat, and his works which he
did, and his battles, are they not written in the book of the words of the
days of the kings of Juda?
22:47. And the remnant also of the effeminate, who remained in the
days of Asa, his father, he took out of the land.
22:48. And there was then no king appointed in Edom.
22:49. But king Josaphat made navies on the sea, to sail into Ophir
for gold: but they could not go, for the ships were broken in
Asiongaber.

 22:50. Then Ochozias, the son of Achab, said to Josaphat: Let my

servants go with thy servants in the ships. And Josaphat would not.
Would not.... He had been reprehended before for admitting such a partner: and
therefore would have no more to do with him.
22:51. And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with
them in the city of David, his father: and Joram, his son, reigned in his
stead.
22:52. And Ochozias, the son of Achab, began to reign over Israel, in
Samaria, in the seventeenth year of Josaphat, king of Juda, and he
reigned over Israel two years.
22:53. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way
of his father and his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam, the son of
Nabat, who made Israel to sin.
22:54. He served also Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked the
Lord, the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

THE FOURTH BOOK OF KINGS

4 Kings Chapter 1

Ochozias sendeth to consult Beelzebub: Elias foretelleth his death: and

causeth ire to come down from heaven, upon two captains and their
companies.
1:1. And Moab rebelled against Israel, after the death of Achab.
1:2. And Ochozias fell through the lattices of his upper chamber,
which he had in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, saying
to them: Go, consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron, whether I shall
recover of this my illness.

 1:3. And an angel of the Lord spoke to Elias, the Thesbite, saying:
Arise, and go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and
say to them: Is there not a God in Israel, that ye go to consult
Beelzebub, the god of Accaron?
1:4. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord: From the bed, on which thou art
gone up, thou shalt not come down, but thou shalt surely die. And Elias
went away.
1:5. And the messengers turned back to Ochozias. And he said to
them: Why are you come back?
1:6. But they answered him: A man met us, and said to us: Go, and
return to the king, that sent you, and you shall say to him: Thus saith
the Lord: Is it because there was no God in Israel, that thou sendest to
Beelzebub, the god of Accaron? Therefore thou shalt not come down
from the bed, on which thou art gone up, but thou shalt surely die.
1:7. And he said to them: What manner of man was he who met you,
and spoke these words?
1:8. But they said: A hairy man, with a girdle of leather about his
loins. And he said: It is Elias, the Thesbite.
1:9. And he sent to him a captain of ifty, and the ifty men that were
under him. And he went up to him, and as he was sitting on the top of a
hill, he said to him: Man of God, the king hath commanded that thou
come down.
1:10. And Elias answering, said to the captain of ifty: If I be a man
of God, let ire come down from heaven and consume thee, and thy
ifty. And there came down ire from heaven and consumed him, and
the ifty that were with him.
Let ire, etc.... Elias was inspired to call for ire from heaven upon these captains,
who came to apprehend him; not out of a desire to gratify any private passion;
but to punish the insult offered to religion, to con irm his mission, and to shew
how vain are the efforts of men against God, and his servants, whom he willeth
to protect.
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 1:11. And he again sent to him another captain of ifty men, and his
ifty with him. And he said to him: Man of God: Thus saith the king:
Make haste and come down.
1:12. Elias answering, said: If I be a man of God, let ire come down
from heaven, and consume thee, and thy ifty. And ire came down
from heaven, and consumed him and his ifty.
1:13. Again he sent a third captain of ifty men, and the ifty that
were with him. And when he was come, he fell upon his knees before
Elias, and besought him, and said: Man of God, despise not my life, and
the lives of thy servants that are with me.
1:14. Behold ire came down from heaven, and consumed the two
irst captains of ifty men, and the ifties that were with them: but now
I beseech thee to spare my life.
1:15. And the angel of the Lord spoke to Elias, saying: Go down with
him, fear not. He arose therefore, and went down with him to the king,
1:16. And said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast sent
messengers to consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron, as though there
were not a God in Israel, of whom thou mightest inquire the word;
therefore, from the bed on which thou art gone up, thou shalt not
come down, but thou shalt surely die.
1:17. So he died, according to the word of the Lord, which Elias
spoke; and Joram, his brother, reigned in his stead, in the second year
of Joram, the son of Josaphat, king of Juda, because he had no son.
The second year of Joram, etc.... Counted from the time that he was associated to
the throne by his father Josaphat.
1:18. But the rest of the acts of Ochozias, which he did, are they not
written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
4 Kings Chapter 2

Eliseus will not part from Elias. The water of the Jordan is divided by
Elias’ cloak. Elias is taken up in a iery chariot, and his double spirit is
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 given to Eliseus. Eliseus healeth the waters by casting in salt. Boys are
torn by bears for mocking Eliseus.
2:1. And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elias, into
heaven, by a whirlwind, that Elias and Eliseus were going from Galgal.
Heaven.... By heaven here is meant the air, the lowest of the heavenly regions.
2:2. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay thou here, because the Lord hath
sent me as far as Bethel. And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord liveth,
and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And when they were come
down to Bethel,
2:3. The sons of the prophets, that were at Bethel, came forth to
Eliseus, and said to him: Dost thou know that, this day, the Lord will
take away thy master from thee? And he answered: I also know it: hold
your peace.
The sons of the prophets.... That is, the disciples of the prophets; who seem to
have had their schools, like colleges or communities, in Bethel, Jericho, and other
places in the days of Elias and Eliseus.
2:4. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay here, because the Lord hath sent
me to Jericho. And he said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I
will not leave thee. And when they were come to Jericho,
2:5. The sons of the prophets, that were at Jericho, came to Eliseus,
and said to him: Dost thou know that, this day, the Lord will take away
thy master from thee? And he said: I also know it: hold your peace.
2:6. And Elias said to him: Stay here, because the Lord hath sent me
as far as the Jordan. And he said: as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul
liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on together.
2:7. And ifty men, of the sons of the prophets, followed them, and
stood in sight, at a distance: but they two stood by the Jordan.
2:8. And Elias took his mantle, and folded it together, and struck the
waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and they both passed
over on dry ground.
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 2:9. And when they were gone over, Elias said to Eliseus: Ask what
thou wilt have me to do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And
Eliseus said: I beseech thee, that in me may be thy double spirit.
Double spirit.... A double portion of thy spirit, as the eldest son and heir: or thy
spirit which is double in comparison of that which God usually imparteth to his
prophets.
2:10. And he answered: Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless,
if thou see me when I am taken from thee, thou shalt have what thou
hast asked: but if thou see me not, thou shalt not have it.
2:11. And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold, a
iery chariot and iery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias
went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
2:12. And Eliseus saw him, and cried: My father, my father, the
chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof. And he saw him no more: and
he took hold of his own garments, and rent them in two pieces.
2:13. And he took up the mantle of Elias, that fell from him: and
going back, he stood on the bank of the Jordan;
2:14. And he struck the waters with the mantle of Elias, that had
fallen from him, and they were not divided. And he said: Where is now
the God of Elias? And he struck the waters, and they were divided
hither and thither, and Eliseus passed over.
2:15. And the sons of the prophets, at Jericho, who were over against
him, seeing it, said: The spirit of Elias hath rested upon Eliseus. And
coming to meet him, they worshipped him, falling to the ground.
They worshipped him.... viz., with an inferior, yet religious veneration, not for any
temporal, but spiritual excellency.
2:16. And they said to him: Behold, there are with thy servants, ifty
strong men, that can go, and seek thy master, lest, perhaps, the spirit
of the Lord, hath taken him up and cast him upon some mountain, or
into some valley. And he said: Do not send.
2:17. But they pressed him, till he consented, and said: Send. And
they sent ifty men: and they sought three days, but found him not.
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 2:18. And they came back to him: for he abode at Jericho, and he
said to them: Did I not say to you? Do not send.
2:19. And the men of the city, said to Eliseus: Behold the situation of
this city is very good, as thou, my lord, seest: but the waters are very
bad, and the ground barren.
2:20. And he said: Bring me a new vessel, and put salt into it. And
when they had brought it,
2:21. He went out to the spring of the waters, and cast the salt into
it, and said: Thus saith the Lord: I have healed these waters, and there
shall be no more in them death or barrenness.
2:22. And the waters were healed unto this day, according to the
word of Eliseus, which he spoke.
2:23. And he went up from thence to Bethel: and as he was going up
by the way, little boys came out of the city and mocked him, saying: Go
up, thou bald head, go up, thou bald head.
2:24. And looking back, he saw them, and cursed them in the name
of the Lord: and there came forth two bears out of the forest, and tore
of them, two and forty boys.
Cursed them.... This curse, which was followed by so visible a judgment of God,
was not the effect of passion, or of a desire of revenging himself; but of zeal for
religion, which was insulted by these boys, in the person of the prophet; and of a
divine inspiration: God punishing in this manner the inhabitants of Bethel, (the
chief seat of the calf worship,) who had trained up their children in a prejudice
against the true religion and its ministers.
2:25. And from thence he went to mount Carmel, and from thence he
returned to Samaria.
4 Kings Chapter 3

The kings of Israel, Juda, and Edom, ight against the king of Moab.
They want water, which Eliseus procureth without rain: and
prophesieth victory. The king of Moab is overthrown, his city is
besieged: he sacri iceth his irstborn son: so the Israelites raise the
siege.

 3:1. And Joram the son of Achab, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, in
the eighteenth year of Josaphat, king of Juda. And he reigned twelve
years.
3:2. And he did evil before the Lord, but not like his father and his
mother: for he took away the statues of Baal, which his father had
made.
3:3. Nevertheless, he stuck to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat,
who made Israel to sin, nor did he depart from them.
3:4. Now Mesa, king of Moab, nourished many sheep, and he paid to
the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand
rams, with their leeces.
3:5. And when Achab was dead, he broke the league which he had
made with the king of Israel.
3:6. And king Joram went out that day from Samaria, and mustered
all Israel.
3:7. And he sent to Josaphat; king of Juda, saying: The king of Moab
is revolted from me: come with me against him to battle. And he
answered: I will come up: he that is mine, is thine: my people are thy
people: and my horses, thy horses.
3:8. And he said: Which way shall we go up? But he answered: By
the desert of Edom.
3:9. So the king of Israel, and the king of Juda, and the king of Edom,
went, and they fetched a compass of seven days journey, and there was
no water for the army, and for the beasts, that followed them.
3:10. And the king of Israel said: Alas, alas, alas, the Lord hath
gathered us three kings together, to deliver us into the hands of Moab.
3:11. And Josaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that
we may beseech the Lord by him? And one of the servants of the king
of Israel answered: Here is Eliseus, the son of Saphat, who poured
water on the hands of Elias.

 3:12. And Josaphat said: The word of the Lord is with him. And the
king of Israel, and Josaphat, king of Juda, and the king of Edom, went
down to him.
3:13. And Eliseus said to the king of Israel: What have I to do with
thee? go to the prophets of thy father, and thy mother. And the king of
Israel said to him: Why hath the Lord gathered together these three
kings, to deliver them into the hands of Moab?
3:14. And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord of hosts liveth, in whose
sight I stand, if I did not reverence the face of Josaphat, king of Juda, I
would not have hearkened to thee, nor looked on thee.
3:15. But now bring me hither a minstrel. And when the minstrel
played, the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he said:
3:16. Thus saith the Lord: Make the channel of this torrent full of
ditches.
3:17. For thus saith the Lord: You shall not see wind, nor rain: and
yet this channel shall be illed with waters, and you shall drink, you
and your families, and your beasts.
3:18. And this is a small thing in the sight of the Lord: moreover, he
will deliver, also, Moab into your hands.
3:19. And you shall destroy every fenced city, and every choice city,
and shall cut down every fruitful tree, and shall stop up all the springs
of waters, and every goodly ield you shall cover with stones.
3:20. And it came to pass, in the morning, when the sacri ices used
to be offered, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the
country was illed with water.
3:21. And all the Moabites hearing that the kings were come up to
ight against them, gathered together all that were girded with a belt
upon them, and stood in the borders.
3:22. And they rose early in the morning, and the sun being now up,
and shining upon the waters, the Moabites saw the waters over
against them red, like blood,
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 3:23. And they said: It is the blood of the sword: the kings have
fought among themselves, and they have killed one another: go now,
Moab, to the spoils.
3:24. And they went into the camp of Israel: but Israel rising up,
defeated Moab, who led before them. And they being conquerors,
went and smote Moab.
3:25. And they destroyed the cities: and they illed every goodly ield,
every man casting his stone: and they stopt up all the springs of
waters: and cut down all the trees that bore fruit, so that brick walls
only remained: and the city was beset by the slingers, and a great part
thereof destroyed.
Brick walls only remained.... It was the proper name of the capital city of the
Moabites. In Hebrew, Kir-Haraseth.
3:26. And when the king of Moab saw this, to wit, that the enemies
had prevailed, he took with him seven hundred men that drew the
sword, to break in upon the king of Edom: but they could not.
3:27. Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his
stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall: and there
was great indignation in Israel, and presently they departed from him,
and returned into their own country.
4 Kings Chapter 4

Miracles of Eliseus. He raiseth a dead child to life.

4:1. Now a certain woman of the wives of the prophets, cried to
Eliseus, saying: Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou knowest
that thy servant was one that feared God, and behold the creditor is
come to take away my two sons to serve him.
4:2. And Eliseus said to her: What wilt thou have me do for thee?
Tell me, what hast thou in thy house? And she answered: I, thy
handmaid, have nothing in my house but a little oil, to anoint me.
4:3. And he said to her: Go, borrow of all thy neighbours empty
vessels, not a few.

 4:4. And go in, and shut thy door, when thou art within, and thy
sons: and pour out thereof into all those vessels: and when they are
full, take them away.
4:5. So the woman went, and shut the door upon her, and upon her
sons: they brought her the vessels, and she poured in.
4:6. And when the vessels were full, she said to her son: Bring me yet
a vessel. And he answered: I have no more. And the oil stood.
4:7. And she came, and told the man of God. And he said: Go, sell the
oil, and pay thy creditor: and thou and thy sons live of the rest.
4:8. And there was a day when Eliseus passed by Sunam: now there
was a great woman there, who detained him to eat bread: and as he
passed often that way, he turned into her house to eat bread.
4:9. And she said to her husband: I perceive that this is a holy man of
God, who often passeth by us.
4:10. Let us, therefore, make him a little chamber, and put a little
bed in it for him, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick, that when
he cometh to us he may abide there.
4:11. Now, there was a certain day, when he came, and turned into
the chamber, and rested there.
4:12. And he said to Giezi, his servant: Call this Sunamitess. And
when he had called her, and she stood before him,
4:13. He said to his servant: Say to her: Behold, thou hast diligently
served us in all things; what wilt thou have me to do for thee? Hast
thou any business, and wilt thou, that I speak to the king, or to the
general of the army? And she answered: I dwell in the midst of my own
people.
4:14. And he said: What will she then that I do for her? And Giezi
said: Do not ask, for she hath no son, and her husband is old.
4:15. Then he bid him call her. And when she was called, and stood
before the door,

 4:16. He said to her: At this time, and this same hour, if life be in
company, thou shalt have a son in thy womb. But she answered: Do
not, I beseech thee, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie to thy
handmaid.
4:17. And the woman conceived, and brought forth a son in the time,
and at the same hour that Eliseus had said.
4:18. And the child grew. And on a certain day, when he went out to
his father to the reapers,
4:19. He said to his father: My head acheth, my head acheth. But he
said to his servant. Take him, and carry him to his mother.
4:20. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother,
she sat him on her knees, until noon, and then he died.
4:21. And she went up, and laid him upon the bed of the man of God,
and shut the door: and going out,
4:22. She called her husband, and said: Send with me, I beseech thee,
one of thy servants, and an ass, that I may run to the man of God, and
come again.
4:23. And he said to her: Why dost thou go to him? to day is neither
new moon nor sabbath. She answered: I will go.
4:24. And she saddled an ass, and commanded her servant: Drive,
and make haste, make no stay in going: And do that which I bid thee.
4:25. So she went forward, and came to the man of God, to mount
Carmel: and when the man of God saw her coming towards, he said to
Giezi, his servant: Behold that Sunamitess.
4:26. Go, therefore, to meet her, and say to her: Is all well with thee,
and with thy husband, and with thy son? And she answered: Well.
4:27. And when she came to the man of God, to the mount, she
caught hold on his feet: and Giezi came to remove her. And the man of
God said: Let her alone for her soul is in anguish, and the Lord hath
hid it from me, and hath not told me.

 4:28. And she said to him: Did I ask a son of my lord? did I not say to
thee: Do not deceive me?
4:29. Then he said to Giezi: Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy
hand, and go. If any man meet thee, salute him not: and if any man
salute thee, answer him not: and lay my staff upon the face of the
child.
Salute him not.... He that is sent to raise to life the sinner spiritually dead, must
not suffer himself to be called off, or diverted from his enterprise, by the
salutations or ceremonies of the world.
4:30. But the mother of the child said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy
soul liveth, I will not leave thee. He arose, therefore, and followed her.
4:31. But Giezi was gone before them, and laid the staff upon the
face of the child, and there was no voice nor sense: and he returned to
meet him, and told him, saying: The child is not risen.
St. Augustine considers a great mystery in this miracle wrought by the prophet
Eliseus, thus: By the staff sent by his servant is igured the rod of Moses, or the
Old Law, which was not suf icient to bring mankind to life then dead in sin. It
was necessary that Christ himself should come, and by taking on human nature,
become lesh of our lesh, and restore us to life. In this Eliseus was a igure of
Christ, as it was necessary that he should come himself to bring the dead child to
life and restore him to his mother, who is here, in a mystical sense, a igure of the
Church.
4:32. Eliseus, therefore, went into the house, and behold the child lay
dead on his bed:
4:33. And going in, he shut the door upon him, and upon the child,
and prayed to the Lord.
4:34. And he went up, and lay upon the child: and put his mouth
upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his
hands: and he bowed himself upon him, and the child’s lesh grew
warm.
4:35. Then he returned and walked in the house, once to and fro:
and he went up, and lay upon him: and the child gaped seven times,
and opened his eyes.

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 4:36. And he called Giezi, and said to him: Call this Sunamitess. And
she being called, went in to him: and he said: Take up thy son.
4:37. She came and fell at his feet, and worshipped upon the ground:
and took up her son, and went out.
4:38. And Eliseus returned to Galgal, and there was a famine in the
land, and the sons of the prophets dwelt before him: And he said to one
of his servants: Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of
the prophets.
4:39. And one went out into the ield to gather wild herbs: and he
found something like a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds of the
ield, and illed his mantle, and coming back, he shred them into the
pot of pottage; for he knew not what it was.
Wild gourds of the ield.... Colocynthidas. They are extremely bitter, and therefore
are called the gall of the earth; and are poisonous if taken in a great quantity.
4:40. And they poured it out for their companions to eat: and when
they had tasted of the pottage, they cried out, saying: Death is in the
pot, O man of God. And they could not eat thereof.
4:41. But he said: Bring some meal. And when they had brought it,
he cast it into the pot, and said: Pour out for the people, that they may
eat. And there was now no bitterness in the pot.
4:42. And a certain man came from Baalsalisa, bringing to the man
of God, bread of the irstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and new corn in
his scrip. And he said: Give to the people, that they may eat.
4:43. And his servant answered him: How much is this, that I should
set it before a hundred men? He said again: Give to the people, that
they may eat: for thus saith the Lord: They shall eat, and there shall be
left.
4:44. So he set it before them: and they ate, and there was left,
according to the word of the Lord.
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 4 Kings Chapter 5

Naaman the Syrian is cleansed of his leprosy. He professeth his belief in

one God, promising to serve him. Giezi taketh gifts of Naaman, and is
struck with leprosy.
5:1. Naaman, general of the army, of the king of Syria, was a great
man with his master, and honourable: for by him the Lord gave
deliverance to Syria: and he was a valiant man, and rich, but a leper.
5:2. Now there had gone out robbers from Syria, and had led away
captive out of the land of Israel, a little maid, and she waited upon
Naaman’s wife.
5:3. And she said to her mistress: I wish my master had been with
the prophet that is in Samaria: he would certainly have healed him of
the leprosy which he hath.
5:4. Then Naaman went in to his lord, and told him, saying: Thus
and thus said the girl from the land of Israel.
5:5. And the king of Syria said to him: Go; and I will send a letter to
the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of
silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment;
5:6. And brought the letter to the king of Israel, in these words:
When thou shalt receive this letter, know that I have sent to thee
Naaman, my servant, that thou mayst heal him of his leprosy.
5:7. And when the king of Israel had read the letter, he rent his
garments, and said: Am I God, to be able to kill and give life, that this
man hath sent to me to heal a man of his leprosy? mark, and see how
he seeketh occasions against me.
5:8. And when Eliseus, the man of God, had heard this, to wit, that
the king of Israel had rent his garments, he sent to him, saying: Why
hast thou rent thy garments? let him come to me, and let him know
that there is a prophet in Israel.
5:9. So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and stood at the
door of the house of Eliseus:

 5:10. And Eliseus sent a messenger to him, saying: Go, and wash
seven times in the Jordan, and thy lesh shall recover health, and thou
shalt be clean.
5:11. Naaman was angry, and went away, saying: I thought he
would have come out to me, and standing, would have invoked the
name of the Lord his God, and touched with his hand the place of the
leprosy, and healed me.
5:12. Are not the Abana, and the Pharphar, rivers of Damascus,
better than all the waters of Israel, that I may wash in them, and be
made clean? So as he turned, and was going away with indignation,
5:13. His servants came to him, and said to him: Father, if the
prophet had bid thee do some great thing, surely thou shouldst have
done it: how much rather what he now hath said to thee: Wash, and
thou shalt be clean?
5:14. Then he went down, and washed in the Jordan seven times,
according to the word of the man of God; and his lesh was restored,
like the lesh of a little child: and he was made clean.
5:15. And returning to the man of God, with all his train, he came,
and stood before him, and said: In truth, I know there is no other God,
in all the earth, but only in Israel: I beseech thee, therefore, take a
blessing of thy servant.
A blessing.... a present.
5:16. But he answered: As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I
will receive none. And when he pressed him, he still refused.
5:17. And Naaman said: As thou wilt: but I beseech thee, grant to
me, thy servant, to take from hence two mules’ burden of earth: for thy
servant will not henceforth offer holocaust, or victim, to other gods,
but to the Lord.
5:18. But there is only this, for which thou shalt entreat the Lord for
thy servant; when my master goeth into the temple of Remmon, to
worship there, and he leaneth on my hand: if I bow down in the temple
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 of Remmon, when he boweth down in the same place, that the Lord
pardon me, thy servant, for this thing.
5:19. And he said to him: Go in peace. So he departed from him, in
the spring time of the earth.
Go in peace.... What the prophet here allowed, was not an outward conformity to
an idolatrous worship; but only a service which by his of ice he owed to his
master: who on all public occasions leaned on him: so that his bowing down
when his master bowed himself down was not in effect adoring the idols: nor was
it so understood by the standers by, since he publicly professed himself a
worshipper of the only true and living God, but it was no more than doing a civil
of ice to the king his master, whose leaning upon him obliged him to bow at the
same time that he bowed.
5:20. But Giezi, the servant of the man of God, said: My master hath
spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving of him that which he
brought: as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take something of
him.
5:21. And Giezi followed after Naaman: and when he saw him
running after him, he leapt down from his chariot to meet him, and
said: Is all well?
5:22. And he said: Well: my master hath sent me to thee, saying: Just
now there are come to me from mount Ephraim, two young men of the
sons of the prophets: give them a talent of silver, and two changes of
garments.
5:23. And Naaman said: It is better that thou take two talents. And
he forced him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, and two
changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants, and they
carried them before him.
5:24. And when he was come, and now it was the evening, he took
them from their hands, and laid them up in the house, and sent the
men away, and they departed.
5:25. But he went in, and stood before his master. And Eliseus said:
Whence comest thou, Giezi? He answered: Thy servant went no
whither.
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 5:26. But he said: Was not my heart present, when the man turned
back, from his chariot, to meet thee? So now thou hast received money,
and received garments, to buy oliveyards and vineyards, and sheep,
and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants.
5:27. But the leprosy of Naaman, shall also stick to thee, and to thy
seed for ever. And he went out from him a leper, as white as snow.
4 Kings Chapter 6

Eliseus maketh iron to swim upon the water: he leadeth the Syrians
that were sent to apprehend him into Samaria, where there eyes being
opened, they are courteously entertained. The Syrians besiege
Samaria: the famine there causeth a woman to eat her own child.
Upon this the king commandeth Eliseus to be put to death.
6:1. And the sons of the prophets said to Eliseus: Behold, the place
where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
6:2. Let us go as far as the Jordan, and take out of the wood every
man a piece of timber, that we may build us there a place to dwell in.
And he said: Go.
6:3. And one of them said: But come thou also with thy servants. He
answered: I will come.
6:4. So he went with them. And when they were come to the Jordan,
they cut down wood.
6:5. And it happened, as one was felling some timber, that the head
of the ax fell into the water: and he cried out, and said: Alas, alas, alas,
my lord, for this same was borrowed.
6:6. And the man of God said: Where did it fall? and he shewed him
the place: Then he cut off a piece of wood, and cast it in thither: and
the iron swam.
6:7. And he said: Take it up. And he put out his hand, and took it.
6:8. And the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel
with his servants, saying: In such and such a place, let us lay an
ambush.

 6:9. And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying: Beware
that thou pass not to such a place: for the Syrians are there in ambush.
6:10. And the king of Israel, sent to the place which the man of God
had told him, and prevented him, and looked well to himself there not
once nor twice.
6:11. And the heart of the king of Syria, was troubled for this thing.
And calling together his servants, he said: Why do you not tell me who
it is that betrays me to the king of Israel?
6:12. And one of his servants said: No one, my lord, O king: but
Eliseus, the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel all the
words, that thou speakest in thy privy chamber.
6:13. And he said to them: Go, and see where he is: that I may send
and take him. And they told him: saying: Behold he is in Dothan.
6:14. Therefore, he sent thither horses, and chariots, and the
strength of an army: and they came by night, and beset the city.
6:15. And the servant of the man of God, rising early went out, and
saw an army round about the city, and horses and chariots: and he
told him, saying: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, what shall we do?
6:16. But he answered: Fear not: for there are more with us than
with them.
6:17. And Eliseus prayed, and said: Lord, open his eyes, that he may
see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw: and
behold, the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of ire round
about Eliseus.
6:18. And the enemies came down to him: but Eliseus prayed to the
Lord, saying: Strike, I beseech thee, this people with blindness: and the
Lord struck them with blindness, according to the word of Eliseus.
Blindness.... The blindness here spoken of was of a particular kind, which
hindered them from seeing the objects that were really before them; and
represented other different objects to their imagination: so that they no longer
perceived the city of Dothan, nor were able to know the person of Eliseus; but
were easily led by him, whom they took to be another man, to Samaria. So that

 he truly told them, this is not the way, neither is this the city, etc., because he
spoke with relation to the way and to the city, which was represented to them.
6:19. And Eliseus said to them: This is not the way, neither is this the
city: follow me, and I will shew you the man whom you seek. So he led
them into Samaria.
6:20. And when they were come into Samaria, Eliseus said: Lord,
open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened
their eyes, and they saw themselves to be in the midst of Samaria.
6:21. And the king of Israel said to Eliseus, when he saw them: My
father, shall I kill them?
6:22. And he said: Thou shalt not kill them: for thou didst not take
them with thy sword, or thy bow, that thou mayst kill them: but set
bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to
their master.
6:23. And a great provision of meats was set before them, and they
ate and drank; and he let them go: and they went away to their
master: and the robbers of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
6:24. And it came to pass, after these things, that Benadad, king of
Syria, gathered together all his army, and went up and besieged
Samaria.
6:25. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and so long did the
siege continue, till the head of an ass was sold for fourscore pieces of
silver, and the fourth part of a cabe of pigeons’ dung, for ive pieces of
silver.
6:26. And as the king of Israel was passing by the wall, a certain
woman cried out to him, saying: Save me, my lord, O king.
6:27. And he said: If the Lord doth not save thee, how can I save
thee? out of the barn loor, or out of the winepress? And the king said to
her: What aileth thee? And she answered:
6:28. This woman said to me: Give thy son, that we may eat him
today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.

 6:29. So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next
day: Give thy son, that we may eat him. And she hath hid her son.
6:30. When the king heard this, he rent his garments, and passed by
upon the wall. And all the people saw the haircloth which he wore
within next to his lesh.
6:31. And the king said: May God do so and so to me, and may he
add more, if the head of Eliseus, the son of Saphat, shall stand on him
this day.
6:32. But Eliseus sat in his house, and the ancients sat with him. So
he sent a man before: and before that messenger came, he said to the
ancients: Do you know that this son of a murderer hath sent to cut off
my head? Look then when the messenger shall come, shut the door,
and suffer him not to come in: for behold the sound of his master’s feet
is behind him.
6:33. While he was yet speaking to them, the messenger appeared,
who was coming to him. And he said: Behold, so great an evil is from
the Lord: what shall I look for more from the Lord?
4 Kings Chapter 7

Eliseus prophesieth a great plenty, which presently ensueth upon the

sudden light of the Syrians; of which four lepers bring the news to the
city. The incredulous nobleman is trod to death.
7:1. And Eliseus said: Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus saith the
Lord: Tomorrow, about this time, a bushel of ine lour shall be sold for
a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, in the gate of Samaria.
A stater.... It is the same as a sicle or shekel.
7:2. Then one of the lords, upon whose hand the king leaned,
answering the man of God, said: If the Lord should make lood-gates in
heaven, can that possibly be which thou sayest? And he said: Thou
shalt see it with thy eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
7:3. Now there were four lepers, at the entering in of the gate: and
they said one to another: What mean we to stay here till we die?
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 7:4. If we will enter into the city, we shall die with the famine: and if
we will remain here, we must also die: come therefore, and let us run
over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare us, we shall live: but if
they kill us, we shall but die.
7:5. So they arose in the evening, to go to the Syrian camp. And
when they were come to the irst part of the camp of the Syrians, they
found no man there.
7:6. For the Lord had made them hear, in the camp of Syria, the
noise of chariots, and of horses, and of a very great army: and they
said one to another: Behold, the king of Israel hath hired against us
the kings of the Hethites, and of the Egyptians; and they are come
upon us.
7:7. Wherefore they arose, and led away in the dark, and left their
tents, and their horses and asses in the camp, and led, desiring to save
their lives.
7:8. So when these lepers were come to the beginning of the camp,
they went into one tent, and ate and drank: and they took from thence
silver, and gold, and raiment, and went, and hid it: and they came
again, and went into another tent, and carried from thence in like
manner, and hid it.
7:9. Then they said one to another: We do not well: for this is a day
of good tidings. If we hold our peace, and do not tell it till the morning,
we shall be charged with a crime: come, let us go, and tell it in the
king’s court.
7:10. So they came to the gate of the city, and told them, saying: We
went to the camp of the Syrians, and we found no man there, but
horses, and asses tied, and the tents standing.
7:11. Then the guards of the gate went, and told it within in the
king’s palace.
7:12. And he arose in the night, and said to his servants: I tell you
what the Syrians have done to us: They know that we suffer great
famine, and therefore they are gone out of the camp, and lie hid in the

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 ields, saying: When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive,
and then we may get into the city.
7:13. And one of his servants answered: Let us take the ive horses
that are remaining in the city (because there are no more in the whole
multitude of Israel, for the rest are consumed), and let us send and see.
7:14. They brought therefore two horses, and the king sent into the
camp of the Syrians, saying: Go, and see.
7:15. And they went after them, as far as the Jordan: and behold, all
the way was full of garments, and vessels, which the Syrians had cast
away, in their fright, and the messengers returned, and told the king.
7:16. And the people going out, pillaged the camp of the Syrians:
and a bushel of ine lour was sold for a stater, and two bushels of
barley for a stater, according to the word of the Lord.
7:17. And the king appointed that lord on whose hand he leaned, to
stand at the gate: and the people trod upon him in the entrance of the
gate; and he died, as the man of God had said, when the king came
down to him.
7:18. And it came to pass, 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 ine lour for a stater, at this very time
tomorrow, in the gate of Samaria.
7:19. When that lord answered the man of God, and said: Although
the Lord should make lood-gates in heaven, could this come to pass
which thou sayest? And he said to him: Thou shalt see it with thy eyes,
and shalt not eat thereof.
7:20. 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 Chapter 8

After seven years’ famine foretold by Eliseus, the Sunamitess returning

home, recovereth her lands, and revenues. Eliseus foresheweth the
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 death of Benadad, king of Syria, and the reign of Hazael. Joram’s

wicked reign in Juda. He dieth, and his son Ochozias succeedeth.
8:1.And Eliseus spoke to the woman, whose son he had restored to
life, saying: Arise, and go thou, and thy household, and sojourn
wheresoever thou canst ind: for the Lord hath called a famine, and it
shall come upon the land seven years.
8:2. And she arose, and did according to the word of the man of God:
and going with her household, she sojourned in the land of the
Philistines many days.
8:3. And when the seven years were ended, the woman returned out
of the land of the Philistines, and she went forth to speak to the king
for her house and for her lands.
8:4. And the king talked with Giezi, the servant of the man of God,
saying: Tell me all the great things that Eliseus hath done.
8:5. And when he was telling the king how he had raised one dead to
life, the woman appeared, whose son he had restored to life, crying to
the king for her house, and her lands. And Giezi said: My lord, O king,
this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Eliseus raised to life.
8:6. And the king asked the woman: and she told him. And the king
appointed her an eunuch, saying: Restore her all that is hers, and all
the revenues of the lands, from the day that she left the land to this
present.
8:7. Eliseus also came to Damascus, and Benadad, king of Syria was
sick; and they told him, saying: The man of God is come hither.
8:8. 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?
8:9. 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?

 8:10. And Eliseus said to him: Go tell him: Thou shalt recover: but
the Lord hath shewed me that he shall surely die.
Tell him: thou shalt recover.... By these words the prophet signi ied that the
king’s disease was not mortal: and that he would recover if no violence were
used. Or he might only express himself in this manner, by way of giving Hazael to
understand that he knew both what he would say and do; that he would indeed
tell the king he should recover; but would be himself the instrument of his death.
8:11. And he stood with him, and was troubled so far as to blush:
and the man of God wept.
8:12. 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 ire, and their young men thou
wilt kill with the sword, and thou wilt dash their children, and rip up
their pregnant women.
8:13. And Hazael said: But what am I, thy servant, a dog, that I
should do this great thing? And Eliseus said: The Lord hath shewed me
that thou shalt be king of Syria.
8:14. And when he was departed from Eliseus he came to his master,
who said to him: What said Eliseus to thee? And he answered: He told
me: Thou shalt recover.
8:15. 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.
8:16. In the ifth year of Joram, son of Achab, king of Israel, and of
Josaphat, king of Juda, reigned Joram, son of Josaphat, king of Juda.
And of Josaphat, etc.... That is, Josaphat being yet alive, who sometime before his
death made his son Joram king, as David had done before by his own son
Solomon.
8:17. He was two and thirty years old when he began to reign, and
he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

 8:18. And he walked 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.
8:19. 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.
8:20. In his days Edom revolted from being under Juda, and made
themselves a king.
8:21. 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 led into their
tents.
8:22. So Edom revolted from being under Juda, unto this day. Then
Lobna also revolted at the same time.
8:23. 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 kings of Juda?
8:24. And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in
the city of David, and Ochozias, his son, reigned in his stead.
8:25. In the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Achab, king of Israel,
reigned Ochozias, son of Joram, king of Juda.
8:26. Ochozias was two and twenty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: the name of his mother
was Athalia the daughter of Amri king of Israel.
Daughter.... That is, grand-daughter; for she was daughter of Achab son of Amri,
ver. 18.
8:27. And he walked in the ways of the house of Achab: and he did
evil before the Lord, as did the house of Achab: for he was the son in
law of the house of Achab.
8:28. He went also with Joram, son of Achab, to ight against Hazael,
king of Syria, in Ramoth Galaad, and the Syrians wounded Joram:

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 8:29. And he went back to be healed, in Jezrahel: because the Syrians

had wounded him in Ramoth, when he fought against Hazael, king of
Syria And Ochozias, the son of Joram, king of Juda, went down to visit
Joram, the son of Achab, in Jezrahel, because he was sick there.
4 Kings Chapter 9

Jehu is anointed king of Israel, to destroy the house of Achab and

Jezebel. He killeth Joram king of Israel, and Ochozias king of Juda.
Jezebel is eaten by dogs.
9:1. And Eliseus the prophet, called one 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.
9:2. 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.
9:3. 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 lee, and shalt not stay there.
9:4. So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went away to
Ramoth Galaad,
9:5. 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.
9:6. 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.
9:7. 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.
9:8. And I will destroy all the house of Achab, and I will cut off from
Achab, him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and
the meanest in Israel.

 9:9. 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.
9:10. And the dogs shall eat Jezabel, in the ield of Jezrahel, and
there shall be no one to bury her. And he opened the door and led.
9:11. Then Jehu went forth to the servants of his lord: and they said
to him: Are all things well? why came this madman to thee? And he
said to them: You know the man, and what he said.
9:12. But they answered: It is false; but rather do thou tell us. 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.
9:13. Then they made haste, and taking every man his garment, laid
it under his feet, after the manner of a judgment seat, and they
sounded the trumpet, and said: Jehu is king.
9:14. So Jehu, the son of Josaphat, the son of Namsi, conspired
against Joram. Now Joram had besieged Ramoth Galaad, he, and all
Israel, ighting with Hazael, king of Syria:
9:15. 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 lee out of
the city, lest he go, and tell in Jezrahel.
9:16. And he got up, and went into Jezrahel for Joram was sick there,
and Ochozias king of Juda, was come down to visit Joram.
9:17. 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?
9:18. 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.
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 9:19. 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.
9:20. 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.
9:21. 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 ield of Naboth, the Jezrahelite.
9:22. 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 in their vigour.
9:23. And Joram turned his hand, and leeing, said to Ochozias:
There is treachery, Ochozias.
9:24. 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.
9:25. And Jehu said to Badacer, his captain: Take him, and cast him
into the ield of Naboth, the Jezrahelite: for I remember, when I and
thou, sitting in a chariot, followed Achab, this man’s father, that the
Lord laid this burden upon him, saying:
9:26. If I do not requite thee in this ield, 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 ield, according
to the word of the Lord.
9:27. But Ochozias, king of Juda, seeing this, led 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 led into Mageddo, and died there.
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 9:28. 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.
9:29. In the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Achab, Ochozias
reigned over Juda;
9:30. And Jehu came into Jezrahel. But Jezabel, hearing of his
coming in, painted her face with stibic stone, and adorned her head,
and looked out of a window.
9:31. At Jehu coming in at the gate, and said: Can there be peace for
Zambri, that hath killed his master?
9:32. And Jehu lifted up his face to the window, and said: Who is
this? And two or three eunuchs bowed down to him.
9:33. 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.
9:34. 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.
9:35. And when they went to bury her, they found nothing but the
skull, and the feet, and the extremities of her hands.
9:36. 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 ield of Jezrahel the dogs shall eat the lesh of Jezabel.
9:37. And the lesh of Jezabel shall be as dung upon the face of the
earth in the ield of Jezrahel; so that they who pass by shall say: Is this
that same Jezabel?
4 Kings Chapter 10

Jehu destroyeth the house of Achab: abolisheth the worship of Baal,

and killeth the worshippers: but sticketh to the calves of Jeroboam.
Israel is af licted by the Syrians.
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 10:1. And Achab had 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:
10:2. As soon as you receive these letters, ye that have your master’s
sons, and chariots, and horses, and fenced cities, and armour,
10:3. Choose the best, and him that shall please you most of your
master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and ight for the
house of your master.
10:4. But they were exceedingly afraid, and said: Behold two kings
could not stand before him, and how shall we be able to resist?
10:5. Therefore they that were over the king’s house, and the rulers
of the city, and the ancients, and the bringers up of the children, sent
to Jehu, saying: We are thy servants: whatsoever thou shalt command
us we will do; we will not make us any king: do thou all that pleaseth
thee.
10:6. And he wrote letters the second time to them, saying: If you be
mine, and will obey me, take the heads of the sons of your master, and
come to me to Jezrahel by tomorrow at this time. Now the king’s sons,
being seventy men, were brought up with the chief men of the city.
10:7. And when the letters came to them, they took the king’s sons,
and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent
them to him to Jezrahel.
10:8. And a messenger came, and told him, saying: They have
brought the heads of the king’s sons. And he said: Lay ye them in two
heaps by the entering in of the gate until the morning.
10:9. And when it was light, he went out, and standing, said to all
the people: You are just: if I conspired against my master, and slew
him; who hath slain all these?
10:10. See therefore now that there hath not fallen to the ground
any of the words of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the
house of Achab, and the Lord hath done that which he spoke in the
hand of his servant Elias.

 10:11. So Jehu slew all that were left of the house of Achab in
Jezrahel, and all his chief men, and his friends, and his priests, till there
were no remains left of him.
10:12. And he arose, and went to Samaria: and when he was come
to the shepherds’ cabin in the way,
10:13. He met with the brethren of Ochozias, king of Juda, and he
said to them: Who are you? And they answered: We are the brethren of
Ochozias, and are come down to salute the sons of the king, and the
sons of the queen.
10:14. And he said: Take them alive. And they took them alive, and
killed them at the pit by the cabin, two and forty men, and he left not
any of them.
10:15. And when he was departed thence, he found Jonadab, the son
of Rechab, coming to meet him, and he blessed him. And he said to
him: Is thy heart right as my heart is with thy heart? And Jonadab
said: It is. If it be, said he, give me thy hand. He gave him his hand. And
he lifted him up to him into the chariot,
10:16. And said to him: Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.
So he made him ride in his chariot,
10:17. And brought him into Samaria. And he slew all that were left
of Achab, in Samaria, to a man, according to the word of the Lord
which he spoke by Elias.
10:18. And Jehu gathered together all the people, and said to them:
Achab worshipped Baal a little, but I will worship him more.
I will worship him more.... Jehu sinned in thus pretending to worship Baal, and
causing sacri ice to be offered to him: because evil is not to be done, that good
may come of it. Rom. 3.8.
10:19. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, and all his
servants, and all his priests: let none be wanting, for I have a great
sacri ice to offer to Baal: whosoever shall be wanting, shall not live.
Now Jehu did this craftily, that he might destroy the worshippers of
Baal.
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 10:20. And he said: Proclaim a festival for Baal. And he called,

10:21. And he sent into all the borders of Israel; and all the servants
of Baal came: there was not one left that did not come. And they went
into the temple of Baal: and the house of Baal was illed, from one end
to the other.
10:22. And he said to them that were over the wardrobe: Bring forth
garments for all the servants of Baal. And they brought them forth
garments.
10:23. And Jehu, and Jonadab, the son of Rechab, went to the temple
of Baal, and said to the worshippers of Baal: Search, and see that there
be not any with you of the servants of the Lord, but that there be the
servants of Baal only.
10:24. And they went in to offer sacri ices and burnt offerings: but
Jehu had prepared him fourscore men without, and said to them: If
any of the men escape, whom I have brought into your hands, he that
letteth him go, shall answer life for life.
10:25. And it came to pass, when the burnt offering was ended, that
Jehu commanded his soldiers and captains, saying: Go in, and kill
them: let none escape. And the soldiers and captains slew them with
the edge of the sword, and cast them out: and they went into the city of
the temple of Baal,
10:26. And brought the statue out of Baal’s temple, and burnt it,
10:27. And broke it in pieces. They destroyed also the temple of Baal,
and made a jakes in its place unto this day.
10:28. So Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel:
10:29. But yet he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of
Nabat, who made Israel to sin, nor did he forsake the golden calves
that were in Bethel, and Dan.
10:30. And the Lord said to Jehu: because thou hast diligently
executed that which was right and pleasing in my eyes, and hast done
to the house of Achab according to all that was in my heart: thy
children shall sit upon the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.

 10:31. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord, the God
of Israel, with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of
Jeroboam, who had made Israel to sin.
10:32. In those days the Lord began to be weary of Israel: and
Hazael ravaged them in all the coasts of Israel,
10:33. From the Jordan eastward, all the land of Galaad, and Gad,
and Ruben, and Manasses, from Aroer, which is upon the torrent
Arnon, and Galaad, and Basan.
10:34. But the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and his
strength, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of
the kings of Israel?
10:35. And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in
Samaria: and Joachaz, his son, reigned in his stead.
10:36. And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel, in Samaria, was
eight and twenty years.
4 Kings Chapter 11

Athalia’s usurpation and tyranny. Joas is made king. Athalia is slain.

11:1. Now Athalia, the mother of Ochozias, seeing that her son was
dead, arose and slew all the royal seed.
11:2. But Josaba the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ochozias, took
Joas, the son of Ochozias, and stole him from among the king’s sons
that were slain, out of the bedchamber with his nurse: and hid him
from the face of Athalia; so that he was not slain.
11:3. And he was with her six years, hid in the house of the Lord. And
Athalia reigned over the land.
11:4. And in the seventh year Joiada sent, and taking the centurions
and soldiers, brought them in to him into the temple of the Lord, and
made a covenant with them: and taking an oath of them in the house
of the Lord, shewed them the king’s son:

 11:5. And he commanded them, saying: This is the thing that you
must do.
11:6. Let a third part of you go in on the sabbath, and keep the
watch of the king’s house. And let a third part be at the gate of Sur;
and let a third part be at the gate behind the dwelling of the
shieldbearers; and you shall keep the watch of the house of Messa.
11:7. But let two parts of you all that go forth on the sabbath, keep
the watch of the house of the Lord about the king.
11:8. And you shall compass him round about, having weapons in
your hands: and if any man shall enter the precinct of the temple, let
him be slain: and you shall be with the king, coming in and going out.
11:9. And the centurions did according to all things that Joiada the
priest, had commanded them: and taking every one their men, that
went in on the sabbath, with them that went out in the sabbath, came
to Joiada, the priest.
11:10. And he gave them the spears, and the arms of king David,
which were in the house of the Lord.
11:11. And they stood, having every one their weapons in their
hands, from the right side of the temple, unto the left side of the altar,
and of the temple, about the king.
11:12. And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the diadem upon
him, and the testimony: and they made him king, and anointed him:
and clapping their hands, they said: God save the king.
The testimony.... The book of the law.
11:13. And Athalia heard the noise of the people running: and going
in to the people into the temple of the Lord,
11:14. She saw the king standing upon a tribunal, as the manner
was, and the singers, and the trumpets near him, and all the people of
the land rejoicing, and sounding the trumpets: and she rent her
garments, and cried: A conspiracy, a conspiracy.
A tribunal.... A tribune, or a place elevated above the rest.

 11:15. But Joiada commanded the centurions that were over the
army, and said to them: Have her forth without the precinct of the
temple, and whosoever shall follow her, let him be slain with the
sword. For the priest had said: Let her not be slain in the temple of the
Lord.
11:16. And they laid hands on her: and thrust her out by the way by
which the horses go in, by the palace, and she was slain there.
11:17. And Joiada made a covenant between the Lord, and the king,
and the people, that they should be the people of the Lord; and
between the king and the people.
11:18. And all the people of the land went into the temple of Baal,
and broke down his altars, and his images they broke in pieces
thoroughly: they slew also Mathan the priest of Baal before the altar.
And the priest set guards in the house of the Lord.
11:19. And he took the centurions, and the bands of the Cerethi, and
the Phelethi, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king
from the house of the Lord: and they came by the way of the gate of
the shieldbearers into the palace, and he sat on the throne of the kings.
11:20. And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet:
but Athalia was slain with the sword in the king’s house.
11:21. Now Joas was seven years old when he began to reign.
4 Kings Chapter 12

The temple is repaired. Hazael is bought off from attacking Jerusalem.

Joas is slain.
12:1. In the seventh year of Jehu, Joas began to reign: and he reigned
forty years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Sebia, of
Bersabee.
12:2. And Joas did that which was right before the Lord all the days
that Joiada, the priest, taught him.
12:3. But yet he took not away the high places: for the people still
sacri iced and burnt incense in the high places.
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 12:4. And Joas said to the priests: all the money of the sancti ied
things, which is brought into the temple of the Lord by those that pass,
which is offered for the price of a soul, and which of their own accord,
and of their own free heart, they bring into the temple of the Lord:
Sancti ied.... That is, dedicated to God’s service.—Ibid. The price of a soul.... That
is, the ordinary oblation, which every soul was to offer by the law. Ex. 30.
12:5. Let the priests take it according to their order and repair the
house, wheresoever they shall see any thing that wanteth repairing.
12:6. Now till the three and twentieth year of king Joas the priests
did not make the repairs of the temple.
12:7. And king Joas called Joiada, the high priest, and the priests,
saying to them: Why do you not repair the temple? Take you, therefore,
money no more according to your order, but restore it for the
repairing of the temple.
12:8. And the priests were forbidden to take any more money of the
people, and to make the repairs of the house.
12:9. And Joiada, the high priest, took a chest, and bored a hole in
the top, and set it by the altar at the right hand of them that came into
the house of the Lord; and the priests that kept the doors, put therein
all the money that was brought to the temple of the Lord.
12:10. And when they saw that there was very much money in the
chest, the king’s scribe, and the high priest, came up, and poured it out,
and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord.
12:11. And they gave it out by number and measure into the hands
of them that were over the builders of the house of the Lord: and they
laid it out to the carpenters, and the masons, that wrought in the
house of the Lord,
12:12. And made the repairs: and to them that cut stones, and to
buy timber, and stones to be hewed, that the repairs of the house of the
Lord might be completely inished, and wheresoever there was need of
expenses to uphold the house.
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 12:13. But there were not made of the same money for the temple of
the Lord, bowls, or leshhooks, or censers, or trumpets, or any vessel of
gold and silver, of the money that was brought into the temple of the
Lord:
12:14. For it was given to them that did the work, that the temple of
the Lord might be repaired.
12:15. And they reckoned not with the men that received the money
to distribute it to the workmen, but they bestowed it faithfully.
12:16. But the money for trespass, and the money for sins, they
brought not into the temple of the Lord, because it was for the priests.
12:17. Then Hazael, king of Syria, went up, and fought against Geth,
and took it, and set his face to go up to Jerusalem.
12:18. Wherefore Joas, king of Juda, took all the sancti ied things,
which Josaphat, and Joram, and Ochozias, his fathers, the kings of
Juda, had dedicated to holy uses, and which he himself had offered:
and all the silver that could be found in the treasures of the temple of
the Lord, and in the king’s palace: and sent it to Hazael, king of Syria,
and he went off from Jerusalem.
12:19. And the rest of the acts of Joas, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
12:20. And his servants arose, and conspired among themselves, and
slew Joas, in the house of Mello, in the descent of Sella.
12:21. For Josachar the son of Semaath, and Jozabad the son of
Somer his servant, struck him, and he died: and they buried him with
his fathers in the city of David; and Amasias, his son, reigned in his
stead.
The city of David.... He was buried in the same city with his fathers, but not in the
sepulchres of the kings. 2 Par. 14.

 4 Kings Chapter 13

The reign of Joachaz and of Joas kings of Israel. The last acts and
death of Eliseus the prophet: a dead man is raised to life by the touch
of his bones.
13:1. In the three and twentieth year of Joas son of Ochozias, king of
Juda, Joachaz, the son of Jehu, reigned over Israel, in Samaria,
seventeen years.
13:2. And he did evil before the Lord, and followed the sins of
Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin; and he departed
not from them.
13:3. And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he
delivered them into the hand of Hazael, the king of Syria, and into the
hand of Benadad, the son of Hazael, all days.
13:4. But Joachaz besought the face of the Lord, and the Lord heard
him: for he saw the distress of Israel, because the king of Syria had
oppressed them:
13:5. And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, and they were delivered
out of the hand of the king of Syria: and the children of Israel dwelt in
their pavilions as yesterday and the day before.
13:6. But yet they departed not from the sins of the house of
Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin, but walked in them: and there still
remained a grove also in Samaria.
A grove.... Dedicated to the worship of idols.
13:7. And Joachaz had no more left of the people than ifty
horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen: for the king of
Syria had slain them, and had brought them low as dust by threshing
in the barn loor.
13:8. But the rest of the acts of Joachaz, and all that he did, and his
valour, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the
kings of Israel?
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 13:9. And Joachaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in
Samaria: and Joas, his son, reigned in his stead.
13:10. In the seven and thirtieth year of Joas, king of Juda, Joas the
son of Joachaz reigned over Israel, in Samaria, sixteen years.
13:11. And he did that which is evil in the sight of the Lord: he
departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who
made Israel to sin; but he walked in them.
13:12. But the rest of the acts of Joas, and all that he did, and his
valour wherewith he fought against Amasias, king of Juda, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
13:13. And Joas slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his
throne. But Joas was buried in Samaria, with the kings of Israel.
13:14. Now Eliseus was sick of the illness whereof he died: and Joas,
king of Israel, went down to him, and wept before him, and said: O my
father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the guider thereof.
13:15. And Eliseus said to him: Bring a bow and arrows. And when
he had brought him a bow and arrows,
13:16. He said to the king of Israel: Put thy hand upon the bow. And
when he had put his hand, Eliseus put his hands over the king’s hands,
13:17. And said: Open the window to the east. And when he had
opened it, Eliseus said: Shoot an arrow. And he shot. And Eliseus said:
The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance, and the arrow of the deliverance
from Syria: and thou shalt strike the Syrians in Aphec, till thou
consume them.
13:18. And he said: Take the arrows. And when he had taken them,
he said to him: Strike with an arrow upon the ground. And he struck
three times, and stood still.
13:19. And the man of God was angry with him, and said: If thou
hadst smitten ive or six or seven times, thou hadst smitten Syria even
to utter destruction: but now three times shalt thou smite it.
If thou hadst smitten, etc.... By this it appears that God had revealed to the
prophet that the king should overcome the Syrians as many times as he should
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 then strike on the ground; but as he had not at the same time revealed to him
how often the king would strike, the prophet was concerned to see that he struck
but thrice.
13:20. And Eliseus died, and they buried him. And the rovers from
Moab came into the land the same year.
13:21. And some that were burying a man, saw the rovers, and cast
the body into the sepulchre of Eliseus. And when it had touched the
bones of Eliseus, the man came to life and stood upon his feet.
13:22. Now Hazael, king of Syria, af licted Israel all the days of
Joachaz.
13:23. And the Lord had mercy on them, and returned to them,
because of his covenant, which he had made with Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob: and he would not destroy them, nor utterly cast them away,
unto this present time.
13:24. And Hazael, king of Syria, died; and Benadad, his son, reigned
in his stead.
13:25. Now Joas the son of Joachaz, took the cities out of the hand of
Benadad, the son of Hazael, which he had taken out of the hand of
Joachaz, his father, by war; three times did Joas beat him, and he
restored the cities to Israel.
4 Kings Chapter 14

Amasias reigneth in Juda: he overcometh the Edomites: but is

overcome by Joas king of Israel. Jereboam the second reigneth in
Israel.
14:1. In the second year of Joas son of Joachaz, king of Israel,
reigned Amasias son of Joas, king of Juda.
14:2. He was ive and twenty years old when he began to reign; and
nine and twenty years he reigned in Jerusalem; the name of his mother
was Joadan, of Jerusalem.

 14:3. And he did that which was right before the Lord, but yet not
like David his father. He did according to all things that Joas his father,
did:
14:4. But this only, that he took not away the high places; for yet the
people sacri iced, and burnt incense in the high places:
14:5. And when he had possession of the kingdom, he put his
servants to death that had slain the king, his father.
14:6. But the children of the murderers he did not put to death,
according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses,
wherein the Lord commanded, saying: The fathers shall not be put to
death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for
the fathers: but every man shall die for his own sin.
14:7. He slew of Edom in the valley of the Saltpits, ten thousand
men, and took the rock by war, and called the name thereof Jectehel,
unto this day.
14:8. Then Amasias sent messengers to Joas, son of Joachaz, son of
Jehu, king of Israel, saying: Come, let us see one another.
Let us see one another.... This was a challenge to ight.
14:9. And Joas, king of Israel, sent again to Amasias, king of Juda,
saying: A thistle of Libanus sent to a cedar tree, which is in Libanus,
saying: Give thy daughter to my son to wife. And the beasts of the
forest, that are in Libanus, passed, and trod down the thistle.
14:10. Thou hast beaten and prevailed over Edom, and thy heart
hath lifted thee up; be content with this glory, and sit at home; why
provokest thou evil, that thou shouldst fall, and Juda with thee?
14:11. But Amasias did not rest satis ied. So Joas, king of Israel, went
up; and he and Amasias, king of Juda, saw one another in Bethsames, a
town in Juda.
14:12. And Juda was put to the worse before Israel, and they led
every man to their dwellings.
14:13. But Joas, king of Israel, took Amasias, king of Juda, the son of
Joas, the son of Ochozias, in Bethsames, and brought him into

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 Jerusalem; and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem, from the gate of
Ephraim to the gate of the corner, four hundred cubits.
14:14. And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that
were found in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures, and
hostages, and returned to Samaria.
14:15. But the rest of the acts of Joas, which he did, and his valour,
wherewith he fought against Amasias, king of Juda, are they not
written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
14:16. And Joas slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria,
with the kings of Israel: and Jeroboam, his son, reigned in his stead.
14:17. And Amasias, the son of Joas, king of Juda, lived after the
death of Joas, son of Joachaz, king of Israel, ifteen years.
14:18. And the rest of the acts of Amasias, are they not written in
the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
14:19. Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and
he led to Lachis. And they sent after him to Lachis, and killed him
there.
14:20. And they brought him away upon horses, and he was buried
in Jerusalem with his fathers, in the city of David.
14:21. And all the people of Juda took Azarias, who was sixteen
years old, and made him king instead of his father, Amasias.
14:22. He built Elath, and restored it to Juda, after that the king
slept with his fathers.
14:23. In the ifteenth year of Amasias, son of Joas, king of Juda,
reigned Jeroboam, the son of Joas, king of Israel, in Samaria, one and
forty years:
14:24. And he did that which is evil before the Lord. He departed not
from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.
14:25. He restored the borders of Israel from the entrance of Emath,
unto the sea of the wilderness, according to the word of the Lord, the
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 God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant, Jonas, the son of Amathi,
the prophet, who was of Geth, which is in Opher.
Opher.... The tribe of Zabulon.
14:26. For the Lord saw the af liction of Israel, that it was
exceedingly bitter, and that they were consumed even to them that
were shut up in prison, and the lowest persons, and that there was no
one to help Israel.
14:27. And the Lord did not say that he would blot out the name of
Israel from under heaven; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam,
the son of Joas.
14:28. But the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and
his valour, wherewith he fought, and how he restored Damascus and
Emath to Juda, in Israel, are they not written in the book of the words
of the days of the kings of Israel?
14:29. And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel; and
Zacharias, his son, reigned in his stead.
4 Kings Chapter 15

The reign of Azarias, and Joatham in Juda: and of Zacharias, Sellum,

Manahem, Phaceia, and Phacee in Israel.
15:1. In the seven and twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel,
reigned Azarias, son of Amasias, king of Juda.
Azarias.... Otherwise called Ozias.
15:2. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned two and ifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was
Jechelia, of Jerusalem.
15:3. And he did that which was pleasing before the Lord, according
to all that his father, Amasias, had done.
15:4. But the high places he did not destroy, for the people
sacri iced, and burnt incense in the high places.
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 15:5. And the Lord struck the king, so that he was a leper unto the
day of his death, and he dwelt in a free house apart: but Joatham, the
king’s son, governed the palace, and judged the people of the land.
A leper.... In punishment of his usurping the priestly function. 2 Par. 26.
15:6. And the rest of the acts of Azarias, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
15:7. And Azarias slept with his fathers: and they buried him with
his ancestors in the city of David, and Joatham, his son, reigned in his
stead.
15:8. In the eight and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned
Zacharias, son of Jeroboam, over Israel, in Samaria, six months:
15:9. And he did that which is evil before the Lord, as his fathers had
done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who
made Israel to sin.
15:10. And Sellum, the son of Jabes, conspired against him: and
struck him publicly, and killed him, and reigned in his place.
15:11. Now the rest of the acts of Zacharias, are they not written in
the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
15:12. This was the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Jehu, saying:
Thy children, to the fourth generation, shall sit upon the throne of
Israel. And so it came to pass.
15:13. Sellum, the son of Jabes, began to reign in the nine and
thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda: and reigned one month in
Samaria.
15:14. And Manahem, the son of Gadi, went up from Thersa, and he
came into Samaria, and struck Sellum, the son of Jabes, in Samaria,
and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
15:15. And the rest of the acts of Sellum, and his conspiracy which
he made, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of
the kings of Israel?

 15:16. Then Manahem destroyed Thapsa and all that were in it, and
the borders thereof from Thersa, because they would not open to him:
and he slew all the women thereof that were with child, and ripped
them up.
15:17. In the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned
Manahem, son of Gadi, over Israel, ten years, in Samaria.
15:18. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed
not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to
sin, all his days.
15:19. And Phul, king of the Assyrians, came into the land, and
Manahem gave Phul a thousand talents of silver to aid him and to
establish him in the kingdom.
15:20. And Manahem laid a tax upon Israel, on all that were mighty
and rich, to give the king of the Assyrians, each man ifty sicles of
silver: so the king of the Assyrians turned back, and did not stay in the
land.
15:21. And the rest of the acts of Manahem, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Israel?
15:22. And Manahem slept with his fathers: and Phaceia, his son,
reigned in his stead.
15:23. In the iftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Phaceia,
the son of Manahem, over Israel, in Samaria, two years.
15:24. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed
not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to
sin.
15:25. And Phacee the son of Romelia, his captain, conspired against
him, and smote him in Samaria, in the tower of the king’s house, near
Argob, and near Arie, and with him ifty men of the sons of the
Galaadites, and he slew him, and reigned in his stead.

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 15:26. And the rest of the acts of Phaceia, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Israel?
15:27. In the two and iftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned
Phacee, the son of Romelia, over Israel, in Samaria, twenty years.
15:28. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed
not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to
sin.
15:29. In the days of Phacee, king of Israel, came Theglathphalasar,
king of Assyria, and took Aion, and Abel Domum Maacha, and Janoe,
and Cedes, and Asor, and Galaad, and Galilee, and all the land of
Nephthali: and carried them captives into Assyria.
15:30. Now Osee, son of Ela, conspired, and formed a plot against
Phacee, the son of Romelia, and struck him, and slew him: and reigned
in his stead in the twentieth year of Joatham, the son of Ozias.
In the twentieth year of Joatham.... That is, in the twentieth year, from the
beginning of Joatham’s reign. The sacred writer chooses rather to follow here
this date than to speak of the years of Achaz, who had not yet been mentioned.
15:31. But the rest of the acts of Phacee, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
15:32. In the second year of Phacee, the son of Romelia king of
Israel, reigned Joatham, son of Ozias, king of Juda.
15:33. He was ive and twenty years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was
Jerusa, the daughter of Sadoc.
15:34. And he did that which was right before the Lord: according to
all that his father Ozias had done, so did he.
15:35. But the high places he took not away: the people still
sacri iced, and burnt incense in the high places: he built the highest
gate of the house of the Lord.

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 15:36. But the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Juda?
15:37. In those days the Lord began to send into Juda, Rasin king of
Syria, and Phacee the son of Romelia.
15:38. And Joatham slept with his fathers, and was buried with
them in the city of David, his father; and Achaz, his son, reigned in his
stead.
4 Kings Chapter 16

The wicked reign of Achaz: the kings of Syria and Israel war against
him: he hireth the king of the Assyrians to assist him: he causeth an
altar to be made after the pattern of that of Damascus.
16:1. In the seventeenth year of Phacee, the son of Romelia reigned
Achaz, the son of Joatham, king of Juda.
16:2. Achaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did not that which was pleasing
in the sight of the Lord, his God, as David, his father.
16:3. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel: moreover, he
consecrated also his son, making him pass through the ire, according
to the idols of the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children
of Israel.
16:4. He sacri iced also, and burnt incense in the high places, and on
the hills, and under every green tree.
16:5. Then Rasin, king of Syria, and Phacee, son of Romelia, king of
Israel, came up to Jerusalem to ight: and they besieged Achaz, but
were not able to overcome him.
16:6. At that time Rasin, king of Syria, restored Aila to Syria, and
drove the men of Juda out of Aila: and the Edomites came into Aila,
and dwelt there unto this day.
16:7. And Achaz sent messengers to Theglathphalasar, king of the
Assyrians, saying: I am thy servant, and thy son: come up, and save me

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 out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of
Israel, who are risen up together against me.
16:8. And when he had gathered together the silver and gold that
could be found in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures, he
sent it for a present to the king of the Assyrians.
16:9. And he agreed to his desire: for the king of the Assyrians went
up against Damascus, and laid it waste: and he carried away the
inhabitants thereof to Cyrene; but Rasin he slew.
16:10. And king Achaz went to Damascus to meet Theglathphalasar,
king of the Assyrians, and when he had seen the altar of Damascus,
king Achaz sent to Urias, the priest, a pattern of it, and its likeness,
according to all the work thereof.
16:11. And Urias, the priest, built an altar according to all that king
Achaz had commanded from Damascus so did Urias, the priest, until
king Achaz came from Damascus.
16:12. And when the king was come from Damascus, he saw the
altar and worshipped it: and went up and offered holocausts, and his
own sacri ice;
16:13. And he offered libations, and poured the blood of the peace
offerings, which he had offered, upon the altar.
16:14. But the altar of brass that was before the Lord, he removed
from the face of the temple, and from the place of the altar, and from
the place of the temple of the Lord: and he set it at the side of the altar
towards the north.
16:15. And king Achaz commanded Urias, the priest, saying: Upon
the great altar offer the morning holocaust, and the evening sacri ice,
and the king’s holocaust, and his sacri ice, and the holocaust of the
whole people of the land, and their sacri ices, and their libations: and
all the blood of the holocaust, and all the blood of the victim, thou
shalt pour out upon it: but the altar of brass shall be ready at my
pleasure.

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 16:16. So Urias, the priest, did according to all that king Achaz had
commanded him.
16:17. And king Achaz took away the graven bases, and the laver
that was upon them: and he took down the sea from the brazen oxen
that held it up, and put it upon a pavement of stone.
16:18. The Musach also for the sabbath, which he had built in the
temple, and the king’s entry from without, he turned into the temple of
the Lord, because of the king of the Assyrians.
Musach.... The covert, or pavilion, or tribune, for the king.
16:19. Now the rest of the acts of Achaz which he did, are they not
written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
16:20. And Achaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with them
in the city of David, and Ezechias, his son, reigned in his stead.
4 Kings Chapter 17

The reign of Osee. The Israelites for their sins are carried into
captivity: other inhabitants are sent to Samaria, who make a mixture
of religion.
17:1. In the twelfth year of Achaz king of Juda, Osee the son of Ela
reigned in Samaria, over Israel, nine years.
In the twelfth year of Achaz king of Juda.... He began to reign before: but was not
in quiet possession of the kingdom to the twelfth year of Achaz.
17:2. And he did evil before the Lord: but not as the kings of Israel
that had been before him.
17:3. Against him came up Salmanasar, king of the Assyrians; and
Osee became his servant, and paid him tribute.
17:4. And when the king of the Assyrians found that Osee,
endeavouring to rebel, had sent messengers to Sua, the king of Egypt,
that he might not pay tribute to the king of the Assyrians, as he had
done every year, he besieged him, bound him, and cast him into prison.

 17:5. And he went through all the land: and going up to Samaria, he
besieged it three years.
17:6. And in the ninth year of Osee, the king of the Assyrians took
Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria: and he placed them in
Hala, and Habor, by the river of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes.
17:7. For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the
Lord, their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, from
under the hand of Pharao, king of Egypt; and they worshipped strange
gods.
17:8. And they walked according to the way of the nations which the
Lord had destroyed in the sight of the children of Israel, and of the
kings of Israel: because they had done in like manner.
17:9. And the children of Israel offended the Lord, their God, with
things that were not right: and built them high places in all their
cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
17:10. And they made them statues and groves on every high hill,
and under every shady tree:
17:11. And they burnt incense there upon altars, after the manner of
the nations which the Lord had removed from their face: and they did
wicked things, provoking the Lord.
17:12. And they worshipped abominations, concerning which the
Lord had commanded them that they should not do this thing.
17:13. And the Lord testi ied to them in Israel, and in Juda, by the
hand of all the prophets and seers, saying: Return from your wicked
ways, and keep my precepts, and ceremonies, according to all the law
which I commanded your fathers: and as I have sent to you in the hand
of my servants the prophets.
17:14. And they hearkened not, but hardened their necks like to the
neck of their fathers, who would not obey the Lord, their God.
17:15. And they rejected his ordinances, and the covenant that he
made with their fathers, and the testimonies which he testi ied against
them: and they followed vanities, and acted vainly: and they followed

 the nations that were round about them, concerning which the Lord
had commanded them that they should not do as they did.
17:16. And they forsook all the precepts of the Lord, their God: and
made to themselves two molten calves, and groves, and adored all the
host of heaven: and they served Baal,
17:17. And consecrated their sons, and their daughters, through
ire: and they gave themselves to divinations, and soothsayings: and
they delivered themselves up to do evil before the Lord, to provoke him.
17:18. And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them
from his sight, and there remained only the tribe of Juda.
17:19. But neither did Juda itself keep the commandments of the
Lord, their God: but they walked in the errors of Israel, which they had
wrought.
17:20. And the Lord cast off all the seed of Israel, and af licted them,
and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, till he cast them away
from his face:
17:21. Even from that time, when Israel was rent from the house of
David, and made Jeroboam, son of Nabat, their king: for Jeroboam
separated Israel from the Lord, and made them commit a great sin.
17:22. And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam,
which he had done: and they departed not from them,
17:23. Till the Lord removed Israel from his face, as he had spoken
in the hand of all his servants, the prophets: and Israel was carried
away out of their land to Assyria, unto this day.
17:24. And the king of the Assyrians brought people from Babylon,
and from Cutha, and from Avah, and from Emath, and from
Sepharvaim: and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the
children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities
thereof.
17:25. And when they began to dwell there, they feared not the
Lord: and the Lord sent lions among them, which killed them.
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 17:26. And it was told the king of the Assyrians, and it was said: The
nations which thou hast removed, and made to dwell in the cities of
Samaria, know not the ordinances of the God of the land: and the Lord
hath sent lions among them: and behold they kill them, because they
know not the manner of the God of the land.
17:27. And the king of the Assyrians commanded, saying: Carry
thither one of the priests whom you brought from thence captive, and
let him go, and dwell with them: and let him teach them the
ordinances of the God of the land.
17:28. So one of the priests, who had been carried away captive
from Samaria, came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they
should worship the Lord.
17:29. And every nation made gods of their own and put them in the
temples of the high places, which the Samaritans had made, every
nation in their cities where they dwelt.
17:30. For the men of Babylon made Sochothbenoth: and the
Cuthites made Nergel: and the men of Emath made Asima.
17:31. And the Hevites made Nebahaz, and Tharthac. And they that
were of Sepharvaim burnt their children in ire, to Adramelech and
Anamelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
17:32. And nevertheless they worshipped the Lord. And they made to
themselves, of the lowest of the people, priests of the high places, and
they placed them in the temples of the high places.
17:33. And when they worshipped the Lord, they served also their
own gods, according to the custom of the nations out of which they
were brought to Samaria:
17:34. Unto this day they follow the old manner: they fear not the
Lord, neither do they keep his ceremonies, and judgments, and law,
and the commandment, which the Lord commanded the children of
Jacob, whom he surnamed Israel:

 17:35. With whom he made a covenant, and charged them, saying:

You shall not fear strange gods, nor shall you adore them, nor worship
them, nor sacri ice to them.
17:36. But the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt, with great power, and a stretched out arm, him shall you fear,
and him shall you adore, and to him shall you sacri ice.
17:37. And the ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and the
commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do them
always: and you shall not fear strange gods.
17:38. And the covenant that he made with you, you shall not forget:
neither shall ye worship strange gods,
17:39. But fear the Lord, your God, and he shall deliver you out of
the hand of all your enemies.
17:40. But they did not hearken to them, but did according to their
old custom.
17:41. So these nations feared the Lord, but nevertheless served also
their idols: their children also, and grandchildren, as their fathers did,
so do they unto this day.
4 Kings Chapter 18

The reign of Ezechias: he abolisheth idolatry and prospereth.

Sennacherib cometh up against him: Rabsaces soliciteth the people to
revolt; and blasphemeth the Lord.
18:1. In the third year of Osee, the son of Ela, king of Israel, reigned
Ezechias, the son of Achaz, king of Juda.
18:2. He was ive and twenty years old when he began to reign: and
he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother
was Abi, the daughter of Zacharias.
18:3. And he did that which was good before the Lord, according to
all that David, his father, had done.

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 18:4. He destroyed the high places, and broke the statues in pieces,
and cut down the groves, and broke the brazen serpent, which Moses
had made: for till that time the children of Israel burnt incense to it:
and he called its name Nohestan.
And he called its name Noheston.... That is, their brass; or a little brass. So he
called it in contempt, because they had made an idol of it.
18:5. He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel: so that after him
there was none like him among all the kings of Juda, nor any of them
that were before him:
18:6. And he stuck to the Lord, and departed not from his steps, but
kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.
18:7. Wherefore the Lord also was with him, and in all things, to
which he went forth, he behaved himself wisely. And he rebelled
against the king of the Assyrians, and served him not.
18:8. He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza, and all their borders,
from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
18:9. In the fourth year of king Ezechias, which was the seventh year
of Osee, the son of Ela, king of Israel, Salmanasar, king of the
Assyrians, came up to Samaria, and besieged it,
18:10. And took it. For after three years, in the sixth year of
Ezechias, that is, in the ninth year of Osee, king of Israel, Samaria was
taken:
18:11. And the king of the Assyrians carried away Israel into
Assyria, and placed them in Hala, and in Habor, by the rivers of Gozan,
in the cities of the Medes.
18:12. Because they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord, their
God, but transgressed his covenant: all that Moses, the servant of the
Lord, commanded, they would not hear, nor do.
18:13. In the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, Sennacherib, king of
the Assyrians, came up against the fenced cities of Juda, and took
them.

 18:14. Then Ezechias, king of Juda, sent messengers to the king of

the Assyrians, to Lachis, saying: I have offended, depart from me: and
all that thou shalt put upon me, I will bear. And the king of the
Assyrians put a tax upon Ezechias, king of Juda, of three hundred
talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.
18:15. And Ezechias gave all the silver that was found in the house
of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures.
18:16. At that time Ezechias broke the doors of the temple of the
Lord, and the plates of gold which he had fastened on them, and gave
them to the king of the Assyrians.
18:17. And the king of the Assyrians sent Tharthan, and Rabsaris,
and Rabsaces, from Lachis, to king Ezechias, with a strong army, to
Jerusalem: and they went up and came to Jerusalem, and they stood by
the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the way of the fuller’s ield.
18:18. And they called for the king: and there went out to them
Eliacim, the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna, the
scribe, and Joahe, the son of Asaph, the recorder.
18:19. And Rabsaces said to them: Speak to Ezechias: Thus saith the
great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this con idence, wherein
thou trustest?
18:20. Perhaps thou hast taken counsel, to prepare thyself for battle.
On whom dost thou trust, that thou darest to rebel?
18:21. Dost thou trust in Egypt a staff of a broken reed, upon which
if a man lean, it will break and go into his hand, and pierce it? so is
Pharao, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him.
18:22. But if you say to me: We trust in the Lord, our God: is it not
he, whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away: and hath
commanded Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar in
Jerusalem?
18:23. Now therefore come over to my master, the king of the
Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and see whether
you be able to have riders for them.

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 18:24. And how can you stand against one lord of the least of my
master’s servants? Dost thou trust in Egypt for chariots and for
horsemen?
18:25. Is it without the will of the Lord that I am come up to this
place to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up to this land, and destroy
it.
18:26. Then Eliacim, the son of Helcias, and Sobna, and Joahe, said
to Rabsaces: We pray thee, speak to us, thy servants, in Syriac: for we
understand that tongue: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in
the hearing of the people that are upon the wall.
18:27. And Rabsaces answered them, saying: Hath my master sent
me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words, and not rather to
the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and
drink their urine with you?
18:28. Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the
Jews’ language, and said: Hear the word of the great king, the king of
the Assyrians.
18:29. Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you: for he shall
not be able to deliver you out of my hand.
18:30. Neither let him make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord
will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of
the king of the Assyrians.
18:31. Do not hearken to Ezechias. For thus saith the king of the
Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out
to me: and every man of you shall eat of his own vineyard, and of his
own ig tree: and you shall drink water of your own cisterns,
18:32. Till I come, and take you away, to a land, like to your own
land, a fruitful land, and plentiful in wine, a land of bread and
vineyards, a land of olives, and oil, and honey, and you shall live, and
not die. Hearken not to Ezechias, who deceiveth you, saying: The Lord
will deliver us.

 18:33. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land from
the hand of the king of Assyria?
18:34. Where is the god of Emath, and of Arphad? where is the god
of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava? have they delivered Samaria out of
my hand?
18:35. Who are they among all the gods of the nations that have
delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver
Jerusalem out of my hand?
18:36. But the people held their peace, and answered him not a
word: for they had received commandment from the king that they
should not answer him.
18:37. And Eliacim, the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and
Sobna, the scribe, and Joahe, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to
Ezechias, with their garments rent, and told him the words of
Rabsaces.
4 Kings Chapter 19

Ezechias is assured of God’s help by Isaias the prophet. The king of the
Assyrians still threateneth and blasphemeth. Ezechias prayeth, and
God promiseth to protect Jerusalem. An angel destroyeth the army of
the Assyrians, their king returneth to Nineve, and is slain by his two
sons.
19:1. And when king Ezechias heard these words, he rent his
garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house
of the Lord.
19:2. And he sent Eliacim, who was over the house, and Sobna, the
scribe, and the ancients of the priests, covered with sackcloths, to
Isaias, the prophet, the son of Amos.
19:3. And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day is a day of
tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: the children are come to
the birth, and the woman in travail hath not strength.

 19:4. It may be the Lord, thy God, will hear all the words of
Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians, his master, hath sent to
reproach the living God, and to reprove with words, which the Lord,
thy God, hath heard: and do thou offer prayer for the remnants that
are found.
19:5. So the servants of king Ezechias came to Isaias.
19:6. And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master:
Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid for the words which thou hast
heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have
blasphemed me.
19:7. Behold I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a
message, and shall return into his own country, and I will make him
fall by the sword in his own country.
19:8. And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians
besieging Lobna: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachis.
19:9. And when he heard of Tharaca, king of Ethiopia: Behold, he is
come out to ight with thee: and was going against him, he sent
messengers to Ezechias, saying:
19:10. Thus shall you say to Ezechias, king of Juda: Let not thy God
deceive thee, in whom thou trustest: and do not say: Jerusalem shall
not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.
19:11. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of the Assyrians have
done to all countries, how they have laid them waste: and canst thou
alone be delivered?
19:12. Have the gods of the nations delivered any of them, whom my
fathers have destroyed, to wit, Gozan, and Haran, and Reseph, and the
children of Eden, that were in Thelassar?
19:13. Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the
king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Ana, and of Ava?
19:14. And when Ezechias had received the letter of the hand of the
messengers, and had read it, he went up to the house of the Lord, and
spread it before the Lord,

 19:15. And he prayed in his sight, saying: O Lord God of Israel, who
sittest upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kings of
the earth: thou madest heaven and earth:
19:16. Incline thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes and see: and
hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to upbraid unto us
the living God.
19:17. Of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have destroyed
nations, and the lands of them all.
19:18. And they have cast their gods into the ire: for they were not
gods, but the work of men’s hands, of wood and stone, and they
destroyed them.
19:19. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all
the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, the only
God.
19:20. And Isaias, the son of Amos, sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus
saith the Lord, the God of Israel: I have heard the prayer thou hast
made to me concerning Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians.
19:21. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken of him: The virgin,
the daughter of Sion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn:
the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged her head behind thy back.
19:22. Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou
blasphemed? against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up
thy eyes on high? against the holy one of Israel.
19:23. By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord,
and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the
height of the mountains, to the top of Libanus, and have cut down its
tall cedars, and its choice ir trees. And I have entered into the furthest
parts thereof, and the forest of its Carmel.
Carmel.... A pleasant fruitful hill in the forest. These expressions are igurative,
signifying under the names of mountains and forests, the kings and provinces
whom the Assyrians had triumphed over.

 19:24. I have cut down, and I have drunk strange waters, and have
dried up with the soles of my feet all the shut up waters.
19:25. Hast thou not heard what I have done from the beginning?
from the days of old I have formed it, and now I have brought it to
effect: that fenced cities of ighting men should be turned to heaps of
ruins:
I have formed it, etc.... All thy exploits, in which thou takest pride, are no more
than what I have decreed; and are not to be ascribed to thy wisdom or strength,
but to my will and ordinance: who have given to thee to take and destroy so
many fenced cities, and to carry terror wherever thou comest.—Ibid. Heaps of
ruin.... Literally ruin of the hills.
19:26. And the inhabitants of them were weak of hand, they
trembled and were confounded, they became like the grass of the ield,
and the green herb on the tops of houses, which withered before it
came to maturity.
19:27. Thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy
way I knew before, and thy rage against me.
19:28. Thou hast been mad against me, and thy pride hath come up
to my ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy nose, and a bit between
thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
19:29. And to thee, O Ezechias, this shall be a sign: Eat this year
what thou shalt ind: and in the second year, such things as spring of
themselves: but in the third year sow and reap: plant vineyards, and
eat the fruit of them.
19:30. And whatsoever shall be left of the house of Juda, shall take
root downward, and bear fruit upward.
19:31. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and that which
shall be saved out of mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do
this.
19:32. Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the
Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it,
nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it.

 19:33. By the way that he came he shall return: and into this city he
shall not come, saith the Lord.
19:34. And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake,
and for David, my servant’s sake.
19:35. And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the Lord
came, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty- ive
thousand. And when he arose early in the morning, he saw all the
bodies of the dead.
19:36. And Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, departing, went
away, and he returned and abode in Ninive.
19:37. And as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch, his god,
Adramelech and Sarasar, his sons, slew him with the sword, and they
led into the land of the Armenians, and Asarhaddon, his son, reigned
in his stead.
4 Kings Chapter 20

Ezechias being sick, is told by Isaias that he shall die; but praying to
God, he obtaineth longer life, and in con irmation thereof receiveth a
sign by the sun’s returning back. He sheweth all his treasures to the
ambassadors of the king of Babylon: Isaias reproving him for it,
foretelleth the Babylonish captivity.
20:1. In those days Ezechias was sick unto death: and Isaias, the son
of Amos, the prophet, came and said to him: Thus saith the Lord God:
Give charge concerning thy house, for thou shalt die, and not live.
20:2. And he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord,
saying:
20:3. I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before
thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is
pleasing before thee. And Ezechias wept with much weeping.
20:4. And before Isaias was gone out of the middle of the court, the
word of the Lord came to him, saying:
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 20:5. Go back, and tell Ezechias, the captain of my people: Thus
saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father: I have heard thy prayer,
and I have seen thy tears: and behold I have healed thee: on the third
day thou shalt go up to the temple of the Lord.
20:6. And I will add to thy days ifteen years: and I will deliver thee
and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will
protect this city for my own sake, and for David, my servant’s sake.
20:7. And Isaias said: Bring me a lump of igs. And when they had
brought it, and laid it upon his boil, he was healed.
20:8. And Ezechias had said to Isaias: What shall be the sign that
the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord
the third day?
20:9. And Isaias said to him: This shall be the sign from the Lord,
that the Lord will do the word which he hath spoken: Wilt thou that
the shadow go forward ten lines, or that it go back so many degrees?
20:10. And Ezechias said: It is an easy matter for the shadow to go
forward ten lines: and I do not desire that this be done, but let it return
back ten degrees.
20:11. And Isaias, the prophet, called upon the Lord, and he brought
the shadow ten degrees backwards by the lines, by which it had
already gone down on the dial of Achaz.
20:12. At that time Berodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of
the Babylonians, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had
heard that Ezechias had been sick.
20:13. And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he shewed them
the house of his aromatical spices, and the gold, and the silver, and
divers precious odours, and ointments, and the house of his vessels,
and all that he had in his treasures. There was nothing in his house,
nor in all his dominions, that Ezechias shewed them not.
20:14. And Isaias, the prophet, came to king Ezechias, and said to
him: What said these men? or from whence came they to thee? And

 Ezechias said to him: From a far country, they came to me out of

Babylon.
20:15. And he said: What did they see in thy house? Ezechias said:
They saw all the things that are in my house: There is nothing among
my treasures that I have not shewed them.
20:16. And Isaias said to Ezechias: Hear the word of the Lord.
20:17. Behold the days shall come, that all that is in thy house, and
that thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried
into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
20:18. And of thy sons also that shall issue from thee, whom thou
shalt beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the
palace of the king of Babylon.
20:19. Ezechias said to Isaias: The word of the Lord, which thou hast
spoken, is good: let peace and truth be in my days.
20:20. And the rest of the acts of Ezechias, and all his might, and
how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought waters into the city,
are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Juda?
20:21. And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and Manasses, his son
reigned in his stead.
4 Kings Chapter 21

The wickedness of Manasses: God’s threats by his prophets. His wicked

son Amon succeedeth him, and is slain by his servants.
21:1. Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned ive and ifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was
Haphsiba.
21:2. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the idols
of the nations, which the Lord destroyed from before the face of the
children of Israel.

 21:3. And he turned, and built up the high places, which Ezechias,
his father, had destroyed: and he set up altars to Baal, and made
groves, as Achab, the king of Israel, had done: and he adored all the
host of heaven, and served them.
21:4. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord
said: In Jerusalem I will put my name.
21:5. And he built altars for all the host of heaven, in the two courts
of the temple of the Lord.
21:6. And he made his son pass through ire: and he used
divinations, and observed omens, and appointed pythons, and
multiplied soothsayers, to do evil before the Lord, and to provoke him.
Pythons.... That is, diviners by spirits.
21:7. He set also an idol of the grove, which he had made, in the
temple of the Lord: concerning which the Lord said to David, and to
Solomon his son: In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen
out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever.
21:8. And I will no more make the feet of Israel to be moved out of
the land, which I gave to their fathers: only if they will observe to do
all that I have commanded them, according to the law which my
servant Moses commanded them.
21:9. But they hearkened not: but were seduced by Manasses, to do
evil more than the nations which the Lord destroyed before the
children of Israel.
21:10. And the Lord spoke in the hand of his servants, the prophets,
saying:
21:11. Because Manasses, king of Juda, hath done these most wicked
abominations, beyond all that the Amorrhites did before him, and hath
made Juda also to sin with his ilthy doings:
21:12. Therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will
bring on evils upon Jerusalem and Juda: that whosoever shall hear of
them, both his ears shall tingle.

 21:13. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the
weight of the house of Achab: and I will efface Jerusalem, as writings
tables are wont to be effaced, and I will erase and turn it, and draw
the pencil often over the face thereof.
21:14. And I will leave the remnants of my inheritance, and will
deliver them into the hands of their enemies: and they shall become a
prey, and a spoil to all their enemies.
21:15. Because they have done evil before me, and have continued to
provoke me, from the day that their fathers came out of Egypt, even
unto this day.
21:16. Moreover, Manasses shed also very much innocent blood, till
he illed Jerusalem up to the mouth: besides his sins, wherewith he
made Juda to sin, to do evil before the Lord.
21:17. Now the rest of the acts of Manasses, and all that he did, and
his sin, which he sinned, are they not written in the book of the words
of the days of the kings of Juda?
21:18. And Manasses slept with his fathers, and was buried in the
garden of his own house, in the garden of Oza: and Amon, his son,
reigned in his stead.
21:19. Two and twenty years old was Amon when he began to reign,
and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was
Messalemeth, the daughter of Harus, of Jeteba.
21:20. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasses, his
father, had done.
21:21. And he walked in all the way in which his father had walked:
and he served the abominations which his father had served, and he
adored them.
21:22. And forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and walked not
in the way of the Lord.
21:23. And his servants plotted against him, and slew the king in his
own house.
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 21:24. But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired
against king Amon: and made Josias, his son, their king in his stead.
21:25. But the rest of the acts of Amon, which he did, are they not
written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
21:26. And they buried him in his sepulchre, in the garden of Oza:
and his son, Josias, reigned in his stead.
4 Kings Chapter 22

Josias repaireth the temple. The book of the law is found, upon which
they consult the Lord, and are told that great evils shall fall upon
them, but not in the time of Josias.
22:1. Josias was eight years old when he began to reign: he reigned
one and thirty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Idida,
the daughter of Hadaia, of Besecath.
22:2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and
walked in all the ways of David, his father: he turned not aside to the
right hand, or to the left.
22:3. And in the eighteenth year of king Josias, the king sent Saphan,
the son of Assia, the son of Messulam, the scribe of the temple of the
Lord, saying to him:
22:4. Go to Helcias, the high priest, that the money may be put
together which is brought into the temple of the Lord, which the
doorkeepers of the temple have gathered of the people.
22:5. And let it be given to the workmen by the overseers of the
house of the Lord: and let them distribute it to those that work in the
temple of the Lord, to repair the temple:
22:6. That is, to carpenters and masons, and to such as mend
breaches: and that timber may be bought, and stones out of the
quarries, to repair the temple of the Lord.
22:7. But let there be no reckoning made with them of the money
which they receive, but let them have it in their power, and in their
trust.

 22:8. And Helcias, the high priest, said to Saphan, the scribe: I have
found the book of the law in the house of the Lord: and Helcias gave
the book to Saphan, and he read it.
The book of the law.... That is, Deuteronomy.
22:9. And Saphan, the scribe, came to the king, and brought him
word again concerning that which he had commanded, and said: Thy
servants have gathered together the money that was found in the
house of the Lord: and they have given it to be distributed to the
workmen, by the overseers of the works of the temple of the Lord.
22:10. And Saphan, the scribe, told the king, saying: Helcias, the
priest, hath delivered to me a book. And when Saphan had read it
before the king,
22:11. And the king had heard the words of the law of the Lord, he
rent his garments.
22:12. And he commanded Helcias, the priest, and Ahicam, the son
of Saphan, and Achobor, the son of Micha, and Saphan, the scribe, and
Asaia, the king’s servant, saying:
22:13. Go and consult the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all
Juda, concerning the words of this book which is found: for the great
wrath of the Lord is kindled against us, because our fathers have not
hearkened to the words of this book, to do all that is written for us.
22:14. So Helcias, the priest, and Ahicam, and Achobor, and Saphan,
and Asaia, went to Holda, the prophetess, the wife of Sellum, the son of
Thecua, the son of Araas, keeper of the wardrobe, who dwelt in
Jerusalem, in the Second: and they spoke to her.
The Second.... A street, or part of the city, so called; in Hebrew, Massem.
22:15. And she said to them: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel:
Tell the man that sent you to me:
22:16. Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring evils upon this place,
and upon the inhabitants thereof, all the words of the law which the
king of Juda hath read:

 22:17. Because they have forsaken me, and have sacri iced to
strange gods, provoking me by all the works of their hands: therefore
my indignation shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be
quenched.
22:18. But to the king of Juda, who sent you to consult the Lord, thus
shall you say: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: for as much as
thou hast heard the words of the book,
22:19. And thy heart hath been moved to fear, and thou hast
humbled thyself before the Lord, hearing the words against this place,
and the inhabitants thereof, to wit, that they should become a wonder
and a curse: and thou hast rent thy garments, and wept before me; I
also have heard thee; saith the Lord.
22:20. Therefore I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be
gathered to thy sepulchre in peace; that thy eyes may not see all the
evils which I will bring upon this place.
4 Kings Chapter 23

Josias readeth the law before all the people. They promise to observe
it. He abolisheth all idolatry, celebrateth the phase: is slain in battle by
the king of Egypt. The short reign of Joachaz, in whose place Joakim is
made king.
23:1. And they brought the king word again what she had said. And
he sent: and all the ancients of Juda and Jerusalem were assembled to
him.
23:2. And the king went up to the temple of the Lord, and all the
men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, the priests,
and the prophets, and all the people, both little and great: and in the
hearing of them all he read all the words of the book of the covenant,
which was found in the house of the Lord.
23:3. And the king stood upon the step: and he made a covenant
with the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments,
and his testimonies, and his ceremonies, with all their heart, and with

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 all their soul, and to perform the words of this covenant, which were
written in that book: and the people agreed to the covenant.
The king stood upon the step.... That is, his tribune, or tribunal, a more eminent
place, from whence he might be seen and heard by the people.
23:4. And the king commanded Helcias, the high priest, and the
priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to cast out of the
temple of the Lord all the vessels that had been made for Baal, and for
the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burnt them without
Jerusalem, in the valley of Cedron, and he carried the ashes of them to
Bethel.
23:5. And he destroyed the soothsayers, whom the kings of Juda had
appointed to sacri ice in the high places in the cities of Juda, and round
about Jerusalem: them also that burnt incense to Baal, and to the sun,
and to the moon, and to the twelve signs, and to all the host of heaven.
23:6. And he caused the grove to be carried out from the house of
the Lord, without Jerusalem, to the valley of Cedron, and he burnt it
there, and reduced it to dust, and cast the dust upon the graves of the
common people.
23:7. He destroyed also the pavilions of the effeminate, which were
in the house of the Lord, for which the women wove as it were little
dwellings for the grove.
23:8. And he gathered together all the priests out of the cities of
Juda: and he de iled the high places, where the priests offered sacri ice,
from Gabaa to Bersabee: and he broke down the altars of the gates
that were in the entering in of the gate of Josue, governor of the city,
which was on the left hand of the gate of the city.
23:9. However, the priests of the high places came not up to the
altar of the Lord, in Jerusalem: but only ate of the unleavened bread
among their brethren.
23:10. And he de iled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of
Ennom: that no man should consecrate there his son, or his daughter,
through ire, to Moloch.

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 23:11. And he took away the horses which the kings of Juda had
given to the sun, at the entering in of the temple of the Lord, near the
chamber of Nathanmelech the eunuch, who was in Pharurim: and he
burnt the chariots of the sun with ire.
23:12. And the altars that were upon the top of the upper chamber
of Achaz, which the kings of Juda had made, and the altars which
Manasses had made in the two courts of the temple of the Lord, the
king broke down: and he ran from thence, and cast the ashes of them
into the torrent Cedron.
23:13. The high places also that were at Jerusalem, on the right side
of the Mount of Offence, which Solomon, king of Israel, had built to
Astaroth, the idol of the Sidonians, and to Chamos, the scandal of
Moab, and to Melchom, the abomination of the children of Ammon, the
king de iled.
23:14. And he broke in pieces the statues, and cut down the groves:
and he illed their places with the bones of dead men.
23:15. Moreover, the altar also that was at Bethel, and the high
place, which Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, had
made: both the altar, and the high place, he broke down and burnt,
and reduced to powder, and burnt the grove.
23:16. And as Josias turned himself, he saw there the sepulchres that
were in the mount: and he sent and took the bones out of the
sepulchres, and burnt them upon the altar, and de iled it according to
the word of the Lord, which the man of God spoke, who had foretold
these things.
23:17. And he said: What is that monument which I see? And the
men of that city answered: It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who
came from Juda, and foretold these things which thou hast done upon
the altar of Bethel.
23:18. And he said: Let him alone, let no man move his bones. So his
bones were left untouched with the bones of the prophet, that came
out of Samaria.
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 23:19. Moreover all the temples of the high places which were in the
cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the
Lord, Josias took away: and he did to them according to all the acts
that he had done in Bethel.
23:20. And he slew all the priests of the high places, that were there,
upon the altars; and he burnt men’s bones upon them: and returned to
Jerusalem.
23:21. And he commanded all the people, saying: Keep the Phase to
the Lord your God, according as it is written in the book of this
covenant.
23:22. Now there was no such a Phase kept from the days of the
judges, who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, and
of the kings of Juda,
23:23. As was this Phase, that was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem, in
the eighteenth year of king Josias.
23:24. Moreover the diviners by spirits, and soothsayers, and the
igures of idols, and the uncleannesses, and the abominations, that had
been in the land of Juda and Jerusalem, Josias took away: that he
might perform the words of the law, that were written in the book,
which Helcias the priest had found in the temple of the Lord.
23:25. There was no king before him like unto him, that returned to
the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his
strength, according to all the law of Moses: neither after him did there
arise any like unto him.
23:26. But yet the Lord turned not away from the wrath of his great
indignation, wherewith his anger was kindled against Juda: because of
the provocations, wherewith Manasses had provoked him.
23:27. And the Lord said: I will remove Juda also from before my
face, as I have removed Israel: and I will cast off this city Jerusalem,
which I chose, and the house, of which I said: My name shall be there.
23:28. Now the rest of the acts of Josias, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
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 23:29. In his days Pharao Nechao, king of Egypt, went up against

the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josias went to
meet him: and was slain at Mageddo, when he had seen him.
23:30. And his servants carried him dead from Mageddo: and they
brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And
the people of the land took Joachaz, the son of Josias: and they
anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.
23:31. Joachaz was three and twenty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: the name of his
mother was Amital, the daughter of Jeremias, of Lobna.
23:32. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his
fathers had done.
23:33. And Pharao Nechao bound him at Rebla, which is in the land
of Emath, that he should not reign in Jerusalem: and he set a ine upon
the land, of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
23:34. And Pharao Nechao made Eliacim, the son of Josias, king in
the room of Josias his father: and turned his name to Joakim. And he
took Joachaz away and carried him into Egypt, and he died there.
23:35. And Joakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharao, after he
had taxed the land for every man, to contribute according to the
commandment of Pharao: and he exacted both the silver and the gold
of the people of the land, of every man according to his ability: to give
to Pharao Nechao.
23:36. Joakim was ive and twenty years old when he began to
reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: the name of his
mother was Zebida, the daughter of Phadaia, of Ruma.
23:37. And he did evil before the Lord according to all that his
fathers had done.
4 Kings Chapter 24

The reign of Joakim, Joachin, and Sedecias.

 24:1. In his days Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon came up, and

Joakim became his servant three years: then again he rebelled against
him.
24:2. And the Lord sent against him the rovers of the Chaldees, and
the rovers of Syria, and the rovers of Moab, and the rovers of the
children of Ammon: and he sent them against Juda, to destroy it,
according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by his
servants, the prophets.
The Lord sent against him the rovers.... Latrunculos. Bands or parties of men,
who pillaged and plundered wherever they came.
24:3. And this came by the word of the Lord against Juda, to remove
them from before him for all the sins of Manasses which he did;
24:4. And for the innocent blood that he shed, illing Jerusalem with
innocent blood: and therefore the Lord would not be appeased.
24:5. But the rest of the acts of Joakim, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
And Joakim slept with his fathers:
24:6. And Joachin, his son, reigned in his stead.
24:7. And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his own
country: for the king of Babylon had taken all that had belonged to the
king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt, unto the river Euphrates.
24:8. Joachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned three months in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was
Nohesta, the daughter of Elnathan, of Jerusalem.
24:9. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his father
had done.
24:10. At that time the servants of Nabuchodonosor, king of
Babylon, came up against Jerusalem, and the city was surrounded with
their forts.
24:11. And Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, came to the city, with
his servants, to assault it.

 24:12. And Joachin, king of Juda, went out to the king of Babylon, he,
and his mother, and his servants, and his nobles, and his eunuchs: and
the king of Babylon received him in the eighth year of his reign.
24:13. And he brought out from thence all the treasures of the house
of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house: and he cut in pieces
all the vessels of gold which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the
temple of the Lord, according to the word of the Lord.
24:14. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and
all the valiant men of the army, to the number of ten thousand, into
captivity: and every arti icer and smith: and none were left, but the
poor sort of the people of the land.
24:15. And he carried away Joachin into Babylon, and the king’s
mother, and the king’s wives, and his eunuchs: and the judges of the
land he carried into captivity, from Jerusalem, into Babylon.
24:16. And all the strong men, seven thousand, and the arti icers,
and the smiths, a thousand, all that were valiant men, and it for war:
and the king of Babylon led them captives into Babylon.
24:17. And he appointed Matthanias, his uncle, in his stead: and
called his name Sedecias.
24:18. Sedecias was one and twenty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: the name of his
mother was Amital, the daughter of Jeremias, of Lobna.
24:19. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that Joakim
had done.
24:20. For the Lord was angry against Jerusalem and against Juda,
till he cast them out from his face: and Sedecias revolted from the king
of Babylon.
4 Kings Chapter 25

Jerusalem is besieged and taken by Nabuchodonosor: Sedecias is

taken: the city and temple are destroyed. Godolias, who is left
governor, is slain. Joachin is exalted by Evilmerodach.

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 25:1. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth
month, the tenth day of the month, that Nabuchodonosor, king of
Babylon, came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem: and they
surrounded it: and raised works round about it.
25:2. And the city was shut up and besieged till the eleventh year of
king Sedecias,
25:3. The ninth day of the month: and a famine prevailed in the city,
and there was no bread for the people of the land.
25:4. And a breach was made into the city: and all the men of war
led in the night between the two walls by the king’s garden (now the
Chaldees besieged the city round about), and Sedecias led by the way
that leadeth to the plains of the wilderness.
25:5. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and
overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all the warriors that were
with him were scattered, and left him:
25:6. So they took the king, and brought him to the king of Babylon,
to Reblatha, and he gave judgment upon him.
25:7. And he slew the sons of Sedecias before his face, and he put out
his eyes, and bound him with chains, and brought him to Babylon.
25:8. In the ifth month, the seventh day of the month, the same is
the nineteenth year of the king of Babylon, came Nabuzardan,
commander of the army, a servant of the king of Babylon, into
Jerusalem.
25:9. And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and
the houses of Jerusalem, and every house he burnt with ire.
25:10. And all the army of the Chaldees, which was with the
commander of the troops, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round
about.
25:11. And Nabuzardan, the commander of the army, carried away
the rest of the people, that remained in the city, and the fugitives, that
had gone over to the king of Babylon, and the remnant of the common
people.
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 25:12. But of the poor of the land he left some dressers of vines and
husbandmen.
25:13. And the pillars of brass that were in the temple of the Lord,
and the bases, and the sea of brass, which was in the house of the Lord,
the Chaldees broke in pieces, and carried all the brass of them to
Babylon.
25:14. They took away also the pots of brass, and the mazers, and
the forks, and the cups, and the mortars, and all the vessels of brass,
with which they ministered.
25:15. Moreover also the censers, and the bowls, such as were of
gold in gold: and such as were of silver in silver, the general of the
army took away.
25:16. That is, two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon
had made in the temple of the Lord: the brass of all these vessels was
without weight.
25:17. One pillar was eighteen cubits high: and the chapiter of
brass, which was upon it, was three cubits high: and the network, and
the pomegranates that were upon the chapiter of the pillar, were all of
brass: and the second pillar had the like adorning.
25:18. And the general of the army took Seraias, the chief priest, and
Sophonias, the second priest, and three doorkeepers:
25:19. And out of the city one eunuch, who was captain over the
men of war: and ive men of them who had stood before the king,
whom he found in the city, and Sopher, the captain of the army, who
exercised the young soldiers of the people of the land: and threescore
men of the common people, who were found in the city:
25:20. These Nabuzardan, the general of the army, took away, and
carried them to the king of Babylon, to Reblatha.
25:21. And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at
Reblatha, in the land of Emath: so Juda was carried away out of their
land.

 25:22. But over the people that remained in the land of Juda, which
Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, had left, he gave the government to
Godolias, the son of Ahicam, the son of Saphan.
25:23. And when all the captains of the soldiers had heard this, they
and the men that were with them, to wit, that the king of Babylon had
made Godolias governor they came to Godolias to Maspha, Ismael, the
son of Nathanias, and Johanan, the son of Caree, and Saraia, the son of
Thanehumeth, the Netophathite, and Jezonias, the son of Maachathi,
they and their men.
25:24. And Godolias swore to them and to their men, saying: Be not
afraid to serve the Chaldees: stay in the land, and serve the king of
Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
25:25. But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ismael, the son
of Nathanias, the son of Elisama, of the seed royal came, and ten men
with him, and smote Godolias; so that he died: and also the Jews and
the Chaldees that were with him in Maspha.
25:26. And all the people, both little and great, and the captains of
the soldiers, rising up, went to Egypt, fearing the Chaldees.
25:27. And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the
captivity of Joachin, king of Juda, in the twelfth month, the seven and
twentieth day of the month: Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, in the year
that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Joachin, king of Juda, out
of prison.
25:28. And he spoke kindly to him: and he set his throne above the
throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon.
25:29. And he changed his garments which he had in prison, and he
ate bread always before him, all the days of his life.
25:30. And he appointed him a continual allowance, which was also
given him by the king, day by day, all the days of his life.

 THE FIRST BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON

These Books are called by the Greek interpreters, Paralipomenon, that

is, of things left out, or omitted; because they are a kind of a
supplement of such things as were passed over in the books of the
Kings. The Hebrews call them Dibre Haijamim, that is, The words of
the days, or The Chronicles.—Not that they are the books which are so
often quoted in the Kings, under the title of the words of the days of the
kings of Israel, and of the kings of Juda: for the books of
Paralipomenon were written after the books of Kings: but because in
all probability they have been abridged from those ancient words of
the days, by Esdras or some other sacred writer.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 1

The genealogy of the patriarchs down to Abraham: The posterity of

Abraham and of Esau.
1:1. Adam, Seth, Enos,
1:2. Cainan, Malaleel, Jared,
1:3. Henoc, Mathusale, Lamech,
1:4. Noe, Sem, Cham, and Japheth.
1:5. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan,
Thubal, Mosoch, Thiras.
1:6. And the sons of Gomer: Ascenez, and Riphath, and Thogorma.
1:7. And the sons of Javan: Elisa and Tharsis, Cethim and Dodanim.
1:8. The sons of Cham: Chus, and Mesrai, and Phut, and Chanaan.
1:9. And the sons of Chus: Saba, and Hevila, Sabatha, and Regma,
and Sabathaca. And the sons of Regma: Saba, and Dadan.
1:10. Now Chus begot Nemrod: he began to be mighty upon earth.
1:11. But Mesraim begot Ludim, and Anamim, and Laabim, and
Nephtuim,

 1:12. Phetrusim also, and Casluim: from whom came the Philistines,
and Caphtorim.
1:13. And Chanaan begot Sidon his irstborn, and the Hethite,
1:14. And the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite, and the Gergesite,
1:15. And the Hevite, and the Aracite, and the Sinite,
1:16. And the Aradian, and the Samarite, and the Hamathite.
1:17. The sons of Sem: Elam and Asur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and
Aram, and Hus, and Hul, and Gether, and Mosoch.
1:18. And Arphaxad begot Sale, and Sale begot Heber.
1:19. And to Heber were born two sons, the name of the one was
Phaleg, because in his days the earth was divided; and the name of his
brother was Jectan.
1:20. And Jectan begot Elmodad, and Saleph, and Asarmoth, and
Jare,
1:21. And Adoram, and Usal, and Decla,
1:22. And Hebal, and Abimael, and Saba,
1:23. And Ophir, and Hevila, and Jobab. All these are the sons of
Jectan.
1:24. Sem, Arphaxad, Sale,
1:25. Heber, Phaleg, Ragau,
1:26. Serug, Nachor, Thare,
1:27. Abram, this is Abraham.
1:28. And the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ismahel.
1:29. And these are the generations of them. The irstborn of
Ismahel, Nabajoth, then Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam,
1:30. And Masma, and Duma, Massa, Hadad, and Thema,
1:31. Jetur, Naphis, Cedma: these are the sons of Ismahel.
1:32. And the sons of Cetura, Abraham’s concubine, whom she bore:
Zamran, Jecsan, Madan, Madian, Jesboc, and Sue. And the sons of

 Jecsan, Saba, and Dadan. And the sons of Dadan: Assurim, and
Latussim, and Laomin.
Concubine.... She was his lawful wife, but of an inferior degree.
1:33. And the sons of Madian: Epha, and Epher, and Henoch, and
Abida, and Eldaa. All these are the sons of Cetura.
1:34. And Abraham begot Isaac: and his sons were Esau and Israel.
1:35. The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Rahuel, Jehus, Ihelom, and Core.
1:36. The sons of Eliphaz: Theman, Omar, Sephi, Gathan, Cenez, and
by Thamna, Amalec.
1:37. The sons of Rahuel: Nahath, Zara, Samma, Meza.
1:38. The sons of Seir: Lotan, Sobal, Sebeon, Ana, Dison, Eser, Disan.
1:39. The sons of Lotan: Hori, Homam. And the sister of Lotan was
Thamna.
1:40. The sons of Sobal: Alian, and Manahath, and Ebal, Sephi, and
Onam. The sons of Sebeon: Aia, and Ana. The son of Ana: Dison.
1:41. The sons of Dison: Hamram, and Eseban, and Jethran, and
Charan.
1:42. The sons of Eser: Balaan, and Zavan, and Jacan. The sons of
Disan: Hus and Aran.
1:43. Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom,
before there was a king over the children of Israel: Bale the son of
Beor: and the name of his city was Denaba.
1:44. And Bale died, and Jobab the son of Zare of Bosra, reigned in
his stead.
1:45. And when Jobab also was dead, Husam of the land of the
Themanites reigned in his stead.
1:46. And Husam also died, and Adad the son of Badad reigned in his
stead, and he defeated the Madianites in the land of Moab: the name of
his city was Avith.
1:47. And when Adad also was dead, Semla of Masreca reigned in his
stead.

 1:48. Semla also died, and Saul of Rohoboth, which is near the river,
reigned in his stead.
1:49. And when Saul was dead, Balanan the son of Achobor reigned
in his stead.
1:50. He also died, and Adad reigned in his stead: and the name of
his city was Phau, and his wife was called Meetabel the daughter of
Matred, the daughter of Mezaab.
1:51. And after the death of Adad, there began to be dukes in Edom
instead of kings: duke Thamna, duke Alva, duke Jetheth,
1:52. Duke Oolibama, duke Ela, duke Phinon,
1:53. Duke Cenez, duke Theman, duke Mabsar,
1:54. Duke Magdiel, duke Hiram. These are the dukes of Edom.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 2

The twelve tribes of Israel. The genealogy of Juda down to David. Other
genealogies of the tribe of Juda.
2:1. And these are the sons of Israel: Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Juda,
Issachar, and Zabulon,
2:2. Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Nephtali, Gad, and Aser.
2:3. The sons of Juda: Her, Onan and Sela. These three were born to
him of the Chanaanitess the daughter of Sue. And Her the irstborn of
Juda, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he slew him.
2:4. And Thamar his daughter in law bore him Phares and Zara. So
all the sons of Juda were ive.
2:5. And the sons of Phares, were Hesron and Hamul.
2:6. And the sons also of Zare: Zamri, and Ethan, and Eman, and
Chalchal, and Dara, ive in all.
2:7. And the sons of Charmi: Achar, who troubled Israel, and sinned
by the theft of the anathema.
Achar.... Alias Achan. Jos. 7.—Ibid. The anathema.... The thing devoted or
accursed, viz., the spoils of Jericho.

 2:8. The sons of Ethan: Azarias,

2:9. And the sons of Hesron that were born to him: Jerameel, and
Ram, and Calubi.
2:10. And Ram begot Aminadab, and Aminadab begot Nahasson,
prince of the children of Juda.
Ram.... He is commonly called Aram. But it is to be observed here, once for all,
that it was a common thing among the Hebrews for the same persons to have
different names: and that it is not impossible among so many proper names, as
here occur in the irst nine chapters of this book, that the transcribers of the
ancient Hebrew copies may have made some slips in the orthography.
2:11. And Nahasson begot Salma, the father of Booz.
2:12. And Booz begot Obed, and Obed begot Isai.
2:13. And Isai begot Eliab his irstborn, the second Abinadab, the
third Simmaa,
2:14. The fourth, Nathanael, the ifth Raddai,
2:15. The sixth Asom, the seventh David.
2:16. And their sisters were Sarvia, and Abigail. The sons of Sarvia:
Abisai, Joab, and Asael, three.
2:17. And Abigail bore Amasa, whose father was Jether the
Ismahelite.
2:18. And Caleb the son of Hesron took a wife named Azuba, of
whom he had Jerioth: and her sons were Jaser, and Sobab, and Ardon.
Caleb.... Alias Calubi, ver. 9.
2:19. And when Azuba was dead, Caleb took to wife Ephrata: who
bore him Hur.
2:20. And Hur begot Uri: and Uri begot Bezeleel.
2:21. And afterwards Hesron went in to the daughter of Machir the
father of Galaad, and took her to wife when he was threescore years
old: and she bore him Segub.
2:22. And Segub begot Jair, and he had three and twenty cities in the
land of Galaad.

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 2:23. And he took Gessur, and Aram the towns of Jair, and Canath,
and the villages thereof, threescore cities. All these, the sons of Machir
father of Galaad.
2:24. And when Hesron was dead, Caleb went in to Ephrata. Hesron
also had to wife Abia who bore him Ashur the father of Thecua.
2:25. And the sons of Jerameel the irstborn of Hesron, were Ram his
irstborn, and Buna, and Aram, and Asom, and Achia.
2:26. And Jerameel married another wife, named Atara, who was
the mother of Onam.
2:27. And the sons of Ram the irstborn of Jerameel, were Moos,
Jamin, and Achar.
2:28. And Onam had sons Semei, and Jada. And the sons of Semei:
Nadab, and Abisur.
2:29. And the name of Abisur’s wife was Abihail, who bore him
Ahobban, and Molid.
2:30. And the sons of Nadab were Saled and Apphaim. And Saled
died without children.
2:31. But the son of Apphaim was Jesi: and Jesi begot Sesan. And
Sesan begot Oholai.
2:32. And the sons of Jada the brother of Semei: Jether and Jonathan.
And Jether also died without children.
2:33. But Jonathan begot Phaleth, and Ziza. These were the sons of
Jerameel.
2:34. And Sesan had no sons, but daughters and a servant an
Egyptian, named Jeraa.
2:35. And he gave him his daughter to wife: and she bore him Ethei.
2:36. And Ethei begot Nathan, and Nathan begot Zabad.
2:37. And Zabad begot Ophlal, and Ophlal begot Obed.
2:38. Obed begot Jehu, Jehu begot Azarias.
2:39. Azarias begot Helles, and Helles begot Elasa.
2:40. Elasa begot Sisamoi, Sisamoi begot Sellum,
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 2:41. Sellum begot Icamia, and Icamia begot Elisama.

2:42. Now the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerameel were Mesa his
irstborn, who was the father of Siph: and the sons of Maresa father of
Hebron.
2:43. And the sons of Hebron, Core, and Thaphua, and Recem, and
Samma.
2:44. And Samma begot Raham, the father of Jercaam, and Recem
begot Sammai.
2:45. The son of Sammai, Maon: and Maon the father of Bethsur.
2:46. And Epha the concubine of Caleb bore Haran, and Mosa, and
Gezez. And Haran begot Gezez.
2:47. And the sons of Jahaddai, Rogom, and Joathan, and Gesan, and
Phalet, and Epha, and Saaph.
2:48. And Maacha the concubine of Caleb bore Saber, and Tharana.
2:49. And Saaph the father of Madmena begot Sue the father of
Machbena, and the father of Gabaa. And the daughter of Caleb was
Achsa.
2:50. These were the sons of Caleb, the son of Hur the irstborn of
Ephrata, Sobal the father of Cariathiarim.
2:51. Salma the father of Bethlehem, Hariph the father of
Bethgader.
2:52. And Sobal the father of Cariathiarim had sons: he that saw
half of the places of rest.
He that saw, etc.... The Latin interpreter seems to have given us here, instead of
the proper names, the meaning of those names in the Hebrew. He has done in
like manner, ver. 55.
2:53. And of the kindred of Cariathiarim, the Jethrites, and
Aphuthites, and Semathites, and Maserites. Of them came the Saraites,
and Esthaolites.
2:54. The sons of Salma, Bethlehem, and Netophathi, the crowns of
the house of Joab, and half of the place of rest of Sarai.
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 2:55. And the families of the scribes that dwell in Jabes, singing and
making melody, and abiding in tents. These are the Cinites, who came
of Calor (Chamath) father of the house of Rechab.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 3

The genealogy of the house of David.

3:1. Now these were the sons of David that were born to him in
Hebron: the irstborn Amnon of Achinoam the Jezrahelitess, the second
Daniel of Abigail the Carmelitess.
3:2. The third Absalom the son of Maacha the daughter of Tolmai
king of Gessur, the fourth Adonias the son of Aggith,
3:3. The ifth Saphatias of Abital, the sixth Jethrahem of Egla his
wife.
3:4. So six sons were born to him in Hebron, where he reigned seven
years and six months. And in Jerusalem he reigned three and thirty
years.
3:5. And these sons were born to him in Jerusalem: Simmaa, and
Sobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four of Bethsabee the daughter of
Ammiel.
3:6. Jebaar also and Elisama,
3:7. And Eliphaleth, and Noge, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
3:8. And Elisama, and Eliada, and Elipheleth, nine:
3:9. All these the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines:
and they had a sister Thamar.
The concubines.... The inferior wives.
3:10. And Solomon’s son was Roboam: whose son Abia begot Asa.
And his son was Josaphat,
3:11. The father of Joram: and Joram begot Ochozias, of whom was
born Joas:
3:12. And his son Amasias begot Azarias. And Joathan the son of
Azarias

 3:13. Begot Achaz, the father of Ezechias, of whom was born

Manasses.
3:14. And Manasses begot Amon the father of Josias.
3:15. And the sons of Josias were, the irstborn Johanan, the second
Joakim, the third Sedecias, the fourth Sellum.
3:16. Of Joakim was born Jechonias, and Sedecias.
3:17. The sons of Jechonias were Asir, Salathiel,
3:18. Melchiram, Phadaia, Senneser and Jecemia, Sama, and
Nadabia.
3:19. Of Phadaia were born Zorobabel and Semei. Zorobabel begot
Mosollam, Hananias, and Salomith their sister:
3:20. Hasaba also, and Ohol, and Barachias, and Hasadias,
Josabhesed, ive.
3:21. And the son of Hananias was Phaltias the father of Jeseias,
whose son was Raphaia. And his son was Arnan, of whom was born
Obdia, whose son was Sechenias.
3:22. The son of Sechenias was Semeia, whose sons were Hattus, and
Jegaal, and Baria, and Naaria, and Saphat, six in number.
Six.... Counting the father in the number.
3:23. The sons of Naaria, Elioenai, and Ezechias, and Ezricam, three.
3:24. The sons of Elioenai, Oduia, and Eliasub, and Pheleia, and
Accub, and Johanan, and Dalaia, and Anani, seven.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 4

Other genealogies of Juda and Simeon, and their victories.

4:1. The sons of Juda: Phares, Hesron, and Charmi and Hur, and
Sobal.
4:2. And Raia the son of Sobal begot Jahath, of whom were born
Ahumai, and Laad. These are the families of Sarathi.
4:3. And this is the posterity of Etam: Jezrahel, and Jesema, And
Jedebos: and the name of their sister was Asalelphuni.

 4:4. And Phanuel the father of Gedor, and Ezar the father of Hosa,
these are the sons of Hur the irstborn of Ephratha the father of
Bethlehem.
4:5. And Assur the father of Thecua had two wives, Halaa and
Naara:
4:6. And Naara bore him Ozam, and Hepher, and Themani, and
Ahasthari: these are the sons of Naara.
4:7. And the sons of Halaa, Sereth, Isaar, and Ethnan.
4:8. And Cos begot Anob, and Soboba, and the kindred of Aharehel
the son of Arum.
4:9. And Jabes was more honourable than any of his brethren, and
his mother called his name Jabes, saying: Because I bore him with
sorrow.
Jabes.... That is, sorrowful.
4:10. And Jabes called upon the God of Israel, saying: If blessing thou
wilt bless me, and wilt enlarge my borders, and thy hand be with me,
and thou save me from being oppressed by evil. And God granted him
the things he prayed for.
4:11. And Caleb the brother of Sua begot Mahir, who was the father
of Esthon.
4:12. And Esthon begot Bethrapha, and Phesse, and Tehinna father
of the city of Naas: these are the men of Recha.
4:13. And the sons of Cenez were Othoniel, and Saraia. And the sons
of Othoniel, Hathath, and Maonathi.
4:14. Maonathi begot Ophra, and Saraia begot Joab the father of the
Valley of arti icers: for arti icers were there.
4:15. And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephone, were Hir, and Ela,
and Naham. And the sons of Ela: Cenez.
4:16. The sons also of Jaleleel: Ziph, and Zipha, Thiria and Asrael.
4:17. And the sons of Esra, Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon,
and he begot Mariam, and Sammai, and Jesba the father of Esthamo.

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 4:18. And his wife Judaia, bore Jared the father of Gedor, and Heber
the father of Socho, and Icuthiel the father of Zanoe. And these are the
sons of Bethia the daughter of Pharao, whom Mered took to wife.
4:19. And the sons of his wife Odaia the sister of Naham the father of
Celia, Garmi, and Esthamo, who was of Machathi.
4:20. The sons also of Simon, Amnon, and Rinna the son of Hanan,
and Thilon. And the sons of Jesi Zoheth, and Benzoheth.
4:21. The sons of Sela the son of Juda: Her the father of Lecha, and
Laada the father of Maresa, and the families of the house of them that
wrought ine linen in the House of oath.
4:22. And he that made the sun to stand, and the men of Lying, and
Secure, and Burning, who were princes in Moab, and who returned
into Lahem. Now these are things of old.
He that made, etc.... Viz., Joazim, the meaning of whose name in Hebrew is, he
that made the sun to stand. In like manner the following names, Lying
(Chozeba), Secure (Joas), and Burning (Saraph), are substituted in place of the
Hebrew names of the same signi ication.
4:23. These are the potters, and they dwelt in Plantations, and
Hedges, with the king for his works, and they abode there.
Plantations and Hedges.... These are the proper names of the places where they
dwelt. In Hebrew Atharim and Gadira.
4:24. The sons of Simeon: Namuel and Jamin, Jarib, Zara, Saul:
4:25. Sellum his son, Mapsam his son, Masma his son.
4:26. The sons of Masma: Hamuel his son, Zachur his son, Semei his
son.
4:27. The sons of Semei were sixteen, and six daughters: but his
brethren had not many sons, and the whole kindred could not reach to
the sum of the children of Juda.
4:28. And they dwelt in Bersabee, and Molada, and Hasarsuhal,
4:29. And in Bala, and in Asom, and in Tholad,
4:30. And in Bathuel, and in Horma, and in Siceleg,

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 4:31. And in Bethmarchaboth, and in Hasarsusim, and in Bethberai,

and in Saarim. These were their cities unto the reign of David.
4:32. Their towns also were Etam, and Aen, Remmon, and Thochen,
and Asan, ive cities.
4:33. And all their villages round about these cities as far as Baal.
This was their habitation, and the distribution of their dwellings.
4:34. And Mosabab and Jemlech, and Josa, the son of Amasias,
4:35. And Joel, and Jehu the son of Josabia the son of Saraia, the son
of Asiel,
4:36. And Elioenai, and Jacoba, and Isuhaia, and Asaia, and Adiel,
and Ismiel, and Banaia,
4:37. Ziza also the son of Sephei the son of Allon the son of Idaia the
son of Semri the son of Samaia.
4:38. These were named princes in their kindreds, and in the houses
of their families were multiplied exceedingly.
4:39. And they went forth to enter into Gador as far as to the east
side of the valley, to seek pastures for their locks.
4:40. And they found fat pastures, and very good, and a country
spacious, and quiet, and fruitful, in which some of the race of Cham
had dwelt before.
4:41. And these whose names are written above, came in the days of
Ezechias king of Juda: and they beat down their tents, and slew the
inhabitants that were found there, and utterly destroyed them unto
this day: and they dwelt in their place, because they found there fat
pastures.
4:42. Some also of the children of Simeon, ive hundred men, went
into mount Seir, having for their captains Phaltias and Naaria and
Raphaia and Oziel the sons of Jesi:
4:43. And they slew the remnant of the Amalecites, who had been
able to escape, and they dwelt there in their stead unto this day.

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 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 5

Genealogies of Ruben and Gad: their victories over the Agarites: their
captivity.
5:1. Now the sons of Ruben the irstborn of Israel, (for he was his
irstborn: but forasmuch as he de iled his father’s bed, his irst
birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, and he was
not accounted for the irstborn.
5:2. But of the race of Juda, who was the strongest among his
brethren, came the princes: but the irst birthright was accounted to
Joseph.)
Accounted to Joseph.... Viz., as to the double portion, which belonged to the
irstborn; but the princely dignity was given to Juda, and the priesthood to Levi.
5:3. The sons then of Ruben the irstborn of Israel were Enoch, and
Phallu, Esron, and Charmi.
5:4. The sons of Joel: Samaia his son, Gog his son, Semei his son,
5:5. Micha his son, Reia his son, Baal his son,
5:6. Beera his son, whom Thelgathphalnasar king of the Assyrians
carried away captive, and he was prince in the tribe of Ruben.
5:7. And his brethren, and all his kindred, when they were numbered
by their families, had for princes Jehiel, and Zacharias.
5:8. And Bala the son of Azaz, the son of Samma, the son of Joel,
dwelt in Aroer as far as Nebo, and Beelmeon.
5:9. And eastward he had his habitation as far as the entrance of the
desert, and the river Euphrates. For they possessed a great number of
cattle in the land of Galaad.
5:10. And in the days of Saul they fought against the Agarites, and
slew them, and dwelt in their tents in their stead, in all the country,
that looketh to the east of Galaad.
5:11. And the children of Gad dwelt over against them in the land of
Basan, as far as Selcha:
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 5:12. Johel the chief, and Saphan the second: and Janai, and Saphat
in Basan.
5:13. And their brethren according to the houses of their kindreds,
were Michael and Mosollam, and Sebe, and Jorai, and Jacan, and Zie,
and Heber, seven.
5:14. These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jara,
the son of Galaad, the son of Michael, the son of Jesisi, the son of Jeddo,
the son of Buz.
5:15. And their brethren the sons of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of
the house in their families,
5:16. And they dwelt in Galaad, and in Basan and in the towns
thereof, and in all the suburbs of Saron, unto the borders.
5:17. All these were numbered in the days of Joathan king of Juda,
and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.
5:18. The sons of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half tribe of
Manasses, ighting men, bearing shields, and swords, and bending the
bow, and trained up to battles, four and forty thousand seven hundred
and threescore that went out to war.
5:19. They fought against the Agarites: but the Itureans, and
Naphis, and Nodab,
5:20. Gave them help. And the Agarites were delivered into their
hands, and all that were with them, because they called upon God in
the battle: and he heard them, because they had put their faith in him.
5:21. And they took all that they possessed, of camels ifty thousand,
and of sheep two hundred and ifty thousand, and of asses two
thousand, and of men a hundred thousand souls.
5:22. And many fell down slain: for it was the battle of the Lord. And
they dwelt in their stead till the captivity.
5:23. And the children of the half tribe of Manasses possessed the
land, from the borders of Basan unto Baal, Hermon, and Sanir, and
mount Hermon, for their number was great.

 5:24. And these were the heads of the house of their kindred, Epher,
and Jesi, and Eliel, and Esriel, and Jeremia, and Odoia, and Jediel, most
valiant and powerful men, and famous chiefs in their families.
5:25. But they forsook the God of their fathers, and went astray after
the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.
5:26. And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Phul king of the
Assyrians, and the spirit of Thelgathphalnasar king of Assur: and he
carried away Ruben, and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses, and
brought them to Lahela, and to Habor, and to Ara, and to the river of
Gozan, unto this day.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 6

The genealogies of Levi, and of Aaron: the cities of the Levites.

6:1. The sons of Levi were Gerson, Caath, and Merari.
6:2. The sons of Caath: Amram, Isaar, Hebron, and Oziel.
6:3. The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Mary. The sons of
Aaron: Nadab and Abiu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
6:4. Eleazar begot Phinees, and Phinees begot Abisue,
6:5. And Abisue begot Bocci, and Bocci begot Ozi.
6:6. Ozi begot Zaraias, and Zaraias begot Maraioth.
6:7. And Maraioth begot Amarias, and Amarias begot Achitob.
6:8. Achitob begot Sadoc, and Sadoc begot Achimaas.
6:9. Achimaas begot Azarias, Azarias begot Johanan,
6:10. Johanan begot Azarias. This is he that executed the priestly
of ice in the house which Solomon built in Jerusalem.
6:11. And Azarias begot Amarias, and Amarias begot Achitob.
6:12. And Achitob begot Sadoc, and Sadoc begot Sellum,
6:13. Sellum begot Helcias, and Helcias begot Azarias,
6:14. Azarias begot Saraias, and Saraias begot Josedec.
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 6:15. Now Josedec went out, when the Lord carried away Juda, and
Jerusalem, by the hands of Nabuchodonosor.
6:16. So the sons of Levi were Gerson, Caath, and Merari.
6:17. And these are the names of the sons of Gerson: Lobni and
Semei.
6:18. The sons of Caath: Amram, and Isaar, and Hebron, and Oziel.
6:19. The sons of Merari: Moholi and Musi. And these are the
kindreds of Levi according to their families.
6:20. Of Gerson: Lobni his son, Jahath his son, Zamma his son,
6:21. Joah his son, Addo his son, Zara his son, Jethrai his son.
6:22. The sons of Caath, Aminadab his son, Core his son, Asir his son,
6:23. Elcana his son, Abiasaph his son, Asir his son,
6:24. Thahath his son, Uriel his son, Ozias his son, Saul his son.
6:25. The sons of Elcana: Amasai, and Achimoth.
6:26. And Elcana. The sons of Elcana: Sophai his son, Nahath his son,
6:27. Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elcana his son.
6:28. The sons of Samuel: the irstborn Vasseni, and Abia.
6:29. And the sons of Merari, Moholi: Lobni his son, Semei his son,
Oza his son,
6:30. Sammaa his son, Haggia his son, Asaia his son.
6:31. These are they, whom David set over the singing men of the
house of the Lord, after that the ark was placed.
6:32. And they ministered before the tabernacle of the testimony,
with singing, until Solomon built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem,
and they stood according to their order in the ministry.
6:33. And these are they that stood with their sons, of the sons of
Caath, Hemam a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Sammuel,
6:34. The son of Elcana, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son
of Thohu,

 6:35. The son of Suph, the son of Elcana, the son of Mahath, the son
of Amasai,
6:36. The son of Elcana, the son of Johel, the son of Azarias, the son
of Sophonias,
6:37. The son of Thahath, the son of Asir, the son of Abiasaph, the
son of Core,
6:38. The son of Isaar, the son of Caath, the son of Levi, the son of
Israel.
6:39. And his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, Asaph the
son of Barachias, the son of Samaa.
6:40. The son of Michael, the son of Basaia, the son of Melchia.
6:41. The son of Athanai, the son of Zara, the son of Adaia.
6:42. The son of Ethan, the son of Zamma, the son of Semei.
6:43. The son of Jeth, the son of Gerson, the son of Levi.
6:44. And the sons of Merari their brethren, on the left hand, Ethan
the son of Cusi, the son of Abdi, the son of Meloch,
6:45. The son of Hasabia, the son of Amasai, the son of Helcias,
6:46. The son of Amasai, the son of Boni, the son of Somer,
6:47. The son of Moholi, the son of Musi, the son of Merari, the son of
Levi.
6:48. Their brethren also the Levites, who were appointed for all the
ministry of the tabernacle of the house of the Lord.
6:49. But Aaron and his sons offered burnt offerings upon the altar
of holocausts, and upon the altar of incense, for every work of the holy
of holies: and to pray for Israel according to all that Moses the servant
of God had commanded.
6:50. And these are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinees his
son, Abisue his son,
6:51. Bocci his son, Ozi his son, Zarahia his son,
6:52. Meraioth his son, Amarias his son, Achitob his son,

 6:53. Sadoc his son, Achimaas his son.

6:54. And these are their dwelling places by the towns and con ines,
to wit, of the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Caathites: for they fell
to them by lot.
6:55. And they gave them Hebron in the land of Juda, and the
suburbs thereof round about:
6:56. But the ields of the city, and the villages to Caleb son of
Jephone.
6:57. And to the sons of Aaron they gave the cities for refuge Hebron,
and Lobna, and the suburbs thereof,
6:58. And Jether and Esthemo, with their suburbs, and Helon, and
Dabir with their suburbs:
6:59. Asan also, and Bethsames, with their suburbs.
6:60. And out of the tribe of Benjamin: Gabee and its suburbs,
Almath with its suburbs, Anathoth also with its suburbs: all their cities
throughout their families were thirteen.
6:61. And to the sons of Caath that remained of their kindred they
gave out of the half tribe of Manasses ten cities in possession.
6:62. And to the sons of Gerson by their families out of the tribe of
Issachar, and out of the tribe of Aser, and out of the tribe of Nephtali,
and out of the tribe of Manasses in Basan, thirteen cities.
6:63. And to the sons of Merari by their families out of the tribe of
Ruben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zabulon, they
gave by lot twelve cities.
6:64. And the children of Israel gave to the Levites the cities, and
their suburbs.
6:65. And they gave them by lot, out of the tribe of the sons of Juda,
and out of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, and out of the tribe of the
sons of Benjamin, these cities which they called by their names.
6:66. And to them that were of the kindred of the sons of Caath, and
the cities in their borders were of the tribe of Ephraim.

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 6:67. And they gave the cities of refuge Sichem with its suburbs in
mount Ephraim, and Gazer with its suburbs,
6:68. Jecmaan also with its suburbs, and Beth-horon in like manner,
6:69. Helon also with its suburbs, and Gethremmon in like manner,
6:70. And out of the half tribe of Manasses, Aner and its suburbs,
Baalam and its suburbs, to wit, to them that were left of the family of
the sons of Caath.
6:71. And to the sons of Gersom, out of the kindred of the half tribe
of Manasses, Gaulon, in Basan, and its suburbs, and Astharoth with its
suburbs.
6:72. Out of the tribe of Issachar, Cedes and its suburbs, and
Dabereth with its suburbs;
6:73. Ramoth also and its suburbs, and Anem with its suburbs.
6:74. And out of the tribe of Aser: Masal with its suburbs, and Abdon
in like manner;
6:75. Hucac also and its suburbs, and Rohol with its suburbs.
6:76. And out of the tribe of Nephtali, Cedes in Galilee and its
suburbs, Hamon with its suburbs, and Cariathaim, and its suburbs.
6:77. And to the sons of Merari that remained: out of the tribe of
Zabulon, Remmono and its suburbs, and Thabor with its suburbs.
6:78. Beyond the Jordan also over against Jericho, on the east side of
the Jordan, out of the tribe of Ruben, Bosor in the wilderness with its
suburbs, and Jassa with its suburbs;
6:79. Cademoth also and its suburbs, and Mephaath with its
suburbs;
6:80. Moreover also out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Galaad and
its suburbs, and Manaim with its suburbs;
6:81. Hesebon also with its suburbs, and Jazer with its suburbs.

 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 7

Genealogies of Issachar, Benjamin, Nephtali, Manasses, Ephraim, and

Aser.
7:1. Now the sons of Issachar were Thola, and Phua, Jasub and
Simeron, four.
7:2. The sons of Thola: Ozi and Raphaia, and Jeriel, and Jemai, and
Jebsem, and Samuel, chiefs of the houses of their kindreds. Of the
posterity of Thola were numbered in the days of David, two and
twenty thousand six hundred most valiant men.
7:3. The sons of Ozi: Izrahia, of whom were born Michael, and
Obadia, and Joel, and Jesia, ive all great men.
7:4. And there were with them by their families and peoples, six and
thirty thousand most valiant men ready for war: for they had many
wives and children.
7:5. Their brethren also throughout all the house of Issachar, were
numbered fourscore and seven thousand most valiant men for war.
7:6. The sons of Benjamin were Bela, and Bechor, and Jadihel, three.
7:7. The sons of Bela: Esbon, and Ozi, and Ozial, and Jerimoth and
Urai, ive chiefs of their families, and most valiant warriors, and their
number was twenty-two thousand and thirty-four.
7:8. And the sons of Bechor were Zamira, and Joas, and Eliezer, and
Elioenai, and Amai, and Jerimoth, and Abia, and Anathoth, and
Almath: all these were the sons of Bechor.
7:9. And they were numbered by the families, heads of their
kindreds, most valiant men for war, twenty thousand and two
hundred.
7:10. And the son of Jadihel: Balan. And the sons of Balan: Jehus and
Benjamin, and Aod, and Chanana, and Zethan and Tharsis, and
Ahisahar.

 7:11. All these were sons of Jadihel, heads of their kindreds, most
valiant men, seventeen thousand and two hundred ifty to go out to
war.
7:12. Sepham also and Hapham the sons of Hir: and Hasim the sons
of Aher.
7:13. And the sons of Nephtali were Jasiel, and Guni, and Jezer, and
Sellum, sons of Bala.
7:14. And the son of Manasses, Ezriel: and his concubine the Syrian
bore Machir the father of Galaad.
7:15. And Machir took wives for his sons Happhim, and Saphan: and
he had a sister named Maacha: the name of the second was Salphaad,
and Salphaad had daughters.
7:16. And Maacha the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his
name Phares: and the name of his brother was Sares: and his sons
were Ulam and Recen.
7:17. And the son of Ulam, Baden. These are the sons of Galaad, the
son of Machir, the son of Manasses.
7:18. And his sister named Queen bore Goodlyman, and Abiezer, and
Mohola.
7:19. And the sons of Semida were Ahiu, and Sechem, and Leci and
Aniam.
7:20. And the sons of Ephraim were Suthala, Bared his son, Thahath
his son, Elada his son, Thahath his son, and his son Zabad,
7:21. And his son Suthala, and his son Ezer, and Elad: and the men of
Geth born in the land slew them, because they came down to invade
their possessions.
7:22. And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his
brethren came to comfort him.
7:23. And he went in to his wife: and she conceived and bore a son,
and he called his name Beria, because he was born when it went evil
with his house:

 Beria.... This name signi ies in evil, or in af liction.

7:24. And his daughter was Sara, who built Bethoron, the nether
and the upper, and Ozensara.
7:25. And Rapha was his son, and Reseph, and Thale, of whom was
born Thaan,
7:26. Who begot Laadan: and his son was Ammiud, who begot
Elisama,
7:27. Of whom was born Nun, who had Josue for his son.
7:28. And their possessions and habitations were Bethel with her
daughters, and eastward Noran, and westward Gazer and her
daughters, Sichem also with her daughters, as far as Asa with her
daughters.
7:29. And by the borders of the sons of Manasses Bethsan and her
daughters, Thanach and her daughters, Mageddo and her daughters:
Dor and her daughters: in these dwelt the children of Joseph, the son of
Israel.
7:30. The children of Aser were Jemna, and Jesua, and Jessui, and
Baria, and Sara their sister.
7:31. And the sons of Baria: Haber, and Melchiel: he is the father of
Barsaith.
7:32. And Heber begot Jephlat, and Somer, and Hotham, and Suaa
their sister.
7:33. The sons of Jephlat: Phosech, and Chamaal, and Asoth: these
are the sons of Jephlat.
7:34. And the sons of Somer: Ahi, and Roaga and Haba, and Aram.
7:35. And the sons of Helem his brother: Supha, and Jemna, and
Selles, and Amal.
7:36. The sons of Supha: Sue, Hernapher, and Sual, and Beri, and
Jamra.
7:37. Bosor and Hod, and Samma, and Salusa, and Jethran, and
Bera.

 7:38. The sons of Jether: Jephone, and Phaspha, and Ara.

7:39. And the sons of Olla: Aree, and Haniel, and Resia.
7:40. All these were sons of Aser, heads of their families, choice and
most valiant captains of captains: and the number of them that were
of the age that was it for war, was six and twenty thousand.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 8

The posterity of Benjamin is further declared down to Saul. His issue.

8:1. Now Benjamin begot Bale his irstborn, Asbel the second, Ahara
the third,
8:2. Nohaa the fourth, and Rapha the ifth.
8:3. And the sons of Bale were Addar, and Gera, and Abiud,
8:4. And Abisue, and Naaman, and Ahoe,
8:5. And Gera, and Sephuphan, and Huram.
8:6. These are the sons of Ahod, heads of families that dwelt in
Gabaa, who were removed into Manahath.
8:7. And Naaman, and Achia, and Gera he removed them, and begot
Oza, and Ahiud.
8:8. And Saharim begot in the land of Moab, after he sent away
Husim and Bara his wives.
8:9. And he begot of Hodes his wife Jobab, and Sebia, and Mosa, and
Molchom,
8:10. And Jehus and Sechia, and Marma. These were his sons heads
of their families.
8:11. And Mehusim begot Abitob, and Elphaal.
8:12. And the sons of Elphaal were Heber, and Misaam, and Samad:
who built Ono, and Lod, and its daughters.
8:13. And Baria, and Sama were heads of their kindreds that dwelt
in Aialon: these drove away the inhabitants of Geth.
8:14. And Ahio, and Sesac, and Jerimoth,

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 8:15. And Zabadia, and Arod, and Heder,

8:16. And Michael, and Jespha, and Joha, the sons of Baria.
8:17. And Zabadia, and Mosollam, and Hezeci, and Heber,
8:18. And Jesamari, and Jezlia, and Jobab, sons of Elphaal,
8:19. And Jacim, and Zechri, and Zabdi,
8:20. And Elioenai, and Selethai, and Elial,
8:21. And Adaia, and Baraia, and Samareth, the sons of Semei.
8:22. And Jespham, and Heber, and Eliel,
8:23. And Abdon, and Zechri, and Hanan,
8:24. And Hanania, and Elam, and Anathothia.
8:25. And Jephdaia, and Phanuel the sons of Sesac.
8:26. And Samsari, and Sohoria and Otholia,
8:27. And Jersia, and Elia, and Zechri, the sons of Jeroham.
8:28. These were the chief fathers, and heads of their families who
dwelt in Jerusalem.
8:29. And at Gabaon dwelt Abigabaon, and the name of his wife was
Maacha:
8:30. And his irstborn son Abdon, and Sur, and Cis, and Baal, and
Nadab,
8:31. And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zacher, and Macelloth:
8:32. And Macelloth begot Samaa: and they dwelt over against their
brethren in Jerusalem with their brethren.
8:33. And Ner begot Cis and Cis begot Saul. And Saul begot Jonathan
and Melchisua, and Abinadab, and Esbaal.
Esbaal.... Alias Isboseth.
8:34. And the son of Jonathan was Meribbaal: and Meribbaal begot
Micha.
Meribbaal.... Alias Miphiboseth. 2 Kings 4.4.
8:35. And the sons of Micha were Phithon, and Melech, and Tharaa,
and Ahaz.

 8:36. And Ahaz begot Joada: and Joada begot Alamath, and Azmoth,
and Zamri: and Zamri begot Mosa,
8:37. And Mosa begot Banaa, whose son was Rapha, of whom was
born Elasa, who begot Asel.
8:38. And Asel had six sons whose names were Ezricam, Bochru,
Ismahel, Saria, Obdia, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Asel.
8:39. And the sons of Esec, his brother, were Ulam the irstborn, and
Jehus the second, and Eliphalet the third.
8:40. And the sons of Ulam were most valiant men, and archers of
great strength: and they had many sons and grandsons, even to a
hundred and ifty. All these were children of Benjamin.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 9

The Israelites, priests, and Levites, who irst dwelt in Jerusalem after
the captivity. A repetition of the genealogy of Saul.
9:1. And all Israel was numbered: and the sum of them was written
in the book of the kings of Israel, and Juda: and they were carried
away to Babylon for their transgression.
9:2. Now the irst that dwelt in their possessions, and in their cities,
were the Israelites, and the priests, and the Levites, and the
Nathineans.
Nathineans.... These were the posterity of the Gabaonites, whose of ice was to
bring wood, water, etc., for the service of the temple.
9:3. And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Juda, and of the
children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim, and of Manasses.
9:4. Othei the son of Ammiud, the son of Amri, the son of Omrai, the
son of Bonni of the sons of Phares the son of Juda.
9:5. And of Siloni: Asaia the irstborn, and his sons.
9:6. And of the sons of Zara: Jehuel and their brethren, six hundred
and ninety.

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 9:7. And of the sons of Benjamin: Salo the son of Mosollam, the son
of Oduia, the son of Asana:
9:8. And Jobania the son of Jeroham: and Ela the son of Ozi, the son
of Mochori and Mosallam the son of Saphatias, the son of Rahuel, the
son of Jebania:
9:9. And their brethren by their families, nine hundred and ifty-six.
All these were heads of their families, by the houses of their fathers.
9:10. And of the priests: Jedaia, Joiarib, and Jachin:
9:11. And Azarias the son of Helcias, the son of Mosollam, the son of
Sadoc, the son of Maraioth, the son of Achitob, high priest of the house
of God.
9:12. And Adaias the son of Jeroham, the son of Phassur, the son of
Melchias, and Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jezra, the son of
Mosollam, the son of Mosollamith, the son of Emmer.
9:13. And their brethren heads in their families a thousand seven
hundred and threescore, very strong and able men for the work of the
ministry in the house of God.
9:14. And of the Levites: Semeia the son of Hassub the son of
Ezricam, the son of Hasebia of the sons of Merari.
9:15. And Bacbacar the carpenter, and Galal, and Mathania the son
of Micha, the son of Zechri the son of Asaph:
9:16. And Obdia the son of Semeia, the son of Galal, the son of
Idithum: and Barachia the son of Asa, the son of Elcana, who dwelt in
the suburbs of Netophati.
9:17. And the porters were Sellum, and Accub, and Telmon, and
Ahiman: and their brother Sellum was the prince,
9:18. Until that time, in the king’s gate eastward, the sons of Levi
waited by their turns.
9:19. But Sellum the son of Core, the son of Abiasaph, the son of
Core, with his brethren and his father’s house, the Corites were over
the works of the service, keepers of the gates of the tabernacle: and

 their families in turns were keepers of the entrance of the camp of the
Lord.
9:20. And Phinees the son of Eleazar, was their prince before the
Lord,
9:21. And Zacharias the son of Mosollamia, was porter of the gate of
the tabernacle of the testimony:
9:22. All these that were chosen to be porters at the gates, were two
hundred and twelve: the they were registered in their proper towns:
whom David and Samuel the seer appointed in their trust.
9:23. As well them as their sons, to keep the gates of the house of the
Lord, and the tabernacle by their turns.
9:24. In four quarters were the porters: that is to say, toward the
east, and west, and north, and south.
9:25. And their brethren dwelt in villages, and came upon their
sabbath days from time to time.
9:26. To these four Levites were committed the whole number of the
porters, and they were over the chambers, and treasures, of the house
of the Lord.
9:27. And they abode in their watches round about the temple of the
Lord: that when it was time, they might open the gates in the morning.
9:28. And some of their stock had the charge of the vessels for the
ministry: for the vessels were both brought in and carried out by
number.
9:29. Some of them also had the instruments of the sanctuary
committed unto them, and the charge of the ine lour, and wine, and
oil, and frankincense, and spices.
9:30. And the sons of the priests made the ointments of the spices.
9:31. And Mathathias a Levite, the irstborn of Sellum the Corite,
was overseer of such things as were fried in the fryingpan.
9:32. And some of the sons of Caath their brethren, were over the
loaves of proposition, to prepare always new for every sabbath.

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 9:33. These are the chief of the singing men of the families of the
Levites, who dwelt in the chambers, by the temple, that they might
serve continually day and night in their ministry.
9:34. The heads of the Levites, princes in their families, abode in
Jerusalem.
9:35. And in Gabaon dwelt Jehiel the father of Gabaon, and the name
of his wife was Maacha:
9:36. His irstborn son Abdon, and Sur, and Cis, and Baal, and Ner,
and Nadab,
9:37. Gedor also, and Ahio, and Zacharias, and Macelloth.
9:38. And Macelloth begot Samaan: these dwelt over against their
brethren in Jerusalem, with their brethren.
9:39. Now Ner begot Cis: and Cis begot Saul: and Saul begot
Jonathan and Melchisua, and Abinadab, and Esbaal.
9:40. And the son of Jonathan, was Meribbaal: and Meribbaal begot
Micha.
9:41. And the sons of Micha, were Phithon, and Melech, and Tharaa,
and Ahaz.
9:42. And Ahaz begot Jara, and Jara begot Alamath, and Azmoth,
and Zamri. And Zamri begot Mosa.
9:43. And Mosa begot Banaa: whose son Raphaia begot Elasa: of
whom was born Asel.
9:44. And Asel had six sons whose names are, Ezricam Bochru,
Ismahel, Saria, Obdia, Hanan: these are the sons of Asel.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 10

Saul is slain for his sins: he is buried by the men of Jabes.

10:1. Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel
led from before the Philistines, and fell down wounded in mount
Gelboe.
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 10:2. And the Philistines drew near pursuing after Saul, and his sons,
and they killed Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchisua the sons of
Saul.
10:3. And the battle grew hard against Saul and the archers
reached him, and wounded him with arrows.
10:4. And Saul said to his armourbearer: Draw thy sword, and kill
me: lest these uncircumcised come, and mock me. But his
armourbearer would not, for he was struck with fear: so Saul took his
sword, and fell upon it.
10:5. And when his armourbearer saw it, to wit, that Saul was dead,
he also fell upon his sword and died.
10:6. So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house fell together.
10:7. And when the men of Israel, that dwelt in the plains, saw this,
they led: and Saul and his sons being dead, they forsook their cities,
and were scattered up and down: and the Philistines came, and dwelt
in them.
10:8. And the next day the Philistines taking away the spoils of them
that were slain, found Saul and his sons lying on mount Gelboe.
10:9. And when they had stripped him, and cut off his head, and
taken away his armour, they sent it into their land, to be carried
about, and shewn in the temples of the idols and to the people.
10:10. And his armour they dedicated in the temple of their god, and
his head they fastened up in the temple of Dagon.
10:11. And when the men of Jabes Galaad had heard this, to wit, all
that the Philistines had done to Saul,
10:12. All the valiant men of them arose, and took the bodies of Saul
and of his sons, and brought them to Jabes, and buried their bones
under the oak that was in Jabes, and they fasted seven days.
10:13. So Saul died for his iniquities, because he transgressed the
commandment of the Lord, which he had commanded, and kept it not:
and moreover consulted also a witch,

 10:14. And trusted not in the Lord: therefore he slew him, and
transferred his kingdom to David the son of Isai.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 11

David is made king. He taketh the castle of Sion. A catalogue of his

valiant men.
11:1. Then all Israel gathered themselves to David in Hebron,
saying: We are thy bone, and thy lesh.
11:2. Yesterday also, and the day before when Saul was king, thou
wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: for the Lord thy God
said to thee: Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler
over them.
11:3. So all the ancients of Israel came to the king to Hebron, and
David made a covenant with them before the Lord: and they anointed
him king over Israel according to the word of the Lord which he spoke
in the hand of Samuel.
11:4. And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus,
where the Jebusites were the inhabitants of the land.
11:5. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David: Thou shalt not
come in here. But David took the castle of Sion, which is the city of
David.
11:6. And he said: Whosoever shall irst strike the Jebusites, shall be
the head and chief captain. And Joab the son of Sarvia went up irst,
and was made the general.
11:7. And David dwelt in the castle, and therefore it was called the
city of David,
11:8. And he built the city round about from Mello all round, and
Joab built the rest of the city.
11:9. And David went on growing and increasing, and the Lord of
hosts was with him.

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 11:10. These are the chief of the valiant men of David, who helped
him to be made king over all Israel, according to the word of the Lord,
which he spoke to Israel.
11:11. And this is the number of the heroes of David: Jesbaam the
son of Hachamoni the chief among the thirty: he lifted up his spear
against three hundred wounded by him at one time.
11:12. And after him was Eleazar his uncle’s son the Ahohite, who
was one of the three mighties.
11:13. He was with David in Phesdomim, when the Philistines were
gathered to that place to battle: and the ield of that country was full
of barley, and the people led from before the Philistines.
11:14. But these men stood in the midst of the ield, and defended it:
and they slew the Philistines, and the Lord gave a great deliverance to
his people.
11:15. And three of the thirty captains went down to the rock,
wherein David was, to the cave of Odollam, when the Philistines
encamped in the valley of Raphaim.
11:16. And David was in a hold, and the garrison of the Philistines in
Bethlehem.
11:17. And David longed, and said: O that some man would give me
water of the cistern of Bethlehem, which is in the gate.
11:18. And these three broke through the midst of the camp of the
Philistines, and drew water out of the cistern of Bethlehem, which was
in the gate, and brought it to David to drink: and he would not drink of
it, but rather offered it to the Lord,
11:19. Saying: God forbid that I should do this in the sight of my
God, and should drink the blood of these men: for with the danger of
their lives they have brought me the water. And therefore he would not
drink. These things did the three most valiant.
11:20. And Abisai the brother of Joab, he was chief of three, and he
lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he slew, and he was
renowned among the three,

 11:21. And illustrious among the second three, and their captain:
but yet he attained not to the irst three.
11:22. Banaias the son of Joiada a most valiant man, of Cabseel, who
had done many acts: he slew the two ariels of Moab: and he went
down, and killed a lion in the midst of a pit in the time of snow.
Two ariels.... That is, two lions, or lion-like men; for Ariel in Hebrew signi ies a
lion.
11:23. And he slew an Egyptian, whose stature was of ive cubits,
and who had a spear like a weaver’s beam: and he went down to him
with a staff, and plucked away the spear, that he held in his hand, and
slew him with his own spear.
11:24. These things did Banaias the son of Joiada, who was
renowned among the three valiant ones,
11:25. And the irst among the thirty, but yet to the three he
attained not: and David made him of his council.
11:26. Moreover the most valiant men of the army, were Asahel
brother of Joab, and Elchanan the son of his uncle of Bethlehem,
11:27. Sammoth an Arorite, Helles a Phalonite,
11:28. Ira the son of Acces a Thecuite, Abiezer an Anathothite,
11:29. Sobbochai a Husathite, Ilai an Ahohite,
11:30. Maharai a Netophathite, Heled the son of Baana a
Netophathite,
11:31. Ethai the son of Ribai of Gabaath of the sons of Benjamin,
Banai a Pharathonite,
11:32. Hurai of the torrent Gaas, Abiel an Arbathite, Azmoth a
Bauramite, Eliaba a Salabonite,
11:33. The sons of Assem a Gezonite, Jonathan the son of Sage an
Ararite,
11:34. Ahiam the son of Sachar an Ararite,
11:35. Eliphal the son of Ur,
11:36. Hepher a Mecherathite, Ahia a Phelonite,

 11:37. Hesro a Carmelite, Naarai the son of Azbai,

11:38. Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibahar the son of Agarai.
11:39. Selec an Ammonite, Naharai a Berothite, the armourbearer
of Joab the son of Sarvia.
11:40. Ira a Jethrite, Gareb a Jethrite,
11:41. Urias a Hethite, Zabad the son of Oholi,
11:42. Adina the son of Siza a Rubenite the prince of the Rubenites,
and thirty with him:
11:43. Hanan the son of Maacha, and Josaphat a Mathanite,
11:44. Ozia an Astarothite, Samma, and Jehiel the sons of Hotham
an Arorite,
11:45. Jedihel the son of Zamri, and Joha his brother a Thosaite,
11:46. Eliel a Mahumite, and Jeribai, and Josaia the sons of Elnaim,
and Jethma a Moabite, Eliel, and Obed, and Jasiel of Masobia.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 12

Who followed David when he led from Saul. And who came to Hebron
to make him king.
12:1. Now these are they that came to David to Siceleg, while he yet
led from Saul the son of Cis, and they were most valiant and excellent
warriors,
12:2. Bending the bow, and using either hand in hurling stones with
slings, and shooting arrows: of the brethren of Saul of Benjamin.
12:3. The chief was Ahiezer, and Joas, the sons of Samaa of Gabaath,
and Jaziel, and Phallet the sons of Azmoth, and Beracha, and Jehu an
Anathothite.
12:4. And Samaias of Gabaon, the stoutest amongst the thirty and
over the thirty; Jeremias, and Jeheziel and Johanan, and Jozabad of
Gaderoth;
12:5. And Eluzai, and Jerimuth, and Baalia, and Samaria, and
Saphatia the Haruphite;
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 12:6. Elcana, and Jesia, and Azareel, and Joezer, and Jesbaam of
Carehim:
12:7. And Joela, and Zabadia the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.
12:8. From Gaddi also there went over to David, when he lay hid in
the wilderness most valiant men, and excellent warriors, holding
shield and spear: whose faces were like the faces of a lion, and they
were swift like the roebucks on the mountains.
12:9. Ezer the chief, Obdias the second, Eliab the third,
12:10. Masmana the fourth, Jeremias the ifth,
12:11. Ethi the sixth, Eliel the seventh,
12:12. Johanan the eighth, Elzebad the ninth,
12:13. Jerenias the tenth, Machbani the eleventh,
12:14. These were of the sons of Gad, captains of the army: the least
of them was captain over a hundred soldiers, and the greatest over a
thousand.
12:15. These are they who passed over the Jordan in the irst month,
when it is used to low over its banks: and they put to light all that
dwelt in the valleys both toward the east and toward the west.
12:16. And there came also of the men of Benjamin, and of Juda to
the hold, in which David abode.
12:17. And David went out to meet them, and said: If you are come
peaceably to me to help me, let my heart be joined to you: but if you
plot against me for my enemies whereas I have no iniquity in my
hands, let the God of our fathers see, and judge.
12:18. But the spirit came upon Amasai the chief among thirty, and
he said: We are thine, O David, and for thee, O son of Isai: peace, peace
be to thee, and peace to thy helpers. For thy God helpeth thee. So David
received them, and made them captains of the band.
12:19. And there were some of Manasses that went over to David,
when he came with the Philistines against Saul to ight: but he did not
ight with them: because the lords of the Philistines taking counsel
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sent him back, saying: With the danger of our heads he will return to
his master Saul.
12:20. So when he went back to Siceleg, there led to him of
Manasses, Ednas and Jozabad, and Jedihel, and Michael, and Ednas,
and Jozabad, and Eliu, and Salathi, captains of thousands in Manasses.
12:21. These helped David against the rovers: for they were all most
valiant men, and were made commanders in the army.
12:22. Moreover day by day there came some to David to help him
till they became a great number, like the army of God.
12:23. And this is the number of the chiefs of the army who came to
David, when he was in Hebron, to transfer to him the kingdom of Saul,
according to the word of the Lord.
12:24. The sons of Juda bearing shield and spear, six thousand eight
hundred well appointed to war.
12:25. Of the sons of Simeon valiant men for war, seven thousand
one hundred.
12:26. Of the sons of Levi, four thousand six hundred.
12:27. And Joiada prince of the race of Aaron, and with him three
thousand seven hundred.
12:28. Sadoc also a young man of excellent disposition, and the
house of his father, twenty-two principal men.
12:29. And of the sons of Benjamin the brethren of Saul, three
thousand: for hitherto a great part of them followed the house of Saul.
12:30. And of the sons of Ephraim twenty thousand eight hundred,
men of great valour renowned in their kindreds.
12:31. And of the half tribe of Manasses, eighteen thousand, every
one by their names, came to make David king.
12:32. Also of the sons of Issachar men of understanding, that knew
all times to order what Israel should do, two hundred principal men:
and all the rest of the tribe followed their counsel.

 12:33. And of Zabulon such as went forth to battle, and stood in

array well appointed with armour for war, there came ifty thousand
to his aid, with no double heart.
12:34. And of Nephtali, a thousand leaders: and with them seven
and thirty thousand, furnished with shield and spear.
12:35. Of Dan also twenty-eight thousand six hundred prepared for
battle.
12:36. And of Aser forty thousand going forth to ight, and
challenging in battle.
12:37. And on the other side of the Jordan of the sons of Ruben, and
of Gad, and of the half of the tribe of Manasses a hundred and twenty
thousand, furnished with arms for war.
12:38. All these men of war well appointed to ight, came with a
perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the
rest also of Israel, were of one heart to make David king.
12:39. And they were there with David three days eating and
drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them.
12:40. Moreover they that were near them even as far as Issachar,
and Zabulon, and Nephtali, brought loaves on asses, and on camels,
and on mules, and on oxen, to eat: meal, igs, raisins, wine, oil, and
oxen, and sheep in abundance, for there was joy in Israel.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 13

The ark is brought from Cariathiarim. Oza for touching it is struck

dead.
13:1. David consulted with the captains of thousands, and of
hundreds, and with all the commanders.
13:2. And he said to all the assembly of Israel: If it please you; and if
the words which I speak come from the Lord our God, let us send to the
rest of our brethren into all the countries of Israel, and to the priests,
and the Levites, that dwell in the suburbs of the cities, to gather
themselves to us,

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 13:3. And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we sought
it not in the days of Saul.
13:4. And all the multitude answered that it should be so: for the
word pleased all the people.
13:5. So David assembled all Israel from Sihor of Egypt, even to the
entering into Emath, to bring the ark of God from Cariathiarim.
13:6. And David went up with all the men of Israel to the hill of
Cariathiarim which is in Juda, to bring thence the ark of the Lord God
sitting upon the cherubims, where his name is called upon.
13:7. And they carried the ark of God upon a new cart out of the
house of Abinadab. And Oza and his brother drove the cart.
13:8. And David and all Israel played before God with all their might
with hymns, and with harps, and with psalteries, and timbrels, and
cymbals, and trumpets,
13:9. And when they came to the loor of Chidon, Oza put forth his
hand, to hold up the ark: for the ox being wanton had made it lean a
little on one side.
13:10. And the Lord was angry with Oza, and struck him, because he
had touched the ark; and he died there before the Lord.
13:11. And David was troubled because the Lord had divided Oza:
and he called that place the Breach of Oza to this day.
13:12. And he feared God at that time, saying: How can I bring in
the ark of God to me?
13:13. And therefore he brought it not home to himself, that is, into
the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obededom the
Gethite.
13:14. And the ark of God remained in the house of Obededom three
months: and the Lord blessed his house, and all that he had.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 14

David’s house, and children: his victories over the Philistines.

 14:1. And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar
trees, and masons, and carpenters, to build him a house.
14:2. And David perceived that the Lord had con irmed him king
over Israel, and that his kingdom was exalted over his people Israel.
14:3. And David took other wives in Jerusalem: and he begot sons,
and daughters.
14:4. Now these are the names of them that were born to him in
Jerusalem: Samua, and Sobad, Nathan, and Solomon,
14:5. Jebahar, and Elisua, and Eliphalet,
14:6. And Noga, and Napheg, and Japhia,
14:7. Elisama, and Baaliada, and Eliphalet.
14:8. And the Philistines hearing that David was anointed king over
all Israel, went all up to seek him: and David heard of it, and went out
against them.
14:9. And the Philistines came and spread themselves in the vale of
Raphaim.
14:10. And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go up against
the Philistines, and wilt thou deliver them into my hand? And the Lord
said to him: Go up, and I will deliver them into thy hand.
14:11. And when they were come to Baalpharasim, David defeated
them there, and he said: God hath divided my enemies by my hand, as
waters are divided: and therefore the name of that place was called
Baalpharasim.
14:12. And they left there their gods, and David commanded that
they should be burnt.
14:13. Another time also the Philistines made an irruption, and
spread themselves abroad in the valley.
14:14. And David consulted God again, and God said to him: Go not
up after them, turn away from them, and come upon them over
against the pear trees.

 14:15. And when thou shalt hear the sound of one going in the tops
of the pear trees, then shalt thou go out to battle. For God is gone out
before thee to strike the army of the Philistines.
14:16. And David did as God had commanded him, and defeated the
army of the Philistines, slaying them from Gabaon to Gazera.
14:17. And the name of David became famous in all countries, and
the Lord made all nations fear him.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 15

The ark is brought into the city of David, with great solemnity. Michol
derideth David’s devotion.
15:1. He made also houses for himself in the city of David: and built
a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tabernacle for it.
15:2. Then David said: No one ought to carry the ark of God, but the
Levites, whom the Lord hath chosen to carry it, and to minister unto
himself for ever.
15:3. And he gathered all Israel together into Jerusalem, that the
ark of God might be brought into its place, which he had prepared for
it.
15:4. And the sons of Aaron also, and the Levites.
15:5. Of the children of Caath, Uriel was the chief, and his brethren a
hundred and twenty.
15:6. Of the sons of Merari, Asaia the chief, and his brethren two
hundred and twenty.
15:7. Of the sons of Gersom, Joel the chief, and his brethren a
hundred and thirty.
15:8. Of the sons of Elisaphan, Semeias the chief: and his brethren
two hundred.
15:9. Of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief: and his brethren eighty.
15:10. Of the sons of Oziel, Aminadab the chief: and his brethren a
hundred and twelve.

 15:11. And David called Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests, and the
Levites, Uriel, Asaia, Joel, Semeia, Eliel, and Aminadab:
15:12. And he said to them: You that are the heads of the Levitical
families, be sancti ied with your brethren, and bring the ark of the
Lord the God of Israel to the place, which is prepared for it:
15:13. Lest as the Lord at irst struck us, because you were not
present, the same should now also come to pass, by our doing some
thing against the law.
15:14. So the priests and the Levites were sancti ied, to carry the ark
of the Lord the God of Israel.
15:15. And the sons of Levi took the ark of God as Moses had
commanded, according to the word of the Lord, upon their shoulders,
with the staves.
15:16. And David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites, to appoint some
of their brethren to be singers with musical instruments, to wit, on
psalteries, and harps, and cymbals, that the joyful noise might resound
on high.
15:17. And they appointed Levites, Hemam the son of Joel, and of his
brethren Asaph the son of Barachias: and of the sons of Merari, their
brethren: Ethan the son of Casaia.
15:18. And with them their brethren: in the second rank, Zacharias,
and Ben, and Jaziel, and Semiramoth, and Jahiel, and Ani, and Eliab,
and Banaias, and Maasias, and Mathathias, and Eliphalu, and
Macenias, and Obededom, and Jehiel, the porters.
15:19. Now the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, sounded with
cymbals of brass.
15:20. And Zacharias, and Oziel, and Semiramoth, and Jehiel, and
Ani, and Eliab, and Maasias, and Banaias, sung mysteries upon
psalteries.
15:21. And Mathathias, and Eliphalu, and Macenias and Obededom,
and Jehiel and Ozaziu, sung a song of victory for the octave upon
harps.

 15:22. And Chonenias chief of the Levites, presided over the

prophecy, to give out the tunes: for he was very skilful.
The prophecy, to give out the tunes.... Singing praises to God is here called
prophecy: the more, because these singers were often inspired men.
15:23. And Barachias, and Elcana, were doorkeepers of the ark.
15:24. And Sebenias, and Josaphat, and Nathanael, and Amasai, and
Zacharias, and Banaias, and Eliezer the priests, sounded with
trumpets, before the ark of God: and Obededom and Jehias were
porters of the ark.
15:25. So David and all the ancients of Israel, and the captains over
thousands, went to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the
house of Obededom with joy.
15:26. And when God had helped the Levites who carried the ark of
the covenant of the Lord, they offered in sacri ice seven oxen, and
seven rams.
15:27. And David was clothed with a robe of ine linen, and all the
Levites that carried the ark, and the singing men, and Chonenias the
ruler of the prophecy among the singers: and David also had on him
an ephod of linen.
15:28. And all Israel brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord
with joyful shouting, and sounding with the sound of the cornet, and
with trumpets, and cymbals, and psalteries, and harps.
15:29. And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord was come to
the city of David, Michol the daughter of Saul looking out at a window,
saw king David dancing and playing, and she despised him in her
heart.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 16

The ark is placed in the tabernacle. Sacri ice is offered. David blesseth
the people, disposeth the of ices of Levites, and maketh a psalm of
praise to God.

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 16:1. So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the
tent, which David had pitched for it: and they offered holocausts, and
peace offerings before God.
16:2. And when David had made an end of offering holocausts, and
peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.
16:3. And he divided to all and every one, both men and women, a
loaf of bread, and a piece of roasted beef, and lour fried with oil.
16:4. And he appointed Levites to minister before the ark of the
Lord, and to remember his works, and to glorify, and praise the Lord
God of Israel.
16:5. Asaph the chief, and next after him Zacharias: moreover Jahiel,
and Semiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mathathias, and Eliab, and Banaias,
and Obededom: and Jehiel over the instruments of psaltery, and harps:
and Asaph sounded with cymbals:
16:6. But Banaias, and Jaziel the priests, to sound the trumpet
continually before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
16:7. In that day David made Asaph the chief to give praise to the
Lord with his brethren.
16:8. Praise ye the Lord, and call upon his name: make known his
doings among the nations.
16:9. Sing to him, yea, sing praises to him: and relate all his
wondrous works.
16:10. Praise ye his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice, that
seek the Lord.
16:11. Seek ye the Lord, and his power: seek ye his face evermore.
16:12. Remember his wonderful works, which he hath done: his
signs, and the judgments of his mouth.
16:13. O ye seed of Israel his servants, ye children of Jacob his
chosen.
16:14. He is the Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth.

 16:15. Remember for ever his covenant: the word, which he

commanded to a thousand generations.
16:16. The covenant which he made with Abraham: and his oath to
Isaac.
16:17. And he appointed the same to Jacob for a precept: and to
Israel for an everlasting covenant:
16:18. Saying: To thee will I give the land of Chanaan: the lot of your
inheritance.
16:19. When they were but a small number: very few and sojourners
in it.
16:20. And they passed from nation to nation: and from a kingdom
to another people.
16:21. He suffered no man to do them wrong: and reproved kings for
their sake.
16:22. Touch not my anointed: and do no evil to my prophets.
16:23. Sing ye to the Lord, all the earth: shew forth from day to day
his salvation.
16:24. Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all
people.
16:25. For the Lord is great and exceedingly to be praised: and he is
to be feared above all gods.
16:26. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made
the heavens.
16:27. Praise and magni icence are before him: strength and joy in
his place.
16:28. Bring ye to the Lord, O ye families of the nations: bring ye to
the Lord glory and empire.
16:29. Give to the Lord glory to his name, bring up sacri ice, and
come ye in his sight: and adore the Lord in holy becomingness.
16:30. Let all the earth be moved at his presence: for he hath
founded the world immoveable.

 16:31. Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad: and let them
say among the nations: The Lord hath reigned.
16:32. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: let the ields rejoice,
and all things that are in them.
16:33. Then shall the trees of the wood give praise before the Lord:
because he is come to judge the earth.
16:34. Give ye glory to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy
endureth for ever.
16:35. And say ye: Save us, O God our savior: and gather us together,
and deliver us from the nations, that we may give glory to thy holy
name, and may rejoice in singing thy praises.
16:36. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel from eternity to
eternity: and let all the people say Amen, and a hymn to God.
16:37. So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
Asaph and his brethren to minister in the presence of the ark
continually day by day, and in their courses.
16:38. And Obededom, with his brethren sixty-eight: and Obededom
the son of Idithun, and Hosa he appointed to be porters.
16:39. And Sadoc the priest, and his brethren priests, before the
tabernacle of the Lord in the high place, which was in Gabaon.
16:40. That they should offer holocausts to the Lord upon the altar
of holocausts continually, morning and evening, according to all that
is written in the law of the Lord, which he commanded Israel.
16:41. And after him Heman, and Idithun, and the rest that were
chosen, every one by his name to give praise to the Lord: because his
mercy endureth for ever.
16:42. And Heman and Idithun sounded the trumpet, and played on
the cymbals, and all kinds of musical instruments to sing praises to
God: and the sons of Idithun he made porters.
16:43. And all the people returned to their houses: and David to
bless also his own house.

 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 17

David’s purpose to build a temple, is rewarded by most ample

promises: David’s thanksgiving.
17:1. Now when David was dwelling in his house, he said to Nathan
the prophet: Behold I dwell in a house of cedar: and the ark of the
covenant of the Lord is under skins.
17:2. And Nathan said to David: Do all that is in thy heart: for God is
with thee.
17:3. Now that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:
17:4. Go, and speak to David my servant: Thus saith the Lord: Thou
shalt not build me a house to dwell in.
17:5. For I have not remained in a house from the time that I
brought up Israel, to this day: but I have been always changing places
in a tabernacle, and in a tent,
17:6. Abiding with all Israel. Did I ever speak to any one, of all the
judges of Israel whom I charged to feed my people, saying: Why have
you not built me a house of cedar?
17:7. Now therefore thus shalt thou say to my servant David: Thus
saith the Lord of hosts: I took thee from the pastures, from following
the lock, that thou shouldst be ruler of my people Israel.
17:8. And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast gone: and
have slain all thy enemies before thee, and have made thee a name like
that of one of the great ones that are renowned in the earth.
17:9. And I have given a place to my people Israel: they shall be
planted, and shall dwell therein, and shall be moved no more, neither
shall the children of iniquity waste them, as at the beginning,
17:10. Since the days that I gave judges to my people Israel, and
have humbled all thy enemies. And I declare to thee, that the Lord will
build thee a house.
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 17:11. And when thou shalt have ended thy days to go to thy fathers,
I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons: and I will
establish his kingdom.
17:12. He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne for
ever.
17:13. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son: and I
will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was
before thee.
17:14. But I will settle him in my house, and in my kingdom for ever:
and his throne shall be most irm for ever.
17:15. According to all these words, and according to all this vision,
so did Nathan speak to David.
17:16. And king David came and sat before the Lord, and said: Who
am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou shouldst give such
things to me?
17:17. But even this hath seemed little in thy sight, and therefore
thou hast also spoken concerning the house of thy servant for the time
to come: and hast made me remarkable above all men, O Lord God.
17:18. What can David add more, seeing thou hast thus glori ied thy
servant, and known him?
17:19. O Lord, for thy servant’s sake, according to thy own heart,
thou hast shewn all this magni icence, and wouldst have all the great
things to be known.
17:20. O Lord there is none like thee: and here is no other God beside
thee, of all whom we have heard of with our ears.
17:21. For what other nation is there upon earth like thy people
Israel, whom God went to deliver, and make a people for himself, and
by his greatness and terrors cast out nations before their face whom
he had delivered out of Egypt?
17:22. And thou hast made thy people Israel to be thy own people
for ever, and thou, O Lord, art become their God.

 17:23. Now therefore, O Lord, let the word which thou hast spoken
to thy servant, and concerning his house, be established for ever, and
do as thou hast said.
17:24. And let thy name remain and be magni ied for ever: and let it
be said: The Lord of hosts is God of Israel, and the house of David his
servant remaineth before him.
17:25. For thou, O Lord my God, hast revealed to the ear of thy
servant, that thou wilt build him a house: and therefore thy servant
hath found con idence to pray before thee.
17:26. And now O Lord, thou art God: and thou hast promised to thy
servant such great bene its.
17:27. And thou hast begun to bless the house of thy servant, that it
may be always before thee: for seeing thou blessest it, O Lord, it shall
be blessed for ever.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 18

David’s victories. His chief of icers.

18:1. And it came to pass after this, that David defeated the
Philistines, and humbled them, and took away Geth, and her daughters
out of the hands of the Philistines,
18:2. And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites were made David’s
servants, and brought him gifts.
18:3. At that time David defeated also Adarezer king of Soba of the
land of Hemath, when he went to extend his dominions as far as the
river Euphrates.
18:4. And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven
thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, and he houghed
all the chariot horses, only a hundred chariots, which he reserved for
himself.
18:5. And the Syrians of Damascus came also to help Adarezer king
of Soba: and David slew of them likewise two and twenty thousand
men.

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 18:6. And he put a garrison in Damascus, that Syria also should
serve him, and bring gifts. And the Lord assisted him in all things to
which he went.
18:7. And David took the golden quivers which the servants of
Adarezer had, and he brought them to Jerusalem.
18:8. Likewise out of Thebath and Chun, cities of Adarezer, he
brought very much brass, of which Solomon made the brazen sea, and
the pillars, and the vessels of brass.
18:9. Now when Thou king of Hemath heard that David had
defeated all the army of Adarezer king of Soba,
18:10. He sent Adoram his son to king David to desire peace of him,
and to congratulate him that he had defeated and overthrown
Adarezer: for Thou was an enemy to Adarezer.
18:11. And all the vessels of gold, and silver and brass king David
consecrated to the Lord, with the silver and gold which he had taken
from all the nations, as well from Edom, and from Moab, and from the
sons of Ammon, as from the Philistines, and from Amalec.
18:12. And Abisai the son of Sarvia slew of the Edomites in the vale
of the saltpits, eighteen thousand:
18:13. And he put a garrison in Edom, that Edom should serve
David: and the Lord preserved David in all things to which he went.
18:14. So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and
justice among all his people.
18:15. And Joab the son of Sarvia was over the army, and Josaphat
the son of Ahilud recorder.
18:16. And Sadoc the son of Achitob, and Achimelech the son of
Abiathar, were the priests: and Susa, scribe.
18:17. And Banaias the son of Joiada was over the bands of the
Cerethi, and the Phelethi: and the sons of David were chief about the
king.

 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 19

The Ammonites abuse David’s ambassadors: both they and their

confederates are overthrown.
19:1. Now it came to pass that Naas the king of the children of
Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.
19:2. And David said: I will shew kindness to Hanon the son of Naas:
for his father did a favour to me. And David sent messengers to
comfort him upon the death of his father. But when they were come
into the land of the children of Ammon, to comfort Hanon,
19:3. The princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanon: Thou
thinkest perhaps that David to do honour to thy father hath sent
comforters to thee: and thou dost not take notice, that his servants are
come to thee to consider, and search, and spy out thy land.
19:4. Wherefore Hanon shaved the heads and beards of the servants
of David, and cut away their garments from the buttocks to the feet,
and sent them away.
19:5. And when they were gone, they sent word to David, who sent
to meet them (for they had suffered a great affront) and ordered them
to stay at Jericho till their beards grew and then to return.
19:6. And when the children of Ammon saw that they had done an
injury to David, Hanon and the rest of the people sent a thousand
talents of silver, to hire them chariots and horsemen out of
Mesopotamia and out of Syria Maacha, and out of Soba.
19:7. And they hired two and thirty thousand chariots, and the king
of Maacha, with his people. And they came and camped over against
Medaba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together out
of their cities, and came to battle.
19:8. And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the army of
valiant men:

 19:9. And the children of Ammon came out and put their army in
array before the gate of the city: and the kings, that were come to
their aid, stood apart in the ield.
19:10. Wherefore Joab understanding that the battle was set
against him before and behind, chose out the bravest men of all Israel,
and marched against the Syrians,
19:11. And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abisai
his brother, and they went against the children of Ammon.
19:12. And he said: If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou
shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, I
will help thee.
19:13. Be of good courage and let us behave ourselves manfully for
our people, and for the cities of our God: and the Lord will do that
which is good in his sight.
19:14. So Joab and the people that were with him, went against the
Syrians to the battle: and he put them to light.
19:15. And the children of Ammon seeing that the Syrians were led,
they likewise led from Abisai his brother, and went into the city: and
Joab also returned to Jerusalem.
19:16. But the Syrians seeing that they had fallen before Israel, sent
messengers, and brought to them the Syrians that were beyond the
river: and Sophach, general of the army of Adarezer, was their leader.
19:17. And it was told David, and he gathered together all Israel,
and passed the Jordan, and came upon them, and put his army in
array against them, and they fought with him.
19:18. But the Syrian led before Israel: and David slew of the
Syrians seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and
Sophach the general of the army.
Seven thousand chariots.... That is, of men who fought in chariots.
19:19. And when the servants of Adarezer saw themselves overcome
by Israel, they went over to David, and served him: and Syria would
not help the children of Ammon any more.
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 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 20

Rabba is taken. Other victories over the Philistines.

20:1. And it came to pass after the course of a year, at the time that
kings go out to battle, Joab gathered together an army and the
strength of the troops, and wasted the land of the children of Ammon:
and went and besieged Rabba. But David stayed at Jerusalem, when
Joab smote Rabba, and destroyed it.
20:2. And David took the crown of Melchom from his head, and
found in it a talent weight of gold, and most precious stones, and he
made himself a diadem of it: he took also the spoils of the city which
were very great.
20:3. And the people that were therein he brought out: and made
harrows, and sleds, and chariots of iron to go over them, so that they
were cut and bruised to pieces: in this manner David dealt with all the
cities of the children of Ammon: and he returned with all his people to
Jerusalem.
20:4. After this there arose a war at Gazer against the Philistines: in
which Sabachai the Husathite slew Saphai of the race of Raphaim, and
humbled them.
20:5. Another battle also was fought against the Philistines, in
which Adeodatus the son of Saltus a Bethlehemite slew the brother of
Goliath the Gethite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
20:6. There was another battle also in Geth, in which there was a
man of great stature, whose ingers and toes were four and twenty, six
on each hand and foot: who also was born of the stock of Rapha.
20:7. He reviled Israel: but Jonathan the son of Samaa the brother of
David slew him. These were the sons of Rapha in Geth, who fell by the
hand of David and his servants.

 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 21

David’s sin in numbering the people is punished by a pestilence: which

ceaseth upon his offering sacri ice in the thrashing loor of Ornan.
21:1. And Satan rose up against Israel: and moved David to number
Israel.
21:2. And David said to Joab, and to the rulers of the people: Go, and
number Israel from Bersabee even to Dan, and bring me the number of
them that I may know it.
21:3. And Joab answered: The Lord make his people a hundred times
more than they are: but, my lord the king, are they not all thy servants:
why doth my lord seek this thing, which may be imputed as a sin to
Israel?
21:4. But the king’s word rather prevailed: and Joab departed, and
went through all Israel: and returned to Jerusalem.
21:5. And he gave David the number of them, whom he had
surveyed: and all the number of Israel was found to be eleven hundred
thousand men that drew the sword: and of Juda four hundred and
seventy thousand ighting men.
The number, etc.... The difference of the numbers here and 2 Kings 24. is to be
accounted for, by supposing the greater number to be that which was really
found, and the lesser to be that which Joab gave in.
21:6. But Levi and Benjamin he did not number: for Joab unwillingly
executed the king’s orders.
21:7. And God was displeased with this thing that was commanded:
and he struck Israel.
21:8. And David said to God: I have sinned exceedingly in doing this:
I beseech thee take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done
foolishly.
21:9. And the Lord spoke to Gad the seer of David, saying:

 21:10. Go, and speak to David, and tell him: Thus saith the Lord: I
give thee the choice of three things: choose one which thou wilt, and I
will do it to thee.
21:11. And when Gad was come to David, he said to him: Thus saith
the Lord: choose which thou wilt:
21:12. Either three years famine: or three months to lee from thy
enemies, and not to be able to escape their sword: or three days to
have the sword of the Lord, and pestilence in the land, and the angel of
the Lord destroying in all the coasts of Israel: now therefore see what I
shall answer him who sent me.
Three years famine.... Which joined with the three foregoing years of famine
mentioned, 2 Kings 21. and the seventh year of the land’s resting, would make up
the seven years proposed by the prophet, 2 Kings 24.13.
21:13. And David said to Gad: I am on every side in a great strait:
but it is better for me to fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies
are many, than into the hands of men.
21:14. So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel. And there fell of
Israel seventy thousand men.
21:15. And he sent an angel to Jerusalem, to strike it: and as he was
striking it, the Lord beheld, and took pity for the greatness of the evil:
and said to the angel that destroyed: It is enough, now stop thy hand.
And the angel of the Lord stood by the thrashing loor of Ornan the
Jebusite.
Ornan.... Otherwise Areuna.
21:16. And David lifting up his eyes, saw the angel of the Lord
standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand,
turned against Jerusalem: and both he and the ancients clothed in
haircloth, fell down lat on the ground.
21:17. And David said to God: Am not I he that commanded the
people to be numbered? It is I that have sinned: it is I that have done
the evil: but as for this lock, what hath it deserved? O Lord my God, let

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 thy hand be turned, I beseech thee, upon me, and upon my father’s
house: and let not thy people be destroyed.
21:18. And the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to tell David, to go
up, and build an altar to the Lord God in the thrashing loor of Ornan
the Jebusite.
21:19. And David went up, according to the word of Gad, which he
spoke to him in the name of the Lord.
21:20. Now when Ornan looked up, and saw the angel, he and his
four sons hid themselves: for at that time he was thrashing wheat in
the loor.
21:21. And as David was coming to Ornan, Ornan saw him, and went
out of the thrashing loor to meet him, and bowed down to him with his
face to the ground.
21:22. And David said to him: Give me this place of thy
thrashing loor, that I may build therein an altar to the Lord: but thou
shalt take of me as much money as it is worth, that the plague may
cease from the people.
21:23. And Ornan said to David: Take it, and let my lord the king do
all that pleaseth him: and moreover the oxen also I give for a
holocaust, and the drays for wood, and the wheat for the sacri ice: I
will give it all willingly.
21:24. And king David said to him: It shall not be so, but I will give
thee money as much as it is worth: for I must not take it from thee, and
so offer to the Lord holocausts free cost.
21:25. So David gave to Ornan for the place, six hundred sicles of
gold of just weight.
Six hundred sicles, etc.... This was the price of the whole place, on which the
temple was afterwards built; but the price of the oxen was ifty sicles of silver. 2
Kings 24.24.
21:26. And he built there an altar to the Lord: and he offered
holocausts, and peace offerings, and he called upon the Lord, and he
heard him by sending ire from heaven upon the altar of the holocaust.
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 21:27. And the Lord commanded the angel: and he put up his sword
again into the sheath.
21:28. And David seeing that the Lord had heard him in the
thrashing loor of Ornan the Jebusite, forthwith offered victims there.
21:29. But the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the
desert, and the altar of holocausts, was at that time in the high place
of Gabaon.
21:30. And David could not go to the altar there to pray to God: for
he was seized with an exceeding great fear, seeing the sword of the
angel of the Lord.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 22

David having prepared all necessaries, chargeth Solomon to build the

temple and the princes to assist him.
22:1. Then David said: This is the house of God, And this is the altar
for the holocaust of Israel.
22:2. And he commanded to gather together all the proselytes of the
land of Israel, and out of them he appointed stonecutters to hew stones
and polish them, to build the house of God.
22:3. And David prepared in abundance iron for the nails of the
gates, and for the closures and joinings: and of brass an immense
weight.
22:4. And the cedar trees were without number, which the
Sidonians, and Tyrians brought to David.
22:5. And David said: Solomon my son is very young and tender, and
the house which I would have to be built to the Lord, must be such as
to be renowned in all countries: therefore I will prepare him
necessaries. And therefore before his death he prepared all the
charges.
22:6. And he called for Solomon his son: and commanded him to
build a house to the Lord the God of Israel.

 22:7. And David said to Solomon: My son, it was my desire to have

built a house to the name of the Lord my God.
22:8. But the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thou hast shed
much blood, and fought many battles, so thou canst not build a house
to my name, after shedding so much blood before me:
22:9. The son, that shall be born to thee, shall be a most quiet man:
for I will make him rest from all his enemies round about: and
therefore he shall be called Peaceable: and I will give peace and
quietness to Israel all his days.
22:10. He shall build a house to my name, and he shall be a son to
me, and I will be a father to him: and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom over Israel for ever.
22:11. Now then, my son, the Lord be with thee, and do thou
prosper, and build the house to the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken of
thee.
22:12. The Lord also give thee wisdom and understanding, that thou
mayest be able to rule Israel, and to keep the law of the Lord thy God.
22:13. For then thou shalt be able to prosper, if thou keep the
commandments, and judgments, which the Lord commanded Moses to
teach Israel: take courage and act manfully, fear not, nor be dismayed.
22:14. Behold I in my poverty have prepared the charges of the
house of the Lord, of gold a hundred thousand talents, and of silver a
million of talents: but of brass, and of iron there is no weight, for the
abundance surpasseth all account: timber also and stones I have
prepared for all the charges.
22:15. Thou hast also workmen in abundance, hewers of stones, and
masons, and carpenters, and of all trades the most skilful in their
work,
22:16. In gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, whereof there
is no number. Arise then, and be doing, and the Lord will be with thee.
22:17. David also charged all the princes of Israel, to help Solomon
his son,

 22:18. Saying: You see, that the Lord your God is with you, and hath
given you rest round about, and hath delivered all your enemies into
your hands, and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his
people.
22:19. Give therefore your hearts and your souls, to seek the Lord
your God and arise, and build a sanctuary to the Lord God, that the
ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the vessels consecrated to the
Lord, may be brought into the house, which is built to the name of the
Lord.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 23

David appointeth Solomon king. The distribution of the Levites and

their of ices.
23:1. David being old and full of days, made Solomon his son king
over Israel.
23:2. And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, and the
priests and Levites.
23:3. And the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years,
and upwards: and there were found of them thirty-eight thousand
men.
23:4. Of these twenty-four thousand were chosen, and distributed
unto the ministry of the house of the Lord: and six thousand were the
overseers and judges.
23:5. Moreover four thousand were porters: and as many singers
singing to the Lord with the instruments, which he had made to sing
with.
23:6. And David distributed them into courses by the families of the
sons of Levi, to wit, of Gerson, and of Caath, and of Merari.
23:7. The sons of Gerson were Leedan and Semei.
23:8. The sons of Leedan: the chief Jahiel, and Zethan, and Joel,
three.

 23:9. The sons of Semei: Salomith, and Hosiel, and Aran, three: these
were the heads of the families of Leedan.
23:10. And the sons of Semei were Leheth, and Ziza, and Jaus, and
Baria: these were the sons of Semei, four.
23:11. And Leheth was the irst, Ziza the second: but Jaus and Baria
had not many children, and therefore they were counted in one family,
and in one house.
23:12. The sons of Caath were Amram, and Isaar, Hebron, and Oziel,
four.
23:13. The sons of Amram, Aaron, and Moses. And Aaron was
separated to minister in the holy of holies, he and his sons for ever, and
to burn incense before the Lord, according to his ceremonies, and to
bless his name for ever.
23:14. The sons also of Moses, the man of God, were numbered in the
tribe of Levi.
23:15. The sons of Moses were Gersom and Eliezer:
23:16. The sons of Gersom: Subuel the irst.
23:17. And the sons of Eliezer were: Rohobia the irst: and Eliezer
had no more sons. But the sons of Rohobia were multiplied
exceedingly.
23:18. The sons of Isaar: Salomith the irst.
23:19. The sons of Hebron: Jeriau the irst, Amarias the second,
Jahaziel the third, Jecmaam the fourth.
23:20. The sons of Oziel: Micha the irst, Jesia the second.
23:21. The sons of Merari: Moholi, and Musi. The sons of Moholi:
Eleazar and Cis.
23:22. And Eleazar died, and had no sons but daughters: and the
sons of Cis their brethren took them.
23:23. The sons of Musi: Moholi, and Eder, and Jerimoth, three.
23:24. These are the sons of Levi in their kindreds and families,
princes by their courses, and the number of every head that did the

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 works of the ministry of the house of the Lord from twenty years old
and upward.
23:25. For David said: The Lord the God of Israel hath given rest to
his people, and a habitation in Jerusalem for ever.
23:26. And it shall not be the of ice of the Levites to carry any more
the tabernacle, and all the vessels for the service thereof.
23:27. So according to the last precepts of David, the sons of Levi are
to be numbered from twenty years old and upward.
23:28. And they are to be under the hand of the sons of Aaron for the
service of the house of the Lord, in the porches, and in the chambers,
and in the place of puri ication, and in the sanctuary, and in all the
works of the ministry of the temple of the Lord.
23:29. And the priests have the charge of the loaves of proposition,
and of the sacri ice of ine lour, and of the unleavened cakes, and of
the fryingpan, and of the roasting, and of every weight and measure.
23:30. And the Levites are to stand in the morning to give thanks,
and to sing praises to the Lord: and in like manner in the evening,
23:31. As well in the oblation of the holocausts of the Lord, as in the
sabbaths and in the new moons, and the rest of the solemnities,
according to the number and ceremonies prescribed for every thing,
continually before the Lord.
23:32. And let them keep the observances of the tabernacle of the
covenant, and the ceremonies of the sanctuary, and the charge of the
sons of Aaron their brethren, that they may minister in the house of
the Lord.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 24

The divisions of the priests into four and twenty courses, to serve in the
temple: the chiefs of the Levites.
24:1. Now these were the divisions of the sons of Aaron: The sons of
Aaron: Nadab, and Abiu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar.

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 24:2. But Nadab and Abiu died before their father, and had no
children: so Eleazar, and Ithamar did the of ice of the priesthood.
24:3. And David distributed them, that is, Sadoc of the sons of
Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their
courses and ministry.
24:4. And there were found many more of the sons of Eleazar among
the principal men, than of the sons of Ithamar. And he divided them so,
that there were of the sons of Eleazar, sixteen chief men by their
families: and of the sons of Ithamar eight by their families and houses.
24:5. And he divided both the families one with the other by lot: for
there were princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God, both of the
sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar.
24:6. And Semeias the son of Nathanael the scribe a Levite, wrote
them down before the king and the princes, and Sadoc the priest, and
Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the princes also of the priestly and
Levitical families: one house, which was over the rest, of Eleazar: and
another house, which had the rest under it, of Ithamar.
24:7. Now the irst lot came forth to Joiarib, the second to Jedei,
24:8. The third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,
24:9. The ifth to Melchia, the sixth to Maiman,
24:10. The seventh to Accos, the eighth to Abia,
24:11. The ninth to Jesua, the tenth to Sechenia,
24:12. The eleventh to Eliasib, the twelfth to Jacim,
24:13. The thirteenth to Hoppha, the fourteenth to Isbaab,
24:14. The ifteenth to Belga, the sixteenth to Emmer,
24:15. The seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Aphses,
24:16. The nineteenth to Pheteia, the twentieth to Hezechiel,
24:17. The one and twentieth to Jachin, the two and twentieth to
Gamul,
24:18. The three and twentieth to Dalaiau, the four and twentieth to
Maaziau.

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 24:19. These are their courses according to their ministries, to come

into the house of the Lord, and according to their manner under the
hand of Aaron their father: as the Lord the God of Israel had
commanded.
24:20. Now of the rest of the sons of Levi, there was of the sons of
Amram, Subael: and of the sons of Subael, Jehedeia.
24:21. Also of the sons of Rohobia the chief Jesias.
24:22. And the son of Isaar Salemoth, and the son of Salemoth
Jahath:
24:23. And his son Jeriau the irst, Amarias the second, Jahaziel the
third, Jecmaan the fourth.
24:24. The son of Oziel, Micha: the son of Micha, Samir.
24:25. The brother of Micha, Jesia: and the son of Jesia, Zacharias.
24:26. The sons of Merari: Moholi and Musi: the son of Oziau: Benno.
24:27. The son also of Merari Oziau, and Soam, and Zacchur, and
Hebri.
24:28. And the son of Moholi: Eleazar, who had no sons.
24:29. And the son of Cis, Jeramael.
24:30. The sons of Musi: Moholi, Eder, and Jerimoth. These are the
sons of Levi according to the houses of their families.
24:31. And they also cast lots over against their brethren the sons of
Aaron before David the king, and Sadoc, and Ahimelech, and the
princes of the priestly and Levitical families, both the elder and the
younger. The lot divided all equally.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 25

The number and divisions of the musicians.

25:1. Moreover David and the chief of icers of the army separated
for the ministry the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Idithun: to
prophesy with harps, and with psalteries, and with cymbals according
to their number serving in their appointed of ice.

 25:2. Of the sons of Asaph: Zacchur, and Joseph, and Nathania, and
Asarela, sons of Asaph: under the hand of Asaph prophesying near the
king.
25:3. And of Idithun: the sons of Idithun, Godolias, Sori, Jeseias, and
Hasabias, and Mathathias, six, under the hand of their father Idithun,
who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the Lord.
25:4. Of Heman also: the sons of Heman, Bocciau, Mathaniau, Oziel,
Subuel, and Jerimoth, Hananias, Hanani, Eliatha, Geddelthi, and
Romemthiezer, and Jesbacassa, Mellothi, Othir, Mahazioth:
25:5. All these were the sons of Heman the seer of the king in the
words of God, to lift up the horn: and God gave to Heman fourteen sons
and three daughters.
25:6. All these under their father’s hand were distributed to sing in
the temple of the Lord, with cymbals, and psalteries and harps, for the
service of the house of the Lord near the king: to wit, Asaph, and
Idithun, and Heman.
25:7. And the number of them with their brethren, that taught the
song of the Lord, all the teachers, were two hundred and eighty-eight.
25:8. And they cast lots by their courses, the elder equally with the
younger, the learned and the unlearned together.
25:9. And the irst lot came forth to Joseph, who was of Asaph. The
second to Godolias, to him and his sons, and his brethren twelve.
25:10. The third to Zachur, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:11. The fourth to Isari, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:12. The ifth to Nathania, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:13. The sixth to Bocciau, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:14. The seventh to Isreela, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:15. The eighth to Jesaia, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:16. The ninth to Mathanaias, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:17. The tenth to Semeias, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:18. The eleventh to Azareel, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

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 25:19. The twelfth to Hasabia, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:20. The thirteenth to Subael, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:21. The fourteenth to Mathathias, to his sons and his brethren
twelve.
25:22. The ifteenth to Jerimoth, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:23. The sixteenth to Hananias, to his sons and his brethren
twelve.
25:24. The seventeenth to Jesbacassa, to his sons and his brethren
twelve.
25:25. The eighteenth to Hanani, to his sons and his brethren
twelve.
25:26. The nineteenth to Mellothi, to his sons and his brethren
twelve.
25:27. The twentieth to Eliatha, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:28. The one and twentieth to Othir, to his sons and his brethren
twelve.
25:29. The two and twentieth to Geddelthi, to his sons and his
brethren twelve.
25:30. The three and twentieth to Mahazioth, to his sons and his
brethren twelve.
25:31. The four and twentieth to Romemthiezer, to his sons and his
brethren twelve.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 26

The divisions of the porters. Of ices of other Levites.

26:1. And the divisions of the porters: of the Corites Meselemia, the
son of Core, of the sons of Asaph.
26:2. The sons of Meselemia: Zacharias the irstborn, Jadihel the
second, Zabadias the third, Jathanael the fourth,
26:3. Elam the ifth, Johanan the sixth, Elioenai the seventh.

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 26:4. And the sons of Obededom, Semeias the irstborn, Jozabad the
second, Joaha the third, Sachar the fourth, Nathanael the ifth,
26:5. Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Phollathi the eighth:
for the Lord had blessed him.
26:6. And to Semei his son were born sons, heads of their families:
for they were men of great valour.
26:7. The sons then of Semeias were Othni, and Raphael, and Obed,
Elizabad, and his brethren most valiant men: and Eliu, and Samachias.
26:8. All these of the sons of Obededom: they, and their sons, and
their brethren most able men for service, sixty-two of Obededom.
26:9. And the sons of Meselemia, and their brethren strong men,
were eighteen.
26:10. And of Hosa, that is, of the sons of Merari: Semri the chief,
(for he had not a irstborn, and therefore his father made him chief.)
He had not a irstborn.... That is, his irstborn was either dead or not it to be
chief; and therefore he made Semri the chief.
26:11. Helcias the second, Tabelias the third, Zacharias the fourth:
all these the sons, and the brethren of Hosa, were thirteen.
26:12. Among these were the divisions of the porters, so that the
chiefs of the wards, as well as their brethren, always ministered in the
house of the Lord.
26:13. And they cast lots equally, both little and great, by their
families for every one of the gates.
26:14. And the lot of the east fell to Selemias. But to his son
Zacharias, a very wise and learned man, the north gate fell by lot.
26:15. And to Obededom and his sons that towards the south: in
which part of the house was the council of the ancients.
26:16. To Sephim, and Hosa towards the west, by the gate which
leadeth to the way of the ascent: ward against ward.
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 26:17. Now towards the east were six Levites: and towards the north
four a day: and towards the south likewise four a day: and where the
council was, two and two.
26:18. In the cells also of the porters toward the west four in the
way: and two at every cell.
26:19. These are the divisions of the porters of the sons of Core, and
of Merari.
26:20. Now Achias was over the treasures of the house of God, and
the holy vessels.
Holy vessels.... Or vessels of the holy places, or of things holy. Vasa sanctorum.
26:21. The sons of Ledan, the sons of Gersonni: of Ledan were heads
of the families, of Ledan, and Gersonni, Jehieli.
26:22. The sons of Jehieli: Zathan and Joel, his brethren over the
treasures of the house of the Lord,
26:23. With the Amramites, and Isaarites, and Hebronites, and
Ozielites.
26:24. And Subael the son of Gersom, the son of Moses, was chief
over the treasures.
26:25. His brethren also, Eliezer, whose son Rohobia, and his son
Isaias, and his son Joram, and his son Zechri, and his son Selemith.
26:26. Which Selemith and his brethren were over the treasures of
the holy things, which king David, and the heads of families, and the
captains over thousands and over hundreds, and the captains of the
host had dedicated,
26:27. Out of the wars, and the spoils won in battles, which they had
consecrated to the building and furniture of the temple of the Lord.
26:28. And all these things that Samuel the seer and Saul the son of
Cis, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Sarvia had
sancti ied: and whosoever had sancti ied those things, they were under
the hand of Selemith and his brethren.
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 26:29. But Chonenias and his sons were over the Isaarites, for the
business abroad over Israel to teach them and judge them.
26:30. And of the Hebronites Hasabias, and his brethren most able
men, a thousand seven hundred had the charge over Israel beyond the
Jordan westward, in all the works of the Lord, and for the service of
the king.
26:31. And the chief of the Hebronites was Jeria according to their
families and kindreds. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they
were numbered, and there were found most valiant men in Jazer
Galaad,
26:32. And his brethren of stronger age, two thousand seven
hundred chiefs of families. And king David made them rulers over the
Rubenites and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasses, for all the
service of God, and the king.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 27

The twelve captains for every month; the twelve princes of the tribes.
David’s several of icers.
27:1. Now the children of Israel according to their number, the
heads of families, captains of thousands and of hundreds, and of icers,
that served the king according to their companies, who came in and
went out every month in the year, under every chief were four and
twenty thousand.
27:2. Over the irst company the irst month Jesboam, the son of
Zabdiel was chief, and under him were four and twenty thousand.
27:3. Of the sons of Phares, the chief of all the captains in the host in
the irst month.
27:4. The company of the second month was under Dudia, an
Ahohite, and after him was another named Macelloth, who
commanded a part of the army of four and twenty thousand.
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 27:5. And the captain of the third company for the third month, was
Banaias the son of Joiada the priest: and in his division were four and
twenty thousand.
27:6. This is that Banaias the most valiant among the thirty, and
above the thirty. And Amizabad his son commanded his company.
27:7. The fourth, for the fourth month, was Asahel the brother of
Joab, and Zabadias his son after him: and in his company were four
and twenty thousand.
27:8. The ifth captain for the ifth month, was Samaoth a Jezerite:
and his company were four and twenty thousand.
27:9. The sixth, for the sixth month, was Hira the son of Acces a
Thecuite: and in his company were four and twenty thousand.
27:10. The seventh, for the seventh month, was Helles a Phallonite of
the sons of Ephraim: and in his company were four and twenty
thousand.
27:11. The eighth, for the eighth month, was Sobochai a Husathite
of the race of Zarahi: and in his company were four and twenty
thousand.
27:12. The ninth, for the ninth month, was Abiezer an Anathothite of
the sons of Jemini, and in his company were four and twenty thousand.
27:13. The tenth, for the tenth month, was Marai, who was a
Netophathite of the race of Zarai: and in his company were four and
twenty thousand.
27:14. The eleventh, for the eleventh month, was Banaias, a
Pharathonite of the sons of Ephraim: and in his company were four
and twenty thousand.
27:15. The twelfth, for the twelfth month, was Holdai a
Netophathite, of the race of Gothoniel: and in his company were four
and twenty thousand.
27:16. Now the chiefs over the tribes of Israel were these: over the
Rubenites, Eliezer the son of Zechri was ruler: over the Simeonites,
Saphatias the son of Maacha:

 27:17. Over the Levites, Hasabias the son of Camuel: over the
Aaronites, Sadoc:
27:18. Over Juda, Eliu the brother of David over Issachar, Amri the
son of Michael:
27:19. Over the Zabulonites, Jesmaias the son of Adias: over the
Nephtalites, Jerimoth the son of Ozriel:
27:20. Over the sons of Ephraim, Osee the son of Ozaziu: over the
half tribe of Manasses, Joel the son of Phadaia:
27:21. And over the half tribe of Manasses in Galaad, Jaddo the son
of Zacharias: and over Benjamin, Jasiel the son of Abner.
27:22. And over Dan, Ezrihel the son of Jeroham: these were the
princes of the children of Israel.
27:23. But David would not number them from twenty years old and
under: because the Lord had said that he would multiply Israel like the
stars of heaven.
27:24. Joab the son of Sarvia began to number, but he inished not:
because upon this there fell wrath upon Israel: and therefore the
number of them that were numbered, was not registered in the
chronicles of king David.
27:25. And over the king’s treasures was Azmoth the son of Adiel:
and over those stores which were in the cities, and in the villages, and,
in the castles, was Jonathan the son of Ozias.
27:26. And over the tillage, and the husbandmen, who tilled the
ground, was Ezri the son of Chelub:
27:27. And over the dressers of the vine yards, was Semeias a
Romathite: and over the wine cellars, Zabdias an Aphonite.
27:28. And over the oliveyards and the ig groves, which were in the
plains, was Balanam a Gederite: and over the oil cellars, Joas.
27:29. And over the herds that fed in Saron, was Setrai a Saronite:
and over the oxen in the valleys, Saphat the son of Adli:

 27:30. And over the camels, Ubil an Ishmahelite and over the asses,
Jadias a Meronathite:
27:31. And over the sheep Jaziz an Agarene. All these were the rulers
of the substance of king David.
27:32. And Jonathan David’s uncle, a counsellor, a wise and learned
man: he and Jahiel the son of Hachamoni were with the king’s sons.
27:33. And Achitophel was the king’s counsellor, and Chusai the
Arachite, the king’s friend.
27:34. And after Achitophel was Joiada the son of Banaias, and
Abiathar. And the general of the king’s army was Joab.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 28

David’s speech, in a solemn assembly: his exhortation to Solomon. He

giveth him a pattern of the temple.
28:1. And David assembled all the chief men of Israel, the princes of
the tribes, and the captains of the companies, who waited on the king:
and the captains over thousands, and over hundreds, and them who
had the charge over the substance and possessions of the king, and his
sons with the of icers of the court, and the men of power, and all the
bravest of the army at Jerusalem.
28:2. And the king rising up, and standing said: Hear me, my
brethren and my people: I had a thought to have built a house, in
which the ark of the Lord, and the footstool of our God might rest: and
prepared all things for the building.
28:3. And God said to me: Thou shalt not build a house to my name:
because thou art a man of war, and hast shed blood.
28:4. But the Lord God of Israel chose me of all the house of my
father, to be king over Israel for ever: for of Juda he chose the princes:
and of the house of Juda, my father’s house: and among the sons of my
father, it pleased him to choose me king over all Israel.
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 28:5. And among my sons (for the Lord hath given me many sons) he
hath chosen Solomon my son, to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of
the Lord over Israel.
28:6. And he said to me: Solomon thy son shall build my house, and
my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be a father to
him.
28:7. And I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he continue to keep
my commandments, and my judgments, as at this day.
28:8. Now then before all the assembly of Israel, in the hearing of
our God, keep ye, and seek all the commandments of the Lord our God:
that you may possess the good land, and may leave it to your children
after you for ever.
28:9. And thou my son Solomon, know the God of thy father, and
serve him with a perfect heart, and a willing mind: for the Lord
searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the thoughts of minds. If
thou seek him, thou shalt ind him: but if thou forsake him, he will cast
thee off for ever.
28:10. Now therefore seeing the Lord hath chosen thee to build the
house of the sanctuary, take courage, and do it.
28:11. And David gave to Solomon his son a description of the porch,
and of the temple, and of the treasures, and of the upper loor, and of
the inner chambers, and of the house for the mercy seat,
28:12. As also of all the courts, which he had in his thought, and of
the chambers round about, for the treasures of the house of the Lord,
and for the treasures of the consecrated things,
28:13. And of the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, for all
the works of the house of the Lord, and for all the vessels of the service
of the temple of the Lord.
28:14. Gold by weight for every vessel for the ministry. And silver by
weight according to the diversity of the vessels and uses.
28:15. He gave also gold for the golden candlesticks, and their
lamps, according to the dimensions of every candlestick, and the lamps

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 thereof. In like manner also he gave silver by weight for the silver
candlesticks, and for their lamps according to the diversity of the
dimensions of them.
28:16. He gave also gold for the tables of proposition, according to
the diversity of the tables: in like manner also silver for other tables of
silver.
28:17. For leshhooks also, and bowls, and censers of ine gold, and
for little lions of gold, according to the measure he gave by weight, for
every lion. In like manner also for lions of silver he set aside a different
weight of silver.
28:18. And for the altar of incense, he gave the purest gold: and to
make the likeness of the chariot of the cherubims spreading their
wings, and covering the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
28:19. All these things, said he, came to me written by the hand of
the Lord that I might understand all the works of the pattern.
28:20. And David said to Solomon his son: Act like a man, and take
courage, and do: fear not, and be not dismayed: for the Lord my God
will be with thee, and will not leave thee, nor forsake thee, till thou
hast inished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.
28:21. Behold the courses of the priests and the Levites, for every
ministry of the house of the Lord, stand by thee, and are ready, and
both the princes, and the people know how to execute all thy
commandments.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 29

David by word and example encourageth the princes to contribute

liberally to the building of the temple. His thanksgiving, prayer, and
sacri ices: his death.
29:1. And king David said to all the assembly: Solomon my son,
whom alone God hath chosen, is as yet young and tender: and the
work is great, for a house is prepared not for man, but for God.
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 29:2. And I with all my ability have prepared the expenses for the
house of my God. Gold for vessels of gold, and silver for vessels of silver,
brass for things of brass, iron for things of iron, wood for things of
wood: and onyx stones, and stones like alabaster, and of divers colours,
and all manner of precious stones, and marble of Paros in great
abundance.
29:3. Now over and above the things which I have offered into the
house of my God I give of my own proper goods, gold and silver for the
temple of my God, beside what things I have prepared for the holy
house.
29:4. Three thousand talents of gold of the gold of Ophir: and seven
thousand talents of re ined silver, to overlay the walls of the temple.
29:5. And gold for wheresoever there is need of gold: and silver for
wheresoever there is need of silver, for the works to be made by the
hands of the arti icers: now if any man is willing to offer, let him ill his
hand to day, and offer what he pleaseth to the Lord.
29:6. Then the heads of the families, and the princes of the tribes of
Israel and the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, and the
overseers of the king’s possessions promised,
29:7. And they gave for the works of the house of the Lord, of gold,
ive thousand talents, and ten thousand solids: of silver ten thousand
talents: and of brass eighteen thousand talents: and of iron a hundred
thousand talents.
29:8. And all they that had stones, gave them to the treasures of the
house of the Lord, by the hand of Jahiel the Gersonite.
29:9. And the people rejoiced, when they promised their offerings
willingly: because they offered them to the Lord with all their heart:
and David the king rejoiced also with a great joy.
29:10. And he blessed the Lord before all the multitude, and he said:
Blessed art thou, O Lord the God of Israel, our father from eternity to
eternity.
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 29:11. Thine, O Lord, is magni icence, and power, and glory, and
victory: and to thee is praise: for all that is in heaven, and in earth, is
thine: thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art above all princes.
29:12. Thine are riches, and thine is glory, thou hast dominion over
all, in thy hand is power and might: in thy hand greatness, and the
empire of all things.
29:13. Now therefore our God we give thanks to thee, and we praise
thy glorious name.
29:14. Who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to
promise thee all these things? all things are thine: and we have given
thee what we received of thy hand.
29:15. For we are sojourners before thee, and strangers, as were all
our fathers. Our days upon earth are as a shadow, and there is no stay.
29:16. O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build
thee a house for thy holy name, is from thy hand, and all things are
thine.
29:17. I know my God that thou provest hearts, and lovest simplicity,
wherefore I also in the simplicity of my heart, have joyfully offered all
these things: and I have seen with great joy thy people, which are here
present, offer thee their offerings.
29:18. O Lord God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Israel our
fathers, keep for ever this will of their heart, and let this mind remain
always for the worship of thee.
29:19. And give to Solomon my son a perfect heart, that he may
keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy ceremonies, and do
all things: and build the house, for which I have provided the charges.
29:20. And David commanded all the assembly: Bless ye the Lord
our God. And all the assembly blessed the Lord the God of their fathers:
and they bowed themselves and worshipped God, and then the king.
29:21. And they sacri iced victims to the Lord: and they offered
holocausts the next day, a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, a

 thousand lambs, with their libations, and with every thing prescribed
most abundantly for all Israel.
29:22. And they ate, and drank before the Lord that day with great
joy. And they anointed the second time Solomon the son of David. And
they anointed him to the Lord to be prince, and Sadoc to be high
priest.
29:23. And Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of
David his father, and he pleased all: and all Israel obeyed him.
29:24. And all the princes, and men of power, and all the sons of king
David gave their hand, and were subject to Solomon the king.
29:25. And the Lord magni ied Solomon over all Israel: and gave
him the glory of a reign, such as no king of Israel had before him.
29:26. So David the son of Isai reigned over all Israel.
29:27. And the days that he reigned over Israel, were forty years: in
Hebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem three and thirty
years.
29:28. And he died in a good age, full of days, and riches, and glory.
And Solomon his son reigned in his stead.
29:29. Now the acts of king David irst and last are written in the
book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in
the book of Gad the seer:
29:30. And of all his reign, and his valour, and of the times that
passed under him, either in Israel, or in all the kingdoms of the
countries.

THE SECOND BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON

 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 1

Solomon offereth sacri ices at Gabaon. His choice of wisdom which God
giveth him.
1:1. And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom,
and the Lord his God was with him, and magni ied him to a high
degree.
1:2. And Solomon gave orders to all Israel, to the captains of
thousands, and of hundreds, and to the rulers, and to the judges of all
Israel, and the heads of the families:
1:3. And he went with all the multitude to the high place of Gabaon,
where was the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, which Moses the
servant of God made, in the wilderness.
1:4. For David had brought the ark of God from Cariathiarim to the
place, which he had prepared for it, and where he had pitched a
tabernacle for it, that is, in Jerusalem.
1:5. And the altar of brass, which Beseleel the son of Uri the son of
Hur had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord: and
Solomon and all the assembly sought it:
1:6. And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar, before the
tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up on it a thousand
victims.
1:7. And behold that night God appeared to him, saying: Ask what
thou wilt that I should give thee.
1:8. And Solomon said to God: Thou hast shewn great kindness to
my father David: and hast made me king in his stead.
1:9. Now therefore, O Lord God, let thy word be ful illed, which thou
hast promised to David my father: for thou hast made me king over
thy great people, which is as innumerable as the dust of the earth.
1:10. Give me wisdom and knowledge that I may come in and go out
before thy people: for who can worthily judge this thy people, which is
so great?

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 1:11. And God said to Solomon: Because this choice hath pleased thy
heart, and thou hast not asked riches, and wealth, and glory, nor the
lives of them that hate thee, nor many days of life: but hast asked
wisdom and knowledge, to be able to judge my people, over which I
have made thee king,
1:12. Wisdom and knowledge are granted to thee: and I will give
thee riches, and wealth, and glory, so that none of the kings before
thee, nor after thee, shall be like thee.
1:13. Then Solomon came from the high place of Gabaon to
Jerusalem before the tabernacle of the covenant, and reigned over
Israel.
1:14. And he gathered to himself chariots and horsemen, and he had
a thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen:
and he placed them in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in
Jerusalem.
1:15. And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones,
and cedar trees as sycamores, which grow in the plains in great
multitude.
1:16. And there were horses brought him from Egypt, and from Coa
by the king’s merchants, who went, and bought at a price,
1:17. A chariot of four horses for six hundred pieces of silver, and a
horse for a hundred and ifty: in like manner market was made in all
the kingdoms of the Hethites, and of the kings of Syria.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 2

Solomon’s embassy to Hiram, who sends him a skilful workman and

timber.
2:1. And Solomon determined to build a house to the name of the
Lord, and a palace for himself.
2:2. And he numbered out seventy thousand men to bear burdens,
and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains, and three
thousand six hundred to oversee them.

 2:3. He sent also to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As thou didst with
David my father, and didst send him cedars, to build him a house, in
which he dwelt:
2:4. So do with me that I may build a house to the name of the Lord
my God, to dedicate it to burn incense before him, and to perfume with
aromatical spices, and for the continual setting forth of bread, and for
the holocausts, morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and on the
new moons, and the solemnities of the Lord our God for ever, which are
commanded for Israel.
2:5. For the house which I desire to build, is great: for our God is
great above all gods.
2:6. Who then can be able to build him a worthy house? if heaven,
and the heavens of heavens cannot contain him: who am I that I
should be able to build him a house? but to this end only, that incense
may be burnt before him.
2:7. Send me therefore a skilful man, that knoweth how to work in
gold, and in silver, in brass, and in iron, in purple, in scarlet and in
blue, and that hath skill in engraving, with the arti icers, which I have
with me in Judea and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.
2:8. Send me also cedars, and ir trees, and pine trees from Libanus:
for I know that thy servants are skilful in cutting timber in Libanus,
and my servants shall be with thy servants,
2:9. To provide me timber in abundance. For the house which I
desire to build, is to be exceeding great, and glorious.
2:10. And I will give thy servants the workmen that are to cut down
the trees, for their food twenty thousand cores of wheat, and as many
cores of barley, and twenty thousand measures of wine, and twenty
thousand measures of oil.
2:11. And Hiram king of Tyre sent a letter to Solomon, saying:
Because the Lord hath loved his people, therefore he hath made thee
king over them.

 2:12. And he added, saying: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,
who made heaven and earth, who hath given to king David a wise and
knowing son, endued with understanding and prudence, to build a
house to the Lord, and a palace for himself.
2:13. I therefore have sent thee my father Hiram, a wise and most
skilful man,
2:14. The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, whose father was
a Tyrian, who knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, and
in iron, and in marble, and in timber, in purple also, and violet, and silk
and scarlet: and who knoweth to grave all sort of graving, and to
devise ingeniously all that there may be need of in the work with thy
arti icers, and with the arti icers of my lord David thy father.
2:15. The wheat therefore, and the barley and the oil, and the wine,
which thou, my lord, hast promised, send to thy servants.
2:16. And we will cut down as many trees out of Libanus, as thou
shalt want, and will convey them in loats by sea to Joppe: and it will
be thy part to bring them thence to Jerusalem.
2:17. And Solomon numbered all the proselytes in the land of Israel,
after the numbering which David his father had made, and they were
found a hundred and ifty-three thousand and six hundred.
2:18. And he set seventy thousand of them to carry burdens on their
shoulders, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains: and
three thousand and six hundred to be overseers of the work of the
people.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 3

The plan and ornaments of the temple: the cherubims, the veil, and the
pillars.
3:1. And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem,
in mount Moria, which had been shewn to David his father, in the
place which David had prepared in the thrashing loor of Ornan the
Jebusite.
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 3:2. And he began to build in the second month, in the fourth year of
his reign.
3:3. Now these are the foundations, which Solomon laid, to build the
house of God, the length by the irst measure sixty cubits, the breadth
twenty cubits.
3:4. And the porch in the front, which was extended in length
according to the measure of the breadth of the house, twenty cubits:
and the height was a hundred and twenty cubits: and he overlaid it
within with pure gold.
3:5. And the greater house he ceiled with deal boards, and overlaid
them with plates of ine gold throughout: and he graved in them palm
trees, and like little chains interlaced with one another.
3:6. He paved also the loor of the temple with most precious
marble, of great beauty.
3:7. And the gold of the plates with which he overlaid the house, and
the beams thereof, and the posts, and the walls, and the doors was of
the inest: and he graved cherubims on the walls.
3:8. He made also the house of the holy of holies: the length of it
according to the breadth of the temple, twenty cubits, and the breadth
of it in like manner twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with plates of
gold, amounting to about six hundred talents.
3:9. He made also nails of gold, and the weight of every nail was ifty
sicles: the upper chambers also he overlaid with gold.
3:10. He made also in the house of the holy of holies two cherubims
of image work: and he overlaid them with gold.
3:11. The wings of the cherubims were extended twenty cubits, so
that one wing was ive cubits long, and reached to the wall of the
house: and the other was also ive cubits long, and reached to the wing
of the other cherub.
3:12. In like manner the wing of the other cherub, was ive cubits
long, and reached to the wall: and his other wing was ive cubits long,
and touched the wing of the other cherub.
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 3:13. So the wings of the two cherubims were spread forth, and were
extended twenty cubits: and they stood upright on their feet, and their
faces were turned toward the house without.
3:14. He made also a veil of violet, purple, scarlet, and silk: and
wrought in it cherubims.
3:15. He made also before the doors of the temple two pillars, which
were ive and thirty cubits high: and their chapiters were ive cubits.
3:16. He made also as it were little chains in the oracle, and he put
them on the heads of the pillars: and a hundred pomegranates, which
he put between the little chains.
3:17. These pillars he put at the entrance of the temple, one on the
right hand, and the other on the left: that which was on the right
hand, he called Jachin: and that on the left hand, Booz.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 4

The altar of brass, the molten sea upon twelve oxen, the ten loaves, the
candlesticks and other vessels and ornaments of the temple.
4:1. He made also an altar of brass twenty cubits long, and twenty
cubits broad, and ten cubits high.
4:2. Also a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in
compass: it was ive cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits compassed
it round about.
4:3. And under it there was the likeness of oxen, and certain
engravings on the outside of ten cubits compassed the belly of the sea,
as it were with two rows.
4:4. And the oxen were cast: and the sea itself was set upon the
twelve oxen, three of which looked toward the north, and other three
toward the west: and other three toward the south, and the other
three that remained toward the east, and the sea stood upon them:
and the hinder parts of the oxen were inward under the sea.
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 4:5. Now the thickness of it was a handbreadth, and the brim of it

was like the brim of a cup, or of a crisped lily: and it held three
thousand measures.
4:6. He made also ten lavers: and he set ive on the right hand, and
ive on the left, to wash in them all such things as they were to offer for
holocausts: but the sea was for the priests to wash in.
4:7. And he made ten golden candlesticks, according to the form
which they were commanded to be made by: and he set them in the
temple, ive on the right hand, and ive on the left.
4:8. Moreover also ten tables: and he set them in the temple, ive on
the right side, and ive on the left. Also a hundred bowls of gold.
4:9. He made also the court of the priests, and a great hall, and
doors in the hall, which he covered with brass.
4:10. And he set the sea on the right side over against the east
toward the south.
4:11. And Hiram made caldrons, and leshhooks, and bowls: and
inished all the king’s work in the house of God:
4:12. That is to say, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the
chapiters, and the network, to cover the chapiters over the pommels.
4:13. And four hundred pomegranates, and two wreaths of network,
so that two rows of pomegranates were joined to each wreath, to
cover the pommels, and the chapiters of the pillars.
4:14. He made also bases, and lavers, which he set upon the bases:
4:15. One sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;
4:16. And the caldrons, and leshhooks, and bowls. All the vessels did
Hiram his father make for Solomon in the house of the Lord of the
inest brass.
4:17. In the country near the Jordan did the king cast them, in a clay
ground between Sochot and Saredatha.
4:18. And the multitude of vessels was innumerable, so that the
weight of the brass was not known.
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 4:19. And Solomon made all the vessels for the house of God, and the
golden altar, and the tables, upon which were the loaves of
proposition,
4:20. The candlesticks also of most pure gold with their lamps to
give light before the oracle, according to the manner.
4:21. And certain lowers, and lamps, and golden tongs: all were
made of the inest gold.
4:22. The vessels also for the perfumes, and the censers, and the
bowls, and the mortars, of pure gold. And he graved the doors of the
inner temple, that is, for the holy of holies: and the doors of the temple
without were of gold. And thus all the work was inished which
Solomon made in the house of the Lord.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 5

The ark is brought with great solemnity into the temple: the temple is
illed with the glory of God.
5:1. Then Solomon brought in all those things that David his father
had vowed, the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels he put among
the treasures of the house of God.
5:2. And after this he gathered together the ancients of Israel and all
the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families, of the children
of Israel to Jerusalem, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord out
of the city of David, which is Sion.
5:3. And all the men of Israel came to the king in the solemn day of
the seventh month.
5:4. And when all the ancients of Israel were come, the Levites took
up the ark,
5:5. And brought it in, together with all the furniture of the
tabernacle. And the priests with the Levites carried the vessels of the
sanctuary, which were in the tabernacle.
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 5:6. And king Solomon and all the assembly of Israel and all that
were gathered together before the ark, sacri iced rams, and oxen
without number: so great was the multitude of the victims.
5:7. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord
into its place, that is, to the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies
under the wings of the cherubims:
5:8. So that the cherubims spread their wings over the place, in
which the ark was set, and covered the ark itself and its staves.
5:9. Now the ends of the staves wherewith the ark was carried,
because they were some thing longer, were seen before the oracle: but
if a man were a little outward, he could not see them. So the ark has
been there unto this day.
5:10. And there was nothing else in the ark but the two tables which
Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord gave the law to the children
of Israel, at their coming out of Egypt.
5:11. Now when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, for all
the priests that could be found there, were sancti ied: and as yet at
that time the courses and orders of the ministries were not divided
among them,
5:12. Both the Levites and the singing men, that is, both they that
were under Asaph, and they that were under Heman, and they that
were under Idithun, with their sons, and their brethren, clothed with
ine linen, sounded with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, standing
on the east side of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty
priests, sounding with trumpets.
5:13. So when they all sounded together, both with trumpets, and
voice, and cymbals, and organs, and with divers kind of musical
instruments, and lifted up their voice on high: the sound was heard
afar off, so that when they began to praise the Lord, and to say: Give
glory to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever: the
house of God was illed with a cloud.
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 5:14. Nor could the priests stand and minister by reason of the
cloud. For the glory of the Lord had illed the house of God.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 6

Solomon’s blessings and prayer.

6:1. Then Solomon said: The Lord promised that he would dwell in a
cloud.
6:2. But I have built a house to his name, that he might dwell there
for ever.
6:3. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the multitude of
Israel for all the multitude stood attentive and he said:
6:4. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who hath accomplished in
deed that which he spoke to David my father, saying:
6:5. From the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt,
I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built in
it to my name: neither chose I any other man, to be the ruler of my
people Israel.
6:6. But I chose Jerusalem, that my name might be there: and I chose
David to set him over my people Israel.
6:7. And whereas David my father had a mind to build a house to the
name of the Lord the God of Israel,
6:8. The Lord said to him: Forasmuch as it was thy will to build a
house to my name, thou hast done well indeed in having such a will:
6:9. But thou shalt not build the house, but thy son, who shall come
out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name.
6:10. The Lord therefore hath accomplished his word which he
spoke: and I am risen up in the place of David my father, and sit upon
the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to
the name of the Lord God of Israel.
6:11. And I have put in it the ark, wherein is the covenant of the
Lord, which he made with the children of Israel.

 6:12. And he stood before the altar of the Lord, in presence of all the
multitude of Israel, and stretched forth his hands.
6:13. For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, and had set it in the
midst of the temple, which was ive cubits long, and ive cubits broad,
and three cubits high: and he stood upon it: then kneeling down in the
presence of all the multitude of Israel, and lifting up his hands towards
heaven,
6:14. He said: O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in
heaven nor in earth: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy
servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:
6:15. Who hast performed to thy servant David my father all that
thou hast promised him: and hast accomplished in fact, what thou
hast spoken with thy mouth, as also the present time proveth.
6:16. Now then, O Lord God of Israel, ful il to thy servant David my
father, whatsoever thou hast promised him, saying: There shall not fail
thee a man in my sight, to sit upon the throne of Israel: yet so that thy
children take heed to their ways, and walk in my law, as thou hast
walked before me.
6:17. And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy word be established which
thou hast spoken to thy servant David.
6:18. Is it credible then that God should dwell with men on the
earth? If heaven and the heavens of heavens do not contain thee, how
much less this house, which I have built?
6:19. But to this end only it is made, that thou mayest regard the
prayer of thy servant and his supplication, O Lord my God: and mayest
hear the prayers which thy servant poureth out before thee.
6:20. That thou mayest open thy eyes upon this house day and night,
upon the place wherein thou hast promised that thy name should be
called upon,
6:21. And that thou wouldst hear the prayer which thy servant
prayeth in it: hearken then to the prayers of thy servant, and of thy

 people Israel. Whosoever shall pray in this place, hear thou from thy
dwelling place, that is, from heaven, and shew mercy.
6:22. If any man sin against his neighbour, and come to swear
against him, and bind himself with a curse before the altar in this
house:
6:23. Then hear thou from heaven, and do justice to thy servants, so
to requite the wicked by making his wickedness fall upon his own
head, and to revenge the just, rewarding him according to his justice.
6:24. If thy people Israel be overcome by their enemies, (for they will
sin against thee,) and being converted shall do penance, and call upon
thy name, and pray to thee in this place,
6:25. Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people
Israel and bring them back into the land which thou gavest to them,
and their fathers.
6:26. If the heavens be shut up, and there fall no rain by reason of
the sin of the people, and they shall pray to thee in this place, and
confess to thy name, and be converted from their sins, where thou dost
af lict them,
6:27. Then hear thou from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins of
thy servants and of thy people Israel and teach them the good way in
which they may walk: and give rain to thy land which thou hast given
to thy people to possess.
6:28. If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence or blasting, or
mildew, or locusts, or caterpillars: or if their enemies waste the
country, and besiege the cities, whatsoever scourge or in irmity shall
be upon them:
6:29. Then if any of thy people Israel, knowing his own scourge and
in irmity shall pray, and shall spread forth his hands in this house,
6:30. Hear thou from heaven, from thy high dwelling place, and
forgive, and render to every one according to his ways, which thou
knowest him to have in his heart: for thou only knowest the hearts of
the children of men:
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 6:31. That they may fear thee, and walk in thy ways all the days that
they live upon the face of the land, which thou hast given to our
fathers.
6:32. If the stranger also, who is not of thy people Israel, come from
a far country, for the sake of thy great name, and thy strong hand, and
thy stretched out arm, and adore in this place:
6:33. Hear thou from heaven thy irm dwelling place, and do all that
which that stranger shall call upon thee for: that all the people of the
earth may know thy name, and may fear thee, as thy people Israel, and
may know, that thy name is invoked upon this house, which I have
built.
6:34. If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by the way
that thou shalt send them, and adore thee towards the way of this city,
which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built to thy name:
6:35. Then hear thou from heaven their prayers, and their
supplications, and revenge them.
6:36. And if they sin against thee (for there is no man that sinneth
not) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them up to their
enemies, and they lead them away captive to a land either afar off, or
near at hand,
6:37. And if they be converted in their heart in the land to which
they were led captive, and do penance, and pray to thee in the land of
their captivity saying: We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we
have dealt unjustly:
6:38. And return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul,
in the land of their captivity, to which they were led away, and adore
thee towards the way of their own land which thou gavest their
fathers, and of the city, which thou hast chosen, and the house which I
have built to thy name:
6:39. Then hear thou from heaven, that is, from thy irm dwelling
place, their prayers, and do judgment, and forgive thy people,
although they have sinned:

 6:40. For thou art my God: let thy eyes, I beseech thee, be open, and
let thy ears be attentive to the prayer, that is made in this place.
6:41. Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou
and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, put on
salvation, and thy saints rejoice in good things.
6:42. O Lord God, turn not away the face of thy anointed: remember
the mercies of David thy servant.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 7

Fire from heaven consumeth the sacri ices. The solemnity of the
dedication of the temple. God signi ieth his having heard Solomon’s
prayer: yet so if he continue to serve him.
7:1. And when Solomon had made an end of his prayer, ire came
down from heaven, and consumed the holocausts and the victims: and
the majesty of the Lord illed the house.
7:2. Neither could the priests enter into the temple of the Lord,
because the majesty of the Lord had illed the temple of the Lord.
7:3. Moreover all the children of Israel saw the ire coming down,
and the glory of the Lord upon the house: and falling down with their
faces to the ground, upon the stone pavement, they adored and
praised the Lord: because he is good, because his mercy endureth for
ever.
7:4. And the king and all the people sacri iced victims before the
Lord.
7:5. And king Solomon offered a sacri ice of twenty-two thousand
oxen, and one hundred and twenty thousand rams: and the king and
all the people dedicated the house of God.
7:6. And the priests stood in their of ices: and the Levites with the
instruments of music of the Lord, which king David made to praise the
Lord: because his mercy endureth for ever, singing the hymns of David
by their ministry: and the priests sounded with trumpets before them,
and all Israel stood.

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 7:7. Solomon also sancti ied the middle of the court before the
temple of the Lord: for he offered there the holocausts, and the fat of
the peace offerings: because the brazen altar, which he had made,
could not hold the holocausts and the sacri ices and the fat:
7:8. And Solomon kept the solemnity at that time seven days, and all
Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of
Emath to the torrent of Egypt.
7:9. And he made on the eighth day a solemn assembly, because he
had kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and had celebrated the
solemnity seven days.
7:10. So on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he
sent away the people to their dwellings, joyful and glad for the good
that the Lord had done to David, and to Solomon, and to all Israel his
people.
7:11. And Solomon inished the house of the Lord, and the king’s
house, and all that he had designed in his heart to do, in the house of
the Lord, and in his own house, and he prospered.
7:12. And the Lord appeared to him by night, and said: I have heard
thy prayer, and I have chosen this place to myself for a house of
sacri ice.
7:13. If I shut up heaven, and there fall no rain, or if I give orders,
and command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence
among my people:
7:14. And my people, upon whom my name is called, being
converted, shall make supplication to me, and seek out my face, and do
penance for their most wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and
will forgive their sins and will heal their land.
7:15. My eyes also shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer
of him that shall pray in this place.
7:16. For I have chosen, and have sancti ied this place, that my name
may be there for ever, and my eyes and my heart may remain there
perpetually.
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 7:17. And as for thee, if thou walk before me, as David thy father
walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and keep
my justices and my judgments:
7:18. I will raise up the throne of thy kingdom, as I promised to
David thy father, saying: There shall not fail thee a man of thy stock to
be ruler in Israel.
7:19. But if you turn away, and forsake my justices, and my
commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve
strange gods, and adore them,
7:20. I will pluck you up by the root out of my land which I have
given you: and this house which I have sancti ied to my name, I will
cast away from before my face, and will make it a byword, and an
example among all nations.
7:21. And this house shall be for a proverb to all that pass by, and
they shall be astonished and say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this
land, and to this house?
7:22. And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord the God
of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid
hold on strange gods, and adored them, and worshipped them:
therefore all these evils are come upon them.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 8

Solomon’s buildings and other acts.

8:1. And at the end of twenty years after Solomon had built the
house of the Lord and his own house:
8:2. He built the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, and
caused the children of Israel to dwell there.
8:3. He went also into Emath Suba, and possessed it.
8:4. And he built Palmira in the desert, and he built other strong
cities in Emath.

 8:5. And he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether,
walled cities with gates and bars and locks.
8:6. Balaath also and all the strong cities that were Solomon’s, and
all the cities of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen. All that
Solomon had a mind, and designed, he built in Jerusalem and in
Libanus, and in all the land of his dominion.
8:7. All the people that were left of the Hethites, and the Amorrhites,
and the Pherezites, and the Hevites, and the Jebusites, that were not of
the stock of Israel:
8:8. Of their children, and of the posterity, whom the children of
Israel had not slain, Solomon made to be the tributaries, unto this day.
8:9. But of the children of Israel he set none to serve in the king’s
works: for they were men of war, and chief captains, and rulers of his
chariots and horsemen.
8:10. And all the chief captains of king Solomon’s army were two
hundred and ifty, who taught the people.
8:11. And he removed the daughter of Pharao from the city of David,
to the house which he had built for her. For the king said: My wife shall
not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, for it is sancti ied:
because the ark of the Lord came into it.
8:12. Then Solomon offered holocausts to the Lord upon the altar of
the Lord which he had built before the porch,
8:13. That every day an offering might be made on it according to
the ordinance of Moses, in the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on
the festival days three times a year, that is to say, in the feast of
unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of
tabernacles.
8:14. And he appointed according to the order of David his father
the of ices of the priests in their ministries: and the Levites in their
order to give praise, and minister before the priests according to the
duty of every day: and the porters in their divisions by gate and gate:
for so David the man of God had commanded.
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 8:15. And the priests and Levites departed not from the king’s
commandments, as to any thing that he had commanded, and as to the
keeping of the treasures.
8:16. Solomon had all charges prepared, from the day that he
founded the house of the Lord, until the day wherein he inished it.
8:17. Then Solomon went to Asiongaber, and to Ailath, on the coast
of the Red Sea, which is in the land of Edom.
8:18. And Hiram sent him ships by the hands of his servants, and
skilful mariners, and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, and
they took thence four hundred and ifty talents of gold, and brought it
to king Solomon.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 9

The queen of Saba admireth the wisdom of Solomon. His riches and
glory. His death.
9:1. And when the queen of Saba heard of the fame of Solomon, she
came to try him with hard questions at Jerusalem, with great riches,
and camels, which carried spices, and abundance of gold, and precious
stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she proposed to him all
that was in her heart.
9:2. And Solomon explained to her all that she proposed: and there
was not any thing that he did not make clear unto her.
9:3. And when she had seen these things, to wit, the wisdom of
Solomon, and the house which he had built,
9:4. And the meats of his table, and the dwelling places of his
servants, and the attendance of his of icers, and their apparel, his
cupbearers also, and their garments, and the victims which he offered
in the house of the Lord: there was no more spirit in her, she was so
astonished.
9:5. And she said to the king: The word is true which I heard in my
country of thy virtues and wisdom.

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 9:6. I did not believe them that told it, until I came, and my eyes had
seen, and I had proved that scarce one half of thy wisdom had been
told me: thou hast exceeded the same with thy virtues.
9:7. Happy are thy men, and happy are thy servants, who stand
always before thee, and hear thy wisdom.
9:8. Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath been pleased to set thee
on his throne, king of the Lord thy God. Because God loveth Israel, and
will preserve them forever: therefore hath he made thee king over
them, to do judgment and justice.
9:9. And she gave to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold,
and spices in great abundance, and most precious stones: there were
no such spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon.
9:10. And the servants also of Hiram, with the servants of Solomon,
brought gold from Ophir, and thyine trees, and most precious stones:
9:11. And the king made of the thyine trees stairs in the house of the
Lord, and in the king’s house, and harps and psalteries for the singing
men: never were there seen such trees in the land of Juda.
9:12. And king Solomon gave to the queen of Saba all that she
desired, and that she asked, and many more things than she brought
to him: so she returned, and went to her own country with her
servants.
9:13. And the weight of the gold, that was brought to Solomon every
year, was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold:
9:14. Beside the sum which the deputies of divers nations, and the
merchants were accustomed to bring, and all the kings of Arabia, and
the lords of the lands, who brought gold and silver to Solomon.
9:15. And king Solomon made two hundred golden spears, of the
sum of six hundred pieces of gold, which went to every spear:
9:16. And three hundred golden shields of three hundred pieces of
gold, which went to the covering of every shield: and the king put them
in the armoury, which was compassed with a wood.

 9:17. The king also made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it
with pure gold.
9:18. And six steps to go up to the throne, and a footstool of gold,
and two arms one on either side, and two lions standing by the arms:
9:19. Moreover twelve other little lions standing upon the steps on
both sides: there was not such a throne in any kingdom.
9:20. And all the vessels of the king’s table were of gold, and the
vessels of the house of the forest of Libanus were of the purest gold. For
no account was made of silver in those days.
9:21. For the king’s ships went to Tharsis with the servants of
Hiram, once in three years: and they brought thence gold and silver,
and ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
9:22. And Solomon was magni ied above all the kings of the earth
for riches and glory.
9:23. And all the kings of the earth desired to see the face of
Solomon, that they might hear the wisdom which God had given in his
heart.
9:24. And every year they brought him presents, vessels of silver and
of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules.
9:25. And Solomon had forty thousand horses in the stables, and
twelve thousand chariots, and horsemen, and he placed them in the
cities of the chariots and where the king was in Jerusalem.
9:26. And he exercised authority over all the kings from the river
Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt.
9:27. And he made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones: and
cedars as common as the sycamores, which grow in the plains.
9:28. And horses were brought to him out of Egypt, and out of all
countries.
9:29. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon irst and last are written in
the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the books of Ahias the

 Silonite, and in the vision of Addo the seer, against Jeroboam the son of
Nabat.
9:30. And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
9:31. And he slept with his fathers: and they buried him in the city of
David: and Roboam his son reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 10

Roboam answereth the people roughly: upon which ten tribes revolt.
10:1. And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither all Israel were
assembled, to make him king.
10:2. And when Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who was in Egypt, (for
he was led thither from Solomon,) heard it, forthwith he returned.
10:3. And they sent for him, and he came with all Israel, and they
spoke to Roboam, saying:
10:4. Thy father oppressed us with a most grievous yoke, do thou
govern us with a lighter hand than thy father, who laid upon us a
heavy servitude, and ease some thing of the burden, that we may serve
thee.
10:5. And he said to them: Come to me again after three days. And
when the people were gone,
10:6. He took counsel with the ancients, who had stood before his
father Solomon, while he yet lived, saying: What counsel give you to
me, that I may answer the people?
10:7. And they said to him: If thou please this people, and soothe
them with kind words, they will be thy servants for ever.
10:8. But he forsook the counsel of the ancients, and began to treat
with the young men, that had been brought up with him, and were in
his train.
10:9. And he said to them: What seemeth good to you? or what shall
I answer this people, who have said to me: Ease the yoke which thy
father laid upon us?

 10:10. But they answered as young men, and brought up with him in
pleasures, and said: Thus shalt thou speak to the people, that said to
thee: Thy father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease it: thus shalt thou
answer them: My little inger is thicker than the loins of my father.
10:11. My father laid upon you a heavy yoke, and I will add more
weight to it: my father beat you with scourges, but I will beat you with
scorpions.
10:12. So Jeroboam, and all the people came to Roboam the third
day, as he commanded them.
10:13. And the king answered roughly, leaving the counsel of the
ancients.
10:14. And he spoke according to the advice of the young men: My
father laid upon you a heavy yoke, which I will make heavier: my
father beat you with scourges, but I will beat you with scorpions.
10:15. And he condescended not to the people’s requests: for it was
the will of God, that his word might be ful illed which he had spoken by
the hand of Ahias the Silonite to Jeroboam the son of Nabat.
10:16. And all the people upon the king’s speaking roughly, said thus
unto him: We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Isai.
Return to thy dwellings, O Israel, and do thou, O David feed thy own
house. And Israel went away to their dwellings.
10:17. But Roboam reigned over the children of Israel that dwelt in
the cities of Juda.
10:18. And king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tributes,
and the children of Israel stoned him, and he died: and king Roboam
made haste to get up into his chariot, and led into Jerusalem.
10:19. And Israel revolted from the house of David unto this day.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 11

Roboam’s reign. His kingdom is strengthened.

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 11:1. And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and called together all the
house of Juda and of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand
chosen men and warriors, to ight against Israel, and to bring back his
kingdom to him.
11:2. And the word of the Lord came to Semeias the man of God,
saying:
11:3. Speak to Roboam the son of Solomon the king of Juda, and to
all Israel, in Juda and Benjamin:
11:4. Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up, nor ight against your
brethren: let every man return to his own house, for by my will this
thing has been done. And when they heard the word of the Lord, they
returned, and did not go against Jeroboam,
11:5. And Roboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built walled cities in
Juda.
11:6. And he built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Thecue,
11:7. And Bethsur, and Socho, and Odollam,
11:8. And Geth, and Maresa, and Ziph,
11:9. And Aduram, and Lachis, and Azecha,
11:10. Saraa also, and Aialon, and Hebron, which are in Juda and
Benjamin, well fenced cities.
11:11. And when he had enclosed them with walls, he put in them
governors and storehouses of provisions, that is, of oil and of wine.
11:12. Moreover in every city he made an armoury of shields and
spears, and he forti ied them with great diligence, and he reigned over
Juda, and Benjamin,
11:13. And the priests and Levites, that were in all Israel, came to
him out of all their seats,
11:14. Leaving their suburbs, and their possessions, and passing
over to Juda, and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had cast
them off, from executing the priestly of ice to the Lord.

 11:15. And he made to himself priests for the high places, and for
the devils, and for the calves which he had made.
11:16. Moreover out of all the tribes of Israel, whosoever gave their
heart to seek the Lord the God of Israel, came into Jerusalem to
sacri ice their victims before the Lord the God of their fathers.
11:17. And they strengthened the kingdom of Juda, and established
Roboam the son of Solomon for three years: for they walked in the
ways of David and of Solomon, only three years.
11:18. And Roboam took to wife Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth
the son of David: and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Isai.
11:19. And they bore him sons Jehus, and Somorias, and Zoom.
11:20. And after her he married Maacha the daughter of Absalom,
who bore him Abia, and Ethai, and Ziza, and Salomith.
11:21. And Roboam loved Maacha the daughter of Absalom above
all his wives and concubines: for he had married eighteen wives, and
threescore concubines: and he begot eight and twenty sons, and
threescore daughters.
11:22. But he put at the head of them Abia the son of Maacha to be
the chief ruler over all his brethren: for he meant to make him king,
11:23. Because he was wiser and mightier than all his sons, and in
all the countries of Juda, and of Benjamin, and in all the walled cities:
and he gave them provisions in abundance, and he sought many wives.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 12

Roboam for his sins is delivered up into the hands of the king of Egypt:
who carrieth away all the treasures of the temple.
12:1. And when the kingdom of Roboam was strengthened and
forti ied, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.
12:2. And in the ifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac king of
Egypt came up against Jerusalem (because they had sinned against
the Lord)
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 12:3. With twelve hundred chariots and threescore thousand

horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him
out of Egypt, to wit, Libyans, and Troglodites, and Ethiopians.
12:4. And he took the strongest cities in Juda, and came to
Jerusalem.
12:5. And Semeias the prophet came to Roboam, and to the princes
of Juda, that were gathered together in Jerusalem, leeing from Sesac,
and he said to them: Thus saith the Lord: You have left me, and I have
left you in the hand of Sesac.
12:6. And the princes of Israel, and the king, being in a
consternation, said: The Lord is just.
12:7. And when the Lord saw that they were humbled, the word of
the Lord came to Semeias, saying: Because they are humbled, I will not
destroy them, and I will give them a little help, and my wrath shall not
fall upon Jerusalem by the hand of Sesac.
12:8. But yet they shall serve him, that they may know the difference
between my service, and the service of a kingdom of the earth.
12:9. So Sesac king of Egypt departed from Jerusalem, taking away
the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king’s house, and he
took all with him, and the golden shields that Solomon had made,
12:10. Instead of which the king made brazen ones, and delivered
them to the captains of the shieldbearers, who guarded the entrance of
the palace.
12:11. And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the
shieldbearers came and took them, and brought them back again to
their armoury.
12:12. But yet because they were humbled, the wrath of the Lord
turned away from them, and they were not utterly destroyed: for even
in Juda there were found good works.
12:13. King Roboam therefore was strengthened in Jerusalem, and
reigned: he was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and
he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose

 out of all the tribes of Israel, to establish his name there: and the name
of his mother was Naama an Ammonitess.
12:14. But he did evil, and did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.
12:15. Now the acts of Roboam irst and last are written in the
books of Semeias the prophet, and of Addo the seer, and diligently
recorded: and there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam all their
days.
12:16. And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city
of David. And Abia his son reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 13

Abia’s reign: his victory over Jeroboam.

13:1. In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, Abia reigned over
Juda.
13:2. Three years he reigned in Jerusalem, and his mother’s name
was Michaia, the daughter of Uriel of Gabaa: and there was war
between Abia and Jeroboam.
Michaia.... Alias Maacha. Her father had also two names, viz., Absalom, or
Abessalom, and Uriel.
13:3. And when Abia had begun battle, and had with him four
hundred thousand most valiant and chosen men, Jeroboam put his
army in array against him, eight hundred thousand men, who were
also chosen and most valiant for war.
13:4. And Abia stood upon mount Semeron, which was in Ephraim,
and said: Hear me, O Jeroboam, and all Israel:
13:5. Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave to David the
kingdom over Israel for ever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of
salt?
A covenant of salt.... That is, a irm and perpetual covenant. See Num. 18.19.
13:6. And Jeroboam the son of Nabat, the servant of Solomon the
son of David, rose up: and rebelled against his lord.

 13:7. And there were gathered to him vain men, and children of
Belial: and they prevailed against Roboam the son of Solomon: for
Roboam was unexperienced, and of a fearful heart, and could not
resist them.
13:8. And now you say that you are able to withstand the kingdom
of the Lord, which he possesseth by the sons of David, and you have a
great multitude of people, and golden calves, which Jeroboam hath
made you for gods.
13:9. And you have cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of
Aaron, and the Levites: and you have made you priests, like all the
nations of the earth: whosoever cometh and consecrateth his hand
with a bullock of the herd, and with seven rams, is made a priest of
those who are no gods.
13:10. But the Lord is our God, whom we forsake not, and the priests
who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites are in
their order.
13:11. And they offer holocausts to the Lord, every day, morning and
evening, and incense made according to the ordinance of the law, and
the loaves are set forth on a most clean table, and there is with us the
golden candlestick, and the lamps thereof, to be lighted always in the
evening: for we keep the precepts of the Lord our God, whom you have
forsaken.
13:12. Therefore God is the leader in our army, and his priests who
sound with trumpets, and resound against you: O children of Israel,
ight not against the Lord the God of your fathers, for it is not good for
you.
13:13. While he spoke these things, Jeroboam caused an
ambushment to come about behind him. And while he stood facing the
enemies, he encompassed Juda, who perceived it not, with his army.
13:14. And when Juda looked back, they saw the battle coming upon
them both before and behind, and they cried to the Lord: and the
priests began to sound with the trumpets.
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 13:15. And all the men of Juda shouted: and behold when they
shouted, God terri ied Jeroboam, and all Israel that stood against Abia
and Juda.
13:16. And the children of Israel led before Juda, and the Lord
delivered them into their hand.
13:17. And Abia and his people slew them with a great slaughter,
and there fell wounded of Israel ive hundred thousand valiant men.
13:18. And the children of Israel were brought down, at that time,
and the children of Juda were exceedingly strengthened, because they
had trusted in the Lord the God of their fathers.
13:19. And Abia pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him,
Bethel and her daughters, and Jesana with her daughters, Ephron also
and her daughters.
13:20. And Jeroboam was not able to resist any more, in the days of
Abia: and the Lord struck him, and he died.
13:21. But Abia, being strengthened in his kingdom, took fourteen
wives: and begot two and twenty sons, and sixteen daughters.
13:22. And the rest of the acts of Abia, and of his ways and works,
are written diligently in the book of Addo the prophet.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 14

The reign of Asa: his victory over the Ethiopians.

14:1. And Abia slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city
of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead: in his days the land was
quiet ten years.
14:2. And Asa did that which was good and pleasing in the sight of
his God, and he destroyed the altars of foreign worship, and the high
places.
14:3. And broke the statues, and cut down the groves.
14:4. And he commanded Juda to seek the Lord the God of their
fathers, and to do the law, and all the commandments.

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 14:5. And he took away out of all the cities of Juda the altars, and
temples, and reigned in peace.
14:6. He built also strong cities in Juda, for he was quiet, and there
had no wars risen in his time, the Lord giving peace.
14:7. And he said to Juda: Let us build these cities, and compass
them with walls, and fortify them with towers, and gates, and bars,
while all is quiet from wars, because we have sought the Lord the God
of our fathers, and he hath given us peace round about. So they built,
and there was no hinderance in building.
14:8. And Asa had in his army of men that bore shields and spears of
Juda three hundred thousand, and of Benjamin that bore shields and
drew bows, two hundred and eighty thousand, all these were most
valiant men.
14:9. And Zara the Ethiopian came out against them with his army
of ten hundred thousand men, and with three hundred chariots: and
he came as far as Maresa.
14:10. And Asa went out to meet him, and set his army in array for
battle in the vale of Sephata, which is near Maresa:
14:11. And he called upon the Lord God, and said: Lord, there is no
difference with thee, whether thou help with few, or with many: help
us, O Lord our God: for with con idence in thee, and in thy name we are
come against this multitude. O Lord thou art our God, let not man
prevail against thee.
14:12. And the Lord terri ied the Ethiopians before Asa and Juda:
and the Ethiopians led.
14:13. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them to
Gerara: and the Ethiopians fell even to utter destruction, for the Lord
slew them, and his army fought against them, and they were
destroyed. And they took abundance of spoils,
14:14. And they took all the cities round about Gerara: for a great
fear was come upon all men: and they pillaged the cities, and carried
off much booty.

 14:15. And they destroyed the sheepcotes, and took an in inite

number of cattle, and of camels: and returned to Jerusalem.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 15

The prophecy of Azarias. Asa’s covenant with God. He deposeth his

mother.
15:1. And the spirit of God came upon Azarias the son of Oded,
15:2. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: Hear ye me, Asa,
and all Juda and Benjamin: The Lord is with you, because you have
been with him. If you seek him, you shall ind: but if you forsake him,
he will forsake you.
15:3. And many days shall pass in Israel, without the true God, and
without a priest a teacher, and without the law.
15:4. And when in their distress they shall return to the Lord the
God of Israel, and shall seek him, they shall ind him.
15:5. At that time there shall be no peace to him that goeth out and
cometh in, but terrors on every side among all the inhabitants of the
earth.
15:6. For nation shall ight against nation, and city against city, for
the Lord will trouble them with all distress.
15:7. Do you therefore take courage, and let not your hands be
weakened: for there shall be a reward for your work.
15:8. And when Asa had heard the words, and the prophecy of
Azarias the son of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and took away
the idols out of all the land of Juda, and out of Benjamin, and out of the
cities of mount Ephraim, which he had taken, and he dedicated the
altar of the Lord, which was before the porch of the Lord.
15:9. 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.

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 15:10. And when they were come to Jerusalem in the third month, in
the ifteenth year of the reign of Asa,
15:11. They sacri iced to the Lord in that day of the spoils, and of the
prey, that they had brought, seven hundred oxen, and seven thousand
rams.
15:12. And he went in to con irm as usual the covenant, that they
should seek the Lord the God of their fathers with all their heart, and
with all their soul.
15:13. And if any one, said he, seek not the Lord the God of Israel, let
him die, whether little or great, man or woman.
15:14. And they swore to the Lord with a loud voice with joyful
shouting, and with sound of trumpet, and sound of cornets,
15:15. 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.
15:16. 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.
15:17. But high places were left in Israel: nevertheless the heart of
Asa was perfect all his days.
15:18. 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.
15:19. And there was no war unto the ive and thirtieth year of the
kingdom of Asa.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 16

Asa is reproved for seeking help from the Syrians: his last acts and
death.
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 16:1. And in the six and 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.
Six and thirtieth year of his kingdom.... That is, of the kingdom of Juda, taking the
date of it from the beginning of the reign of Reboam.
16:2. 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 Benadad
king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying:
16:3. 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.
16:4. 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 Nephtali.
16:5. And when Baasa heard of it, he left off the building of Rama,
and interrupted his work.
16:6. 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.
16:7. At that time Hanani the prophet came to Asa king of Juda, and
said to him: Because thou hast had con idence 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.
16:8. 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?
16:9. 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.

 16:10. 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.
16:11. But the works of Asa the irst and last are written in the book
of the kings of Juda and Israel.
16:12. 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.
16:13. And he slept with his fathers: and he died in the one and
fortieth year of his reign.
16:14. 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.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 17

Josaphat’s reign: his care for the instruction of his people: his
numerous forces.
17:1. And Josaphat his son reigned in his stead, and grew strong
against Israel.
17:2. And he placed numbers of soldiers in all the forti ied cities of
Juda. And he put garrisons in the land of Juda, and in the cities of
Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.
17:3. And the Lord was with Josaphat, because he walked in the irst
ways of David his father: and trusted not in Baalim,
17:4. But in the God of his father, and walked in his commandments,
and not according to the sins of Israel.
17:5. And the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Juda
brought presents to Josaphat: and he acquired immense riches, and
much glory.

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 17:6. 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.
17:7. 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:
17:8. 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.
17:9. 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.
17:10. 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.
17:11. 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 he goats.
17:12. And Josaphat grew, and became exceeding great: and he built
in Juda houses like towers, and walled cities.
17:13. And he prepared many works in the cities of Juda: and he had
warriors, and valiant men in Jerusalem.
17:14. Of whom this is the number of the houses and families of
every one: in Juda captains of the army, Ednas the chief, and with him
three hundred thousand most valiant men.
17:15. After him Johanan the captain, and with him two hundred
and eighty thousand.
17:16. And after him was Amasias the son of Zechri, consecrated to
the Lord, and with him were two hundred thousand valiant men.
17:17. After him was Eliada valiant in battle, and with him two
hundred thousand armed with bow and shield.

 17:18. After him also was Jozabad, and with him a hundred and
eighty thousand ready for war.
17:19. All these were at the hand of the king, beside others, whom he
had put in the walled cities, in all Juda.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 18

Josaphat accompanies Achab in his expedition against Ramoth; where

Achab is slain, as Micheas had foretold.
18:1. Now Josaphat was rich and very glorious, and was joined by
af inity to Achab.
18:2. And he went down to him after some years to Samaria: and
Achab at his coming killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and
the people that came with him: and he persuaded him to go up to
Ramoth Galaad.
18:3. And Achab king of Israel said to Josaphat king of Juda: Come
with me to Ramoth Galaad. And he answered him: Thou art as I am,
and my people as thy people, and we will be with thee in the war.
18:4. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: Inquire, I beseech thee,
at present the word of the Lord.
18:5. So the king of Israel gathered together of the prophets four
hundred men, and he said to them: Shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to
ight, or shall we forbear? But they said: Go up, and God will deliver
into the king’s hand.
18:6. And Josaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that
we may inquire also of him?
18:7. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: There is one man, of
whom we may ask the will of the Lord: but I hate him, for he never
prophesieth good to me, but always evil: and it is Micheas the son of
Jemla. And Josaphat said: Speak not thus, O king.
18:8. And the king of Israel called one of the eunuchs, and said to
him: Call quickly Micheas the son of Jemla.
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 18:9. Now the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda, both sat on
their thrones, clothed in royal robes, and they sat in the open court by
the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them.
18:10. And Sedecias the son of Chanaana made him horns of iron,
and said: Thus saith the Lord: With these shalt thou push Syria, till
thou destroy it.
18:11. And all the prophets prophesied in like manner, and said: Go
up to Ramoth Galaad, and thou shalt prosper, and the Lord will deliver
them into the king’s hand.
18:12. And the messenger that went to call Micheas, said to him:
Behold the words of all the prophets with one mouth declare good to
the king: I beseech thee therefore let not thy word disagree with them,
and speak thou also good success.
18:13. And Micheas answered him: As the Lord liveth, whatsoever
my God shall say to me, that will I speak.
18:14. So he came to the king: and the king said to him: Micheas,
shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to ight, or forbear? And he answered
him: Go up, for all shall succeed prosperously, and the enemies shall be
delivered into your hands.
18:15. And the king said: I adjure thee again and again to say
nothing but the truth to me, in the name of the Lord.
18:16. Then he said: I saw all Israel scattered in the mountains, like
sheep without a shepherd: and the Lord said: These have no masters:
let every man return to his own house in peace.
18:17. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Did I not tell thee that
this man would not prophesy me any good, but evil?
18:18. Then he said: Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord: I saw
the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by
him on the right hand and on the left,
18:19. And the Lord said: Who shall deceive Achab king of Israel,
that he may go up and fall in Ramoth Galaad? And when one spoke in
this manner, and another otherwise:

 Who shall deceive, etc.... See the annotations, 3 Kings 22.

18:20. There came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and
said: I will deceive him. And the Lord said to him: By what means wilt
thou deceive him?
18:21. And he answered: I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the
mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said: Thou shalt deceive, and
shalt prevail: go out, and do so.
18:22. Now therefore behold the Lord hath put a spirit of lying in
the mouth of all thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against
thee.
18:23. And Sedecias the son of Chanaana came, and struck Micheas
on the cheek and said: Which way went the spirit of the Lord from me,
to speak to thee?
18:24. And Micheas said: Thou thyself shalt see in that day, when
thou shalt go in from chamber to chamber, to hide thyself.
18:25. And the king of Israel commanded, saying: Take Micheas, and
carry him to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joas the son of
Amelech,
18:26. And say: Thus saith the king: Put this fellow in prison, and
give him bread and water in a small quantity till I return in peace.
18:27. And Micheas said: If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not
spoken by me. And he said: Hear, all ye people.
18:28. So the king of Israel and Josaphat king of Juda went up to
Ramoth Galaad.
18:29. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: I will change my dress,
and so I will go to the battle, but put thou on thy own garments. And
the king of Israel having changed his dress, went to the battle.
18:30. Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his
cavalry, saying: Fight ye not with small, or great, but with the king of
Israel only.

 18:31. So when the captains of the cavalry saw Josaphat, they said:
This is the king of Israel. And they surrounded him to attack him: but
he cried to the Lord, and he helped him, and turned them away from
him.
18:32. For when the captains of the cavalry saw, that he was not the
king of Israel, they left him.
18:33. And it happened that one of the people shot an arrow at a
venture, and struck the king of Israel between the neck and the
shoulders, and he said to his chariot man: Turn thy hand, and carry me
out of the battle, for I am wounded.
18:34. And the ight was ended that day: but the king of Israel stood
in his chariot against the Syrians until the evening, and died at the
sunset.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 19

Josaphat’s charge to the judges and to the Levites.

19:1. And Josaphat king of Juda returned to his house in peace to
Jerusalem.
19:2. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer met him, and said to him:
Thou helpest the ungodly, and thou art joined in friendship with them
that hate the Lord, and therefore thou didst deserve indeed the wrath
of the Lord:
19:3. But good works are found in thee, because thou hast taken
away the groves out of the land of Juda, and hast prepared thy heart to
seek the Lord the God of thy fathers.
19:4. And Josaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again to the
people from Bersabee to mount Ephraim, and brought them back to
the Lord the God of their fathers.
19:5. And he set judges of the land in all the fenced cities of Juda, in
every place.

 19:6. And charging the judges, he said: Take heed what you do: for
you exercise not the judgment of man, but of the Lord: and whatsoever
you judge, it shall redound to you.
19:7. Let the fear of the Lord be with you, and do all things with
diligence: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of
persons, nor desire of gifts.
19:8. In Jerusalem also Josaphat appointed Levites, and priests and
chiefs of the families of Israel, to judge the judgment and the cause of
the Lord for the inhabitants thereof.
19:9. And he charged them, saying, Thus shall you do in the fear of
the Lord faithfully, and with a perfect heart.
19:10. Every cause that shall come to you of your brethren, that
dwell in their cities, between kindred and kindred, wheresoever there
is question concerning the law, the commandment, the ceremonies, the
justi ications: shew it them, that they may not sin against the Lord,
and that wrath may not come upon you and your brethren: and so
doing you shall not sin.
19:11. And Amarias the priest your high priest shall be chief in the
things which regard God: and Zabadias the son of Ismahel, who is
ruler in the house of Juda, shall be over those matters which belong to
the king’s of ice: and you have before you the Levites for masters, take
courage and do diligently, and the Lord will be with you in good
things.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 20

The Ammonites, Moabites, and Syrians combine against Josaphat: he

seeketh God’s help by public prayer and fasting. A prophet foretelleth
that God will ight for his people: the enemies destroy one another.
Josaphat with his men gathereth the spoils. He reigneth in peace, but
his navy perisheth, for his society with wicked Ochozias.
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 20:1. After this the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon,
and with them of the Ammonites, were gathered together to ight
against Josaphat.
20:2. And there came messengers, and told Josaphat, saying: There
cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, and out of
Syria, and behold they are in Asasonthamar, which is Engaddi.
20:3. And Josaphat being seized with fear betook himself wholly to
pray to the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Juda.
20:4. And Juda gathered themselves together to pray to the Lord:
and all came out of their cities to make supplication to him.
20:5. And Josaphat stood in the midst of the assembly of Juda, and
Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court,
20:6. And said: O Lord God of our fathers, thou art God in heaven,
and rulest over all the kingdoms and nations, in thy hand is strength
and power, and no one can resist thee.
20:7. Didst not thou our God kill all the inhabitants of this land
before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy
friend for ever?
20:8. And they dwelt in it, and built in it a sanctuary to thy name,
saying:
20:9. If evils fall upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or
famine, we will stand in thy presence before this house, in which thy
name is called upon: and we will cry to thee in our af lictions, and thou
wilt hear, and save us.
20:10. Now therefore behold the children of Ammon, and of Moab,
and mount Seir, through whose lands thou didst not allow Israel to
pass, when they came out of Egypt, but they turned aside from them,
and slew them not,
20:11. Do the contrary, and endeavour to cast us out of the
possession which thou hast delivered to us.
20:12. O our God, wilt thou not then judge them? as for us we have
not strength enough, to be able to resist this multitude, which cometh

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 violently upon us. But as we know not what to do, we can only turn our
eyes to thee.
20:13. And all Juda stood before the Lord with their little ones, and
their wives, and their children.
20:14. And Jahaziel the son of Zacharias, the son of Banaias, the son
of Jehiel, the son of Mathanias, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, was there,
upon whom the spirit of the Lord came in the midst of the multitude,
20:15. And he said: Attend ye, all Juda, and you that dwell in
Jerusalem, and thou king Josaphat: Thus saith the Lord to you: Fear ye
not, and be not dismayed at this multitude: for the battle is not yours,
but God’s.
20:16. To morrow you shall go down against them: for they will
come up by the ascent named Sis, and you shall ind them at the head
of the torrent, which is over against the wilderness of Jeruel.
20:17. It shall not be you that shall ight, but only stand with
con idence, and you shall see the help of the Lord over you, O Juda, and
Jerusalem: fear ye not, nor be you dismayed: to morrow you shall go
out against them, and the Lord will be with you.
20:18. Then Josaphat, and Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
fell lat on the ground before the Lord, and adored him.
20:19. And the Levites of the sons of Caath, and of the sons of Core
praised the Lord the God of Israel with a loud voice, on high.
20:20. And they rose early in the morning, and went out through the
desert of Thecua: and as they were marching, Josaphat standing in the
midst of them, said: Hear me, ye men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem: believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be secure:
believe his prophets, and all things shall succeed well.
20:21. And he gave counsel to the people, and appointed the singing
men of the Lord, to praise him by their companies, and to go before the
army, and with one voice to say: Give glory to the Lord, for his mercy
endureth for ever.
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 20:22. And when they began to sing praises, the Lord turned their
ambushments upon themselves, that is to say, of the children of
Ammon, and of Moab, and of mount Seir, who were come out to ight
against Juda, and they were slain.
20:23. For the children of Ammon, and of Moab, rose up against the
inhabitants of mount Seir, to kill and destroy them: and when they had
made an end of them, they turned also against one another, and
destroyed one another.
20:24. And when Juda came to the watch tower, that looketh toward
the desert, they saw afar off all the country, for a great space, full of
dead bodies, and that no one was left that could escape death.
20:25. Then Josaphat came, and all the people with him to take
away the spoils of the dead, and they found among the dead bodies,
stuff of various kinds, and garments, and most precious vessels: and
they took them for themselves, insomuch that they could not carry all,
nor in three days take away the spoils, the booty was so great.
20:26. And on the fourth day they were assembled in the valley of
Blessing: for there they blessed the Lord, and therefore they called that
place the valley of Blessing until this day.
20:27. And every man of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
returned, and Josaphat at their head, into Jerusalem with great joy,
because the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.
20:28. And they came into Jerusalem with psalteries, and harps, and
trumpets into the house of the Lord.
20:29. And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the
lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies
of Israel.
20:30. And the kingdom of Josaphat was quiet, and God gave him
peace round about.
20:31. And Josaphat reigned over Juda, and he was ive and thirty
years old, when he began to reign: and he reigned ive and twenty

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years in Jerusalem: and the name of his mother was Azuba the
daughter of Selahi.
20:32. And he walked in the way of his father Asa and departed not
from it, doing the things that were pleasing before the Lord.
20:33. But yet he took not away the high places, and the people had
not yet turned their heart to the Lord the God of their fathers.
20:34. But the rest of the acts of Josaphat, irst and last, are written
in the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which he digested into the
books of the kings of Israel.
20:35. After these things Josaphat king of Juda made friendship with
Ochozias king of Israel, whose works were very wicked.
20:36. And he was partner with him in making ships, to go to
Tharsis: and they made the ships in Asiongaber.
20:37. And Eliezer the son of Dodau of Maresa prophesied to
Josaphat, saying: Because thou hast made a league with Ochozias, the
Lord hath destroyed thy works, and the ships are broken, and they
could not go to Tharsis.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 21

Joram’s wicked reign: his punishment and death.

21:1. And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with them
in the city of David: and Joram his son reigned in his stead.
21:2. And he had brethren the sons of Josaphat, Azarias, and Jahiel,
and Zacharias, and Azaria, and Michael, and Saphatias, all these were
the sons of Josaphat king of Juda.
21:3. And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold,
and pensions, with strong cities in Juda: but the kingdom he gave to
Joram, because he was the eldest.
21:4. So Joram rose up over the kingdom of his father: and when he
had established himself, he slew all his brethren with the sword, and
some of the princes of Israel.

 21:5. Joram was two and thirty years old when he began to reign:
and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
21:6. And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house
of Achab had done: for his wife was a daughter of Achab, and he did
evil in the sight of the Lord.
21:7. But the Lord would not destroy the house of David: because of
the covenant which he had made with him: and because he had
promised to give a lamp to him, and to his sons for ever.
21:8. In those days Edom revolted, from being subject to Juda, and
made themselves a king.
21:9. And Joram went over with his princes, and all his cavalry with
him, and rose in the night, and defeated the Edomites who had
surrounded him, and all the captains of his cavalry.
21:10. However Edom revolted, from being under the dominion of
Juda unto this day: at that time Lobna also revolted, from being under
his hand. For he had forsaken the Lord the God of his fathers.
21:11. Moreover he built also high places in the cities of Juda, and he
made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and Juda to
transgress.
21:12. And there was a letter brought him from Eliseus the prophet,
in which it was written: Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy
father: Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Josaphat thy
father nor in the ways of Asa king of Juda,
21:13. But hast walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and hast
made Juda and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication,
imitating the fornication of the house of Achab, moreover also thou
hast killed thy brethren, the house of thy father, better men than
thyself,
21:14. Behold the Lord will strike thee with a great plague, with all
thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance.
21:15. And thou shalt be sick of a very grievous disease of thy
bowels, till thy vital parts come out by little and little every day.

 21:16. And the Lord stirred up against Joram the spirit of the
Philistines, and of the Arabians, who border on the Ethiopians.
21:17. 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.
Joachaz.... Alias Ochozias.
21:18. And besides all this the Lord struck him with an incurable
disease in his bowels.
21:19. 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.
21:20. 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.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 22

The reign and death of Ochozias. The tyranny of Athalia.

22:1. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ochozias his youngest
son king in his place: for the rovers of the Arabians, who had broke in
upon the camp, had killed all that were his elder brothers. So Ochozias
the son of Joram king of Juda reigned.
22:2. 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.
Forty-two, etc.... Divers Greek Bibles read thirty-two, agreeably to 4 Kings 8.17.

 22:3. He also walked in the ways of the house of Achab: for his
mother pushed him on to do wickedly.
22:4. 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.
22:5. And he walked after their counsels. And he went with Joram
the son of Achab king of Israel, to ight against Hazael king of Syria, at
Ramoth Galaad: and the Syrians wounded Joram.
22:6. And he returned to be healed in Jezrahel: for he received many
wounds in the foresaid 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.
22:7. For it was the will of God against Ochozias that he should
come to Joram: and when he was come should go out also against Jehu
the son of Namsi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of
Achab.
22:8. So when Jehu was rooting out the house of Achab, he found the
princes of Juda, and the sons of the brethren of Ochozias, who served
him, and he slew them.
22:9. And he sought for Ochozias himself, and took him lying hid in
Samaria: and when he was brought to him, he killed him, and they
buried him: because he was the son of Josaphat, who had sought the
Lord with all his heart. And there was no more hope that any one
should reign of the race of Ochozias.
22:10. For Athalia his mother, seeing that her son was dead, rose up,
and killed all the royal family of the house of Joram.
22:11. But Josabeth the king’s daughter took Joas the son of
Ochozias, and stole him from among the king’s sons that were slain.
And she hid him with his nurse in a bedchamber: now Josabeth that
hid him, was daughter of king Joram, wife of Joiada the high priest,
and sister of Ochozias, and therefore Athalia did not kill him.

 22:12. And he was with them hid in the house of God six years,
during which Athalia reigned over the land.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 23

Joiada the high priest causeth Joas to be made king: Athalia to be

slain, and idolatry to be destroyed.
23:1. And in the seventh year Joiada being encouraged, took the
captains of hundreds, to wit, Azarias the son of Jeroham, and Ismahel
the son of Johanan, and Azarias the son of Obed, and Maasias the son
of Adaias, and Elisaphat the son of Zechri: and made a covenant with
them.
23:2. And they went about Juda, and gathered together the Levites
out of all the cities of Juda, and the chiefs of the families of Israel, and
they came to Jerusalem.
23:3. And all the multitude made a covenant with the king in the
house of God: and Joiada said to them: Behold the king’s son shall
reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David.
23:4. And this is the thing that you shall do:
23:5. A third part of you that come to the sabbath, of the priests, and
of the Levites, and of the porters shall be at the gates: and a third part
at the king’s house: and a third at the gate that is called the
Foundation: but let all the rest of the people be in the courts of the
house of the Lord.
To the sabbath.... That is, to perform in your weeks the functions of your of ice, or
the weekly watches.
23:6. And let no one come into the house of the Lord, but the priests,
and they that minister of the Levites: let them only come in, because
they are sancti ied: and let all the rest of the people keep the watches
of the Lord.
23:7. And let the Levites be round about the king, every man with
his arms; and if any other come into the temple, let him be slain; and
let them be with the king, both coming in, and going out.

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 23:8. So the Levites, and all Juda did according to all that Joiada the
high priest had commanded: and they took every one his men that
were under him, and that came in by the course of the sabbath, with
those who had ful illed the sabbath, and were to go out. For Joiada the
high priest permitted not the companies to depart, which were
accustomed to succeed one another every week.
23:9. And Joiada the priest gave to the captains the spears, and the
shields, and targets of king David, which he had dedicated in the house
of the Lord.
23:10. And he set all the people with swords in their hands from the
right side of the temple, to the left side of the temple, before the altar,
and the temple, round about the king.
23:11. And they brought out the king’s son, and put the crown upon
him, and the testimony, and gave him the law to hold in his hand, and
they made him king: and Joiada the high priest and his sons anointed
him: and they prayed for him, and said: God save the king.
23:12. Now when Athalia heard the noise of the people running and
praising the king, she came in to the people, into the temple of the
Lord.
23:13. And when she saw the king standing upon the step in the
entrance, and the princes, and the companies about him, and all the
people of the land rejoicing, and sounding with trumpets, and playing
on instruments of divers kinds, and the voice of those that praised, she
rent her garments, and said: Treason, treason.
23:14. And Joiada the high priest going out to the captains, and the
chiefs of the army, said to them: Take her forth without the precinct of
the temple, and when she is without let her be killed with the sword.
For the priest commanded that she should not be killed in the house of
the Lord.
23:15. And they laid hold on her by the neck: and when she was
come within the horse gate of the palace, they killed her there.

 23:16. And Joiada made a covenant between himself and all the
people, and the king, that they should be the people of the Lord.
23:17. And all the people went into the house of Baal, and destroyed
it: and they broke down his altars and his idols: and they slew Mathan
the priest of Baal before the altars.
23:18. And Joiada appointed overseers in the house of the Lord,
under the hands of the priests, and the Levites, whom David had
distributed in the house of the Lord: to offer holocausts to the Lord, as
it is written in the law of Moses, with joy and singing, according to the
disposition of David.
23:19. He appointed also porters in the gates of the house of the
Lord, that none who was unclean in any thing should enter in.
23:20. And he took the captains of hundreds, and the most valiant
men, and the chiefs of the people, and all the people of the land, and
they brought down the king from the house of the Lord, and brought
him through the upper gate into the king’s house, and set him on the
royal throne.
23:21. And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet:
but Athalia was slain with the sword.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 24

Joas reigneth well all the days of Joiada: afterwards falleth into
idolatry and causeth Zacharias to be slain. He is slain himself by his
servants.
24:1. Joas was seven years old when he began to reign: and he
reigned forty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Sebia of
Bersabee.
24:2. And he did that which is good before the Lord all the days of
Joiada the priest.
24:3. And Joiada took for him two wives, by whom he had sons and
daughters.
24:4. After this Joas had a mind to repair the house of the Lord.

 24:5. And he assembled the priests, and the Levites, and said to
them: Go out to the cities of Juda, and gather of all Israel money to
repair the temple of your God, from year to year: and do this with
speed: but the Levites were negligent.
24:6. And the king called Joiada the chief, and said to him: Why hast
thou not taken care to oblige the Levites to bring in out of Juda and
Jerusalem the money that was appointed by Moses the servant of the
Lord for all the multitude of Israel to bring into the tabernacle of the
testimony?
24:7. For that wicked woman Athalia, and her children have
destroyed the house of God, and adorned the temple of Baal with all
the things that had been dedicated in the temple of the Lord.
24:8. And the king commanded, and they made a chest: and set it by
the gate of the house of the Lord on the outside.
24:9. And they made a proclamation in Juda and Jerusalem, that
every man should bring to the Lord the money which Moses the
servant of God appointed for all Israel, in the desert.
24:10. And all the princes, and all the people rejoiced: and going in
they contributed and cast so much into the chest of the Lord, that it
was illed.
24:11. And when it was time to bring the chest before the king by
the hands of the Levites, (for they saw there was much money,) the
king’s scribe, and he whom the high priest had appointed went in: and
they poured out the money that was in the chest: and they carried
back the chest to its place: and thus they did from day to day, and
there was gathered an immense sum of money.
24:12. And the king and Joiada gave it to those who were over the
works of the house of the Lord: but they hired with it stonecutters, and
arti icers of every kind of work to repair the house of the Lord: and
such as wrought in iron and brass, to uphold what began to be falling.
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 24:13. And the workmen were diligent, and the breach of the walls
was closed up by their hands, and they set up the house of the Lord in
its former state, and made it stand irm.
24:14. And when they had inished all the works, they brought the
rest of the money before the king and Joiada: and with it were made
vessels for the temple for the ministry, and for holocausts and bowls,
and other vessels of gold and silver: and holocausts were offered in the
house of the Lord continually all the days of Joiada.
24:15. But Joiada grew old and was full of days, and died when he
was a hundred and thirty years old.
24:16. And they buried him in the city of David among the kings,
because he had done good to Israel, and to his house.
24:17. And after the death of Joiada, the princes of Juda went in, and
worshipped the king: and he was soothed by their services and
hearkened to them.
24:18. And they forsook the temple of the Lord the God of their
fathers, and served groves and idols, and wrath came upon Juda and
Jerusalem for this sin.
24:19. And he sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord,
and they would not give ear when they testi ied against them.
24:20. The spirit of God then came upon Zacharias the son of Joiada
the priest, and he stood in the sight of the people, and said to them:
Thus saith the Lord God: Why transgress you the commandment of the
Lord which will not be for your good, and have forsaken the Lord, to
make him forsake you?
24:21. And they gathered themselves together against him, and
stoned him at the king’s commandment in the court of the house of the
Lord.
24:22. And king Joas did not remember the kindness that Joiada his
father had done to him, but killed his son. And when he died, he said:
The Lord see, and require it.

 24:23. And when a year was come about, the army of Syria came up
against him: and they came to Juda and Jerusalem, and killed all the
princes of the people, and they sent all the spoils to the king of
Damascus.
24:24. And whereas there came a very small number of the Syrians,
the Lord delivered into their hands an in inite multitude, because they
had forsaken the Lord the God of their fathers: and on Joas they
executed shameful judgments.
24:25. And departing they left him in great diseases: and his
servants rose up against him, for revenge of the blood of the son of
Joiada the priest, and they slew him in his bed, and he died: and they
buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.
24:26. Now the men that conspired against him were Zabad the son
of Semmaath an Ammonitess, and Jozabad the son of Semarith a
Moabitess.
24:27. And concerning his sons, and the sum of money which was
gathered under him, and the repairing the house of God, they are
written more diligently in the book of kings: and Amasias his son
reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 25

Amasias’ reign: he beginneth well, but endeth ill: he is overthrown by

Joas, and slain by his people.
25:1. Amasias was ive and twenty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem, the name of
his mother was Joadan of Jerusalem.
25:2. And he did what was good in the sight of the Lord: but yet not
with a perfect heart.
25:3. And when he saw himself strengthened in his kingdom, he put
to death the servants that had slain the king his father.
25:4. But he slew not their children, as it is written in the book of the
law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, saying: The fathers shall

not be slain for the children, nor the children for their fathers, but
every man shall die for his own sin.
25:5. Amasias therefore gathered Juda together, and appointed
them by families, and captains of thousands and of hundreds in all
Juda, and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old
and upwards, and found three hundred thousand young men that
could go out to battle, and could hold the spear and shield.
25:6. He hired also of Israel a hundred thousand valiant men, for a
hundred talents of silver.
25:7. But a man of God came to him, and said: O king, let not the
army of Israel go out with thee, for the Lord is not with Israel, and all
the children of Ephraim:
25:8. And if thou think that battles consist in the strength of the
army, God will make thee to be overcome by the enemies: for it
belongeth to God both to help, and to put to light.
25:9. And Amasias said to the man of God: What will then become of
the hundred talents which I have given to the soldiers of Israel? and
the man of God answered him: The Lord is rich enough to be able to
give thee much more than this.
25:10. Then Amasias separated the army, that came to him out of
Ephraim, to go home again: but they being much enraged against
Juda, returned to their own country.
25:11. And Amasias taking courage led forth his people, and went to
the vale of saltpits, and slew of the children of Seir ten thousand.
25:12. And other ten thousand men the sons of Juda took, and
brought to the steep of a certain rock, and cast them down headlong
from the top, and they all were broken to pieces.
25:13. But that army which Amasias had sent back, that they should
not go with him to battle, spread themselves among the cities of Juda,
from Samaria to Beth-horon, and having killed three thousand took
away much spoil.

 25:14. But Amasias after he had slain the Edomites, set up the gods
of the children of Seir, which he had brought thence, to be his gods,
and adored them, and burnt incense to them.
25:15. Wherefore the Lord being angry against Amasias, sent a
prophet to him, to say to him: Why hast thou adored gods that have
not delivered their own people out of thy hand?
25:16. And when he spoke these things, he answered him: Art thou
the king’s counsellor? be quiet, lest I kill thee. And the prophet
departing, said: I know that God is minded to kill thee, because thou
hast done this evil, and moreover hast not hearkened to my counsel.
25:17. Then Amasias king of Juda taking very bad counsel, sent to
Joas the son of Joachaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying: Come, let
us see one another.
25:18. But he sent back the messengers, saying: The thistle that is in
Libanus, sent to the cedar in Libanus, saying: Give thy daughter to my
son to wife: and behold the beasts that were in the wood of Libanus
passed by and trod down the thistle.
25:19. Thou hast said: I have overthrown Edom, and therefore thy
heart is lifted up with pride: stay at home, why dost thou provoke evil
against thee, that both thou shouldst fall and Juda with thee.
25:20. Amasias would not hearken to him, because it was the Lord’s
will that he should be delivered into the hands of enemies, because of
the gods of Edom.
25:21. So Joas king of Israel went up, and they presented themselves
to be seen by one another: and Amasias king of Juda was in Bethsames
of Juda:
25:22. And Juda fell before Israel, and they led to their dwellings.
25:23. And Joas king of Israel took Amasias king of Juda, the son of
Joas, the son of Joachaz, in Bethsames, and brought him to Jerusalem:
and broke down the walls thereof from the gate of Ephraim, to the
gate of the corner, four hundred cubits.

 25:24. And he took all the gold, and silver, and all the vessels, that he
found in the house of God, and with Obededom, and in the treasures of
the king’s house, moreover also the sons of the hostages, he brought
back to Samaria.
25:25. And Amasias the son of Joas king of Juda lived, after the death
of Joas the son of Joachaz king of Israel, ifteen years.
25:26. Now the rest of the acts of Amasias, the irst and last, are
written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.
25:27. And after he revolted from the Lord, they made a conspiracy
against him in Jerusalem. And he led into Lachis, and they sent, and
killed him there.
25:28. And they brought him back upon horses, and buried him with
his fathers in the city of David.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 26

Ozias reigneth prosperously, till he invadeth the priests’ of ice, upon

which he is struck with a leprosy.
26:1. And all the people of Juda took his son Ozias, who was sixteen
years old, and made him king in the room of Amasias his father.
26:2. He built Ailath, and restored it to the dominion of Juda, after
that the king slept with his fathers.
26:3. Ozias was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned two and ifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was
Jechelia of Jerusalem.
26:4. And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord,
according to all that Amasias his father had done.
26:5. And he sought the Lord in the days of Zacharias that
understood and saw God: and as long as he sought the Lord, he
directed him in all things.

 26:6. Moreover he went forth and fought against the Philistines, and
broke down the wall of Geth, and the wall of Jabnia, and the wall of
Azotus: and he built towns in Azotus, and among the Philistines.
26:7. And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the
Arabians, that dwelt in Gurbaal, and against the Ammonites.
26:8. And the Ammonites gave gifts to Ozias: and his name was
spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt for his frequent victories.
26:9. And Ozias built towers in Jerusalem over the gate of the
corner, and over the gate of the valley, and the rest, in the same side of
the wall, and forti ied them.
26:10. And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many cisterns,
for he had much cattle both in the plains, and in the waste of the
desert: he had also vineyards and dressers of vines in the mountains,
and in Carmel: for he was a man that loved husbandry.
26:11. And the army of his ighting men, that went out to war, was
under the hand of Jehiel the scribe, and Maasias the doctor, and under
the hand of Henanias, who was one of the king’s captains.
26:12. And the whole number of the chiefs by the families of valiant
men were two thousand six hundred.
26:13. And the whole army under them three hundred and seven
thousand ive hundred: who were it for war, and fought for the king
against the enemy.
26:14. And Ozias prepared for them, that is, for the whole army,
shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and
slings to cast stones.
26:15. And he made in Jerusalem engines of diverse kinds, which he
placed in the towers, and in the corners of the walls, to shoot arrows,
and great stones: and his name went forth far abroad, for the Lord
helped him, and had strengthened him.
26:16. But when he was made strong, his heart was lifted up to his
destruction, and he neglected the Lord his God: and going into the
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 temple of the Lord, he had a mind to burn incense upon the altar of
incense.
26:17. And immediately Azarias the priest going in after him, and
with him fourscore priests of the Lord, most valiant men,
26:18. Withstood the king and said: It doth not belong to thee,
Ozias, to burn incense to the Lord, but to the priests, that is, to the sons
of Aaron, who are consecrated for this ministry: go out of the
sanctuary, do not despise: for this thing shall not be accounted to thy
glory by the Lord God.
26:19. And Ozias was angry, and holding in his hand the censer to
burn incense, threatened the priests. And presently there rose a leprosy
in his forehead before the priests, in the house of the Lord at the altar
of incense.
26:20. And Azarias the high priest, and all the rest of the priests
looked upon him, and saw the leprosy in his forehead, and they made
haste to thrust him out. Yea himself also being frightened, hasted to go
out, because he had quickly felt the stroke of the Lord.
26:21. And Ozias the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and
he dwelt in a house apart being full of the leprosy, for which he had
been cast out of the house of the Lord. And Joatham his son governed
the king’s house, and judged the people of the land.
26:22. But the rest of the acts of Ozias irst and last were written by
Isaias the son of Amos, the prophet.
26:23. And Ozias slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the
ield of the royal sepulchres, because he was a leper: and Joatham his
son reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 27

Joatham’s good reign.

27:1. Joatham was ive and twenty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his
mother was Jerusa the daughter of Sadoc.
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 27:2. And he did that which was right before the Lord, according to
all that Ozias his father had done, only that he entered not into the
temple of the Lord, and the people still transgressed.
27:3. He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall
of Ophel he built much.
27:4. Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Juda, and castles
and towers in the forests.
27:5. He fought against the king of the children of Ammon, and
overcame them, and the children of Ammon gave him at that time a
hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and as
many measures of barley: so much did the children of Ammon give him
in the second and third year.
27:6. And Joatham was strengthened, because he had his way
directed before the Lord his God.
27:7. Now the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all his wars, and his
works, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Juda.
27:8. He was ive and twenty years old when he began to reign, and
he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.
27:9. And Joatham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the
city of David: and Achaz his son reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 28

The wicked and unhappy reign of Achaz.

28:1. Achaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did not that which was right in
the sight of the Lord as David his father had done,
28:2. But walked in the ways of the kings of Israel; moreover also he
cast statues for Baalim.
28:3. It was he that burnt incense in the valley of Benennom, and
consecrated his sons in the ire according to the manner of the nations,
which the Lord slew at the coming of the children of Israel.
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 28:4. He sacri iced also, and burnt incense in the high places, and on
the hills, and under every green tree.
28:5. And the Lord his God delivered him into the hands of the king
of Syria, who defeated him, and took a great booty out of his kingdom,
and carried it to Damascus: he was also delivered into the hands of the
king of Israel, who overthrew him with a great slaughter.
28:6. For Phacee the son of Romelia slew of Juda a hundred and
twenty thousand in one day, all valiant men, because they had
forsaken the Lord the God of their fathers.
28:7. At the same time Zechri a powerful man of Ephraim, slew
Maasias the king’s son, and Ezricam the governor of his house, and
Elcana who was next to the king.
28:8. And the children of Israel carried away of their brethren two
hundred thousand women, boys, and girls, and an immense booty: and
they brought it to Samaria.
28:9. At that time there was a prophet of the Lord there, whose
name was Oded: and he went out to meet the army that came to
Samaria, and said to them: Behold the Lord the God of your fathers
being angry with Juda, hath delivered them into your hands, and you
have butchered them cruelly, so that your cruelty hath reached up to
heaven.
28:10. Moreover you have a mind to keep under the children of Juda
and Jerusalem for your bondmen and bondwomen, which ought not to
be done: for you have sinned in this against the Lord your God.
28:11. But hear ye my counsel, and release the captives that you
have brought of your brethren, because a great indignation of the
Lord hangeth over you.
28:12. Then some of the chief men of the sons of Ephraim, Azarias
the son of Johanan, Barachias the son of Mosollamoth, Ezechias the
son of Sellum, and Amasa the son of Adali, stood up against them that
came from the war.

 28:13. And they said to them: You shall not bring in the captives
hither, lest we sin against the Lord. Why will you add to our sins, and
heap up upon our former offences? for the sin is great, and the ierce
anger of the Lord hangeth over Israel.
28:14. So the soldiers left the spoils, and all that they had taken,
before the princes and all the multitude.
28:15. And the men, whom we mentioned above, rose up and took
the captives, and with the spoils clothed all them that were naked: and
when they had clothed and shod them, and refreshed them with meat
and drink, and anointed them because of their labour, and had taken
care of them, they set such of them as could not walk, and were feeble,
upon beasts, and brought them to Jericho the city of palm trees to
their brethren, and they returned to Samaria.
28:16. At that time king Achaz sent to the king of the Assyrians
asking help.
28:17. And the Edomites came and slew many of Juda, and took a
great booty.
28:18. The Philistines also spread themselves among the cities of the
plains, and to the south of Juda: and they took Bethsames, and Aialon,
and Gaderoth, and Socho, and Thamnan, and Gamzo, with their
villages, and they dwelt in them.
28:19. For the Lord had humbled Juda because of Achaz the king of
Juda, for he had stripped it of help, and had contemned the Lord.
For he had stripped it of help.... That is, Achaz stripped the kingdom of Juda of
the divine assistance by his wickedness, and by his introducing idolatry.
28:20. And he brought against him Thelgathphalnasar king of the
Assyrians, who also af licted him, and plundered him without any
resistance.
28:21. And Achaz stripped the house of the Lord, and the house of
the kings, and of the princes, and gave gifts to the king of the
Assyrians, and yet it availed him nothing.

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 28:22. Moreover also in the time of his distress he increased
contempt against the Lord: king Achaz himself by himself,
28:23. Sacri iced victims to the gods of Damascus that struck him,
and he said: The gods of the kings of Syria help them, and I will
appease them with victims, and they will help me; whereas on the
contrary they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.
28:24. Then Achaz having taken away all the vessels of the house of
God, and broken them, shut up the doors of the temple of God, and
made himself altars in all the corners of Jerusalem.
28:25. And in all the cities of Juda he built altars to burn
frankincense, and he provoked the Lord the God of his fathers to
wrath.
28:26. But the rest of his acts, and all his works irst and last are
written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.
28:27. And Achaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the
city of Jerusalem: for they received him not into the sepulchres of the
kings of Israel. And Ezechias his son reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 29

Ezechias puri ieth the temple, and restoreth religion.

29:1. Now Ezechias began to reign, when he was ive and twenty
years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the
name of his mother was Abia, the daughter of Zacharias.
29:2. And he did that which was pleasing in the sight of the Lord,
according to all that David his father had done.
29:3. In the irst year and month of his reign he opened the doors of
the house of the Lord, and repaired them.
29:4. And he brought the priests and the Levites, and assembled
them in the east street.

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 29:5. And he said to them: Hear me, ye Levites, and be sancti ied,
purify the house of the Lord the God of your fathers, and take away all
ilth out of the sanctuary.
29:6. Our fathers have sinned and done evil in the sight of the Lord
God, forsaking him: they have turned away their faces from the
tabernacle of the Lord, and turned their backs.
29:7. They have shut up the doors that were in the porch, and put
out the lamps, and have not burnt incense, nor offered holocausts in
the sanctuary of the God of Israel.
29:8. Therefore the wrath of the Lord hath been stirred up against
Juda and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, and to
destruction, and to be hissed at, as you see with your eyes.
29:9. Behold, our fathers are fallen by the sword, our sons, and our
daughters, and wives are led away captives for this wickedness.
29:10. Now therefore I have a mind that we make a covenant with
the Lord the God of Israel, and he will turn away the wrath of his
indignation from us.
29:11. My sons, be not negligent: the Lord hath chosen you to stand
before him, and to minister to him, and to worship him, and to burn
incense to him.
29:12. Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel
the son of Azarias, of the sons of Caath: and of the sons of Merari, Cis
the son of Abdi, and Azarias the son of Jalaleel. And of the sons of
Gerson, Joah the son of Zemma, and Eden the son of Joah.
29:13. And of the sons of Elisaphan, Samri, and Jahiel. Also of the
sons of Asaph, Zacharias, and Mathanias.
29:14. And of the sons of Heman, Jahiel, and Semei: and of the sons
of Idithun, Semeias, and Oziel.
29:15. And they gathered together their brethren, and sancti ied
themselves, and went in according to the commandment of the king,
and the precept of the Lord, to purify the house of God.
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 29:16. And the priests went into the temple of the Lord to sanctify it,
and brought out all the uncleanness that they found within to the
entrance of the house of the Lord, and the Levites took it away, and
carried it out abroad to the torrent Cedron.
29:17. And they began to cleanse on the irst day of the irst month,
and on the eighth day of the same month they came into the porch of
the temple of the Lord, and they puri ied the temple in eight days, and
on the sixteenth day of the same month they inished what they had
begun.
29:18. And they went in to king Ezechias, and said to him: We have
sancti ied all the house of the Lord, and the altar of holocaust, and the
vessels thereof, and the table of proposition with all its vessels,
29:19. And all the furniture of the temple, which king Achaz in his
reign had de iled, after his transgression; and behold they are all set
forth before the altar of the Lord.
29:20. And king Ezechias rising early, assembled all the rulers of the
city, and went up into the house of the Lord:
29:21. And they offered together seven bullocks, and seven rams,
and seven lambs, and seven he goats for sin, for the kingdom, for the
sanctuary, for Juda: and he spoke to the priests the sons of Aaron, to
offer them upon the altar of the Lord.
29:22. Therefore they killed the bullocks, and the priests took the
blood, and poured it upon the altar; they killed also the rams, and
their blood they poured also upon the altar, and they killed the lambs,
and poured the blood upon the altar.
29:23. And they brought the he goats for sin before the king, and the
whole multitude, and they laid their hand upon them:
29:24. And the priests immolated them, and sprinkled their blood
before the altar for an expiation of all Israel: for the king had
commanded that the holocaust and the sin offering should be made
for all Israel.
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 29:25. And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals,
and psalteries, and harps according to the regulation of David the
king, and of Gad the seer, and of Nathan the prophet: for it was the
commandment of the Lord by the hand of his prophets.
29:26. And the Levites stood, with the instruments of David, and the
priests with trumpets.
29:27. And Ezechias commanded that they should offer holocausts
upon the altar: and when the holocausts were offered, they began to
sing praises to the Lord, and to sound with trumpets, and divers
instruments which David the king of Israel had prepared.
29:28. And all the multitude adored, and the singers, and the
trumpeters, were in their of ice till the holocaust was inished.
29:29. And when the oblation was ended, the king, and all that were
with him bowed down and adored.
29:30. And Ezechias and the princes commanded the Levites to
praise the Lord with the words of David, and Asaph the seer: and they
praised him with great joy, and bowing the knee adored.
29:31. And Ezechias added, and said: You have illed your hands to
the Lord, come and offer victims, and praises in the house of the Lord.
And all the multitude offered victims, and praises, and holocausts with
a devout mind.
29:32. And the number of the holocausts which the multitude
offered, was seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, and two hundred
lambs.
29:33. And they consecrated to the Lord six hundred oxen, and three
thousand sheep.
29:34. But the priests were few, and were not enough to lay the
holocausts: wherefore the Levites their brethren helped them, till the
work was ended, and priests were sancti ied, for the Levites are
sancti ied with an easier rite than the priests.
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 29:35. So there were many holocausts, and the fat of peace

offerings, and the libations of holocausts: and the service of the house
of the Lord was completed.
29:36. And Ezechias, and all the people rejoiced because the
ministry of the Lord was accomplished. For the resolution of doing this
thing was taken suddenly.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 30

Ezechias inviteth all Israel to celebrate the pasch; the solemnity is kept
fourteen days.
30:1. And Ezechias sent to all Israel and Juda: and he wrote letters
to Ephraim and Manasses, that they should come to the house of the
Lord in Jerusalem, and keep the phase to the Lord the God of Israel,
30:2. For the king, taking counsel, and the princes, and all the
assembly of Jerusalem, decreed to keep the phase the second month.
30:3. For they could not keep it in its time; because there were not
priests enough sancti ied, and the people was not as yet gathered
together to Jerusalem.
The host of heaven.... The sun, moon, and stars.
30:4. And the thing pleased the king, and all the people.
30:5. And they decreed to send messengers to all Israel from
Bersabee even to Dan, that they should come, and keep the phase to
the Lord the God of Israel in Jerusalem: for many had not kept it as it is
prescribed by the law.
30:6. And the posts went with letters by commandment of the king,
and his princes, to all Israel and Juda, proclaiming according to the
king’s orders: Ye children of Israel, turn again to the Lord the God of
Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Israel: and he will return to the remnant
of you that have escaped the hand of the king of the Assyrians.
30:7. Be not like your fathers, and brethren, who departed from the
Lord the God of their fathers, and he hath given them up to
destruction, as you see.

 30:8. Harden not your necks, as your fathers did: yield yourselves to
the Lord, and come to his sanctuary, which he hath sancti ied forever:
serve the Lord the God of your fathers, and the wrath of his
indignation shall be turned away from you.
30:9. For if you turn again to the Lord, your brethren, and children
shall ind mercy before their masters, that have led them away captive,
and they shall return into this land: for the Lord your God is merciful,
and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.
30:10. So the posts went speedily from city to city, through the land
of Ephraim, and of Manasses, even to Zabulon, whilst they laughed at
them and mocked them.
30:11. Nevertheless some men of Aser, and of Manasses, and of
Zabulon, yielding to the counsel, came to Jerusalem.
30:12. But the hand of God was in Juda, to give them one heart to do
the word of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king, and
of the princes.
30:13. And much people were assembled to Jerusalem to celebrate
the solemnity of the unleavened bread in the second month:
30:14. And they arose and destroyed the altars that were in
Jerusalem, and took away all things in which incense was burnt to
idols and cast them into the torrent Cedron.
30:15. And they immolated the phase on the fourteenth day of the
second month. And the priests and the Levites being at length
sancti ied offered holocausts in the house of the Lord.
30:16. And they stood in their order according to the disposition and
law of Moses the man of God: but the priests received the blood which
was to be poured out, from the hands of the Levites,
30:17. Because a great number was not sancti ied: and therefore
the Levites immolated the phase for them that came not in time to be
sancti ied to the Lord.
30:18. For a great part of the people from Ephraim, and Manasses,
and Issachar, and Zabulon, that had not been sancti ied, ate the phase
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 otherwise than it is written: and Ezechias prayed for them, saying: The
Lord who is good will shew mercy,
30:19. To all them, who with their whole heart, seek the Lord the
God of their fathers: and will not impute it to them that they are not
sancti ied.
30:20. And the Lord heard him, and was merciful to the people.
30:21. And the children of Israel, that were found at Jerusalem, kept
the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great joy, praising the
Lord every day, the Levites also, and the priests, with instruments that
agreed to their of ice.
30:22. And Ezechias spoke to the heart of all the Levites, that had
good understanding concerning the Lord: and they ate during the
seven days of the solemnity, immolating victims of peace offerings, and
praising the Lord the God of their fathers.
30:23. And it pleased the whole multitude to keep other seven days:
which they did with great joy.
30:24. For Ezechias the king of Juda had given to the multitude a
thousand bullocks, and seven thousand sheep: and the princes had
given the people a thousand bullocks, and ten thousand sheep: and a
great number of priests was sancti ied.
30:25. And all the multitude of Juda with the priests and Levites, and
all the assembly, that came out of Israel; and the proselytes of the land
of Israel, and that dwelt in Juda were full of joy.
30:26. And there was a great solemnity in Jerusalem, such as had
not been in that city since the time of Solomon the son of David king of
Israel.
30:27. And the priests and the Levites rose up and blessed the
people: and their voice was heard: and their prayer came to the holy
dwelling place of heaven.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 31

Idolatry is abolished; and provisions made for the ministers.

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 31:1. And when these things had been duly celebrated, all Israel that
were found in the cities of Juda, went out, and they broke the idols, and
cut down the groves, demolished the high places, and destroyed the
altars, not only out of all Juda and Benjamin, but out of Ephraim also
and Manasses, till they had utterly destroyed them: then all the
children of Israel returned to their possessions and cities.
31:2. And Ezechias appointed companies of the priests, and the
Levites, by their courses, every man in his own of ice, to wit, both of the
priests, and of the Levites, for holocausts, and for peace offerings, to
minister, and to praise, and to sing in the gates of the camp of the
Lord.
31:3. And the king’s part was, that of his proper substance the
holocaust should be offered always morning and evening, and on the
sabbaths, and the new moons and the other solemnities, as it is written
in the law of Moses.
31:4. He commanded also the people that dwelt in Jerusalem, to give
to the priests, and the Levites their portion, that they might attend to
the law of the Lord.
31:5. Which when it was noised abroad in the ears of the people, the
children of Israel offered in abundance the irstfruits of corn, wine, and
oil, and honey: and brought the tithe of all things which the ground
bringeth forth.
31:6. Moreover the children of Israel and Juda, that dwelt in the
cities of Juda, brought in the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and the tithes of
holy things, which they had vowed to the Lord their God: and carrying
them all, made many heaps.
31:7. In the third month they began to lay the foundations of the
heaps, and in the seventh month, they inished them.
31:8. And when Ezechias and his princes came in, they saw the
heaps, and they blessed the Lord and the people of Israel.
31:9. And Ezechias asked the priests and the Levites, why the heaps
lay so.

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 31:10. Azarias the chief priest of the race of Sadoc answered him,
saying: Since the irstfruits began to be offered in the house of the
Lord, we have eaten, and have been illed, and abundance is left,
because the Lord hath blessed his people: and of that which is left is
this great store which thou seest.
31:11. Then Ezechias commanded to prepare storehouses in the
house of the Lord. And when they had done so,
31:12. They brought in faithfully both the irstfruits, and the tithes,
and all they had vowed. And the overseer of them was Chonenias the
Levite, and Semei his brother was the second,
31:13. And after him Jehiel, and Azarias, and Nahath, and Asael, and
Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Jesmachias, and Mahath, and
Banaias, overseers under the hand of Chonenias, and Semei his
brother, by the commandment of Ezechias the king, and Azarias the
high priest of the house of God, to whom all things appertained.
31:14. But Core the son of Jemna the Levite, the porter of the east
gate, was overseer of the things which were freely offered to the Lord,
and of the irstfruits and the things dedicated for the holy of holies.
31:15. And under his charge were Eden, and Benjamin, Jesue, and
Semeias, and Amarias, and Sechenias, in the cities of the priests, to
distribute faithfully portions to their brethren, both little and great:
31:16. Besides the males from three years old and upward, to all
that went into the temple of the Lord, and whatsoever there was need
of in the ministry, and their of ices according to their courses, day by
day.
31:17. To the priests by their families, and to the Levites from the
twentieth year and upward, by their classes and companies.
31:18. And to all the multitude, both to their wives, and to their
children of both sexes, victuals were given faithfully out of the things
that had been sancti ied.

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 31:19. Also of the sons of Aaron who were in the ields and in the
suburbs of each city, there were men appointed, to distribute portions
to all the males, among the priests and the Levites.
31:20. So Ezechias did all things which we have said in all Juda, and
wrought that which was good, and right, and truth, before the Lord his
God,
31:21. In all the service of the ministry of the house of the Lord
according to the law and the ceremonies, desiring to seek his God with
all his heart, and he did it and prospered.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 32

Sennacherib invadeth Juda: his army is destroyed by an angel.

Ezechias recovereth from his sickness: his other acts.
32:1. After these things, and this truth, Sennacherib king of the
Assyrians came and entered into Juda, and besieged the fenced cities,
desiring to take them.
32:2. And when Ezechias saw that Sennacherib was come, and that
the whole force of the war was turning against Jerusalem,
32:3. He took counsel with the princes, and the most valiant men, to
stop up the heads of the springs, that were without the city: and as
they were all of this mind,
32:4. He gathered together a very great multitude, and they stopped
up all the springs, and the brook, that ran through the midst of the
land, saying: Lest the kings of the Assyrians should come, and ind
abundance of water.
32:5. He built up also with great diligence all the wall that had been
broken down, and built towers upon it, and another wall without: and
he repaired Mello in the city of David, and made all sorts of arms and
shields:
32:6. And he appointed captains of the soldiers of the army: and he
called them all together in the street of the gate of the city, and spoke
to their heart, saying:

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 32:7. Behave like men, and take courage: be not afraid nor dismayed
for the king of the Assyrians, nor for all the multitude that is with him:
for there are many more with us than with him.
32:8. For with him is an arm of lesh: with us the Lord our God, who
is our helper, and ighteth for us. And the people were encouraged with
these words of Ezechias king of Juda.
32:9. After this, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians sent his servants
to Jerusalem, (for he with all his army was besieging Lachis,) to
Ezechias king of Juda, and to all the people that were in the city,
saying:
32:10. Thus saith Sennacherib king of the Assyrians: In whom do
you trust, that you sit still besieged in Jerusalem?
32:11. Doth not Ezechias deceive you, to give you up to die by
hunger and thirst, af irming that the Lord your God shall deliver you
from the hand of the king of the Assyrians?
32:12. Is it not this same Ezechias, that hath destroyed his high
places, and his altars, and commanded Juda and Jerusalem, saying:
You shall worship before one altar, and upon it you shall burn incense?
32:13. Know you not what I and my fathers have done to all the
people of the lands? have the gods of any nations and lands been able
to deliver their country out of my hand?
32:14. Who is there among all the gods of the nations, which my
fathers have destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand,
that your God should be able to deliver you out of this hand?
32:15. Therefore let not Ezechias deceive you, nor delude you with a
vain persuasion, and do not believe him. For if no god of all the nations
and kingdoms, could deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the
hand of my fathers, consequently neither shall your God be able to
deliver you out of my hand.
32:16. And many other things did his servants speak against the
Lord God, and against Ezechias his servant.

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 32:17. He wrote also letters full of blasphemy against the Lord the
God of Israel, and he spoke against him: As the gods of other nations
could not deliver their people out of my hand, so neither can the God of
Ezechias deliver his people out of this hand.
32:18. Moreover he cried out with a loud voice, in the Jews’ tongue,
to the people that sat on the walls of Jerusalem, that he might frighten
them, and take the city.
32:19. And he spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the
gods of the people of the earth, the works of the hands of men.
32:20. And Ezechias the king, and Isaias the prophet the son of
Amos, prayed against this blasphemy, and cried out to heaven.
32:21. And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the stout men and
the warriors, and the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians:
and he returned with disgrace into his own country. And when he was
come into the house of his god, his sons that came out of his bowels,
slew him with the sword.
32:22. And the Lord saved Ezechias and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, out of the hand of Sennacherib king of the Assyrians, and
out of the hand of all, and gave them treasures on every side.
32:23. Many also brought victims, and sacri ices to the Lord to
Jerusalem, and presents to Ezechias king of Juda: and he was
magni ied thenceforth in the sight of all nations.
32:24. In those days Ezechias was sick even to death, and he prayed
to the Lord: and he heard him, and gave him a sign.
32:25. But he did not render again according to the bene its which
he had received, for his heart was lifted up: and wrath was enkindled
against him, and against Juda and Jerusalem.
32:26. And he humbled himself afterwards, because his heart had
been lifted up, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and therefore
the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Ezechias.
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 32:27. And Ezechias was rich, and very glorious, and he gathered
himself great treasures of silver and of gold, and of precious stones, of
spices, and of arms, of all kinds, and of vessels of great price.
32:28. Storehouses also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and stalls for all
beasts, and folds for cattle.
32:29. And he built himself cities: for he had locks of sheep, and
herds without number, for the Lord had given him very much
substance.
32:30. This same Ezechias was, he that stopped the upper source of
the waters of Gihon, and turned them away underneath toward the
west of the city of David: in all his works he did prosperously what he
would.
32:31. But yet in the embassy of the princes of Babylon, that were
sent to him, to inquire of the wonder that had happened upon the
earth, God left him that he might be tempted, and all things might be
made known that were in his heart.
32:32. Now the rest of the acts of Ezechias, and of his mercies are
written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.
32:33. And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and they buried him
above the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Juda, and all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem celebrated his funeral: and Manasses his son
reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 33

Manasses for his manifold wickedness is led captive to Babylon: he

repenteth, and is restored to his kingdom, and destroyeth idolatry: his
successor Amon is slain by his servants.
33:1. Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned ifty- ive years in Jerusalem.
33:2. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all the
abominations of the nations, which the Lord cast out before the
children of Israel:

 33:3. And he turned, and built again the high places which Ezechias
his father had destroyed: and he built altars to Baalim, and made
groves, and he adored all the host of heaven, and worshipped them.
The host of heaven.... The sun, moon, and stars.
33:4. He built also altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord
had said: In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.
33:5. And he built them for all the host of heaven in the two courts
of the house of the Lord.
33:6. And he made his sons to pass through the ire in the valley of
Benennom: he observed dreams, followed divinations, gave himself up
to magic arts, had with him magicians, and enchanters: and he
wrought many evils before the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
33:7. He set also a graven, and a molten statue in the house of God,
of which God had said to David, and to Solomon his son: In this house,
and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will
I put my name for ever.
33:8. And I will not make the foot of Israel to be removed out of the
land which I have delivered to their fathers: yet so if they will take
heed to do what I have commanded them, and all the law, and the
ceremonies, and judgments by the hand of Moses.
33:9. So Manasses seduced Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
to do evil beyond all the nations, which the Lord had destroyed before
the face of the children of Israel.
33:10. And the Lord spoke to him, and to his people, and they would
not hearken.
33:11. Therefore he brought upon them the captains of the army of
the king of the Assyrians: and they took Manasses, and carried him
bound with chains and fetters to Babylon.
33:12. And after that he was in distress he prayed to the Lord his
God: and did penance exceedingly before the God of his fathers.

 33:13. And he entreated him, and besought him earnestly: and he

heard his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his
kingdom, and Manasses knew that the Lord was God.
33:14. After this he built a wall without the city of David, on the
west side of Gihon in the valley, from the entering in of the ish gate
round about to Ophel, and raised it up to a great height: and he
appointed captains of the army in all the fenced cities of Juda:
33:15. And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the
house of the Lord: the altars also which he had made in the mount of
the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and he cast them all out of the
city.
33:16. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacri iced upon it
victims, and peace offerings, and praise: and he commanded Juda to
serve the Lord the God of Israel.
33:17. Nevertheless the people still sacri iced in the high places to
the Lord their God.
33:18. But the rest of the acts of Manasses, and his prayer to his God,
and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the Lord
the God of Israel, are contained in the words of the kings of Israel.
33:19. His prayer also, and his being heard and all his sins, and
contempt, and places wherein he built high places, and set up groves,
and statues before he did penance, are written in the words of Hozai.
33:20. And Manasses slept with his fathers, and they buried him in
his house: and his son Amon reigned in his stead.
33:21. Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.
33:22. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasses his father
had done: he sacri iced to all the idols which Manasses his father had
made, and served them.
33:23. And he did not humble himself before the Lord, as Manasses
his father had humbled himself, but committed far greater sin.

 33:24. And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his
own house.
33:25. But the rest of the multitude of the people slew them that had
killed Amon, and made Josias his son king in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 34

Josias destroyeth idolatry, repaireth the temple, and reneweth the

covenant between God and the people.
34:1. Josias was eight years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned one and thirty years in Jerusalem.
34:2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and
walked in the ways of David his father: he declined not, neither to the
right hand, nor to the left.
34:3. And in the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a boy, he
began to seek the God of his father David: and in the twelfth year after
he began to reign, he cleansed Juda and Jerusalem from the high
places, and the groves, and the idols, and the graven things.
34:4. And they broke down before him the altars of Baalim, and
demolished the idols that had been set upon them: and he cut down
the groves and the graven things, and broke them in pieces: and
strewed the fragments upon the graves of them that had sacri iced to
them.
34:5. And he burnt the bones of the priests on the altars of the idols,
and he cleansed Juda and Jerusalem.
34:6. And in the cities of Manasses, and of Ephraim, and of Simeon,
even to Nephtali he demolished all.
34:7. And when he had destroyed the altars, and the groves, and had
broken the idols in pieces, and had demolished all profane temples
throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
34:8. Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed
the land, and the temple of the Lord, he sent Saphan the son of Eselias,

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recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.
34:9. And they came to Helcias the high priest: and received of him
the money which had been brought into the house of the Lord, and
which the Levites and porters had gathered together from Manasses,
and Ephraim, and all the remnant of Israel, and from all Juda, and
Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
34:10. Which they delivered into the hands of them that were over
the workmen in the house of the Lord, to repair the temple, and mend
all that was weak.
34:11. But they gave it to the arti icers, and to the masons, to buy
stones out of the quarries, and timber for the couplings of the building,
and to rafter the houses, which the kings of Juda had destroyed.
34:12. And they did all faithfully. Now the overseers of the workmen
were Jahath and Abdias of the sons of Merari, Zacharias and Mosollam
of the sons of Caath, who hastened the work: all Levites skilful to play
on instruments.
34:13. But over them that carried burdens for divers uses, were
scribes, and masters of the number of the Levites, and porters.
34:14. Now when they carried out the money that had been brought
into the temple of the Lord, Helcias the priest found the book of the
law of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.
34:15. And he said to Saphan the scribe: I have found the book of the
law in the house of the Lord: and he delivered it to him.
34:16. But he carried the book to the king, and told him, saying: Lo,
all that thou hast committed to thy servants, is accomplished.
34:17. They have gathered together the silver that was found in the
house of the Lord: and it is given to the overseers of the arti icers, and
of the workmen, for divers works.
34:18. Moreover Helcias the priest gave me this book. And he read it
before the king.

 34:19. And when he had heard the words of the law, he rent his
garments:
34:20. And he commanded Helcias, and Ahicam the son of Saphan,
and Abdon the son of Micha, and Saphan the scribe, and Asaa the
king’s servant, saying:
34:21. Go, and pray to the Lord for me, and for the remnant of
Israel, and Juda, concerning all the words of this book, which is found:
for the great wrath of the Lord hath fallen upon us, because our
fathers have not kept the words of the Lord, to do all things that are
written in this book.
34:22. And Helcias and they that were sent with him by the king,
went to Olda the prophetess, the wife of Sellum the son of Thecuath,
the son of Hasra keeper of the wardrobe: who dwelt in Jerusalem in
the Second part: and they spoke to her the words above mentioned.
34:23. And she answered them: Thus saith the Lord the God of
Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me:
34:24. Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring evils upon this place,
and upon the inhabitants thereof, and all the curses that are written in
this book which they read before the king of Juda.
34:25. Because they have forsaken me, and have sacri iced to
strange gods, to provoke me to wrath with all the works of their hands,
therefore my wrath shall fall upon this place, and shall not be
quenched.
34:26. But as to the king of Juda that sent you to beseech the Lord,
thus shall you say to him: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel:
Because thou hast heard the words of this book,
34:27. And thy heart was softened, and thou hast humbled thyself in
the sight of God for the things that are spoken against this place, and
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and reverencing my face, hast rent thy
garments, and wept before me: I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.
34:28. For now I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be
brought to thy tomb in peace: and thy eyes shall not see all the evil

 that I will bring upon this place, and the inhabitants thereof. They
therefore reported to the king all that she had said.
34:29. And he called together all the ancients of Juda and Jerusalem.
34:30. And went up to the house of the Lord, and all the men of Juda,
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, and all
the people from the least to the greatest. And the king read in their
hearing, in the house of the Lord, all the words of the book.
34:31. And standing up in his tribunal, he made a covenant before
the Lord to walk after him, and keep his commandments, and
testimonies, and justi ications with all his heart, and with all his soul,
and to do the things that were written in that book which he had read.
34:32. And he adjured all that were found in Jerusalem and
Benjamin to do the same: and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did
according to the covenant of the Lord the God of their fathers.
34:33. And Josias took away all the abominations out of all the
countries of the children of Israel and made all that were left in Israel,
to serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived they departed not from
the Lord the God of their fathers.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 35

Josias celebrateth a most solemn pasch. He is slain by the king of

Egypt.
35:1. And Josias kept a phase to the Lord in Jerusalem, and it was
sacri iced on the fourteenth day of the irst month.
35:2. And he set the priests in their of ices, and exhorted them to
minister in the house of the Lord.
35:3. And he spoke to the Levites, by whose instruction all Israel was
sancti ied to the Lord, saying: Put the ark in the sanctuary of the
temple, which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built: for you
shall carry it no more: but minister now to the Lord your God, and to
his people Israel.
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 35:4. And prepare yourselves by your houses, and families according

to your courses, as David king of Israel commanded, and Solomon his
son hath written.
35:5. And serve ye in the sanctuary by the families and companies of
Levi.
35:6. And being sancti ied kill the phase, and prepare your brethren,
that they may do according to the words which the Lord spoke by the
hand of Moses.
35:7. And Josias gave to all the people that were found there in the
solemnity of the phase, of lambs and of kids of the locks, and of other
small cattle thirty thousand, and of oxen three thousand, all these
were of the king’s substance.
35:8. And his princes willingly offered what they had vowed, both to
the people and to the priests and the Levites. Moreover Helcias, and
Zacharias, and Jahiel rulers of the house of the Lord, gave to the
priests to keep the phase two thousand six hundred small cattle, and
three hundred oxen.
35:9. And Chonenias, and Semeias and Nathanael, his brethren, and
Hasabias, and Jehiel, and Jozabad princes of the Levites, gave to the
rest of the Levites to celebrate the phase ive thousand small cattle,
and ive hundred oxen.
35:10. And the ministry was prepared, and the priests stood in their
of ice: the Levites also in their companies, according to the king’s
commandment.
35:11. And the phase was immolated: and the priests sprinkled the
blood with their hand, and the Levites layed the holocausts:
35:12. And they separated them, to give them by the houses and
families of every one, and to be offered to the Lord, as it is written in
the book of Moses, and with the oxen they did in like manner.
35:13. And they roasted the phase with ire, according to that which
is written in the law: but the victims of peace offerings they boiled in
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 caldrons, and kettles, and pots, and they distributed them speedily
among all the people.
35:14. And afterwards they made ready for themselves, and for the
priests: for the priests were busied in offering of holocausts and the fat
until night, wherefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the
priests the sons of Aaron last.
35:15. And the singers the sons of Asaph stood in their order,
according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and
Idithun, the prophets of the king: and the porters kept guard at every
gate, so as not to depart one moment from their service, and therefore
their brethren the Levites prepared meats for them.
35:16. So all the service of the Lord was duly accomplished that day,
both in keeping the phase and offering holocausts upon the altar of
the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josias.
35:17. And the children of Israel that were found there, kept the
phase at that time, and the feast of unleavened seven days.
35:18. There was no phase like to this in Israel, from the days of
Samuel the prophet: neither did any of all the kings of Israel keep such
a phase as Josias kept, with the priests, and the Levites, and all Juda,
and Israel that were found, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
35:19. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josias was this phase
celebrated.
35:20. After that Josias had repaired the temple, Nechao king of
Egypt came up to ight in Charcamis by the Euphrates: and Josias went
out to meet him.
35:21. But he sent messengers to him, saying: What have I to do
with thee, O king of Juda? I come not against thee this day, but I ight
against another house, to which God hath commanded me to go in
haste: forbear to do against God, who is with me, lest he kill thee.
35:22. Josias would not return, but prepared to ight against him,
and hearkened not to the words of Nechao from the mouth of God, but
went to ight in the ield of Mageddo.
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 35:23. And there he was wounded by the archers, and he said to his
servants: Carry me out of the battle, for I am grievously wounded.
35:24. And they removed him from the chariot into another, that
followed him after the manner of kings, and they carried him away to
Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in the monument of his fathers,
and all Juda and Jerusalem mourned for him,
35:25. Particularly Jeremias: whose lamentations for Josias all the
singing men and singing women repeat unto this day, and it became
like a law in Israel: Behold it is found written in the Lamentations.
35:26. Now the rest of the acts of Josias and of his mercies,
according to what was commanded by the law of the Lord:
35:27. And his works irst and last, are written in the book of the
kings of Juda and Israel.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 36

The reigns of Joachaz, Joakim, Joachin, and Sedecias: the captivity of

Babylon released at length by Cyrus.
36:1. Then the people of the land took Joachaz the son of Josias, and
made him king instead of his father in Jerusalem.
36:2. Joachaz was three and twenty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
36:3. And the king of Egypt came to Jerusalem, and deposed him,
and condemned the land in a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of
gold.
36:4. And he made Eliakim his brother king in his stead, over Juda
and Jerusalem: and he turned his name to Joakim: but he took Joachaz
with him and carried him away into Egypt.
36:5. Joakim was ive and twenty years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did evil before the
Lord his God.

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 36:6. Against him came up Nabuchodonosor king of the Chaldeans,

and led him bound in chains into Babylon.
36:7. And he carried also thither the vessels of the Lord, and put
them in his temple.
36:8. But the rest of the acts of Joakim, and his abominations, which
he wrought, and the things that were found in him, are contained in
the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. And Joachin his son reigned in
his stead.
36:9. Joachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the
sight of the Lord.
Eight years old.... He was associated by his father to the kingdom, when he was
but eight years old; but after his father’s death, when he reigned alone, he was
eighteen years old. 4 Kings 24.8.
36:10. And at the return of the year, king Nabuchodonosor sent, and
brought him to Babylon, carrying away at the same time the most
precious vessels of the house of the Lord: and he made Sedecias his
uncle king over Juda and Jerusalem.
36:11. Sedecias was one and twenty years old when he began to
reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
36:12. And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God, and did not
reverence the face of Jeremias the prophet speaking to him from the
mouth of the Lord.
36:13. He also revolted from king Nabuchodonosor, who had made
him swear by God: and he hardened his neck and his heart, from
returning to the Lord the God of Israel.
36:14. Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people wickedly
transgressed according to all the abominations of the Gentiles: and
they de iled the house of the Lord, which he had sancti ied to himself in
Jerusalem.
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 36:15. And the Lord the God of their fathers sent to them, by the
hand of his messengers, rising early, and daily admonishing them:
because he spared his people and his dwelling place.
36:16. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his
words, and misused the prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose
against his people, and there was no remedy.
36:17. For he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, and he
slew their young men with the sword in the house of his sanctuary, he
had no compassion on young man, or maiden, old man or even him
that stooped for age, but he delivered them all into his hands.
36:18. And all the vessels of the house of Lord, great and small, and
the treasures of the temple and of the king, and of the princes he
carried away to Babylon.
36:19. And the enemies set ire to the house of God, and broke down
the wall of Jerusalem, burnt all the towers, and what soever was
precious they destroyed.
36:20. Whosoever escaped the sword, was led into Babylon, and
there served the king and his sons, till the reign of the king of Persia,
36:21. That the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias might be
ful illed, and the land might keep her sabbaths: for all the days of the
desolation she kept a sabbath, till the seventy years were expired.
36:22. But in the irst year of Cyrus king of the Persians, to ful il the
word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the mouth of Jeremias, the
Lord stirred up the heart of Cyrus, king of the Persians: who
commanded it to be proclaimed through all his kingdom, and by
writing also, saying:
36:23. Thus saith Cyrus king of the Persians: All the kingdoms of the
earth hath the Lord the God of heaven given to me, and he hath
charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea: who
is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him,
and let him go up.
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 THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS

This Book taketh its name from the writer: who was a holy priest, and
doctor of the law. He is called by the Hebrews, Ezra.
1 Esdras Chapter 1

Cyrus king of Persia releaseth God’s people from their captivity, with
license to return and build the temple in Jerusalem: and restoreth the
holy vessels which Nabuchodonosor had taken from thence.
1:1. In the irst year of Cyrus king of the Persians, that the word of
the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias might be ful illed, the Lord stirred
up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians: and he made a
proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and in writing also, saying:
1:2. Thus saith Cyrus king of the Persians: The Lord the God of
heaven hath given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath
charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea.
1:3. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him.
Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and build the house of
the Lord the God of Israel: he is the God that is in Jerusalem.
1:4. And let all the rest in all places wheresoever they dwell, help
him every man from his place, with silver and gold, and goods, and
cattle, besides that which they offer freely to the temple of God, which
is in Jerusalem.
1:5. Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Juda and Benjamin, and
the priests, and Levites, and every one whose spirit God had raised up,
to go up to build the temple of the Lord, which was in Jerusalem.
1:6. And all they that were round about, helped their hands with
vessels of silver, and gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with
furniture, besides what they had offered on their own accord.
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 1:7. And king Cyrus brought forth the vessels of the temple of the
Lord, which Nabuchodonosor had taken from Jerusalem, and had put
them in the temple of his god.
1:8. Now Cyrus king of Persia brought them forth by the hand of
Mithridates the son of Gazabar, and numbered them to Sassabasar the
prince of Juda.
1:9. And this is the number of them: thirty bowls of gold, a thousand
bowls of silver, nine and twenty knives, thirty cups of gold,
1:10. Silver cups of a second sort, four hundred and ten: other
vessels a thousand.
1:11. All the vessels of gold and silver, ive thousand four hundred:
all these Sassabasar brought with them that came up from the
captivity of Babylon to Jerusalem.
1 Esdras Chapter 2

The number of them that returned to Judea: their oblations.

2:1. Now these are the children of the province, that went out of the
captivity, which Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away to
Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Juda, every man to his
city.
2:2. Who came with Zorobabel, Josue, Nehemia, Saraia, Rahelaia,
Mardochai, Belsan, Mesphar, Beguai, Rehum, Baana. The number of
the men of the people of Israel:
2:3. The children of Pharos two thousand one hundred seventy-two.
2:4. The children of Sephatia, three hundred seventy-two.
2:5. The children of Area, seven hundred seventy- ive.
2:6. The children of Phahath Moab, of the children of Josue: Joab,
Two thousand eight hundred twelve.
2:7. The children of Elam, a thousand two hundred ifty-four.
2:8. The children of Zethua, nine hundred forty- ive.
2:9. The children of Zachai, seven hundred sixty.

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 2:10. The children of Bani, six hundred forty-two.

2:11. The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty-three.
2:12. The children of Azgad, a thousand two hundred twenty-two.
2:13. The children of Adonicam, six hundred sixty-six.
2:14. The children of Beguai, two thousand ifty-six.
2:15. The children of Adin, four hundred ifty-four.
2:16. The children of Ather, who were of Ezechias, ninety-eight.
2:17. The children of Besai, three hundred and twenty-three.
2:18. The children of Jora, a hundred and twelve.
2:19. The children of Hasum, two hundred twenty-three.
2:20. The children of Gebbar, ninety- ive.
2:21. The children of Bethlehem, a hundred twenty-three.
2:22. The men of Netupha, ifty-six.
2:23. The men of Anathoth, a hundred twenty-eight.
2:24. The children of Azmaveth, forty-two.
2:25. The children of Cariathiarim, Cephira, and Beroth, seven
hundred forty-three.
2:26. The children of Rama and Gabaa, six hundred twenty-one.
2:27. The men of Machmas, a hundred twenty-two.
2:28. The men of Bethel and Hai, two hundred twenty-three.
2:29. The children of Nebo, ifty-two.
2:30. The children of Megbis, a hundred ifty-six.
2:31. The children of the other Elam, a thousand two hundred ifty-
four.
2:32. The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty.
2:33. The children of Lod, Hadid and Ono, seven hundred twenty-
ive.
2:34. The children of Jericho, three hundred forty- ive.
2:35. The children of Senaa, three thousand six hundred thirty.
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 2:36. The priests: the children of Jadaia of the house of Josue, nine
hundred seventy-three.
2:37. The children of Emmer, a thousand ifty-two.
2:38. The children of Pheshur, a thousand two hundred forty-seven.
2:39. The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen.
2:40. The Levites: the children of Josue and of Cedmihel, the children
of Odovia, seventy-four.
2:41. The singing men: the children of Asaph, a hundred twenty-
eight.
2:42. The children of the porters: the children of Sellum, the children
of Ater, the children of Telmon, the children of Accub, the children of
Hatita, the children of Sobai: in all a hundred thirty-nine.
2:43. The Nathinites: the children of Siha, the children of Hasupha,
the children of Tabbaoth,
2:44. The children of Ceros, the children of Sia, the children of
Phadon,
2:45. The children of Lebana, the children of Hegaba, the children of
Accub,
2:46. The children of Hagab, the children of Semlai, the children of
Hanan,
2:47. The children of Gaddel, the children of Gaher, the children of
Raaia,
2:48. The children of Rasin, the children of Necoda, the children of
Gazam,
2:49. The children of Asa, the children of Phasea, the children of
Besee,
2:50. The children of Asena, the children of Munim, the children of
Nephusim,
2:51. The children of Bacbuc, the children of Hacupha, the children
of Harhur,

 2:52. The children of Besluth, the children of Mahida, the children of

Harsa,
2:53. The children of Bercos, the children of Sisara, the children of
Thema,
2:54. The children of Nasia, the children of Hatipha,
2:55. The children of the servants of Solomon, the children of Sotai,
the children of Sopheret, the children of Pharuda,
2:56. The children of Jala, the children of Dercon, the children of
Geddel,
2:57. The children of Saphatia, the children of Hatil, the children of
Phochereth, which were of Asebaim, the children of Ami,
2:58. All the Nathinites, and the children of the servants of Solomon,
three hundred ninety-two.
2:59. And these are they that came up from Thelmela, Thelharsa,
Cherub, and Adon, and Emer. And they could not shew the house of
their fathers and their seed, whether they were of Israel.
2:60. The children of Dalaia, the children of Tobia, the children of
Necoda, six hundred ifty-two.
2:61. And of the children of the priests: the children of Hobia, the
children of Accos, the children of Berzellai, who took a wife of the
daughters of Berzellai, the Galaadite, and was called by their name:
2:62. These sought the writing of their genealogy, and found it not,
and they were cast out of the priesthood.
2:63. And Athersatha said to them, that they should not eat of the
holy of holies, till there arose a priest learned and perfect.
2:64. All the multitudes as one man, were forty-two thousand three
hundred and sixty:
Forty-two thousand, etc.... Those who are reckoned up above of the tribes of Juda,
Benjamin, and Levi, fall short of this number. The rest, who must be taken in to
make up the whole sum, were of the other tribes.

 2:65. Besides their menservants, and womenservants, of whom there

were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven: and among
them singing men, and singing women two hundred.
2:66. Their horses seven hundred thirty-six, their mules two hundred
forty- ive,
2:67. Their camels four hundred thirty- ive, their asses six thousand
seven hundred and twenty.
2:68. And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the
temple of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem, offered freely to the house of
the Lord to build it in its place.
2:69. According to their ability, they gave towards the expenses of
the work, sixty-one thousand solids of gold, ive thousand pounds of
silver, and a hundred garments for the priests.
2:70. So the priests and the Levites, and some of the people, and the
singing men, and the porters, and the Nathinites dwelt in their cities,
and all Israel in their cities.
1 Esdras Chapter 3

An altar is built for sacri ice, the feast of tabernacles is solemnly

celebrated, and the foundations of the temple are laid.
3:1. And now the seventh month was come, and the children of
Israel were in their cities: and the people gathered themselves
together as one man to Jerusalem.
3:2. And Josue the son of Josedec rose up, and his brethren the
priests, and Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and his brethren, and they
built the altar of the God of Israel that they might offer holocausts
upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
Josue.... or Jesus (Jeshua) the son of Josedec; he was the high priest, at that time.
3:3. And they set the altar of God upon its bases, while the people of
the lands round about put them in fear, and they offered upon it a
holocaust to the Lord morning and evening.
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 3:4. And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and

offered the holocaust every day orderly according to the
commandment, the duty of the day in its day.
3:5. And afterwards the continual holocaust, both on the new
moons, and on all the solemnities of the Lord, that were consecrated,
and on all in which a freewill offering was made to the Lord.
3:6. From the irst day of the seventh month they began to offer
holocausts to the Lord: but the temple of God was not yet founded.
3:7. And they gave money to hewers of stones and to masons: and
meat and drink, and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians, to bring cedar
trees from Libanus to the sea of Joppe, according to the orders which
Cyrus king of the Persians had given them.
3:8. And in the second year of their coming to the temple of God in
Jerusalem, the second month, Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue
the son of Josedec, and the rest of their brethren the priests, and the
Levites, and all that were come from the captivity to Jerusalem began,
and they appointed Levites from twenty years old and upward, to
hasten forward the work of the Lord.
3:9. Then Josue and his sons and his brethren, Cedmihel, and his
sons, and the children of Juda, as one man, stood to hasten them that
did the work in the temple of God: the sons of Henadad, and their sons,
and their brethren the Levites.
3:10. And when the masons laid the foundations of the temple of the
Lord, the priests stood in their ornaments with trumpets: and the
Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise God by the hands of
David king of Israel.
3:11. And they sung together hymns, and praise to the Lord: because
he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever towards Israel. And all the
people shouted with a great shout, praising the Lord, because the
foundations of the temple of the Lord were laid.
3:12. But many of the priests and the Levites, and the chief of the
fathers and the ancients that had seen the former temple; when they
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 had the foundation of this temple before their eyes, wept with a loud
voice: and many shouting for joy, lifted up their voice.
3:13. So that one could not distinguish the voice of the shout of joy,
from the noise of the weeping of the people: for one with another the
people shouted with a loud shout, and the voice was heard afar off.
1 Esdras Chapter 4

The Samaritans by their letter to the king hinder the building.

4:1. Now the enemies of Juda and Benjamin heard that the children
of the captivity were building a temple to the Lord the God of Israel.
4:2. And they came to Zorobabel, and the chief of the fathers, and
said to them: Let us build with you, for we seek your God as ye do:
behold we have sacri iced to him, since the days of Asor Haddan king
of Assyria, who brought us hither.
4:3. But Zorobabel, and Josue, and the rest of the chief of the fathers
of Israel said to them: You have nothing to do with us to build a house
to our God, but we ourselves alone will build to the Lord our God, as
Cyrus king of the Persians hath commanded us.
4:4. Then the people of the land hindered the hands of the people of
Juda, and troubled them in building.
4:5. And they hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their
design all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of
Darius king of the Persians.
4:6. And in the reign of Assuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they
wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Juda and Jerusalem.
Assuerus.... Otherwise called Cambyses the son and successor of Cyrus. He is also
in the following verse named Artaxerxes, a name common to almost all the kings
of Persia.
4:7. And in the days of Artaxerxes, Beselam, Mithridates, and
Thabeel, and the rest that were in the council wrote to Artaxerxes king
of the Persians: and the letter of accusation was written in Syrian, and
was read in the Syrian tongue.

 4:8. Reum Beelteem, and Samsai the scribe wrote a letter from
Jerusalem to king Artaxerxes, in this manner:
4:9. Reum Beelteem, and Samsai the scribe and the rest of their
counsellors, the Dinites, and the Apharsathacites, the Therphalites, the
Apharsites, the Erchuites, the Babylonians, the Susanechites, the
Dievites, and the Elamites,
4:10. And the rest of the nations, whom the great and glorious
Asenaphar brought over: and made to dwell in the cities of Samaria
and in the rest of the countries of this side of the river in peace.
4:11. (This is the copy of the letter, which they sent to him:) To
Artaxerxes the king, thy servants, the men that are on this side of the
river, send greeting.
4:12. Be it known to the king, that the Jews, who came up from thee
to us, are come to Jerusalem a rebellious and wicked city, which they
are building, setting up the ramparts thereof and repairing the walls.
4:13. And now be it known to the king, that if this city be built up,
and the walls thereof repaired, they will not pay tribute nor toll, nor
yearly revenues, and this loss will fall upon the kings.
4:14. But we remembering the salt that we have eaten in the palace,
and because we count it a crime to see the king wronged, have
therefore sent and certi ied the king,
4:15. That search may be made in the books of the histories of thy
fathers, and thou shalt ind written in the records: and shalt know that
this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to the kings and provinces, and
that wars were raised therein of old time: for which cause also the city
was destroyed.
4:16. We certify the king, that if this city be built, and the walls
thereof repaired, thou shalt have no possession on this side of the river.
4:17. The king sent word to Reum Beelteem and Samsai the scribe,
and to the rest that were in their council, inhabitants of Samaria, and
to the rest beyond the river, sending greeting and peace.

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 4:18. The accusation, which you have sent to us, hath been plainly
read before me,
4:19. And I commanded: and search hath been made, and it is found,
that this city of old time hath rebelled against kings, and seditions and
wars have been raised therein.
4:20. For there have been powerful kings in Jerusalem, who have
had dominion over all the country that is beyond the river: and have
received tribute, and toll and revenues.
4:21. Now therefore hear the sentence: Hinder those men, that this
city be not built, till further orders be given by me.
4:22. See that you be not negligent in executing this, lest by little
and little the evil grow to the hurt of the kings.
4:23. Now the copy of the edict of king Artaxerxes was read before
Reum Beelteem, and Samsai the scribe, and their counsellors: and they
went up in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and hindered them with
arm and power.
4:24. Then the work of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem was
interrupted, and ceased till the second year of the reign of Darius king
of the Persians.
1 Esdras Chapter 5

By the exhortation of Aggeus, and Zacharias, the people proceed in

building the temple. Which their enemies strive in vain to hinder.
5:1. Now Aggeus the prophet, and Zacharias the son of Addo,
prophesied to the Jews that were in Judea and Jerusalem, in the name
of the God of Israel.
5:2. Then rose up Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue the son of
Josedec, and began to build the temple of God in Jerusalem, and with
them were the prophets of God helping them.
5:3. And at the same time came to them Thathanai, who was
governor beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and their counsellors:

and said thus to them: Who hath given you counsel to build this house,
and to repair the walls thereof?
5:4. In answer to which we gave them the names of the men who
were the promoters of that building.
5:5. But the eye of their God was upon the ancients of the Jews, and
they could not hinder them. And it was agreed that the matter should
be referred to Darius, and then they should give satisfaction
concerning that accusation.
5:6. The copy of the letter that Thathanai governor of the country
beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and his counsellors the
Arphasachites, who dwelt beyond the river, sent to Darius the king.
5:7. The letter which they sent him, was written thus: To Darius the
king all peace.
5:8. Be it known to the king, that we went to the province of Judea,
to the house of the great God, which they are building with unpolished
stones, and timber is laid in the walls: and this work is carried on
diligently and advanceth in their hands.
5:9. And we asked those ancients, and said to them thus: Who hath
given you authority to build this house, and to repair these walls?
5:10. We asked also of them their names, that we might give thee
notice: and we have written the names of the men that are the chief
among them.
5:11. And they answered us in these words, saying: We are the
servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are building a temple
that was built these many years ago, and which a great king of Israel
built and set up.
5:12. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to
wrath, he delivered them into the hands of Nabuchodonosor the king
of Babylon the Chaldean: and he destroyed this house, and carried
away the people to Babylon.
5:13. But in the irst year of Cyrus the king of Babylon, king Cyrus
set forth a decree, that this house of God should be built.

 5:14. And the vessels also of gold and silver of the temple of God,
which Nabuchodonosor had taken out of the temple, that was in
Jerusalem, and had brought them to the temple of Babylon, king Cyrus
brought out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one
Sassabasar, whom also he appointed governor,
5:15. And said to him: Take these vessels, and go, and put them in
the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its
place.
5:16. Then came this same Sassabasar, and laid the foundations of
the temple of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it is in
building, and is not yet inished.
5:17. Now therefore if it seem good to the king, let him search in the
king’s library, which is in Babylon, whether it hath been decreed by
Cyrus the king, that the house of God in Jerusalem should be built, and
let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.
1 Esdras Chapter 6

King Darius favoureth the building and contributeth to it.

6:1. Then king Darius gave orders, and they searched in the library
of the books that were laid up in Babylon,
6:2. And there was found in Ecbatana, which is a castle in the
province of Media, a book in which this record was written.
6:3. In the irst year of Cyrus the king: Cyrus the king decreed, that
the house of God should be built, which is in Jerusalem, in the place
where they may offer sacri ices, and that they lay the foundations that
may support the height of threescore cubits, and the breadth of
threescore cubits,
6:4. Three rows of unpolished stones, and so rows of new timber:
and the charges shall be given out of the king’s house.
6:5. And also let the golden and silver vessels of the temple of God,
which Nabuchodonosor took out of the temple of Jerusalem, and

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 brought to Babylon, be restored, and carried back to the temple of

Jerusalem to their place, which also were placed in the temple of God.
6:6. Now therefore Thathanai, governor of the country beyond the
river, Stharbuzanai, and your counsellors the Apharsachites, who are
beyond the river, depart far from them,
6:7. And let that temple of God be built by the governor of the Jews,
and by their ancients, that they may build that house of God in its
place.
6:8. I also have commanded what must be done by those ancients of
the Jews, that the house of God may be built, to wit, that of the king’s
chest, that is, of the tribute that is paid out of the country beyond the
river, the charges be diligently given to those men, lest the work be
hindered.
6:9. And if it shall be necessary, let calves also, and lambs, and kids,
for holocausts to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil,
according to the custom of the priests that are in Jerusalem, be given
them day by day, that there be no complaint in any thing.
6:10. And let them offer oblations to the God of heaven, and pray for
the life of the king, and of his children.
6:11. And I have made a decree: That if any whosoever, shall alter
this commandment, a beam be taken from his house, and set up, and
he be nailed upon it, and his house be con iscated.
6:12. And may the God, that hath caused his name to dwell there,
destroy all kingdoms, and the people that shall put out their hand to
resist, and to destroy the house of God, that is in Jerusalem. I Darius
have made the decree, which I will have diligently complied with.
6:13. So then Thathanai, governor of the country beyond the river,
and Stharbuzanai, and his counsellors diligently executed what Darius
the king had commanded.
6:14. And the ancients of the Jews built, and prospered according to
the prophecy of Aggeus the prophet, and of Zacharias the son of Addo:
and they built and inished, by the commandment of the God of Israel,

 and by the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes kings

of the Persians.
6:15. And they were inishing this house of God, until the third day of
the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of king
Darius.
6:16. And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the
rest of the children of the captivity kept the dedication of the house of
God with joy.
6:17. And they offered at the dedication of the house of God, a
hundred calves, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and for a sin
offering for all Israel twelve he goats, according to the number of the
tribes of Israel.
6:18. And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in
their courses over the works of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the
book of Moses.
6:19. And the children of Israel of the captivity kept the phase, on
the fourteenth day of the irst month.
6:20. For all the priests and the Levites were puri ied as one man: all
were clean to kill the phase for all the children of the captivity, and for
their brethren the priests, and themselves.
6:21. And the children of Israel that were returned from captivity,
and all that had separated themselves from the ilthiness of the
nations of the earth to them, to seek the Lord the God of Israel, did eat.
6:22. And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with
joy, for the Lord had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the
king of Assyria to them, that he should help their hands in the work of
the house of the Lord the God of Israel.
1 Esdras Chapter 7

Esdras goeth up to Jerusalem to teach, and assist the people, with a

gracious decree of Artaxerxes.

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 7:1. Now after these things in the reign of Artaxerxes king of the
Persians, Esdras the son of Saraias, the son of Azarias, the son of
Helcias,
7:2. The son of Sellum, the son of Sadoc, the son of Achitob,
7:3. The son of Amarias, the son of Azarias, the son of Maraioth,
7:4. The son of Zarahias, the son of Ozi, the son of Bocci,
7:5. The son of Abisue, the son of Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son
of Aaron, the priest from the beginning.
7:6. This Esdras went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in
the law of Moses, which the Lord God had given to Israel: and the king
granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God
upon him.
7:7. And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the
children of the priests, and of the children of the Levites, and of the
singing men, and of the porters, and of the Nathinites to Jerusalem in
the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
7:8. And they came to Jerusalem in the ifth month, in the seventh
year of the king.
7:9. For upon the irst day of the irst month he began to go up from
Babylon, and on the irst day of the ifth month he came to Jerusalem
according to the good hand of his God upon him.
7:10. For Esdras had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord,
and to do and to teach in Israel the commandments and judgment.
7:11. And this is the copy of the letter of the edict, which king
Artaxerxes gave to Esdras the priest, the scribe instructed in the words
and commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies in Israel.
7:12. Artaxerxes king of kings to Esdras the priest, the most learned
scribe of the law of the God of heaven, greeting.
7:13. It is decreed by me, that all they of the people of Israel, and of
the priests and of the Levites in my realm, that are minded to go into
Jerusalem, should go with thee.

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 7:14. For thou art sent from before the king, and his seven
counsellors, to visit Judea and Jerusalem according to the law of thy
God, which is in thy hand.
7:15. And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his
counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose tabernacle is
in Jerusalem.
7:16. And all the silver and gold that thou shalt ind in all the
province of Babylon, and that the people is willing to offer, and that
the priests shall offer of their own accord to the house of their God,
which is in Jerusalem,
7:17. Take freely, and buy diligently with this money, calves, rams,
lambs, with the sacri ices and libations of them, and offer them upon
the altar of the temple of your God, that is in Jerusalem.
7:18. And if it seem good to thee, and to thy brethren to do any thing
with the rest of the silver and gold, do it according to the will of your
God.
7:19. The vessels also, that are given thee for the sacri ice of the
house of thy God, deliver thou in the sight of God in Jerusalem.
7:20. And whatsoever more there shall be need of for the house of
thy God, how much soever thou shalt have occasion to spend, it shall
be given out of the treasury, and the king’s exchequer, and by me.
7:21. I Artaxerxes the king have ordered and decreed to all the
keepers of the public chest, that are beyond the river, that whatsoever
Esdras the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall
require of you, you give it without delay,
7:22. Unto a hundred talents of silver, and unto a hundred cores of
wheat, and unto a hundred bates of wine, and unto a hundred bates of
oil, and salt without measure.
7:23. All that belongeth to the rites of the God of heaven, let it be
given diligently in the house of the God of heaven: lest his wrath should
be enkindled against the realm of the king, and of his sons.

 7:24. We give you also to understand concerning all the priests, and
the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nathinites, and
ministers of the house of this God, that you have no authority to
impose toll or tribute, or custom upon them.
7:25. And thou Esdras according to the wisdom of thy God, which is
in thy hand, appoint judges and magistrates, that may judge all the
people, that is beyond the river, that is, for them who know the law of
thy God, yea and the ignorant teach ye freely.
7:26. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of
the king diligently, judgment shall be executed upon him, either unto
death, or unto banishment, or to the con iscation of goods, or at least
to prison.
7:27. Blessed be the Lord the God of our fathers, who hath put this in
the king’s heart, to glorify the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem,
7:28. And hath inclined his mercy toward me before the king and his
counsellors, and all the mighty princes of the king: and I being
strengthened by the hand of the Lord my God, which was upon me,
gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.
1 Esdras Chapter 8

The companions of Esdras. The fast which he appointed. They bring

the holy vessels into the temple.
8:1. Now these are the chiefs of families, and the genealogy of them,
who came up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the
king.
8:2. Of the sons of Phinees, Gersom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of
the sons of David, Hattus.
8:3. Of the sons of Sechenias, the son of Pharos, Zacharias, and with
him were numbered a hundred and ifty men.
8:4. Of the sons of Phahath Moab, Eleoenai the son of Zareha, and
with him two hundred men.

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 8:5. Of the sons of Sechenias, the son of Ezechiel, and with him three
hundred men.
8:6. Of the sons of Adan, Abed the son of Jonathan, and with him ifty
men.
8:7. Of the sons of Alam, Isaias the son of Athalias, and with him
seventy men.
8:8. Of the sons of Saphatia: Zebodia the son of Michael, and with
him eighty men.
8:9. Of the sons of Joab, Obedia the son of Jahiel, and with him two
hundred and eighteen men.
8:10. Of the sons of Selomith, the son of Josphia, and with him a
hundred and sixty men.
8:11. Of the sons of Bebai, Zacharias the son of Bebai: and with him
eight and twenty men.
8:12. Of the sons of Azgad, Joanan the son of Eccetan, and with him
a hundred and ten men.
8:13. Of the sons of Adonicam, who were the last: and these are their
names: Eliphelet, and Jehiel, and Samaias, and with them sixty men.
8:14. Of the sons of Begui, Uthai and Zachur, and with them seventy
men.
8:15. And I gathered them together to the river, which runneth
down to Ahava, and we stayed there three days: and I sought among
the people and among the priests for the sons of Levi, and found none
there.
8:16. So I sent Eliezer, and Ariel, and Semeias, and Elnathan, and
Jarib, and another Elnathan, and Nathan, and Zacharias, and
Mosollam, chief men: and Joiarib, and Elnathan, wise men.
8:17. And I sent them to Eddo, who is chief in the place of Chasphia,
and I put in their mouth the words that they should speak to Eddo, and
his brethren the Nathinites in the place of Chasphia, that they should
bring us ministers of the house of our God.

 8:18. And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a
most learned man of the sons of Moholi the son of Levi the son of
Israel, and Sarabias and his sons, and his brethren eighteen,
8:19. And Hasabias, and with him Isaias of the sons of Merari, and
his brethren, and his sons twenty.
8:20. And of the Nathinites, whom David, and the princes gave for
the service of the Levites, Nathinites two hundred and twenty: all these
were called by their names.
8:21. And I proclaimed there a fast by the river Ahava, that we
might af lict ourselves before the Lord our God, and might ask of him a
right way for us and for our children, and for all our substance.
And I proclaimed a fast.... It is not enough to part from Babylon, that is,
iguratively from sin, but we must also do works of penance; and therefore
Esdras here proclaimed an extraordinary fast to those that were come from
captivity. This shews that fasting was commanded and practised from the
earliest times.
8:22. For I was ashamed to ask the king for aid and for horsemen, to
defend us from the enemy in the way: because we had said to the king:
The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him in goodness: and
his power and strength, and wrath upon all them that forsake him.
8:23. And we fasted, and besought our God for this: and it fell out
prosperously unto us.
8:24. And I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sarabias, and
Hasabias, and with them ten of their brethren,
8:25. And I weighed unto them the silver and gold, and the vessels
consecrated for the house of our God, which the king and his
counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel, that were found had
offered.
8:26. And I weighed to their hands six hundred and ifty talents of
silver, and a hundred vessels of silver, and a hundred talents of gold,
8:27. And twenty cups of gold, of a thousand solids, and two vessels
of the best shining brass, beautiful as gold.
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 8:28. And I said to them: You are the holy ones of the Lord, and the
vessels are holy, and the silver and gold, that is freely offered to the
Lord the God of our fathers.
8:29. Watch ye and keep them, till you deliver them by weight before
the chief of the priests, and of the Levites, and the heads of the families
of Israel in Jerusalem, into the treasure of the house of the Lord.
8:30. And the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver
and gold, and the vessels, to carry them to Jerusalem to the house of
our God.
8:31. Then we set forward from the river Ahava on the twelfth day
of the irst month to go to Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was
upon us, and delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as
lay in wait by the way.
8:32. And we came to Jerusalem, and we stayed there three days.
8:33. And on the fourth day the silver and the gold, and the vessels
were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the
son of Urias the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinees,
and with them Jozabad the son of Josue, and Noadaia the son of Benoi,
Levites.
8:34. According to the number and weight of everything: and all the
weight was written at that time.
8:35. Moreover the children of them that had been carried away
that were come out of the captivity, offered holocausts to the God of
Israel, twelve calves for all the people of Israel, ninety-six rams,
seventy-seven lambs, and twelve he goats for sin: all for a holocaust to
the Lord.
8:36. And they gave the king’s edicts to the lords that were from the
king’s court, and the governors beyond the river, and they furthered
the people and the house of God.
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 1 Esdras Chapter 9

Esdras mourneth for the transgression of the people: his confession

and prayer.
9:1. And after these things were accomplished, the princes came to
me, saying: The people of Israel, and the priests and Levites have not
separated themselves from the people of the lands, and from their
abominations, namely, of the Chanaanites, and the Hethites, and the
Pherezites, and the Jebusites, and the Ammonites, and the Moabites,
and the Egyptians, and the Amorrhites.
This shows how sinful it is to intermarry with those that the Church forbids us,
on account of the danger of perversion and falling off from the true faith.
9:2. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for
their sons, and they have mingled the holy seed with the people of the
lands. And the hand of the princes and magistrates hath been irst in
this transgression.
9:3. And when I had heard this word, I rent my mantle and my coat,
and plucked off the hairs of my head and my beard, and I sat down
mourning.
9:4. And there were assembled to me all that feared the God of
Israel, because of the transgression of those that were come from the
captivity, and I sat sorrowful, until the evening sacri ice.
9:5. And at the evening sacri ice I rose up from my af liction, and
having rent my mantle and my garment, I fell upon my knees, and
spread out my hands to the Lord my God,
9:6. And said: My God I am confounded and ashamed to lift up my
face to thee: for our iniquities are multiplied over our heads, and our
sins are grown up even unto heaven,
9:7. From the days of our fathers: and we ourselves also have sinned
grievously unto this day, and for our iniquities we and our kings, and
our priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the lands,

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 and to the sword, and to captivity, and to spoil, and to confusion of
face, as it is at this day.
9:8. And now as a little, and for a moment has our prayer been
made before the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant, and give us a pin
in his holy place, and that our God would enlighten our eyes, and
would give us a little life in our bondage.
A pin.... or nail, here signi ies a small settlement or holding; which Esdras begs
for, to preserve even a part of the people, who, by their great iniquity had
incurred the anger of God.
9:9. For we are bondmen, and in our bondage our God hath not
forsaken us, but hath extended mercy upon us before the king of the
Persians, to give us life, and to set up the house of our God, and to
rebuild the desolations thereof, and to give us a fence in Juda and
Jerusalem.
9:10. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have
forsaken thy commandments,
9:11. Which thou hast commanded by the hand of thy servants the
prophets, saying: The land which you go to possess, is an unclean land,
according to the uncleanness of the people, and of other lands, with
their abominations, who have illed it from mouth to mouth with their
ilth.
9:12. Now therefore give not your daughters to their sons, and take
not their daughters for your sons, and seek not their peace, nor their
prosperity for ever: that you may be strengthened, and may eat the
good things of the land, and may have your children your heirs for
ever.
9:13. And after all that is come upon us, for our most wicked deeds,
and our great sin, seeing that thou our God hast saved us from our
iniquity, and hast given us a deliverance as at this day,
9:14. That we should not turn away, nor break thy commandments,
nor join in marriage with the people of these abominations. Art thou
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 angry with us unto utter destruction, not to leave us a remnant to be

saved?
9:15. O Lord God of Israel, thou art just: for we remain yet to be
saved as at this day. Behold we are before thee in our sin, for there can
be no standing before thee in this matter.
1 Esdras Chapter 10

Order is given for discharging strange women: the names of the guilty.
10:1. Now when Esdras was thus praying, and beseeching, and
weeping, and lying before the temple of God, there was gathered to
him of Israel an exceeding great assembly of men and women and
children, and the people wept with much lamentation.
10:2. And Sechenias the son of Jehiel of the sons of Elam answered,
and said to Esdras: We have sinned against our God, and have taken
strange wives of the people of the land: and now if there be repentance
in Israel concerning this,
10:3. Let us make a covenant with the Lord our God, to put away all
the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the will of the
Lord, and of them that fear the commandment of the Lord our God: let
it be done according to the law.
10:4. Arise, it is thy part to give orders, and we will be with thee:
take courage, and do it.
10:5. So Esdras arose, and made the chiefs of the priests and of the
Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this
word, and they swore.
10:6. And Esdras rose up from before the house of God, and went to
the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliasib, and entered in thither: he
ate no bread, and drank no water: for he mourned for the
transgression of them that were come out of the captivity.
10:7. And proclamation was made in Juda and Jerusalem to all the
children of the captivity, that they should assemble together into
Jerusalem.

 10:8. And that whosoever would not come within three days,
according to the counsel of the princes and the ancients, all his
substance should be taken away, and he should be cast out of the
company of them that were returned from captivity.
10:9. Then all the men of Juda, and Benjamin gathered themselves
together to Jerusalem within three days, in the ninth month, the
twentieth day of the month: and all the people sat in the street of the
house of God, trembling because of the sin, and the rain.
10:10. And Esdras the priest stood up, and said to them: You have
transgressed, and taken strange wives, to add to the sins of Israel.
10:11. And now make confession to the Lord the God of your fathers,
and do his pleasure, and separate yourselves from the people of the
land, and from your strange wives.
10:12. And all the multitude answered and said with a loud voice:
According to thy word unto us, so be it done.
10:13. But as the people are many, and it is time of rain, and we are
not able to stand without, and it is not a work of one day or two, (for
we have exceedingly sinned in this matter,)
10:14. Let rulers be appointed in all the multitude: and in all our
cities, let them that have taken strange wives come at the times
appointed, and with them the ancients and the judges of every city,
until the wrath of our God be turned away from us for this sin.
10:15. Then Jonathan the son of Azahel, and Jaasia the son of
Thecua were appointed over this, and Mesollam and Sebethai, Levites,
helped them:
10:16. And the children of the captivity did so. And Esdras the priest,
and the men heads of the families in the houses of their fathers, and all
by their names, went and sat down in the irst day of the tenth month
to examine the matter.
10:17. And they made an end with all the men that had taken
strange wives by the irst day of the irst month.

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 10:18. And there were found among the sons of the priests that had
taken strange wives: Of the sons of Josue the son of Josedec, and his
brethren, Maasia, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Godolia.
10:19. And they gave their hands to put away their wives, and to
offer for their offence a ram of the lock.
10:20. And of the sons of Emmer, Hanani, and Zebedia.
10:21. And of the sons of Harim, Maasia, and Elia, and Semeia, and
Jehiel, and Ozias.
10:22. And of the sons of Pheshur, Elioenai, Maasia, Ismael,
Nathanael, Jozabed, and Elasa.
10:23. And of the sons of the Levites, Jozabed, and Semei, and Celaia,
the same is Calita, Phataia, Juda, and Eliezer.
10:24. And of the singing men, Elisiab: and of the porters, Sellum,
and Telem, and Uri.
10:25. And of Israel, of the sons of Pharos, Remeia, and Jezia, and
Melchia, and Miamin, and Eliezer, and Melchia, and Banea.
10:26. And of the sons of Elam, Mathania, Zacharias, and Jehiel, and
Abdi, and Jerimoth, and Elia.
10:27. And of the sons of Zethua, Elioenai, Eliasib, Mathania,
Jerimuth, and Zabad, and Aziaza.
10:28. And of the sons of Babai, Johanan, Hanania, Zabbai, Athalai:
10:29. And of the sons of Bani, Mosollam, and Melluch, and Adaia,
Jasub, and Saal, and Ramoth.
10:30. And of the sons of Phahath, Moab, Edna, and Chalal, Banaias,
and Maasias, Mathanias, Beseleel, Bennui, and Manasse.
10:31. And of the sons of Herem, Eliezer, Josue, Melchias, Semeias,
Simeon,
10:32. Benjamin, Maloch, Samarias.
10:33. And of the sons of Hasom, Mathanai, Mathatha, Zabad,
Eliphelet, Jermai, Manasse, Semei.
10:34. Of the sons of Bani, Maaddi, Amram, and Uel,

 10:35. Baneas, and Badaias, Cheliau,

10:36. Vania, Marimuth, and Eliasib,
10:37. Mathanias, Mathania, and Jasi,
10:38. And Bani, and Bennui, Semei,
10:39. And Salmias, and Nathan, and Adaias,
10:40. And Mechnedebai, Sisai, Sarai,
10:41. Ezrel, and Selemiau, Semeria,
10:42. Sellum, Amaria, Joseph.
10:43. Of the sons of Nebo, Jehiel, Mathathias, Zabad, Zabina, Jeddu,
and Joel, and Banaia.
10:44. All these had taken strange wives, and there were among
them women that had borne children.

THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAS, WHICH IS CALLED

THE SECOND OF ESDRAS

This Book takes its name from the writer, who was cupbearer to
Artaxerxes (surnamed Longimanus) king of Persia, and was sent by
him with a commission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. It is also
called the second book of Esdras; because it is a continuation of the
history, begun by Esdras, of the state of the people of God after their
return from captivity.
2 Esdras Chapter 1

Nehemias hearing the miserable state of his countrymen in Judea,

lamenteth, fasteth, and prayeth to God for their relief.

 1:1. The words of Nehemias the son of Helchias. And it came to pass
in the month of Casleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in the castle of
Susa,
1:2. That Hanani one of my brethren came, he and some men of
Juda; and I asked them concerning the Jews, that remained and were
left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
1:3. And they said to me: They that have remained, and are left of
the captivity there in the province, are in great af liction, and
reproach: and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates
thereof are burnt with ire.
1:4. And when I had heard these words, I sat down, and wept, and
mourned for many days: and I fasted, and prayed before the face of the
God of heaven.
1:5. And I said: I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, strong, great,
and terrible, who keepest covenant and mercy with those that love
thee, and keep thy commandments:
1:6. Let thy ears be attentive, and thy eyes open, to hear the prayer
of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, night and day, for the
children of Israel thy servants: and I confess the sins of the children of
Israel, by which they have sinned against thee: I and my father’s house
have sinned.
1:7. We have been seduced by vanity, and have not kept thy
commandments, and ceremonies and judgments, which thou hast
commanded thy servant Moses.
1:8. Remember the word that thou commandedst to Moses thy
servant, saying: If you shall transgress, I will scatter you abroad
among the nations:
1:9. But if you return to me, and keep my commandments, and do
them, though you should be led away to the uttermost parts of the
world, I will gather you from thence, and bring you back to the place
which I have chosen for my name to dwell there.

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 1:10. And these are thy servants, and thy people: whom thou hast
redeemed by thy great strength, and by thy mighty hand.
1:11. I beseech thee, O Lord, let thy ear be attentive to the prayer of
thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy
name: and direct thy servant this day, and give him mercy before this
man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.
2 Esdras Chapter 2

Nehemias with commission from king Artaxerxes cometh to Jerusalem:

and exhorteth the Jews to rebuild the walls.
2:1. And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year
of Artaxerxes the king: that wine was before him, and I took up the
wine, and gave it to the king: and I was as one languishing away
before his face.
2:2. And the king said to me: Why is thy countenance sad, seeing
thou dost not appear to be sick? this is not without cause, but some
evil, I know not what, is in thy heart. And I was seized with an
exceeding great fear:
2:3. And I said to the king: O king, live for ever: why should not my
countenance be sorrowful, seeing the city of the place of the sepulchres
of my fathers is desolate, and the gates thereof are burnt with ire?
2:4. Then the king said to me: For what dost thou make request?
And I prayed to the God of heaven,
2:5. And I said to the king: If it seem good to the king, and if thy
servant hath found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldst send me into
Judea to the city of the sepulchre of my father, and I will build it.
2:6. And the king said to me, and the queen that sat by him: For how
long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? And it pleased
the king, and he sent me: and I ixed him a time.
2:7. And I said to the king: If it seem good to the king, let him give
me letters to the governors of the country beyond the river, that they
convey me over, till I come into Judea:

 2:8. And a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, to give me
timber that I may cover the gates of the tower of the house, and the
walls of the city, and the house that I shall enter into. And the king
gave me according to the good hand of my God with me.
2:9. And I came to the governors of the country beyond the river,
and gave them the king’s letters. And the king had sent with me
captains of soldiers, and horsemen.
2:10. And Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the
Ammonite, heard it, and it grieved them exceedingly, that a man was
come, who sought the prosperity of the children of Israel.
2:11. And I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
2:12. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me, and I
told not any man what God had put in my heart to do in Jerusalem,
and there was no beast with me, but the beast that I rode upon.
2:13. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, and before
the dragon fountain, and to the dung gate, and I viewed the wall of
Jerusalem which was broken down, and the gates thereof which were
consumed with ire.
2:14. And I passed to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s
aqueduct, and there was no place for the beast on which I rode to pass.
2:15. And I went up in the night by the torrent, and viewed the wall,
and going back I came to the gate of the valley, and returned.
2:16. But the magistrates knew not whither I went, or what I did:
neither had I as yet told any thing to the Jews, or to the priests, or to
the nobles, or to the magistrates, or to the rest that did the work.
2:17. Then I said to them: You know the af liction wherein we are,
because Jerusalem is desolate, and the gates thereof are consumed
with ire: come, and let us build up the walls of Jerusalem, and let us be
no longer a reproach.
2:18. And I shewed them how the hand of my God was good with me,
and the king’s words, which he had spoken to me, and I said: Let us rise
up, and build. And their hands were strengthened in good.
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 2:19. But Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the
Ammonite, and Gossem the Arabian heard of it, and they scoffed at us,
and despised us, and said: What is this thing that you do? are you
going to rebel against the king?
2:20. And I answered them, and said to them: The God of heaven he
helpeth us, and we are his servants: let us rise up and build: but you
have no part, nor justice, nor remembrance in Jerusalem.
2 Esdras Chapter 3

They begin to build the walls: the names and order of the builders.
3:1. Then Eliasib the high priest arose, and his brethren the priests,
and they built the lock gate: they sancti ied it, and set up the doors
thereof, even unto the tower of a hundred cubits they sancti ied it unto
the tower of Hananeel.
3:2. And next to him the men of Jericho built: and next to them built
Zachur the son of Amri.
3:3. But the ish gate the sons of Asnaa built: they covered it, and set
up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars. And next to them
built Marimuth the son of Urias the son of Accus.
3:4. And next to him built Mosollam the son of Barachias, the son of
Merezebel, and next to them built Sadoc the son of Baana.
3:5. And next to them the Thecuites built: but their great men did
not put their necks to the work of their Lord.
3:6. And Joiada the son of Phasea, and Mosollam the son of Besodia
built the old gate: they covered it and set up the doors thereof, and the
locks, and the bars.
3:7. And next to them built Meltias the Gabaonite, and Jadon the
Meronathite, the men of Gabaon and Maspha, for the governor that
was in the country beyond the river.
3:8. And next to him built Eziel the son of Araia the goldsmith: and
next to him built Ananias the son of the perfumer: and they left
Jerusalem unto the wall of the broad street.
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 3:9. And next to him built Raphaia the son of Hur, lord of the street
of Jerusalem.
3:10. And next to him Jedaia the son of Haromaph over against his
own house: and next to him built Hattus the son of Hasebonia.
3:11. Melchias the son of Herem, and Hasub the son of Phahath
Moab, built half the street, and the tower of the furnaces.
3:12. And next to him built Sellum the son of Alohes, lord of half the
street of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.
3:13. And the gate of the valley Hanun built, and the inhabitants of
Zanoe: they built it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the
bars, and a thousand cubits in the wall unto the gate of the dunghill.
3:14. And the gate of the dunghill Melchias the son of Rechab built,
lord of the street of Bethacharam: he built it, and set up the doors
thereof, and the locks, and the bars.
3:15. And the gate of the fountain, Sellum, the son of Cholhoza, built,
lord of the street of Maspha: he built it, and covered it, and set up the
doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars, and the walls of the pool of
Siloe unto the king’s guard, and unto the steps that go down from the
city of David.
3:16. After him built Nehemias the son of Azboc, lord of half the
street of Bethsur, as far as over against the sepulchre of David, and to
the pool, that was built with great labour, and to the house of the
mighty.
3:17. After him built the Levites, Rehum the son of Benni. After him
built Hasebias, lord of half the street of Ceila in his own street.
3:18. After him built their brethren Bavai the son of Enadad, lord of
half Ceila.
3:19. And next to him Aser the son of Josue, lord of Maspha, built
another measure, over against the going up of the strong corner.
3:20. After him in the mount Baruch the son of Zachai built another
measure, from the corner to the door of the house of Eliasib the high
priest.

 3:21. After him Merimuth the son of Urias the son of Haccus, built
another measure, from the door of the house of Eliasib, to the end of
the house of Eliasib.
3:22. And after him built the priests, the men of the plains of the
Jordan.
3:23. After him built Benjamin and Hasub, over against their own
house: and after him built Azarias the son of Maasias the son of
Ananias over against his house.
3:24. After him built Bennui the son of Hanadad another measure,
from the house of Azarias unto the bending, and unto the corner.
3:25. Phalel, the son of Ozi, over against the bending and the tower,
which lieth out from the king’s high house, that is, in the court of the
prison: after him Phadaia the son of Pharos.
3:26. And the Nathinites dwelt in Ophel, as far as over against the
water gate toward the east, and the tower that stood out.
3:27. After him the Thecuites built another measure over against,
from the great tower that standeth out unto the wall of the temple.
3:28. And upward from the horse gate the priests built, every man
over against his house.
3:29. After them built Sadoc the son of Emmer over against his
house. And after him built Semaia the son of Sechenias, keeper of the
east gate.
3:30. After him built Hanania the son of Selemia, and Hanun the
sixth son of Seleph, another measure: after him built Mosollam the son
of Barachias over against his treasury. After him Melcias the
goldsmith’s son built unto the house of the Nathinites, and of the
sellers of small wares, over against the judgment gate, and unto the
chamber of the corner.
3:31. And within the chamber of the corner of the lock gate, the
goldsmiths and the merchants built.

 2 Esdras Chapter 4

The building is carried on notwithstanding the opposition of their

enemies.
4:1. And it came to pass, that when Sanaballat heard that we were
building the wall he was angry: and being moved exceedingly he
scoffed at the Jews.
4:2. And said before his brethren, and the multitude of the
Samaritans: What are the silly Jews doing? Will the Gentiles let them
alone? will they sacri ice and make an end in a day? are they able to
raise stones out of the heaps of the rubbish, which are burnt?
4:3. Tobias also the Ammonite who was by him said: Let them build:
if a fox go up, he will leap over their stone wall.
4:4. Hear thou our God, for we are despised: turn their reproach
upon their own head, and give them to be despised in a land of
captivity.
4:5. Cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from
before thy face, because they have mocked thy builders.
4:6. So we built the wall, and joined it all together unto the half
thereof: and the heart of the people was excited to work.
4:7. And it came to pass, when Sanaballat, and Tobias, and the
Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Azotians heard that the walls of
Jerusalem were made up, and the breaches began to be closed, that
they were exceedingly angry.
4:8. And they all assembled themselves together, to come, and to
ight against Jerusalem, and to prepare ambushes.
4:9. And we prayed to our God, and set watchmen upon the wall day
and night against them.
4:10. And Juda said: The strength of the bearer of burdens is
decayed, and the rubbish is very much, and we shall not be able to
build the wall.
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 4:11. And our enemies said: Let them not know, nor understand, till
we come in the midst of them, and kill them, and cause the work to
cease.
4:12. And it came to pass, that when the Jews that dwelt by them
came and told us ten times, out of all the places from whence they
came to us,
4:13. I set the people in the place behind the wall round about in
order, with their swords, and spears, and bows.
4:14. And I looked and rose up: and I said to the chief men and the
magistrates, and to the rest of the common people: be not afraid of
them. Remember the Lord who is great and terrible, and ight for your
brethren, your sons, and your daughters, and your wives, and your
houses.
4:15. And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that the thing
had been told us, that God defeated their counsel. And we returned all
of us to the walls, every man to his work.
4:16. And it came to pass from that day forward, that half of their
young men did the work, and half were ready for to ight, with spears,
and shields, and bows, and coats of mail, and the rulers were behind
them in all the house of Juda.
4:17. Of them that built on the wall and that carried burdens, and
that laded: with one of his hands he did the work, and with the other
he held a sword.
4:18. For every one of the builders was girded with a sword about
his reins. And they built, and sounded with a trumpet by me.
4:19. And I said to the nobles, and to the magistrates, and to the rest
of the common people: The work is great and wide, and we are
separated on the wall one far from another:
4:20. In what place soever you shall hear the sound of the trumpet,
run all thither unto us: our God will ight for us.
4:21. And let us do the work: and let one half of us hold our spears
from the rising of the morning, till the stars appear.

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 4:22. At that time also I said to the people: Let every one with his
servant stay in the midst of Jerusalem, and let us take our turns in the
night, and by day, to work.
4:23. Now I and my brethren, and my servants, and the watchmen
that followed me, did not put off our clothes: only every man stripped
himself when he was to be washed.
2 Esdras Chapter 5

Nehemias blameth the rich, for their oppressing the poor. His
exhortation, and bounty to his countrymen.
5:1. Now there was a great cry of the people, and of their wives
against their brethren the Jews.
5:2. And there were some that said: Our sons and our daughters are
very many: let us take up corn for the price of them, and let us eat and
live.
5:3. And there were some that said: Let us mortgage our lands, and
our vineyards, and our houses, and let us take corn because of the
famine.
5:4. And others said: Let us borrow money for the king’s tribute, and
let us give up our ields and vineyards:
5:5. And now our lesh is as the lesh of our brethren: and our
children as their children. Behold we bring into bondage our sons and
our daughters, and some of our daughters are bondwomen already,
neither have we wherewith to redeem them, and our ields and our
vineyards other men possess.
5:6. And I was exceedingly angry when I heard their cry according
to these words.
5:7. And my heart thought with myself: and I rebuked the nobles and
magistrates, and said to them: Do you every one exact usury of your
brethren? And I gathered together a great assembly against them,
5:8. And I said to them: We, as you know, have redeemed according
to our ability our brethren the Jews, that were sold to the Gentiles: and

 will you then sell your brethren, for us to redeem them? And they held
their peace, and found not what to answer.
5:9. And I said to them: The thing you do is not good: why walk you
not in the fear of our God, that we be not exposed to the reproaches of
the Gentiles our enemies?
5:10. Both I and my brethren, and my servants, have lent money and
corn to many: let us all agree not to call for it again; let us forgive the
debt that is owing to us.
5:11. Restore ye to them this day their ields, and their vineyards,
and their oliveyards, and their houses: and the hundredth part of the
money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, which you were wont to
exact of them, give it rather for them.
5:12. And they said: We will restore, and we will require nothing of
them: and we will do as thou sayest. And I called the priests and took
an oath of them, to do according to what I had said.
5:13. Moreover I shook my lap, and said: So may God shake every
man that shall not accomplish this word, out of his house, and out of
his labours, thus may he be shaken out, and become empty. And all the
multitude said: Amen. And they praised God. And the people did
according to what was said.
5:14. And from the day, in which the king commanded me to be
governor in the land of Juda, from the twentieth year even to the two
and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, for twelve years, I and my
brethren did not eat the yearly allowance that was due to the
governors.
5:15. But the former governors that had been before me, were
chargeable to the people, and took of them in bread, and wine, and in
money every day forty sicles: and their of icers also oppressed the
people. But I did not so for the fear of God.
5:16. Moreover I built in the work of the wall, and I bought no land,
and all my servants were gathered together to the work.

 5:17. The Jews also and the magistrates to the number of one
hundred and ifty men, were at my table, besides them that came to us
from among the nations that were round about us.
5:18. And there was prepared for me day by day one ox, and six
choice rams, besides fowls, and once in ten days I gave store of divers
wines, and many other things: yet I did not require my yearly
allowance as governor: for the people were very much impoverished.
5:19. Remember me, O my God, for good according to all that I have
done for this people.
2 Esdras Chapter 6

The enemies seek to terrify Nehemias. He proceedeth and inisheth the

wall.
6:1. And it came to pass, when Sanaballat, and Tobias, and Gossem
the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the
wall, and that there was no breach left in it, (though at that time I had
not set up the doors in the gates,)
6:2. Sanaballat and Gossem sent to me, saying: Come, and let us
make a league together in the villages, in the plain of Ono. But they
thought to do me mischief.
6:3. And I sent messengers to them, saying: I am doing a great work,
and I cannot come down, lest it be neglected whilst I come, and go
down to you.
6:4. And they sent to me according to this word, four times: and I
answered them after the same manner.
6:5. And Sanaballat sent his servant to me the ifth time according
to the former word, and he had a letter in his hand written in this
manner:
6:6. It is reported amongst the Gentiles, and Gossem hath said it,
that thou and the Jews think to rebel, and therefore thou buildest the
wall, and hast a mind to set thyself king over them: for which end

 6:7. Thou hast also set up prophets, to preach of thee at Jerusalem,

saying: There is a king in Judea. The king will hear of these things:
therefore come now, that we may take counsel together.
6:8. And I sent to them, saying: There is no such thing done as thou
sayest: but thou feignest these things out of thy own heart.
6:9. For all these men thought to frighten us, thinking that our
hands would cease from the work, and that we would leave off.
Wherefore I strengthened my hands the more:
6:10. And I went into the house of Samaia the son of Delaia, the son
of Metabeel privately. And he said: Let us consult together in the house
of God in the midst of the temple: and let us shut the doors of the
temple, for they will come to kill thee, and in the night they will come
to slay thee.
6:11. And I said: Should such a man as I lee? and who is there that
being as I am, would go into the temple, to save his life? I will not go in.
6:12. And I understood that God had not sent him, but that he had
spoken to me as if he had been prophesying, and Tobias, and
Sanaballat had hired him.
6:13. For he had taken money, that I being afraid should do this
thing, and sin, and they might have some evil to upbraid me withal.
6:14. Remember me, O Lord, for Tobias and Sanaballat, according to
their works of this kind: and Noadias the prophet, and the rest of the
prophets that would have put me in fear.
6:15. But the wall was inished the ive and twentieth day of the
month of Elul, in two and ifty days.
6:16. And it came to pass when all our enemies heard of it, that all
nations which were round about us, were afraid, and were cast down
within themselves, for they perceived that this work was the work of
God.
6:17. Moreover in those days many letters were sent by the principal
men of the Jews to Tobias, and from Tobias there came letters to them.

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 6:18. For there were many in Judea sworn to him, because he was
the son in law of Sechenias the son of Area, and Johanan his son had
taken to wife the daughter of Mosollam the son of Barachias.
6:19. And they praised him also before me, and they related my
words to him: And Tobias sent letters to put me in fear.
2 Esdras Chapter 7

Nehemias appointeth watchmen in Jerusalem. The list of those who

came irst from Babylon.
7:1. Now after the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and
numbered the porters and singing men, and Levites:
7:2. I commanded Hanani my brother, and Hananias ruler of the
house of Jerusalem, (for he seemed as a sincere man, and one that
feared God above the rest,)
7:3. And I said to them: Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened till
the sun be hot. And while they were yet standing by the gates were
shut, and barred: and I set watchmen of the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
every one by their courses, and every man over against his house.
7:4. And the city was very wide and great, and the people few in the
midst thereof, and the houses were not built.
7:5. But God had put in my heart, and I assembled the princes and
magistrates, and common people, to number them: and I found a book
of the number of them who came up at irst and therein it was found
written:
7:6. These are the children of the province, who came up from the
captivity of them that had been carried away, whom Nabuchodonosor
the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned into Judea,
every one into his own city.
7:7. Who came with Zorobabel, Josue, Nehemias, Azarias, Raamias,
Nahamani, Mardochai, Belsam, Mespharath, Begoia, Nahum, Baana.
The number of the men of the people of Israel:
7:8. The children of Pharos, two thousand one hundred seventy-two.
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 7:9. The children of Sephatia, three hundred seventy-two.

7:10. The children of Area, six hundred ifty-two.
7:11. The children of Phahath Moab of the children of Josue and
Joab, two thousand eight hundred eighteen.
7:12. The children of Elam, one thousand two hundred ifty-four.
7:13. The children of Zethua, eight hundred forty- ive.
7:14. The children of Zachai, seven hundred sixty.
7:15. The children of Bannui, six hundred forty-eight.
7:16. The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty-eight.
7:17. The children of Azgad, two thousand three hundred twenty-
two.
7:18. The children of Adonicam, six hundred sixty-seven.
7:19. The children of Beguai, two thousand sixty-seven.
7:20. The children of Adin, six hundred ifty- ive.
7:21. The children of Ater, children of Hezechias, ninety-eight.
7:22. The children of Hasem, three hundred twenty-eight.
7:23. The children of Besai, three hundred twenty-four.
7:24. The children of Hareph, a hundred and twelve.
7:25. The children of Gabaon, ninety- ive.
7:26. The children of Bethlehem, and Netupha, a hundred eighty-
eight.
7:27. The men of Anathoth, a hundred twenty-eight.
7:28. The men of Bethazmoth, forty-two.
7:29. The men of Cariathiarim, Cephira, and Beroth, seven hundred
forty-three.
7:30. The men of Rama and Geba, six hundred twenty-one.
7:31. The men of Machmas, a hundred twenty-two.
7:32. The men of Bethel and Hai, a hundred twenty-three.
7:33. The men of the other Nebo, ifty-two.

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 7:34. The men of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred ifty-
four.
7:35. The children of Harem, three hundred and twenty.
7:36. The children of Jericho, three hundred forty- ive.
7:37. The children of Lod, of Hadid and Ono, seven hundred twenty-
one.
7:38. The children of Senaa, three thousand nine hundred thirty.
7:39. The priests: the children of Idaia in the house of Josue, nine
hundred and seventy-three.
7:40. The children of Emmer, one thousand ifty-two.
7:41. The children of Phashur, one thousand two hundred forty-
seven.
7:42. The children of Arem, one thousand and seventeen. The
Levites:
7:43. The children of Josue and Cedmihel, the sons
7:44. Of Oduia, seventy-four. The singing men:
7:45. The children of Asaph, a hundred forty-eight.
7:46. The porters: the children of Sellum, the children of Ater, the
children of Telmon, the children of Accub, the children of Hatita, the
children of Sobai: a hundred thirty-eight.
7:47. The Nathinites: the children of Soha, the children of Hasupha,
the children of Tebbaoth,
7:48. The children of Ceros, the children of Siaa, the children of
Phadon, the children of Lebana, the children of Hagaba, the children of
Selmai,
7:49. The children of Hanan, the children of Geddel, the children of
Gaher,
7:50. The children of Raaia, the children of Rasin, the children of
Necoda,
7:51. The children of Gezem, the children of Asa, the children of
Phasea,

 7:52. The children of Besai, the children of Munim, the children of

Nephussim,
7:53. The children of Bacbuc, the children of Hacupha, the children
of Harhur,
7:54. The children of Besloth, the children of Mahida, the children of
Harsa,
7:55. The children of Bercos, the children of Sisara, the children of
Thema,
7:56. The children of Nasia, the children of Hatipha,
7:57. The children of the servants of Solomon, the children of Sothai,
the children of Sophereth, the children of Pharida,
7:58. The children of Jahala, the children of Darcon, the children of
Jeddel,
7:59. The children of Saphatia, the children of Hatil, the children of
Phochereth, who was born of Sabaim, the son of Amon.
7:60. All the Nathinites, and the children of the servants of Solomon,
three hundred ninety-two.
7:61. And these are they that came up from Telmela, Thelharsa,
Cherub, Addon, and Emmer: and could not shew the house of their
fathers, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel.
7:62. The children of Dalaia, the children of Tobia, the children of
Necoda, six hundred forty-two.
7:63. And of the priests, the children of Habia, the children of Accos,
the children of Berzellai, who took a wife of the daughters of Berzellai
the Galaadite, and he was called by their name.
7:64. These sought their writing in the record, and found it not: and
they were cast out of the priesthood.
7:65. And Athersatha said to them, that they should not eat of the
holies of holies, until there stood up a priest learned and skilful.
7:66. All the multitude as it were one man, forty-two thousand three
hundred sixty,

 7:67. Beside their menservants and womenservants, who were seven

thousand three hundred thirty-seven: and among them singing men,
and singing women, two hundred forty- ive.
7:68. Their horses, seven hundred thirty-six: their mules two
hundred forty- ive.
7:69. Their camels, four hundred thirty- ive, their asses, six thousand
seven hundred and twenty.
(Hitherto is related what was written in the record. From this place
forward goeth on the history of Nehemias.)
7:70. And some of the heads of the families gave unto the work.
Athersatha gave into the treasure a thousand drams of gold, ifty
bowls, and ive hundred and thirty garments for priests.
Athersatha.... That is, Nehemias; as appears from chap. 12. Either that he was so
called at the court of the king of Persia, where he was cupbearer: or that, as
some think, this name signi ies governor; and he was at that time governor of
Judea.
7:71. And some of the heads of families gave to the treasure of the
work, twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand two hundred
pounds of silver.
7:72. And that which the rest of the people gave, was twenty
thousand drams of gold, and two thousand pounds of silver, and sixty-
seven garments for priests.
7:73. And the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the
singing men, and the rest of the common people, and the Nathinites,
and all Israel dwelt in their cities.
2 Esdras Chapter 8

Esdras readeth the law before the people. Nehemias comforteth them.
They celebrate the feast of tabernacles.
8:1. And the seventh month came: and the children of Israel were in
their cities. And all the people were gathered together as one man to
the street which is before the water gate, and they spoke to Esdras the

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 scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had
commanded to Israel.
8:2. Then Esdras the priest brought the law before the multitude of
men and women, and all those that could understand, in the irst day
of the seventh month.
8:3. And he read it plainly in the street that was before the water
gate, from the morning until midday, before the men, and the women,
and all those that could understand: and the ears of all the people
were attentive to the book.
8:4. And Esdras the scribe stood upon a step of wood, which he had
made to speak upon, and there stood by him Mathathias, and Semeia,
and Ania, and Uria, and Helcia, and Maasia, on his right hand: and on
the left, Phadaia, Misael, and Melchia, and Hasum, and Hasbadana,
Zacharia and Mosollam.
8:5. And Esdras opened the book before all the people: for he was
above all the people: and when he had opened it, all the people stood.
8:6. And Esdras blessed the Lord the great God: and all the people
answered, Amen, amen: lifting up their hands: and they bowed down,
and adored God with their faces to the ground.
8:7. Now Josue, and Bani, and Serebia, Jamin, Accub, Sephtai, Odia,
Maasia, Celtia, Azarias, Jozabed, Hanan, Phalaia, the Levites, made
silence among the people to hear the law: and the people stood in their
place.
8:8. And they read in the book of the law of God distinctly and
plainly to be understood: and they understood when it was read.
8:9. And Nehemias (he is Athersatha) and Esdras the priest and
scribe, and the Levites who interpreted to all the people, said: This is a
holy day to the Lord our God: do not mourn, nor weep: for all the
people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
8:10. And he said to them: Go, eat fat meats, and drink sweet wine,
and send portions to them that have not prepared for themselves:

 because it is the holy day of the Lord, and be not sad: for the joy of the
Lord is our strength.
8:11. And the Levites stilled all the people, saying: Hold your peace,
for the day is holy, and be not sorrowful.
8:12. So all the people went to eat and drink, and to send portions,
and to make great mirth: because they understood the words that he
had taught them.
8:13. And on the second day the chiefs of the families of all the
people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered together to Esdras
the scribe, that he should interpret to them the words of the law.
8:14. And they found written in the law, that the Lord had
commanded by the hand of Moses, that the children of Israel should
dwell in tabernacles, on the feast, in the seventh month:
8:15. And that they should proclaim and publish the word in all
their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying: Go forth to the mount, and fetch
branches of olive, and branches of beautiful wood, branches of myrtle,
and branches of palm, and branches of thick trees, to make
tabernacles, as it is written.
8:16. And the people went forth, and brought. And they made
themselves tabernacles every man on the top of his house, and in their
courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the
water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.
8:17. And all the assembly of them that were returned from the
captivity, made tabernacles, and dwelt in tabernacles: for since the
days of Josue the son of Nun the children of Israel had not done so,
until that day: and there was exceeding great joy.
8:18. And he read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the
irst day till the last, and they kept the solemnity seven days, and in the
eighth day a solemn assembly according to the manner.
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 2 Esdras Chapter 9

The people repent with fasting and sackcloth. The Levites confess
God’s bene its, and the people’s ingratitude: they pray for them, and
make a covenant with God.
9:1. And in the four and twentieth day of the month the children of
Israel came together with fasting and with sackcloth, and earth upon
them.
9:2. And the seed of the children of Israel separated themselves from
every stranger: and they stood, and confessed their sins, and the
iniquities of their fathers.
9:3. And they rose up to stand: and they read in the book of the law
of the Lord their God, four times in the day, and four times they
confessed, and adored the Lord their God.
9:4. And there stood up upon the step of the Levites, Josue, and Bani,
and Cedmihel, Sabania, Bonni, Sarebias, Bani, and Chanani: and they
cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.
9:5. And the Levites Josue and Cedmihel, Bonni, Hasebnia, Serebia,
Oduia, Sebnia, and Phathahia, said: Arise, bless the Lord your God
from eternity to eternity: and blessed be the high name of thy glory
with all blessing and praise.
9:6. Thou thyself, O Lord alone, thou hast made heaven, and the
heaven of heavens, and all the host thereof: the earth and all things
that are in it: the seas and all that are therein: and thou givest life to
all these things, and the host of heaven adoreth thee.
9:7. Thou O Lord God, art he who chosest Abram, and broughtest
him forth out of the ire of the Chaldeans, and gavest him the name of
Abraham.
The ire of the Chaldeans.... The city of Ur in Chaldea, the name of which signi ies
ire. Or out of the ire of the tribulations and temptations, to which he was there
exposed.—The ancient Rabbins understood this literally, af irming that Abram
was cast into the ire by the idolaters, and brought out by a miracle without any
hurt.
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 9:8. And thou didst ind his heart faithful before thee: and thou
madest a covenant with him, to give him the land of the Chanaanite, of
the Hethite, and of the Amorrhite, and of the Pherezite, and of the
Jebusite, and of the Gergezite, to give it to his seed: and thou hast
ful illed thy words, because thou art just.
9:9. And thou sawest the af liction of our fathers in Egypt: and thou
didst hear their cry by the Red Sea.
9:10. And thou shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharao, and upon
all his servants, and upon the people of his land: for thou knewest that
they dealt proudly against them: and thou madest thyself a name, as it
is at this day.
9:11. And thou didst divide the sea before them, and they passed
through the midst of the sea on dry land: but their persecutors thou
threwest into the depth, as a stone into mighty waters.
9:12. And in a pillar of a cloud thou wast their leader by day, and in
a pillar of ire by night, that they might see the way by which they
went.
9:13. Thou camest down also to mount Sinai, and didst speak with
them from heaven, and thou gavest them right judgments, and the law
of truth, ceremonies, and good precepts.
9:14. Thou madest known to them thy holy sabbath, and didst
prescribe to them commandments, and ceremonies, and the law by the
hand of Moses thy servant.
9:15. And thou gavest them bread from heaven in their hunger, and
broughtest forth water for them out of the rock in their thirst, and
thou saidst to them that they should go in, and possess the land, upon
which thou hadst lifted up thy hand to give it them.
9:16. But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their
necks and hearkened not to thy commandments.
9:17. And they would not hear, and they remembered not thy
wonders which thou hadst done for them. And they hardened their
necks, and gave the head to return to their bondage, as it were by
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contention. But thou, a forgiving God, gracious, and merciful,

longsuffering, and full of compassion, didst not forsake them.
And gave the head.... That is, they set their head, or were bent to return to Egypt.
9:18. Yea when they had made also to themselves a molten calf, and
had said: This is thy God, that brought thee out of Egypt: and had
committed great blasphemies:
9:19. Yet thou, in thy many mercies, didst not leave them in the
desert: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead
them in the way, and the pillar of ire by night to shew them the way
by which they should go.
9:20. And thou gavest them thy good Spirit to teach them, and thy
manna thou didst not withhold from their mouth, and thou gavest
them water for their thirst.
9:21. Forty years didst thou feed them in the desert, and nothing
was wanting to them: their garments did not grow old, and their feet
were not worn.
9:22. And thou gavest them kingdoms, and nations, and didst divide
lots for them: and they possessed the land of Sehon, and the land of the
king of Hesebon, and the land of Og king of Basan.
9:23. And thou didst multiply their children as the stars of heaven,
and broughtest them to the land concerning which thou hadst said to
their fathers, that they should go in and possess it.
9:24. And the children came and possessed the land, and thou didst
humble before them the inhabitants of the land, the Chanaanites, and
gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the
land, that they might do with them as it pleased them.
9:25. And they took strong cities and a fat land, and possessed
houses full of all goods: cisterns made by others, vineyards, and
oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: and they ate, and were illed,
and became fat, and abounded with delight in thy great goodness.
9:26. But they provoked thee to wrath, and departed from thee, and
threw thy law behind their backs: and they killed thy prophets, who

 admonished them earnestly to return to thee: and they were guilty of

great blasphemies.
9:27. And thou gavest them into the hands of their enemies, and
they af licted them. And in the time of their tribulation they cried to
thee, and thou heardest from heaven, and according to the multitude
of thy tender mercies thou gavest them saviours, to save them from the
hands of their enemies.
9:28. But after they had rest, they returned to do evil in thy sight:
and thou leftest them in the hand of their enemies, and they had
dominion over them. Then they returned, and cried to thee: and thou
heardest from heaven, and deliveredst them many times in thy
mercies.
9:29. And thou didst admonish them to return to thy law. But they
dealt proudly, and hearkened not to thy commandments, but sinned
against thy judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them: and
they withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not
hear.
9:30. And thou didst forbear with them for many years, and didst
testify against them by thy spirit by the hand of thy prophets: and they
heard not, and thou didst deliver them into the hand of the people of
the lands.
9:31. Yet in thy very many mercies thou didst not utterly consume
them, nor forsake them: because thou art a merciful and gracious God.
9:32. Now therefore our God, great, strong, and terrible, who
keepest covenant and mercy, turn not away from thy face all the
labour which hath come upon us, upon our kings, and our princes, and
our priests, and our prophets, and our fathers, and all the people from
the days of the king of Assur, until this day.
9:33. And thou art just in all things that have come upon us: because
thou hast done truth, but we have done wickedly.

 9:34. Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not
kept thy law, and have not minded thy commandments, and thy
testimonies which thou hast testi ied among them.
9:35. And they have not served thee in their kingdoms, and in thy
manifold goodness, which thou gavest them, and in the large and fat
land, which thou deliveredst before them, nor did they return from
their most wicked devices.
9:36. Behold we ourselves this day are bondmen: and the land,
which thou gavest our fathers, to eat the bread thereof, and the good
things thereof, and we ourselves are servants in it.
9:37. And the fruits thereof grow up for the kings, whom thou hast
set over us for our sins, and they have dominion over our bodies, and
over our beasts, according to their will, and we are in great
tribulation.
9:38. And because of all this we ourselves make a covenant, and
write it, and our princes, our Levites, and our priests sign it.
2 Esdras Chapter 10

The names of the subscribers to the covenant, and the contents of it.
10:1. And the subscribers were Nehemias, Athersatha the son of
Hachelai, and Sedecias,
10:2. Saraias, Azarias, Jeremias,
10:3. Pheshur, Amarias, Melchias,
10:4. Hattus, Sebenia, Melluch,
10:5. Harem, Merimuth, Obdias,
10:6. Daniel, Genthon, Baruch,
10:7. Mosollam, Abia, Miamin,
10:8. Maazia, Belgia, Semeia: these were priests.
10:9. And the Levites, Josue the son of Azanias, Bennui of the sons of
Henadad, Cedmihel,
10:10. And their brethren, Sebenia, Oduia, Celita, Phalaia, Hanan,

 10:11. Micha, Rohob, Hasebia,

10:12. Zachur, Serebia, Sabania,
10:13. Odaia, Bani, Baninu.
10:14. The heads of the people, Pharos, Phahath Moab, Elam, Zethu,
Bani,
10:15. Bonni, Azgad, Bebai,
10:16. Adonia, Begoai, Adin,
10:17. Ater, Hezecia, Azur,
10:18. Odaia, Hasum, Besai,
10:19. Hareph, Anathoth, Nebai,
10:20. Megphias, Mosollam, Hazir,
10:21. Mesizabel, Sadoc, Jeddua,
10:22. Pheltia, Hanan, Anaia,
10:23. Osee, Hanania, Hasub,
10:24. Alohes, Phalea, Sobec,
10:25. Rehum, Hasebna, Maasia,
10:26. Echaia, Hanan, Anan,
10:27. Melluch, Haran, Baana:
10:28. And the rest of the people, priests, Levites, porters, and
singing men, Nathinites, and all that had separated themselves from
the people of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and
their daughters.
10:29. All that could understand, promising for their brethren, with
their chief men, and they came to promise, and swear that they would
walk in the law of God, which he gave in the hand of Moses the servant
of God, that they would do and keep all the commandments of the Lord
our God, and his judgments and his ceremonies.
10:30. And that we would not give our daughters to the people of
the land, nor take their daughters for our sons.

 10:31. And if the people of the land bring in things to sell, or any
things for use, to sell them on the sabbath day, that we would not buy
them on the sabbath, or on the holy day. And that we would leave the
seventh year, and the exaction of every hand.
10:32. And we made ordinances for ourselves, to give the third part
of a sicle every year for the work of the house of our God,
10:33. For the loaves of proposition, and for the continual sacri ice,
and for a continual holocaust on the sabbaths, on the new moons, on
the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offering: that
atonement might be made for Israel, and for every use of the house of
our God.
10:34. And we cast lots among the priests, and the Levites, and the
people for the offering of wood, that it might be brought into the house
of our God by the houses of our fathers at set times, from year to year:
to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law of
Moses:
10:35. And that we would bring the irstfruits of our land, and the
irstfruits of all fruit of every tree, from year to year, in the house of
our Lord.
10:36. And the irstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written
in the law, and the irstlings of our oxen, and of our sheep, to be offered
in the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our
God.
10:37. And that we would bring the irstfruits of our meats, and of
our libations, and the fruit of every tree, of the vintage also and of oil
to the priests, to the storehouse of our God, and the tithes of our
ground to the Levites. The Levites also shall receive the tithes of our
works out of all the cities.
10:38. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites in
the tithes of the Levites, and the Levites shall offer the tithe of their
tithes in the house of our God, to the storeroom into the treasure
house.
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 10:39. For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall carry
to the treasury the irstfruits of corn, of wine, and of oil: and the
sancti ied vessels shall be there, and the priests, and the singing men,
and the porters, and ministers, and we will not forsake the house of
our God.
2 Esdras Chapter 11

Who were the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the other cities.

11:1. And the princes of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: but the rest
of the people cast lots, to take one part in ten to dwell in Jerusalem the
holy city, and nine parts in the other cities.
11:2. And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered
themselves to dwell in Jerusalem.
11:3. These therefore are the chief men of the province, who dwelt in
Jerusalem, and in the cities of Juda. And every one dwelt in his
possession, in their cities: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the Nathinites,
and the children of the servants of Solomon.
11:4. And in Jerusalem there dwelt some of the children of Juda, and
some of the children of Benjamin: of the children of Juda, Athaias the
son of Aziam, the son of Zacharias, the son of Amarias, the son of
Saphatias, the son of Malaleel: of the sons of Phares,
11:5. Maasia the son of Baruch, the son of Cholhoza, the son of
Hazia, the son of Adaia, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zacharias, the son
of the Silonite:
11:6. All these the sons of Phares, who dwelt in Jerusalem, were four
hundred sixty-eight valiant men.
11:7. And these are the children of Benjamin: Sellum the son of
Mosollam, the son of Joed, the son of Phadaia, the son of Colaia, the son
of Masia, the son of Etheel, the son of Isaia.
11:8. And after him Gebbai, Sellai, nine hundred twenty-eight.
11:9. And Joel the son of Zechri their ruler, and Judas the son of
Senua was second over the city.
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 11:10. And of the priests Idaia the son of Joarib, Jachin,

11:11. Saraia the son of Helcias, the son of Mosollam, the son of
Sadoc, the son of Meraioth, the son of Achitob the prince of the house
of God,
11:12. And their brethren that do the works of the temple: eight
hundred twenty-two. And Adaia the son of Jeroham, the son of
Phelelia, the son of Amsi, the son of Zacharias, the son of Pheshur, the
son of Melchias,
11:13. And his brethren the chiefs of the fathers: two hundred forty-
two. And Amassai the son of Azreel, the son of Ahazi, the son of
Mosollamoth, the son of Emmer,
11:14. And their brethren who were very mighty, a hundred twenty-
eight: and their ruler Zabdiel son of the mighty.
11:15. And of the Levites Semeia the son of Hasub, the son of
Azaricam, the son of Hasabia, the son of Boni,
11:16. And Sabathai and Jozabed, who were over all the outward
business of the house of God, of the princes of the Levites,
11:17. And Mathania the son of Micha, the son of Zebedei, the son of
Asaph, was the principal man to praise, and to give glory in prayer,
and Becbecia, the second, one of his brethren, and Abda the son of
Samua, the son of Galal, the son of Idithun.
11:18. All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred eighty-four.
11:19. And the porters, Accub, Telmon, and their brethren, who kept
the doors: a hundred seventy-two.
11:20. And the rest of Israel, the priests and the Levites were in all
the cities of Juda, every man in his possession.
11:21. And the Nathinites, that dwelt in Ophel, and Siaha, and
Gaspha of the Nathinites.
11:22. And the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem, was Azzi the son
of Bani, the son of Hasabia, the son of Mathania, the son of Micha. Of

 the sons of Asaph, were the singing men in the ministry of the house of
God.
11:23. For the king’s commandment was concerning them, and an
order among the singing men day by day.
11:24. And Phathahia the son of Mesezebel of the children of Zara
the son of Juda was at the hand of the king, in all matters concerning
the people,
11:25. And in the houses through all their countries. Of the children
of Juda some dwelt at Cariath-Arbe, and in the villages thereof: and at
Dibon, and in the villages thereof: and at Cabseel, and in the villages
thereof.
11:26. And at Jesue, and at Molada, and at Bethphaleth,
11:27. And at Hasersual, and at Bersabee, and in the villages
thereof,
11:28. And at Siceleg, and at Mochona, and in the villages thereof,
11:29. And at Remmon, and at Saraa, and at Jerimuth,
11:30. Zanoa, Odollam, and in their villages, at Lachis and its
dependencies, and at Azeca and the villages thereof. And they dwelt
from Bersabee unto the valley of Ennom.
11:31. And the children of Benjamin, from Geba, at Mechmas, and at
Hai, and at Bethel, and in the villages thereof,
11:32. At Anathoth, Nob, Anania,
11:33. Asor, Rama, Gethaim,
11:34. Hadid, Seboim, and Neballat, Lod,
11:35. And Ono the valley of craftsmen.
11:36. And of the Levites were portions of Juda and Benjamin.
2 Esdras Chapter 12

The priests, and Levites that came up with Zorobabel. The succession
of high priests: the solemnity of the dedication of the wall.

 12:1. Now these are the priests and the Levites, that went up with
Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue: Saraia, Jeremias, Esdras,
12:2. Amaria, Melluch, Hattus,
12:3. Sebenias, Rheum, Merimuth,
12:4. Addo, Genthon, Abia,
12:5. Miamin, Madia, Belga,
12:6. Semeia, and Joiarib, Idaia, Sellum Amoc, Helcias,
12:7. Idaia. These were the chief of the priests, and of their brethren
in the days of Josue.
12:8. And the Levites, Jesua, Bennui, Cedmihel, Sarebia, Juda,
Mathanias, they and their brethren were over the hymns:
12:9. And Becbecia, and Hanni, and their brethren every one in his
of ice.
12:10. And Josue begot Joacim, and Joacim begot Eliasib, and Eliasib
begot Joiada,
12:11. And Joiada begot Jonathan and Jonathan begot Jeddoa.
12:12. And in the days of Joacim the priests and heads of the families
were: Of Saraia, Maraia: of Jeremias, Hanania:
12:13. Of Esdras, Mosollam: and of Amaria, Johanan:
12:14. Of Milicho, Jonathan: of Sebenia, Joseph:
12:15. Of Haram, Edna: of Maraioth, Helci:
12:16. Of Adaia, Zacharia: of Genthon, Mosollam:
12:17. Of Abia, Zechri: of Miamin and Moadia, Phelti:
12:18. Of Belga, Sammua of Semaia, Jonathan:
12:19. Of Joiarib, Mathanai: of Jodaia, Azzi:
12:20. Of Sellai, Celai: of Amoc, Heber:
12:21. Of Helcias, Hasebia: of Idaia, Nathanael.
12:22. The Levites the chiefs of the families in the days of Eliasib,
and Joiada, and Johanan, and Jeddoa, were recorded, and the priests in
the reign of Darius the Persian.
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 12:23. The sons of Levi, heads of the families were written in the
book of Chronicles, even unto the days of Jonathan the son of Eliasib.
12:24. Now the chief of the Levites were Hasebia, Serebia, and Josue
the son of Cedmihel: and their brethren by their courses, to praise and
to give thanks according to the commandment of David the man of
God, and to wait equally in order.
12:25. Mathania, and Becbecia, Obedia, and Mosollam, Telmon,
Accub, were keepers of the gates and of the entrances before the gates.
12:26. These were in the days of Joacim the son of Josue, the son of
Josedec, and in the days of Nehemias the governor, and of Esdras the
priest and scribe.
12:27. And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the
Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, and to keep
the dedication, and to rejoice with thanksgiving, and with singing, and
with cymbals, and psalteries and harps.
12:28. And the sons of the singing men were gathered together out
of the plain country about Jerusalem, and out of the villages of
Nethuphati,
12:29. And from the house of Galgal, and from the countries of Geba
and Azmaveth: for the singing men had built themselves villages round
about Jerusalem.
12:30. And the priests and the Levites were puri ied, and they
puri ied the people, and the gates, and the wall.
12:31. And I made the princes of Juda go up upon the wall, and I
appointed two great choirs to give praise. And they went on the right
hand upon the wall toward the dung gate.
12:32. And after them went Osaias, and half of the princes of Juda,
12:33. And Azarias, Esdras, and Mosollam, Judas, and Benjamin, and
Semeia, and Jeremias.
12:34. And of the sons of the priests with trumpets, Zacharias the
son of Jonathan, the son of Semeia, the son of Mathania, the son of
Michaia, the son of Zechur, the son of Asaph,
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 12:35. And his brethren Semeia, and Azareel, Malalai, Galalai, Maai,
Nathanael, and Judas, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of
David the man of God: and Esdras the scribe before them at the
fountain gate.
12:36. And they went up over against them by the stairs of the city
of David, at the going up of the wall of the house of David, and to the
water gate eastward:
12:37. And the second choir of them that gave thanks went on the
opposite side, and I after them, and the half of the people upon the
wall, and upon the tower of the furnaces, even to the broad wall,
12:38. And above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and
above the ish gate and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of
Emath, and even to the lock gate: and they stood still in the watch
gate.
12:39. And the two choirs of them that gave praise stood still at the
house of God, and I and the half of the magistrates with me.
12:40. And the priests, Eliachim, Maasia, Miamin, Michea, Elioenai,
Zacharia, Hanania with trumpets,
12:41. And Maasia, and Semeia, and Eleazar, and Azzi, and Johanan,
and Melchia, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sung loud, and
Jezraia was their overseer:
12:42. And they sacri iced on that day great sacri ices, and they
rejoiced: for God had made them joyful with great joy: their wives also
and their children rejoiced, and the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar
off.
12:43. They appointed also in that day men over the storehouses of
the treasure, for the libations, and for the irstfruits, and for the tithes,
that the rulers of the city might bring them in by them in honour of
thanksgiving, for the priests and Levites: for Juda was joyful in the
priests and Levites that assisted.

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 12:44. And they kept the watch of their God, and the observance of
expiation, and the singing men, and the porters, according to the
commandment of David, and of Solomon his son.
12:45. For in the days of David and Asaph from the beginning there
were chief singers appointed, to praise with canticles, and give thanks
to God.
12:46. And all Israel, in the days of Zorobabel, and in the days of
Nehemias gave portions to the singing men, and to the porters, day by
day, and they sancti ied the Levites, and the Levites sancti ied the sons
of Aaron.
Sancti ied.... That is, they gave them that which by the law was set aside, and
sancti ied for their use.
2 Esdras Chapter 13

Divers abuses are reformed.

13:1. And on that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing
of the people: and therein was found written, that the Ammonites and
the Moabites should not come in to the church of God for ever:
13:2. Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and
water: and they hired against them Balaam, to curse them, and our
God turned the curse into blessing.
13:3. And it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they
separated every stranger from Israel.
13:4. And over this thing was Eliasib the priest, who was set over the
treasury of the house of our God, and was near akin to Tobias.
Over this thing, etc.... Or, he was faulty in this thing, or in this kind.
13:5. And he made him a great storeroom, where before him they
laid up gifts, and frankincense, and vessels, and the tithes of the corn,
of the wine, and of the oil, the portions of the Levites, and of the
singing men, and of the porters, and the irstfruits of the priests.
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 13:6. But in all this time I was not in Jerusalem, because in the two
and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon, I went to the king,
and after certain days I asked the king:
13:7. And I came to Jerusalem, and I understood the evil that Eliasib
had done for Tobias, to make him a storehouse in the courts of the
house of God.
13:8. And it seemed to me exceeding evil. And I cast forth the vessels
of the house of Tobias out of the storehouse.
13:9. And I commanded and they cleansed the storehouses: and I
brought thither again the vessels of the house of God, the sacri ice, and
the frankincense.
13:10. And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been
given them: and that the Levites, and the singing men, and they that
ministered were led away every man to his own country:
13:11. And I pleaded the matter against the magistrates, and said:
Why have we forsaken the house of God? And I gathered them
together, and I made them to stand in their places.
13:12. And all Juda brought the tithe of the corn, and the wine, and
the oil into the storehouses.
13:13. And we set over the storehouses Selemias the priest, and
Sadoc the scribe, and of the Levites Phadaia, and next to them Hanan
the son of Zachur, the son of Mathania: for they were approved as
faithful, and to them were committed the portions of their brethren.
13:14. Remember me, O my God, for this thing, and wipe not out my
kindnesses, which I have done relating to the house of my God and his
ceremonies.
13:15. In those days I saw in Juda some treading the presses on the
sabbath, and carrying sheaves, and lading asses with wine, and
grapes, and igs, and all manner of burthens, and bringing them into
Jerusalem on the sabbath day. And I charged them that they should
sell on a day on which it was lawful to sell.

 13:16. Some Tyrians also dwelt there, who brought ish, and all
manner of wares: and they sold them on the sabbaths to the children
of Juda in Jerusalem.
13:17. And I rebuked the chief men of Juda, and said to them: What
is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day:
13:18. Did not our fathers do these things, and our God brought all
this evil upon us, and upon this city? And you bring more wrath upon
Israel by violating the sabbath.
13:19. And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem were at
rest on the sabbath day, I spoke: and they shut the gates, and I
commanded that they should not open them till after the sabbath: and
I set some of my servants at the gates, that none should bring in
burthens on the sabbath day.
13:20. So the merchants, and they that sold all kinds of wares,
stayed without Jerusalem, once or twice.
13:21. And I charged them, and I said to them: Why stay you before
the wall? if you do so another time, I will lay hands on you. And from
that time they came no more on the sabbath.
13:22. I spoke also to the Levites that they should be puri ied, and
should come to keep the gates, and to sanctify the sabbath day: for this
also remember me, O my God, and spare me according to the
multitude of thy tender mercies.
13:23. In those days also I saw Jews that married wives, women of
Azotus, and of Ammon, and of Moab.
13:24. And their children spoke half in the speech of Azotus, and
could not speak the Jews’ language, but they spoke according to the
language of this and that people.
13:25. And I chid them, and laid my curse upon them. And I beat
some of them, and shaved off their hair, and made them swear by God
that they would not give their daughters to their sons, nor take their
daughters for their sons, nor for themselves, saying:

f
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 13:26. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin in this kind of thing: and
surely among many nations, there was not a king like him, and he was
beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: and yet
women of other countries brought even him to sin.
13:27. And shall we also be disobedient and do all this great evil to
transgress against our God, and marry strange women:
13:28. And one of the sons of Joiada the son of Eliasib the high
priest, was son in law to Sanaballat the Horonite, and I drove him from
me.
13:29. Remember them, O Lord my God, that de ile the priesthood,
and the law of priests and Levites.
13:30. So I separated from them all strangers, and I appointed the
courses of the priests and the Levites, every man in his ministry:
13:31. And for the offering of wood at times appointed, and for the
irstfruits: remember me, O my God, unto good. Amen.

THE BOOK OF TOBIAS

This Book takes its name from the holy man Tobias, whose wonderful
virtues are herein recorded. It contains most excellent documents of
great piety, extraordinary patience, and of a perfect resignation to the
will of God. His humble prayer was heard, and the angel Raphael was
sent to relieve him: he is thankful and praises the Lord, calling on the
children of Israel to do the same. Having lived to the age of one
hundred and two years, he exhorts his son and grandsons to piety,
foretells the destruction of Ninive and the rebuilding of Jerusalem: he
dies happily.
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 Tobias Chapter 1

Tobias’s early piety: his works of mercy, particularly in burying the

dead.
1:1. Tobias of the tribe and city of Nephtali, (which is in the upper
parts of Galilee above Naasson, beyond the way that leadeth to the
west, having on the right hand the city of Sephet,)
1:2. When he was made captive in the days of Salmanasar king of
the Assyrians, even in his captivity, forsook not the way of truth,
1:3. But every day gave all he could get to his brethren his fellow
captives, that were of his kindred.
1:4. And when he was younger than any of the tribe of Nephtali, yet
did he no childish thing in his work.
1:5. Moreover when all went to the golden calves which Jeroboam
king of Israel had made, he alone led the company of all,
1:6. And went to Jerusalem to the temple of the Lord, and there
adored the Lord God of Israel, offering faithfully all his irstfruits, and
his tithes,
1:7. So that in the third year he gave all his tithes to the proselytes,
and strangers.
1:8. These and such like things did he observe when but a boy
according to the law of God.
1:9. But when he was a man, he took to wife Anna of his own tribe,
and had a son by her, whom he called after his own name,
1:10. And from his infancy he taught him to fear God, and to abstain
from all sin.
1:11. And when by the captivity he with his wife and his son and all
his tribe was come to the city of Ninive,
1:12. (When all ate of the meats of the Gentiles) he kept his soul and
never was de iled with their meats.

 1:13. And because he was mindful of the Lord with all his heart, God
gave him favour in the sight of Salmanasar the king.
1:14. And he gave him leave to go whithersoever he would, with
liberty to do whatever he had a mind.
1:15. He therefore went to all that were in captivity, and gave them
wholesome admonitions.
1:16. And when he was come to Rages a city of the Medes, and had
ten talents of silver of that with which he had been honoured by the
king:
1:17. And when amongst a great multitude of his kindred, he saw
Gabelus in want, who was one of his tribe, taking a note of his hand he
gave him the aforesaid sum of money.
1:18. But after a long time, Salmanasar the king being dead, when
Sennacherib his son, who reigned in his place, had a hatred for the
children of Israel:
1:19. Tobias daily went among all his kindred and comforted them,
and distributed to every one as he was able, out of his goods:
1:20. He fed the hungry, and gave clothes to the naked, and was
careful to bury the dead, and they that were slain.
1:21. And when king Sennacherib was come back, leeing from Judea
by reason of the slaughter that God had made about him for his
blasphemy, and being angry slew many of the children of Israel, Tobias
buried their bodies.
1:22. But when it was told the king, he commanded him to be slain,
and took away all his substance.
1:23. But Tobias leeing naked away with his son and with his wife,
lay concealed, for many loved him.
1:24. But after forty- ive days, the king was killed by his own sons.
1:25. And Tobias returned to his house, and all his substance was
restored to him.

 Tobias Chapter 2

Tobias leaveth his dinner to bury the dead: he loseth his sight by God’s
permission, for manifestation of his patience.
2:1. But after this, when there was a festival of the Lord, and a good
dinner was prepared in Tobias’s house,
2:2. He said to his son: Go, and bring some of our tribe that fear God,
to feast with us.
2:3. And when he had gone, returning he told him, that one of the
children of Israel lay slain in the street. And he forthwith leaped up
from his place at the table, and left his dinner, and came fasting to the
body.
2:4. And taking it up carried it privately to his house, that after the
sun was down, he might bury him cautiously.
2:5. And when he had hid the body, he ate bread with mourning and
fear,
2:6. Remembering the word which the Lord spoke by Amos the
prophet: Your festival days shall be turned into lamentation and
mourning.
2:7. So when the sun was down, he went and buried him.
2:8. Now all his neighbours blamed him, saying: once already
commandment was given for thee to be slain because of this matter,
and thou didst scarce escape the sentence of death, and dost thou
again bury the dead?
2:9. But Tobias fearing God more than the king, carried off the
bodies of them that were slain, and hid them in his house, and at
midnight buried them.
2:10. Now it happened one day that being wearied with burying, he
came to his house, and cast himself down by the wall and slept,
2:11. And as he was sleeping, hot dung out of a swallow’s nest fell
upon his eyes, and he was made blind.

 2:12. Now this trial the Lord therefore permitted to happen to him,
that an example might be given to posterity of his patience, as also of
holy Job.
2:13. For whereas he had always feared God from his infancy, and
kept his commandments, he repined not against God because the evil
of blindness had befallen him,
2:14. But continued immoveable in the fear of God, giving thanks to
God all the days of his life.
2:15. For as the kings insulted over holy Job: so his relations and
kinsmen mocked at his life, saying:
Kings.... So Job’s three friends are here called, because they were princes in their
respective territories.
2:16. Where is thy hope, for which thou gavest alms, and buriedst
the dead?
2:17. But Tobias rebuked them, saying: Speak not so:
2:18. For we are the children of saints, and look for that life which
God will give to those that never change their faith from him.
2:19. Now Anna his wife went daily to weaving work, and she
brought home what she could get for their living by the labour of her
hands.
2:20. Whereby it came to pass, that she received a young kid, and
brought it home:
2:21. And when her husband heard it bleating, he said: Take heed,
lest perhaps it be stolen: restore ye it to its owners, for it is not lawful
for us either to eat or to touch any thing that cometh by theft.
2:22. At these words his wife being angry answered: It is evident thy
hope is come to nothing, and thy alms now appear.
2:23. And with these and other, such like words she upbraided him.
Tobias Chapter 3

The prayer of Tobias, and of Sara, in their several af lictions, are heard
by God, and the angel Raphael is sent to relieve them.

 3:1. Then Tobias sighed, and began to pray with tears,

3:2. Saying, Thou art just, O Lord, and all thy judgments are just,
and all thy ways mercy, and truth, and judgment:
3:3. And now, O Lord, think of me, and take not revenge of my sins,
neither remember my offences, nor those of my parents.
3:4. For we have not obeyed thy commandments, therefore are we
delivered to spoil and to captivity, and death, and are made a fable,
and a reproach to all nations, amongst which thou hast scattered us.
3:5. And now, O Lord, great are thy judgments, because we have not
done according to thy precepts, and have not walked sincerely before
thee.
3:6. And now, O Lord, do with me according to thy will, and
command my spirit to be received in peace: for it is better for me to
die, than to live.
3:7. Now it happened on the same day, that Sara daughter of
Raguel, in Rages a city of the Medes, received a reproach from one of
her father’s servant maids,
Rages.... In the Greek it is Ecbatana, which was also called Rages. For there were
two cities in Media of the name of Rages. Raguel dwelt in one of them, and
Gabelus in the other.
3:8. Because she had been given to seven husbands and a devil
named Asmodeus had killed them, at their irst going in unto her.
3:9. So when she reproved the maid for her fault, she answered her,
saying: May we never see son, or daughter of thee upon the earth, thou
murderer of thy husbands.
3:10. Wilt thou kill me also, as thou hast already killed seven
husbands? At these words, she went into an upper chamber of her
house: and for three days and three nights did neither eat nor drink:
3:11. But continuing in prayer with tears besought God, that he
would deliver her from this reproach.
3:12. And it came to pass on the third day when she was making an
end of her prayer, blessing the Lord,

 3:13. She said: Blessed is thy name, O God of our fathers, who when
thou hast been angry, wilt shew mercy, and in the time of tribulation
forgivest the sins of them that call upon thee.
3:14. To thee, O Lord, I turn my face, to thee I direct my eyes.
3:15. I beg, O Lord, that thou loose me from the bond of this
reproach, or else take me away from the earth.
3:16. Thou knowest, O Lord, that I never coveted a husband, and
have kept my soul clean from all lust.
3:17. Never have I joined myself with them that play: neither have I
made myself partaker with them that walk in lightness.
3:18. But a husband I consented to take, with thy fear, not with my
lust.
3:19. And either I was unworthy of them, or they perhaps were not
worthy of me: because perhaps thou hast kept me for another man,
3:20. For thy counsel is not in man’s power.
3:21. But this every one is sure of that worshippeth thee, that his life,
if it be under trial, shall be crowned and if it be under tribulation, it
shall be delivered: and if it be under correction, it shall be allowed to
come to thy mercy.
3:22. For thou art not delighted in our being lost, because after a
storm thou makest a calm, and after tears and weeping thou pourest
in joyfulness.
3:23. Be thy name, O God of Israel, blessed for ever,
3:24. At that time the prayers of them both were heard in the sight
of the glory of the most high God:
3:25. And the holy angel of the Lord, Raphael was sent to heal them
both, whose prayers at one time were rehearsed in the sight of the
Lord.
Tobias Chapter 4

Tobias thinking he shall die, giveth his son godly admonitions: and
telleth him of money he had lent to a friend.

 4:1. Therefore when Tobias thought that his prayer was heard that
he might die, he called to him Tobias his son,
4:2. And said to him: Hear, my son, the words of my mouth, and lay
them as a foundation in thy heart.
4:3. When God shall take my soul, thou shalt bury my body: and thou
shalt honour thy mother all the days of her life:
4:4. For thou must be mindful what and how great perils she
suffered for thee in her womb.
4:5. And when she also shall have ended the time of her life, bury her
by me.
4:6. And all the days of thy life have God in thy mind: and take heed
thou never consent to sin, nor transgress the commandments of the
Lord our God.
4:7. Give alms out of thy substance, and turn not away thy face from
any poor person: for so it shall come to pass that the face of the Lord
shall not be turned from thee.
4:8. According to thy ability be merciful.
4:9. If thou have much give abundantly: if thou have little, take care
even so to bestow willingly a little.
4:10. For thus thou storest up to thyself a good reward for the day of
necessity.
4:11. For alms deliver from all sin, and from death, and will not
suffer the soul to go into darkness.
4:12. Alms shall be a great con idence before the most high God, to
all them that give it.
4:13. Take heed to keep thyself, my son, from all fornication, and
beside thy wife never endure to know a crime.
4:14. Never suffer pride to reign in thy mind, or in thy words: for
from it all perdition took its beginning.
4:15. If any man hath done any work for thee, immediately pay him
his hire, and let not the wages of thy hired servant stay with thee at all.

 4:16. See thou never do to another what thou wouldst hate to have
done to thee by another.
4:17. Eat thy bread with the hungry and the needy, and with thy
garments cover the naked,
4:18. Lay out thy bread, and thy wine upon the burial of a just man,
and do not eat and drink thereof with the wicked.
4:19. Seek counsel always of a wise man.
4:20. Bless God at all times: and desire of him to direct thy ways, and
that all thy counsels may abide in him.
4:21. I tell thee also, my son, that I lent ten talents of silver, while
thou wast yet a child, to Gabelus, in Rages a city of the Medes, and I
have a note of his hand with me:
4:22. Now therefore inquire how thou mayst go to him, and receive
of him the foresaid sum of money, and restore to him the note of his
hand.
4:23. Fear not, my son: we lead indeed a poor life, but we shall have
many good things if we fear God, and depart from all sin, and do that
which is good.
Tobias Chapter 5

Young Tobias seeking a guide for his journey, the angel Raphael, in
shape of a man, undertaketh this of ice.
5:1. Then Tobias answered his father, and said: I will do all things,
father, which thou hast commanded me.
5:2. But how I shall get this money, I cannot tell; he knoweth not me,
and I know not him: what token shall I give him? nor did I ever know
the way which leadeth thither.
5:3. Then his father answered him, and said: I have a note of his
hand with me, which when thou shalt shew him, he will presently pay
it.

 5:4. But go now, and seek thee out some faithful man, to go with
thee for his hire: that thou mayst receive it, while I yet live.
5:5. Then Tobias going forth, found a beautiful young man, standing
girded, and as it were ready to walk.
5:6. And not knowing that he was an angel of God, he saluted him,
and said: From whence art thou, good young man?
5:7. But he answered: Of the children of Israel. And Tobias said to
him: Knowest thou the way that leadeth to the country of the Medes?
5:8. And he answered: I know it: and I have often walked through all
the ways thereof, and I have abode with Gabelus our brother, who
dwelleth at Rages a city of the Medes, which is situate in the mount of
Ecbatana.
5:9. And Tobias said to him: Stay for me, I beseech thee, till I tell
these same things to my father.
5:10. Then Tobias going in told all these things to his father. Upon
which his father being in admiration, desired that he would come in
unto him.
5:11. So going in he saluted him, and said: Joy be to thee always.
5:12. And Tobias said: What manner of joy shall be to me, who sit in
darkness and see not the light of heaven?
5:13. And the young man said to him: Be of good courage, thy cure
from God is at hand.
5:14. And Tobias said to him: Canst thou conduct my son to Gabelus
at Rages, a city of the Medes? and when thou shalt return, I will pay
thee thy hire.
5:15. And the angel said to him: I will conduct him thither, and bring
him back to thee.
5:16. And Tobias said to him: I pray thee, tell me, of what family, or
what tribe art thou?
5:17. And Raphael the angel answered: Dost thou seek the family of
him thou hirest, or the hired servant himself to go with thy son?

 5:18. But lest I should make thee uneasy, I am Azarias the son of the
great Ananias.
Azarias.... The angel took the form of Azarias: and therefore might call himself by
the name of the man whom he personated. Azarias, in Hebrew, signi ies the help
of God, and Ananias the grace of God.
5:19. And Tobias answered: Thou art of a great family. But I pray
thee be not angry that I desired to know thy family.
5:20. And the angel said to him: I will lead thy son safe, and bring
him to thee again safe.
5:21. And Tobias answering, said: May you have a good journey, and
God be with you in your way, and his angel accompany you.
5:22. Then all things being ready, that were to be carried in their
journey, Tobias bade his father and his mother farewell, and they set
out both together.
5:23. And when they were departed, his mother began to weep, and
to say: Thou hast taken the staff of our old age, and sent him away
from us.
5:24. I wish the money for which thou hast sent him, had never been.
5:25. For our poverty was suf icient for us, that we might account it
as riches, that we saw our son.
5:26. And Tobias said to her: Weep not, our son will arrive thither
safe, and will return safe to us, and thy eyes shall see him.
5:27. For I believe that the good angel of God doth accompany him,
and doth order all things well that are done about him, so that he shall
return to us with joy.
5:28. At these words his mother ceased weeping, and held her peace.
Tobias Chapter 6

By the angel’s advice young Tobias taketh hold on a ish that

assaulteth him. Reserveth the heart, the gall, and the liver for
medicines. They lodge at the house of Raguel, whose daughter Sara,

 Tobias is to marry; she had before been married to seven husbands,

who were all slain by a devil.
6:1. And Tobias went forward, and the dog followed him, and he
lodged the irst night by the river of Tigris.
6:2. And he went out to wash his feet, and behold a monstrous ish
came up to devour him.
6:3. And Tobias being afraid of him, cried out with a loud voice,
saying: Sir, he cometh upon me.
6:4. And the angel said to him: Take him by the gill, and draw him to
thee. And when he had done so, he drew him out upon the land, and he
began to pant before his feet.
6:5. Then the angel said to him: Take out the entrails of this ish, and
lay up his heart, and his gall, and his liver for thee: for these are
necessary for useful medicines.
6:6. And when he had done so, he roasted the lesh thereof, and they
took it with them in the way: the rest they salted as much as might
serve them, till they came to Rages the city of the Medes.
6:7. Then Tobias asked the angel, and said to him: I beseech thee,
brother Azarias, tell me what remedies are these things good for,
which thou hast bid me keep of the ish?
6:8. And the angel, answering, said to him: If thou put a little piece
of its heart upon coals, the smoke thereof driveth away all kind of
devils, either from man or from woman, so that they come no more to
them.
Its heart, etc. The liver (ver. 19).... God was pleased to give these things a virtue
against those proud spirits, to make them, who affected to be like the Most High,
subject to such mean corporeal creatures as instruments of his power.
6:9. And the gall is good for anointing the eyes, in which there is a
white speck, and they shall be cured.
6:10. And Tobias said to him: Where wilt thou that we lodge?

f
 6:11. And the angel answering, said: Here is one whose name is
Raguel, a near kinsman of thy tribe, and he hath a daughter named
Sara, but he hath no son nor any other daughter beside her.
6:12. All his substance is due to thee, and thou must take her to wife.
6:13. Ask her therefore of her father, and he will give her thee to
wife.
6:14. Then Tobias answered, and said: I hear that she hath been
given to seven husbands, and they all died: moreover I have heard,
that a devil killed them.
6:15. Now I am afraid, lest the same thing should happen to me also:
and whereas I am the only child of my parents, I should bring down
their old age with sorrow to hell.
Hell.... That is, to the place where the souls of the good were kept before the
coming of Christ.
6:16. Then the angel Raphael said to him: Hear me, and I will shew
thee who they are, over whom the devil can prevail.
6:17. For they who in such manner receive matrimony, as to shut out
God from themselves, and from their mind, and to give themselves to
their lust, as the horse and mule, which have not understanding, over
them the devil hath power.
6:18. But thou when thou shalt take her, go into the chamber, and
for three days keep thyself continent from her, and give thyself to
nothing else but to prayers with her.
6:19. And on that night lay the liver of the ish on the ire, and the
devil shall be driven away.
6:20. But the second night thou shalt be admitted into the society of
the holy Patriarchs.
6:21. And the third night thou shalt obtain a blessing that sound
children may be born of you.
6:22. And when the third night is past, thou shalt take the virgin
with the fear of the Lord, moved rather for love of children than for

 lust, that in the seed of Abraham thou mayst obtain a blessing in

children.
Tobias Chapter 7

They are kindly entertained by Raguel. Tobias demandeth Sara to wife.

7:1. And they went in to Raguel, and Raguel received them with joy.
7:2. And Raguel looking upon Tobias, said to Anna his wife: How like
is this young man to my cousin?
7:3. And when he had spoken these words, he said: Whence are ye
young men our brethren?
7:4. But they said: We are of the tribe of Nephtali, of the captivity of
Ninive.
7:5. And Raguel said to them: Do you know Tobias my brother? And
they said: We know him.
7:6. And when he was speaking many good things of him, the angel
said to Raguel: Tobias concerning whom thou inquirest is this young
man’s father.
7:7. And Raguel went to him, and kissed him with tears and weeping
upon his neck, said: A blessing be upon thee, my son, because thou art
the son of a good and most virtuous man.
7:8. And Anna his wife, and Sara their daughter wept.
7:9. And after they had spoken, Raguel commanded a sheep to be
killed, and a feast to be prepared. And when he desired them to sit
down to dinner,
7:10. Tobias said: I will not eat nor drink here this day, unless thou
irst grant me my petition, and promise to give me Sara thy daughter.
7:11. Now when Raguel heard this he was afraid, knowing what had
happened to those seven husbands, that went in unto her: and he
began to fear lest it might happen to him also in like manner: and as
he was in suspense, and gave no answer to his petition,
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 7:12. The angel said to him: Be not afraid to give her to this man, for
to him who feareth God is thy daughter due to be his wife: therefore
another could not have her.
7:13. Then Raguel said: I doubt not but God hath regarded my
prayers and tears in his sight.
7:14. And I believe he hath therefore made you come to me, that this
maid might be married to one of her own kindred, according to the
law of Moses: and now doubt not but I will give her to thee.
7:15. And taking the right hand of his daughter, he gave it into the
right hand of Tobias, saying: The God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob be with you, and may he join you together,
and ful il his blessing in you.
7:16. And taking paper they made a writing of the marriage.
7:17. And afterwards they made merry, blessing God.
7:18. And Raguel called to him Anna his wife, and bade her to
prepare another chamber.
7:19. And she brought Sara her daughter in thither, and she wept.
7:20. And she said to her: Be of good cheer, my daughter: the Lord of
heaven give thee joy for the trouble thou hast undergone.
Tobias Chapter 8

Tobias burneth part of the ish’s liver, and Raphael bindeth the devil.
Tobias and Sara pray.
8:1. And after they had supped, they brought in the young man to
her.
8:2. And Tobias remembering the angel’s word, took out of his bag
part of the liver, and laid it upon burning coals.
8:3. Then the angel Raphael took the devil, and bound him in the
desert of upper Egypt.
8:4. Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and said to her: Sara, arise,
and let us pray to God to day, and to morrow, and the next day:

 because for these three nights we are joined to God: and when the
third night is over, we will be in our own wedlock.
8:5. For we are the children of saints, and we must not be joined
together like heathens that know not God.
8:6. So they both arose, and prayed earnestly both together that
health might be given them,
8:7. And Tobias said: Lord God of our fathers, may the heavens and
the earth, and the sea, and the fountains, and the rivers, and all thy
creatures that are in them, bless thee.
8:8. Thou madest Adam of the slime of the earth, and gavest him Eve
for a helper.
8:9. And now, Lord, thou knowest, that not for leshly lust do I take
my sister to wife, but only for the love of posterity, in which thy name
may be blessed for ever and ever.
8:10. Sara also said: Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us,
and let us grow old both together in health.
8:11. And it came to pass about the cockcrowing, Raguel ordered his
servants to be called for, and they went with him together to dig a
grave.
8:12. For he said: Lest perhaps it may have happened to him, in like
manner as it did to the other seven husbands, that went in unto her.
8:13. And when they had prepared the pit, Raguel went back to his
wife, and said to her:
8:14. Send one of thy maids, and let her see if he be dead, that I may
bury him before it be day.
8:15. So she sent one of her maidservants, who went into the
chamber, and found them safe and sound, sleeping both together.
8:16. And returning she brought the good news: and Raguel and
Anna his wife blessed the Lord,
8:17. And said: We bless thee, O Lord God of Israel, because it hath
not happened as we suspected.

 8:18. For thou hast shewn thy mercy to us, and hast shut out from us
the enemy that persecuted us.
8:19. And thou hast taken pity upon two only children. Make them,
O Lord, bless thee more fully: and to offer up to thee a sacri ice of thy
praise, and of their health, that all nations may know, that thou alone
art God in all the earth.
8:20. And immediately Raguel commanded his servants, to ill up the
pit they had made, before it was day.
8:21. And he spoke to his wife to make ready a feast, and prepare all
kind of provisions that are necessary for such as go a journey.
8:22. He caused also two fat kine, and four wethers to be killed, and
a banquet to be prepared for all his neighbours, and all his friends,
8:23. And Raguel adjured Tobias, to abide with him two weeks.
8:24. And of all things which Raguel possessed, he gave one half to
Tobias, and made a writing, that the half that remained should after
their decease come also to Tobias.
Tobias Chapter 9

The angel Raphael goeth to Gabelus, receiveth the money, and

bringeth him to the marriage.
9:1. Then Tobias called the angel to him, whom he took to be a man,
and said to him: Brother Azarias, I pray thee hearken to my words:
9:2. If I should give myself to be thy servant I should not make a
worthy return for thy care.
9:3. However, I beseech thee, to take with thee beasts and servants,
and to go to Gabelus to Rages the city of the Medes: and to restore to
him his note of hand, and receive of him the money, and desire him to
come to my wedding.
9:4. For thou knowest that my father numbereth the days: and if I
stay one day more, his soul will be af licted.

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 9:5. And indeed thou seest how Raguel hath adjured me, whose
adjuring I cannot despise.
9:6. Then Raphael took four of Raguel’s servants, and two camels,
and went to Rages the city of the Medes: and inding Gabelus, gave him
his note of hand, and received of him all the money.
9:7. And he told him concerning Tobias the son of Tobias, all that
had been done: and made him come with him to the wedding.
9:8. And when he was come into Raguel’s house he found Tobias
sitting at the table: and he leaped up, and they kissed each other: and
Gabelus wept, and blessed God,
9:9. And said: The God of Israel bless thee, because thou art the son
of a very good and just man, and that feareth God, and doth
almsdeeds:
9:10. And may a blessing come upon thy wife and upon your
parents.
9:11. And may you see your children, and your children’s children,
unto the third and fourth generation: and may your seed be blessed by
the God of Israel, who reigneth for ever and ever.
9:12. And when all had said, Amen, they went to the feast: but the
marriage feast they celebrated also with the fear of the Lord.
Tobias Chapter 10

The parents lament the long absence of their son Tobias. He sets out to
return.
10:1. But as Tobias made longer stay upon occasion of the marriage,
Tobias his father was solicitous, saying: Why thinkest thou doth my
son tarry, or why is he detained there?
10:2. Is Gabelus dead, thinkest thou, and no man will pay him the
money?

 10:3. And he began to be exceeding sad, both he and Anna his wife
with him: and they began both to weep together, because their son did
not return to them on the day appointed.
10:4. But his mother wept and was quite disconsolate, and said:
Woe, woe is me, my son; why did we send thee to go to a strange
country, the light of our eyes, the staff of our old age, the comfort of
our life, the hope of our posterity?
10:5. We having all things together in thee alone, ought not to have
let thee go from us.
10:6. And Tobias said to her: Hold thy peace, and be not troubled,
our son is safe: that man with whom we sent him is very trusty.
10:7. But she could by no means be comforted, but daily running out
looked round about, and went into all the ways by which there seemed
any hope he might return, that she might if possible see him coming
afar off.
10:8. But Raguel said to his son in law: Stay here, and I will send a
messenger to Tobias thy father, that thou art in health.
10:9. And Tobias said to him: I know that my father and mother now
count the days, and their spirit is grievously af licted within them.
10:10. And when Raguel had pressed Tobias with many words, and
he by no means would hearken to him, he delivered Sara unto him, and
half of all his substance in menservants, and womenservants, in cattle,
in camels, and in kine, and in much money, and sent him away safe
and joyful from him,
10:11. Saying: The holy angel of the Lord be with you in your
journey, and bring you through safe, and that you may ind all things
well about your parents, and my eyes may see your children before I
die.
10:12. And the parents taking their daughter kissed her, and let her
go:

 10:13. Admonishing her to honour her father and mother in law, to

love her husband, to take care of the family, to govern the house, and
to behave herself irreprehensibly.
Tobias Chapter 11

Tobias anointeth his father’s eyes with the ish’s gall, and he
recovereth his sight.
11:1. And as they were returning they came to Charan, which is in
the midway to Ninive, the eleventh day.
11:2. And the angel said: Brother Tobias, thou knowest how thou
didst leave thy father.
11:3. If it please thee therefore, let us go before, and let the family
follow softly after us, together with thy wife, and with the beasts.
11:4. And as this their going pleased him, Raphael said to Tobias:
Take with thee of the gall of the ish, for it will be necessary. So Tobias
took some of that gall and departed.
11:5. But Anna sat beside the way daily, on the top of a hill, from
whence she might see afar off.
11:6. And while she watched his coming from that place, she saw
him afar off, and presently perceived it was her son coming: and
returning she told her husband, saying: Behold thy son cometh.
11:7. And Raphael said to Tobias: As soon as thou shalt come into
thy house, forthwith adore the Lord thy God: and giving thanks to him,
go to thy father, and kiss him.
11:8. And immediately anoint his eyes with this gall of the ish,
which thou carriest with thee. For be assured that his eyes shall be
presently opened, and thy father shall see the light of heaven, and shall
rejoice in the sight of thee.
11:9. Then the dog, which had been with them in the way, ran
before, and coming as if he had brought the news, shewed his joy by his
fawning and wagging his tail.

 The dog, etc.... This may seem a very minute circumstance to be recorded in
sacred history: but as we learn from our Saviour, St. Matt. 5.18, there are iotas
and tittles in the word of God: that is to say, things that appear minute, but
which have indeed a deep and mysterious meaning in them.
11:10. And his father that was blind, rising up, began to run
stumbling with his feet: and giving a servant his hand, went to meet
his son.
11:11. And receiving him kissed him, as did also his wife, and they
began to weep for joy.
11:12. And when they had adored God, and given him thanks, they
sat down together.
11:13. Then Tobias taking of the gall of the ish, anointed his
father’s eyes.
11:14. And he stayed about half an hour: and a white skin began to
come out of his eyes, like the skin of an egg.
11:15. And Tobias took hold of it, and drew it from his eyes, and
immediately he recovered his sight.
11:16. And they glori ied God, both he and his wife and all that knew
him.
11:17. And Tobias said: I bless thee, O Lord God of Israel, because
thou hast chastised me, and thou hast saved me and behold I see
Tobias my son.
11:18. And after seven days Sara his son’s wife and all the family
arrived safe, and the cattle, and the camels, and an abundance of
money of his wife’s: and that money also which he had received of
Gabelus,
11:19. And he told his parents all the bene its of God, which he had
done to him by the man that conducted him.
11:20. And Achior and Nabath the kinsmen of Tobias came, rejoicing
for Tobias, and congratulating with him for all the good things that
God had done for him.

 11:21. And for seven days they feasted and rejoiced all with great
joy.
Tobias Chapter 12

Raphael maketh himself known.

12:1. Then Tobias called to him his son and said to him: What can
we give to this holy man, that is come with thee?
12:2. Tobias answering, said to his father: Father, what wages shall
we give him? or what can be worthy of his bene its?
12:3. He conducted me and brought me safe again, he received the
money of Gabelus, he caused me to have my wife, and he chased from
her the evil spirit, he gave joy to her parents, myself he delivered from
being devoured by the ish, thee also he hath made to see the light of
heaven, and we are illed with all good things through him. What can
we give him suf icient for these things?
12:4. But I beseech thee, my father, to desire him, that he would
vouchsafe to accept of one half of all things that have been brought.
12:5. So the father and the son calling him, took him aside: and
began to desire him that he would vouchsafe to accept of half of all
things that they had brought,
12:6. Then he said to them secretly, Bless ye the God of heaven, give
glory to him in the sight of all that live, because he hath shewn his
mercy to you.
12:7. For it is good to hide the secret of a king: but honourable to
reveal and confess the works of God.
12:8. Prayer is good with fasting and alms more than to lay up
treasures of gold.
12:9. For alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which
purgeth away sins, and maketh to ind mercy and life everlasting.
12:10. But they that commit sin and iniquity, are enemies to their
own soul.

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 12:11. I discover then the truth unto you, and I will not hide the
secret from you.
12:12. When thou didst pray with tears, and didst bury the dead,
and didst leave thy dinner, and hide the dead by day in thy house, and
bury them by night, I offered thy prayer to the Lord.
12:13. And because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary
that temptation should prove thee.
12:14. And now the Lord hath sent me to heal thee, and to deliver
Sara thy son’s wife from the devil.
12:15. For I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand
before the Lord.
12:16. And when they had heard these things, they were troubled,
and being seized with fear they fell upon the ground on their face.
12:17. And the angel said to them: Peace be to you, fear not.
12:18. For when I was with you, I was there by the will of God: bless
ye him, and sing praises to him.
12:19. I seemed indeed to eat and to drink with you but I use an
invisible meat and drink, which cannot be seen by men.
12:20. It is time therefore that I return to him that sent me: but
bless ye God, and publish all his wonderful works.
12:21. And when he had said these things, he was taken from their
sight, and they could see him no more.
12:22. Then they lying prostrate for three hours upon their face,
blessed God, and rising up, they told all his wonderful works.
Tobias Chapter 13

Tobias the father praiseth God, exhorting all Israel to do the same.
Prophesieth the restoration and better state of Jerusalem.
13:1. And Tobias the elder opening his mouth, blessed the Lord, and
said: Thou art great O Lord, for ever, and thy kingdom is unto all ages.

 13:2. For thou scourgest, and thou savest: thou leadest down to hell,
and bringest up again: and there is none that can escape thy hand.
13:3. Give glory to the Lord, ye children of Israel, and praise him in
the sight of the Gentiles:
13:4. Because he hath therefore scattered you among the Gentiles,
who know not him, that you may declare his wonderful works, and
make them know that there is no other almighty God besides him.
13:5. He hath chastised us for our iniquities: and he will save us for
his own mercy.
13:6. See then what he hath done with us, and with fear and
trembling give ye glory to him: and extol the eternal King of worlds in
your works.
13:7. As for me, I will praise him in the land of my captivity: because
he hath shewn his majesty toward a sinful nation,
13:8. Be converted therefore, ye sinners, and do justice before God,
believing that he will shew his mercy to you.
13:9. And I and my soul will rejoice in him.
13:10. Bless ye the Lord, all his elect, keep days of joy, and give glory
to him.
13:11. Jerusalem, city of God, the Lord hath chastised thee for the
works of thy hands.
Jerusalem.... What is prophetically delivered here, and in the following chapter,
with relation to Jerusalem, is partly to be understood of the rebuilding of the city
after the captivity: and partly of the spiritual Jerusalem, which is the church of
Christ, and the eternal Jerusalem in heaven.
13:12. Give glory to the Lord for thy good things, and bless the God
eternal that he may rebuild his tabernacle in thee, and may call back
all the captives to thee, and thou mayst rejoice for ever and ever.
13:13. Thou shalt shine with a glorious light: and all the ends of the
earth shall worship thee,
13:14. Nations from afar shall come to thee: and shall bring gifts,
and shall adore the Lord in thee, and shall esteem thy land as holy.

 13:15. For they shall call upon the great name in thee,
13:16. They shall be cursed that shall despise thee: and they shall be
condemned that shall blaspheme thee: and blessed shall they be that
shall build thee up,
13:17. But thou shalt rejoice in thy children, because they shall all
be blessed, and shall be gathered together to the Lord.
13:18. Blessed are all they that love thee, and that rejoice in thy
peace,
13:19. My soul, bless thou the Lord, because the Lord our God hath
delivered Jerusalem his city from all her troubles.
13:20. Happy shall I be if there shall remain of my seed, to see the
glory of Jerusalem.
13:21. The gates of Jerusalem shall be built of sapphire, and of
emerald, and all the walls thereof round about of precious stones.
13:22. All its streets shall be paved with white and clean stones: and
Alleluia shall be sung in its streets,
13:23. Blessed be the Lord, who hath exalted it, and may he reign
over it for ever and ever, Amen.
Tobias Chapter 14

Old Tobias dieth at the age of a hundred and two years, after
exhorting his son and grandsons to piety, foreshewing that Ninive shall
be destroyed, and Jerusalem rebuilt. The younger Tobias returneth
with his family to Raguel, and dieth happily as he had lived.
14:1. And the words of Tobias were ended. And after Tobias was
restored to his sight, he lived two and forty years, and saw the children
of his grandchildren.
14:2. And after he had lived a hundred and two years, he was buried
honorably in Ninive.
14:3. For he was six and ifty years old when he lost the sight of his
eyes, and sixty when he recovered it again.

 14:4. And the rest of his life was in joy, and with great increase of
the fear of God he departed in peace.
14:5. And at the hour of his death he called unto him his son Tobias
and his children, seven young men, his grandsons, and said to them:
14:6. The destruction of Ninive is at hand: for the word of the Lord
must be ful illed: and our brethren, that are scattered abroad from the
land of Israel, shall return to it.
14:7. And all the land thereof that is desert shall be illed with
people, and the house of God which is burnt in it, shall again be
rebuilt: and all that fear God shall return thither.
14:8. And the Gentiles shall leave their idols, and shall come into
Jerusalem, and shall dwell in it.
14:9. And all the kings of the earth shall rejoice in it, adoring the
King of Israel.
14:10. Hearken therefore, my children, to your father: serve the Lord
in truth, and seek to do the things that please him:
14:11. And command your children that they do justice and
almsdeeds, and that they be mindful of God, and bless him at all times
in truth, and with all their power.
14:12. And now, children, hear me, and do not stay here: but as soon
as you shall bury your mother by me in one sepulchre, without delay
direct your steps to depart hence:
14:13. For I see that its iniquity will bring it to destruction.
14:14. And it came to pass that after the death of his mother, Tobias
departed out of Ninive with his wife, and children, and children’s
children, and returned to his father and mother in law.
14:15. And he found them in health in a good old age: and he took
care of them, and he closed their eyes: and all the inheritance of
Raguel’s house came to him: and he saw his children’s children to the
ifth generation.
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 14:16. And after he had lived ninety-nine years in the fear of the
Lord, with joy they buried him.
14:17. And all his kindred, and all his generation continued in good
life, and in holy conversation, so that they were acceptable both to
God, and to men, and to all that dwelt in the land.

THE BOOK OF JUDITH

The sacred writer of this Book is generally believed to be the high

priest Eliachim (called also Joachim). The transactions herein related,
most probably happened in his days, and in the reign of Manasses,
after his repentance and return from captivity. It takes its name from
that illustrious woman, by whose virtue and fortitude, and armed with
prayer, the children of Israel were preserved from the destruction
threatened them by Holofernes and his great army. It inishes with her
canticle of thanksgiving to God.
Judith Chapter 1

Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians overcometh Arphaxad king of

the Medes.
1:1. Now Arphaxad king of the Medes had brought many nations
under his dominions, and he built a very strong city, which he called
Ecbatana,
Arphaxad.... He was probably the same as is called Dejoces by Herodotus; to
whom he attributes the building of Ecbatana, the capital city of Media.
1:2. Of stones squared and hewed: he made the walls thereof seventy
cubits broad, and thirty cubits high, and the towers thereof he made a
hundred cubits high. But on the square of them, each side was
extended the space of twenty feet.

 1:3. And he made the gates thereof according to the height of the
towers:
1:4. And he gloried as a mighty one in the force of his army and in
the glory of his chariots.
1:5. Now in the twelfth year of his reign, Nabuchodonosor king of
the Assyrians, who reigned in Ninive the great city, fought against
Arphaxad and overcame him,
Nabuchodonosor.... Not the king of Babylon, who took and destroyed Jerusalem,
but another of the same name, who reigned in Ninive: and is called by profane
historians Saosduchin. He succeeded Asarhaddan in the kingdom of the
Assyrians, and was contemporary with Manasses king of Juda.
1:6. In the great plain which is called Ragua, about the Euphrates,
and the Tigris, and the Jadason, in the plain of Erioch the king of the
Elicians.
1:7. Then was the kingdom of Nabuchodonosor exalted, and his
heart was elevated: and he sent to all that dwelt in Cilicia and
Damascus, and Libanus,
1:8. And to the nations that are in Carmelus, and Cedar, and to the
inhabitants of Galilee in the great plain of Asdrelon,
1:9. And to all that were in Samaria, and beyond the river Jordan
even to Jerusalem, and all the land of Jesse till you come to the borders
of Ethiopia.
1:10. To all these Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, sent
messengers:
1:11. But they all with one mind refused, and sent them back empty,
and rejected them without honour.
1:12. Then king Nabuchodonosor being angry against all that land,
swore by his throne and kingdom that he would revenge himself of all
those countries.

 Judith Chapter 2

Nabuchodonosor sendeth Holofernes to waste the countries of the

west.
2:1. In the thirteenth year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, the two
and twentieth day of the irst month, the word was given out in the
house of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, that he would revenge
himself.
2:2. And he called all the ancients, and all the governors, and his
of icers of war, and communicated to them the secret of his counsel:
2:3. And he said that his thoughts were to bring all the earth under
his empire.
2:4. And when this saying pleased them all, Nabuchodonosor, the
king, called Holofernes the general of his armies,
2:5. And said to him: Go out against all the kingdoms of the west,
and against them especially that despised my commandment.
2:6. Thy eye shall not spare any kingdom, and all the strong cities
thou shalt bring under my yoke.
2:7. Then Holofernes called the captains, and of icers of the power of
the Assyrians: and he mustered men for the expedition, as the king
commanded him, a hundred and twenty thousand ighting men on
foot, and twelve thousand archers, horsemen.
2:8. And he made all his warlike preparations to go before with a
multitude of innumerable camels, with all provisions suf icient for the
armies in abundance, and herds of oxen, and locks of sheep, without
number.
2:9. He appointed corn to be prepared out of all Syria in his passage.
2:10. But gold and silver he took out of the king’s house in great
abundance.
2:11. And he went forth he and all the army, with the chariots, and
horsemen, and archers, who covered the face of the earth, like locusts.
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 2:12. And when he had passed through the borders of the Assyrians,
he came to the great mountains of Ange, which are on the left of
Cilicia: and he went up to all their castles, and took all the strong
places.
2:13. And he took by assault the renowned city of Melothus, and
pillaged all the children of Tharsis, and the children of Ismahel, who
were over against the face of the desert, and on the south of the land of
Cellon.
2:14. And he passed over the Euphrates and came into
Mesopotamia: and he forced all the stately cities that were there, from
the torrent of Mambre, till one comes to the sea:
2:15. And he took the borders thereof, from Cilicia to the coasts of
Japheth, which are towards the south.
2:16. And he carried away all the children of Madian, and stripped
them of all their riches, and all that resisted him he slew with the edge
of the sword.
2:17. And after these things he went down into the plains of
Damascus in the days of the harvest, and he set all the corn on ire,
and he caused all the trees and vineyards to be cut down.
2:18. And the fear of them fell upon all the inhabitants of the land.
Judith Chapter 3

Many submit themselves to Holofernes. He destroyeth their cities, and

their gods, that Nabuchodonosor only might be called God.
3:1. Then the kings and the princes of all the cities and provinces, of
Syria, Mesopotamia, and Syria Sobal, and Libya, and Cilicia sent their
ambassadors, who coming to Holofernes, said:
3:2. Let thy indignation towards us cease, for it is better for us to
live and serve Nabuchodonosor the great king, and be subject to thee,
than to die and to perish, or suffer the miseries of slavery.

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 3:3. All our cities and our possessions, all mountains and hills, and
ields, and herds of oxen, and locks of sheep, and goats, and horses,
and camels, and all our goods, and families are in thy sight:
3:4. Let all we have be subject to thy law,
3:5. Both we and our children are thy servants.
3:6. Come to us a peaceable lord, and use our service as it shall
please thee,
3:7. Then he came down from the mountains with horsemen, in
great power, and made himself master of every city, and all the
inhabitants of the land.
3:8. And from all the cities he took auxiliaries valiant men, and
chosen for war,
3:9. And so great a fear lay upon all those provinces, that the
inhabitants of all the cities, both princes and nobles, as well as the
people, went out to meet him at his coming.
3:10. And received him with garlands, and lights, and dances, and
timbrels, and lutes.
3:11. And though they did these things, they could not for all that
mitigate the ierceness of his heart:
3:12. For he both destroyed their cities, and cut down their groves.
3:13. For Nabuchodonosor the king had commanded him to destroy
all the gods of the earth, that he only might be called God by those
nations which could be brought under him by the power of Holofernes.
3:14. And when he had passed through all Syria Sobal, and all
Apamea, and all Mesopotamia, he came to the Idumeans into the land
of Gabaa,
3:15. And he took possession of their cities, and stayed there for
thirty days, in which days he commanded all the troops of his army to
be united.
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 Judith Chapter 4

The children of Israel prepare themselves to resist Holofernes. They cry

to the Lord for help.
4:1. Then the children of Israel, who dwelt in the land of Juda,
hearing these things, were exceedingly afraid of him.
4:2. Dread and horror seized upon their minds, lest he should do the
same to Jerusalem and to the temple of the Lord, that he had done to
other cities and their temples.
4:3. And they sent into all Samaria round about, as far as Jericho,
and seized upon all the tops of the mountains:
4:4. And they compassed their towns with walls and gathered
together corn for provision for war.
4:5. And Eliachim the priest wrote to all that were over against
Esdrelon, which faceth the great plain near Dothain, and to all by
whom there might be a passage of way, that they should take
possession of the ascents of the mountains, by which there might be
any way to Jerusalem, and should keep watch where the way was
narrow between the mountains.
4:6. And the children of Israel did as the priest of the Lord Eliachim
had appointed them.
4:7. And all the people cried to the Lord with great earnestness, and
they humbled their souls in fastings, and prayers, both they and their
wives.
4:8. And the priests put on haircloths, and they caused the little
children to lie prostrate before the temple of the Lord, and the altar of
the Lord they covered with haircloth.
4:9. And they cried to the Lord the God of Israel with one accord,
that their children might not be made a prey, and their wives carried
off, and their cities destroyed, and their holy things profaned, and that
they might not be made a reproach to the Gentiles.

 4:10. Then Eliachim the high priest of the Lord went about all Israel
and spoke to them,
4:11. Saying: Know ye that the Lord will hear your prayers, if you
continue with perseverance in fastings and prayers in the sight of the
Lord.
4:12. Remember Moses the servant of the Lord overcame Amalec
that trusted in his own strength, and in his power, and in his army, and
in his shields, and in his chariots, and in his horsemen, not by ighting
with the sword, but by holy prayers:
4:13. So all the enemies of Israel be, if you persevere in this work
which you have begun.
4:14. So they being moved by this exhortation of his, prayed to the
Lord, and continued in the sight of the Lord.
4:15. So that even they who offered the holocausts to the Lord,
offered the sacri ices to the Lord girded with haircloths, and with
ashes upon their head.
4:16. And they all begged of God with all their heart, that he would
visit his people Israel.
Judith Chapter 5

Achior gives Holofernes an account of the people of Israel.

5:1. And it was told Holofernes the general of the army of the
Assyrians, that the children of Israel prepared themselves to resist, and
had shut up the ways of the mountains.
5:2. And he was transported with exceeding great fury and
indignation, and he called all the princes of Moab and the leaders of
Ammon.
5:3. And he said to them: Tell me what is this people that besetteth
the mountains: or what are their cities, and of what sort, and how
great: also what is their power, or what is their multitude: or who is
the king over their warfare:

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 5:4. And why they above all that dwell in the east, have despised us,
and have not come out to meet us, that they might receive us with
peace?
5:5. Then Achior captain of all the children of Ammon answering,
said; If thou vouchsafe, my lord, to hear, I will tell the truth in thy sight
concerning this people, that dwelleth in the mountains, and there shall
not a false word come out of my mouth.
5:6. This people is of the offspring of the Chaldeans.
5:7. They dwelt irst in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow
the gods of their fathers, who were in the land of the Chaldeans.
5:8. Wherefore forsaking the ceremonies of their fathers, which
consisted in the worship of many gods,
5:9. They worshipped one God of heaven, who also commanded
them to depart from thence, and to dwell in Charan. And when there
was a famine over all the land, they went down into Egypt, and there
for four hundred years were so multiplied, that the army of them could
not be numbered.
5:10. And when the king of Egypt oppressed them, and made slaves
of them to labour in clay and brick, in the building of his cities, they
cried to their Lord, and he struck the whole land of Egypt with divers
plagues.
5:11. And when the Egyptians had cast them out from them, and the
plague had ceased from them, and they had a mind to take them
again, and bring them back to their service,
5:12. The God of heaven opened the sea to them in their light, so
that the waters were made to stand irm as a wall on either side, and
they walked through the bottom of the sea and passed it dry foot.
5:13. And when an innumerable army of the Egyptians pursued
after them in that place, they were so overwhelmed with the waters,
that there was not one left, to tell what had happened to posterity.
5:14. After they came out of the Red Sea, they abode in the deserts of
mount Sina, in which never man could dwell, or son of man rested.

 5:15. There bitter fountains were made sweet for them to drink, and
for forty years they received food from heaven.
5:16. Wheresoever they went in without bow and arrow, and
without shield and sword, their God fought for them and overcame.
5:17. And there was no one that triumphed over this people, but
when they departed from the worship of the Lord their God.
5:18. But as often as beside their own God, they worshipped any
other, they were given to spoil and to the sword, and to reproach.
5:19. And as often as they were penitent for having revolted from
the worship of their God, the God of heaven gave them power to resist.
5:20. So they overthrew the king of the Chanaanites, and of the
Jebusites, and of the Pherezites, and of the Hethites, and of the Hevites,
and of the Amorrhites, and all the mighty ones in Hesebon, and they
possessed their lands, and their cities:
5:21. And as long as they sinned not in the sight of their God, it was
well with them: for their God hateth iniquity.
5:22. And even some years ago when they had revolted from the way
which God had given them to walk therein, they were destroyed in
battles by many nations and very many of them were led away captive
into a strange land.
5:23. But of late returning to the Lord their God, from the different
places wherein they were scattered, they are come together and are
gone up into all these mountains, and possess Jerusalem again, where
their holies are.
5:24. Now therefore, my lord, search if there be any iniquity of theirs
in the sight of their God: let us go up to them, because their God will
surely deliver them to thee, and they shall be brought under the yoke
of thy power:
5:25. But if there be no offence of this people in the sight of their
God, we cannot resist them because their God will defend them: and
we shall be a reproach to the whole earth.

 5:26. And it came to pass, when Achior had ceased to speak these
words, all the great men of Holofernes were angry, and they had a
mind to kill him, saying to each other:
5:27. Who is this, that saith the children of Israel can resist king
Nabuchodonosor, and his armies, men unarmed, and without force,
and without skill in the art of war?
5:28. That Achior therefore may know that he deceiveth us, let us go
up into the mountains: and when the bravest of them shall be taken,
then shall he with them be stabbed with the sword,
5:29. That every nation may know that Nabuchodonosor is god of
the earth, and besides him there is no other.
Judith Chapter 6

Holofernes in great rage sendeth Achior to Bethulia, there to be slain

with the Israelites.
6:1. And it came to pass when they had left off speaking, that
Holofernes being in a violent passion, said to Achior:
6:2. Because thou hast prophesied unto us, saying: That the nation
of Israel is defended by their God, to shew thee that there is no God, but
Nabuchodonosor:
6:3. When we shall slay them all as one man, then thou also shalt die
with them by the sword of the Assyrians, and all Israel shall perish
with thee:
6:4. And thou shalt ind that Nabuchodonosor is lord of the whole
earth: and then the sword of my soldiers shall pass through thy sides,
and thou shalt be stabbed and fall among the wounded of Israel, and
thou shalt breathe no more till thou be destroyed with them.
6:5. But if thou think thy prophecy true, let not thy countenance
sink, and let the paleness that is in thy face, depart from thee, if thou
imaginest these my words cannot be accomplished.
6:6. And that thou mayst know that thou shalt experience these
things together with them, behold from this hour thou shalt be

 associated to their people, that when they shall receive the

punishment they deserve from my sword, thou mayst fall under the
same vengeance.
6:7. Then Holofernes commanded his servants to take Achior, and to
lead him to Bethulia, and to deliver him into the hands of the children
of Israel.
6:8. And the servants of Holofernes taking him, went through the
plains: but when they came near the mountains, the slingers came out
against them.
6:9. Then turning out of the way by the side of the mountain, they
tied Achior to a tree hand and foot, and so left him bound with ropes,
and returned to their master.
6:10. And the children of Israel coming down from Bethulia, came to
him, and loosing him they brought him to Bethulia, and setting him in
the midst of the people, asked him what was the matter that the
Assyrians had left him bound.
6:11. In those days the rulers there, were Ozias the son of Micha of
the tribe of Simeon, and Charmi, called also Gothoniel.
6:12. And Achior related in the midst of the ancients, and in the
presence of all the people, all that he had said being asked by
Holofernes: and how the people of Holofernes would have killed him
for this word,
6:13. And how Holofernes himself being angry had commanded him
to be delivered for this cause to the Israelites: that when he should
overcome the children of Israel, then he might command Achior also
himself to be put to death by diverse torments, for having said: The
God of heaven is their defender.
6:14. And when Achior had declared all these things, all the people
fell upon their faces, adoring the Lord, and all of them together
mourning and weeping poured out their prayers with one accord to
the Lord,

 6:15. Saying: O Lord God of heaven and earth, behold their pride,
and look on our low condition, and have regard to the face of thy
saints, and shew that thou forsakest not them that trust on thee, and
that thou humblest them that presume of themselves, and glory in
their own strength.
6:16. So when their weeping was ended, and the people’s prayer, in
which they continued all the day, was concluded, they comforted
Achior,
6:17. Saying: The God of our fathers, whose power thou hast set
forth, will make this return to thee, that thou rather shalt see their
destruction.
6:18. And when the Lord our God shall give this liberty to his
servants, let God be with thee also in the midst of us: that as it shall
please thee, so thou with all thine mayst converse with us.
6:19. Then Ozias, after the assembly was broken up, received him
into his house, and made him a great supper.
6:20. And all the ancients were invited, and they refreshed
themselves together after their fast was over.
6:21. And afterwards all the people were called together, and they
prayed all the night long within the church, desiring help of the God of
Israel.
The church.... That is, the synagogue or place where they met for prayer.
Judith Chapter 7

Holofernes besiegeth Bethulia. The distress of the besieged.

7:1. But Holofernes on the next day gave orders to his army, to go up
against Bethulia.
7:2. Now there were in his troops a hundred and twenty thousand
footmen, and two and twenty thousand horsemen, besides the
preparations of those men who had been taken, and who had been
brought away out of the provinces and cities of all the youth.

 7:3. All these prepared themselves together to ight against the

children of Israel, and they came by the hillside to the top, which
looketh toward Dothain, from the place which is called Belma, unto
Chelmon, which is over against Esdrelon.
7:4. But the children of Israel, when they saw the multitude of them,
prostrated themselves upon the ground, putting ashes upon their
heads, praying with one accord, that the God of Israel would shew his
mercy upon his people.
7:5. And taking their arms of war, they posted themselves at the
places, which by a narrow pathway lead directly between the
mountains, and they guarded them all day and night.
7:6. Now Holofernes, in going round about, found that the fountain
which supplied them with water, ran through an aqueduct without the
city on the south side: and he commanded their aqueduct to be cut off.
7:7. Nevertheless there were springs not far from the walls, out of
which they were seen secretly to draw water, to refresh themselves a
little rather than to drink their ill.
7:8. But the children of Ammon and Moab came to Holofernes,
saying: The children of Israel trust not in their spears, nor in their
arrows, but the mountains are their defence, and the steep hills and
precipices guard them.
7:9. Wherefore that thou mayst overcome them without joining
battle, set guards at the springs that they may not draw water out of
them, and thou shalt destroy them without sword, or at least being
wearied out they will yield up their city, which they suppose, because it
is situate in the mountains, to be impregnable.
7:10. And these words pleased Holofernes, and his of icers, and he
placed all round about a hundred men at every spring.
7:11. And when they had kept this watch for full twenty days, the
cisterns, and the reserve of waters failed among all the inhabitants of
Bethulia, so that there was not within the city, enough to satisfy them,

 no not for one day, for water was daily given out to the people by
measure.
7:12. Then all the men and women, young men, and children,
gathering themselves together to Ozias, all together with one voice,
7:13. Said: God be judge between us and thee, for thou hast done evil
against us, in that thou wouldst not speak peaceably with the
Assyrians, and for this cause God hath sold us into their hands.
7:14. And therefore there is no one to help us, while we are cast
down before their eyes in thirst, and sad destruction.
7:15. And now assemble ye all that are in the city, that we may of
our own accord yield ourselves all up to the people of Holofernes.
7:16. For it is better, that being captives we should live and bless the
Lord, than that we should die, and be a reproach to all lesh, after we
have seen our wives and our infants die before our eyes.
7:17. We call to witness this day heaven and earth, and the God of
our fathers, who taketh vengeance upon us according to our sins,
conjuring you to deliver now the city into the hand of the army of
Holofernes, that our end may be short by the edge of the sword, which
is made longer by the drought of thirst.
7:18. And when they had said these things, there was great weeping
and lamentation of all in the assembly, and for many hours with one
voice they cried to God, saying:
7:19. We have sinned with our fathers, we have done unjustly, we
have committed iniquity:
7:20. Have thou mercy on us, because thou art good, or punish our
iniquities by chastising us thyself, and deliver not them that trust in
thee to a people that knoweth not thee,
7:21. That they may not say among the Gentiles: Where is their God?
7:22. And when being wearied with these cries, and tired with these
weepings, they held their peace,

 7:23. Ozias rising up all in tears, said: Be of good courage, my

brethren, and let us wait these ive days for mercy from the Lord.
7:24. For perhaps he will put a stop to his indignation, and will give
glory to his own name.
7:25. But if after ive days be past there come no aid, we will do the
things which you have spoken.
Judith Chapter 8

The character of Judith: her discourse to the ancients.

8:1. Now it came to pass, when Judith a widow had heard these
words, who was the daughter of Merari, the son of Idox, the son of
Joseph, the son of Ozias, the son of Elai, the son of Jamnor, the son of
Gedeon, the son of Raphaim, the son of Achitob, the son of Melchias,
the son of Enan, the son of Nathanias, the son of Salathiel, the son of
Simeon, the son of Ruben:
Simeon the son of Ruben.... In the Greek, it is the son of Israel. For Simeon the
patriarch, from whom Judith descended, was not the son, but the brother of
Ruben. It seems more probable that the Simeon and the Ruben here mentioned
are not the patriarchs: but two of the descendants of the patriarch Simeon: and
that the genealogy of Judith, recorded in this place, is not carried up so high as
the patriarchs. No more than that of Elcana the father of Samuel, 1 Kings 1.1,
and that of king Saul, 1 Kings 9.1.
8:2. And her husband was Manasses, who died in the time of the
barley harvest:
8:3. For he was standing over them that bound sheaves in the ield;
and the heat came upon his head, and he died in Bethulia his own city,
and was buried there with his fathers.
8:4. And Judith his relict was a widow now three years and six
months.
8:5. And she made herself a private chamber in the upper part of her
house, in which she abode shut up with her maids.

 8:6. And she wore haircloth upon her loins, and fasted all the days of
her life, except the sabbaths, and new moons, and the feasts of the
house of Israel.
8:7. And she was exceedingly beautiful, and her husband left her
great riches, and very many servants, and large possessions of herds of
oxen, and locks of sheep.
8:8. And she was greatly renowned among all, because she feared
the Lord very much, neither was there any one that spoke an ill word
of her.
8:9. When therefore she had heard that Ozias had promised that he
would deliver up the city after the ifth day, she sent to the ancients
Chabri and Charmi.
8:10. And they came to her, and she said to them: What is this word,
by which Ozias hath consented to give up the city to the Assyrians, if
within ive days there come no aid to us?
8:11. And who are you that tempt the Lord?
8:12. This is not a word that may draw down mercy, but rather that
may stir up wrath, and enkindle indignation.
8:13. You have set a time for the mercy of the Lord, and you have
appointed him a day, according to your pleasure.
8:14. But forasmuch as the Lord is patient, let us be penitent for this
same thing, and with many tears let us beg his pardon:
8:15. For God will not threaten like man, nor be in lamed to anger
like the son of man.
8:16. And therefore let us humble our souls before him, and
continuing in an humble spirit, in his service:
8:17. Let us ask the Lord with tears, that according to his will so he
would shew his mercy to us: that as our heart is troubled by their
pride, so also we may glorify in our humility.
8:18. For we have not followed the sins of our fathers, who forsook
their God, and worshipped strange gods.

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 8:19. For which crime they were given up to their enemies, to the
sword, and to pillage, and to confusion: but we know no other God but
him.
8:20. Let us humbly wait for his consolation, and the Lord our God
will require our blood of the af lictions of our enemies, and he will
humble all the nations that shall rise up against us, and bring them to
disgrace.
8:21. And now, brethren, as you are the ancients among the people
of God, and their very soul resteth upon you: comfort their hearts by
your speech, that they may be mindful how our fathers were tempted
that they might be proved, whether they worshipped their God truly.
8:22. They must remember how our father Abraham was tempted,
and being proved by many tribulations, was made the friend of God.
8:23. So Isaac, so Jacob, so Moses, and all that have pleased God,
passed through many tribulations, remaining faithful.
8:24. But they that did not receive the trials with the fear of the
Lord, but uttered their impatience and the reproach of their
murmuring against the Lord,
8:25. Were destroyed by the destroyer, and perished by serpents.
8:26. As for us therefore let us not revenge ourselves for these things
which we suffer.
8:27. But esteeming these very punishments to be less than our sins
deserve, let us believe that these scourges of the Lord, with which like
servants we are chastised, have happened for our amendment, and not
for our destruction.
8:28. And Ozias and the ancients said to her: All things which thou
hast spoken are true, and there is nothing to be reprehended in thy
words.
8:29. Now therefore pray for us, for thou art a holy woman, and one
fearing God.
8:30. And Judith said to them: As you know that what I have been
able to say is of God:

 8:31. So that which I intend to do prove ye if it be of God, and pray

that God may strengthen my design.
8:32. You shall stand at the gate this night, and I will go out with my
maidservant: and pray ye, that as you have said, in ive days the Lord
may look down upon his people Israel.
8:33. But I desire that you search not into what I am doing, and till I
bring you word let nothing else be done but to pray for me to the Lord
our God.
8:34. And Ozias the prince of Juda said to her: Go in peace, and the
Lord be with thee to take revenge of our enemies. So returning they
departed.
Judith Chapter 9

Judith’s prayer, to beg of God to fortify her in her undertaking.

9:1. And when they were gone, Judith went into her oratory: and
putting on haircloth, laid ashes on her head: and falling down
prostrate before the Lord, she cried to the Lord, saying:
9:2. Lord God of my father Simeon, who gavest him a sword to
execute vengeance against strangers, who had de iled by their
uncleanness, and uncovered the virgin unto confusion:
Gavest him a sword, etc.... The justice of God is here praised, in punishing by the
sword of Simeon the crime of the Sichemites: and not the act of Simeon, which
was justly condemned by his father, Gen. 49.5. Though even with regard to this
act, we may distinguish between his zeal against the crime committed by the
ravishers of his sister, which zeal may be considered just: and the manner of his
punishing that crime, which was irregular and excessive.
9:3. And who gavest their wives to be made a prey, and their
daughters into captivity: and all their spoils to be divided to the
servants, who were zealous with thy zeal: assist, I beseech thee, O Lord
God, me a widow.
9:4. For thou hast done the things of old, and hast devised one thing
after another: and what thou hast designed hath been done.

 9:5. For all thy ways are prepared, and in thy providence thou hast
placed thy judgments.
9:6. Look upon the camp of the Assyrians now, as thou wast pleased
to look upon the camp of the Egyptians, when they pursued armed
after thy servants, trusting in their chariots, and in their horsemen,
and in a multitude of warriors.
9:7. But thou lookedst over their camp, and darkness wearied them.
9:8. The deep held their feet, and the waters overwhelmed them.
9:9. So may it be with these also, O Lord, who trust in their
multitude, and in their chariots, and in their pikes, and in their shields,
and in their arrows, and glory in their spears,
9:10. And know not that thou art our God, who destroyest wars from
the beginning, and the Lord is thy name.
9:11. Lift up thy arm as from the beginning, and crush their power
with thy power: let their power fall in their wrath, who promise
themselves to violate thy sanctuary, and de ile the dwelling place of
thy name, and to beat down with their sword the horn of thy altar.
9:12. Bring to pass, O Lord, that his pride may be cut off with his
own sword.
9:13. Let him be caught in the net of his own eyes in my regard, and
do thou strike him by the graces of the words of my lips.
9:14. Give me constancy in my mind, that I may despise him: and
fortitude that I may overthrow him.
9:15. For this will be a glorious monument for thy name, when he
shall fall by the hand of a woman.
9:16. For thy power, O Lord, is not in a multitude, nor is thy pleasure
in the strength of horses, nor from the beginning have the proud been
acceptable to thee: but the prayer of the humble and the meek hath
always pleased thee.

 9:17. O God of the heavens, creator of the waters, and Lord of the
whole creation, hear me a poor wretch, making supplication to thee,
and presuming of thy mercy.
9:18. Remember, O Lord, thy covenant, and put thou words in my
mouth, and strengthen the resolution in my heart, that thy house may
continue in thy holiness:
9:19. And all nations may acknowledge that thou art God, and there
is no other besides thee.
Judith Chapter 10

Judith goeth out towards the camp, and is taken, and brought to
Holofernes.
10:1. And it came to pass, when she had ceased to cry to the Lord,
that she rose from the place wherein she lay prostrate before the Lord.
10:2. And she called her maid, and going down into her house she
took off her haircloth, and put away the garments of her widowhood,
10:3. And she washed her body, and anointed herself with the best
ointment, and plaited the hair of her head, and put a bonnet upon her
head, and clothed herself with the garments of her gladness, and put
sandals on her feet, and took her bracelets, and lilies, and earlets, and
rings, and adorned herself with all her ornaments.
10:4. And the Lord also gave her more beauty: because all this
dressing up did not proceed from sensuality, but from virtue: and
therefore the Lord increased this her beauty, so that she appeared to
all men’s eyes incomparably lovely.
10:5. And she gave to her maid a bottle of wine to carry, and a vessel
of oil, and parched corn, and dry igs, and bread and cheese, and went
out.
10:6. And when they came to the gate of the city, they found Ozias,
and the ancients of the city waiting.
10:7. And when they saw her they were astonished, and admired her
beauty exceedingly.

 10:8. But they asked her no question, only they let her pass, saying:
The God of our fathers give thee grace, and may he strengthen all the
counsel of thy heart with his power, that Jerusalem may glory in thee,
and thy name may be in the number of the holy and just.
10:9. And they that were there said, all with one voice: So be it, so be
it.
10:10. But Judith praying to the Lord, passed through the gates, she
and her maid.
10:11. And it came to pass, when she went down the hill, about
break of day, that the watchmen of the Assyrians met her, and stopped
her, saying: Whence comest thou or whither goest thou?
10:12. And she answered: I am a daughter of the Hebrews, and I am
led from them, because I knew they would be made a prey to you,
because they despised you, and would not of their own accord yield
themselves, that they might ind mercy in your sight.
Because I knew, etc.... In this and the following Chapter, some things are related
to have been said by Judith, which seem hard to reconcile with truth. But all that
is related in scripture of the servants of God is not approved by the scripture; and
even the saints in their good enterprises may sometimes slip into venial sins.
10:13. For this reason I thought with myself, saying: I will go to the
presence of the prince Holofernes, that I may tell him their secrets, and
shew him by what way he may take them, without the loss of one man
of his army.
10:14. And when the men had heard her words, they beheld her face,
and their eyes were amazed, for they wondered exceedingly at her
beauty.
10:15. And they said to her: Thou hast saved thy life by taking this
resolution, to come down to our lord.
10:16. And be assured of this, that when thou shalt stand before
him, he will treat thee well, and thou wilt be most acceptable to his
heart. And they brought her to the tent of Holofernes, telling him of
her.
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 10:17. And when she was come into his presence, forthwith
Holofernes was caught by his eyes.
10:18. And his of icers said to him: Who can despise the people of
the Hebrews, who have such beautiful women, that we should not
think it worth our while for their sakes to ight against them?
10:19. And Judith seeing Holofernes sitting under a canopy, which
was woven of purple and gold, with emeralds and precious stones:
10:20. After she had looked on his face, bowed down to him,
prostrating herself to the ground. And the servants of Holofernes lifted
her up, by the command of their master.
Judith Chapter 11

Judith’s speech to Holofernes.

11:1. Then Holofernes said to her: Be of good comfort, and fear not
in thy heart: for I have never hurt a man that was willing to serve
Nabuchodonosor the king.
11:2. And if thy people had not despised me, I would never have
lifted up my spear against them.
11:3. But now tell me, for what cause hast thou left them, and why it
hath pleased thee to come to us?
11:4. And Judith said to him: Receive the words of thy handmaid, for
if thou wilt follow the words of thy handmaid, the Lord will do with
thee a perfect thing.
11:5. For as Nabuchodonosor the king of the earth liveth, and his
power liveth which is in thee for chastising of all straying souls: not
only men serve him through thee, but also the beasts of the ield obey
him.
11:6. For the industry of thy mind is spoken of among all nations,
and it is told through the whole world, that thou only art excellent,
and mighty in all his kingdom, and thy discipline is cried up in all
provinces.

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 11:7. It is known also what Achior said, nor are we ignorant of what
thou hast commanded to be done to him.
11:8. For it is certain that our God is so offended with sins, that he
hath sent word by his prophets to the people, that he will deliver them
up for their sins.
11:9. And because the children of Israel know they have offended
their God, thy dread is upon them.
11:10. Moreover also a famine hath come upon them, and for
drought of water they are already to be counted among the dead.
11:11. And they have a design even to kill their cattle, and to drink
the blood of them.
11:12. And the consecrated things of the Lord their God which God
forbade them to touch, in corn, wine, and oil, these have they purposed
to make use of, and they design to consume the things which they
ought not to touch with their hands: therefore because they do these
things, it is certain they will be given up to destruction.
11:13. And I thy handmaid knowing this, am led from them, and the
Lord hath sent me to tell thee these very things.
11:14. For I thy handmaid worship God even now that I am with
thee, and thy handmaid will go out, and I will pray to God,
11:15. And he will tell me when he will repay them for their sins, and
I will come and tell thee, so that I may bring thee through the midst of
Jerusalem, and thou shalt have all the people of Israel, as sheep that
have no shepherd, and there shall not so much as one dog bark against
thee:
11:16. Because these things are told me by the providence of God.
11:17. And because God is angry with them, I am sent to tell these
very things to thee.
11:18. And all these words pleased Holofernes, and his servants, and
they admired her wisdom, and they said one to another:

 11:19. There is not such another woman upon earth in look, in

beauty, and in sense of words.
11:20. And Holofernes said to her: God hath done well who sent thee
before the people, that thou mightest give them into our hands:
11:21. And because thy promise is good, if thy God shall do this for
me, he shall also be my God, and thou shalt be great in the house of
Nabuchodonosor, and thy name shall be renowned through all the
earth.
Judith Chapter 12

Judith goeth out in the night to pray: she is invited to a banquet with
Holofernes.
12:1. Then he ordered that she should go in where his treasures
were laid up, and bade her tarry there, and he appointed what should
be given her from his own table.
12:2. And Judith answered him and said: Now I cannot eat of these
things which thou commandest to be given me, lest sin come upon me:
but I will eat of the things which I have brought.
12:3. And Holofernes said to her: If these things which thou hast
brought with thee fail thee, what shall we do for thee?
12:4. And Judith said: As thy soul liveth, my lord, thy handmaid shall
not spend all these things till God do by my hand that which I have
purposed. And his servants brought her into the tent which he had
commanded.
12:5. And when she was going in, she desired that she might have
liberty to go out at night and before day to prayer, and to beseech the
Lord.
12:6. And he commanded his chamberlains, that she might go out
and in, to adore her God as she pleased, for three days.
12:7. And she went out in the nights into the valley of Bethulia, and
washed herself in a fountain of water.

 12:8. And as she came up, she prayed to the Lord the God of Israel,
that he would direct her way to the deliverance of his people.
12:9. And going in, she remained pure in the tent, until she took her
own meat in the evening.
12:10. And it came to pass on the fourth day, that Holofernes made
a supper for his servants, and said to Vagao his eunuch: Go, and
persuade that Hebrew woman, to consent of her own accord to dwell
with me.
12:11. For it is looked upon as shameful among the Assyrians, if a
woman mock a man, by doing so as to pass free from him.
12:12. Then Vagao went in to Judith, and said: Let not my good maid
be afraid to go in to my lord, that she may be honoured before his face,
that she may eat with him and drink wine and be merry.
12:13. And Judith answered him: Who am I, that I should gainsay
my lord?
12:14. All that shall be good and best before his eyes, I will do. And
whatsoever shall please him, that shall be best to me all the days of my
life.
12:15. And she arose and dressed herself out with her garments, and
going in she stood before his face.
12:16. And the heart of Holofernes was smitten, for he was burning
with the desire of her.
12:17. And Holofernes said to her: Drink now, and sit down and be
merry; for thou hast found favour before me.
12:18. And Judith said: I will drink my lord, because my life is
magni ied this day above all my days.
12:19. And she took and ate and drank before him what her maid
had prepared for her.
12:20. And Holofernes was made merry on her occasion, and drank
exceeding much wine, so much as he had never drunk in his life.

 Judith Chapter 13

Judith cutteth off the head of Holofernes, and returneth to Bethulia.

13:1. And when it was grown late, his servants made haste to their
lodgings, and Vagao shut the chamber doors, and went his way.
13:2. And they were all overcharged with wine.
13:3. And Judith was alone in the chamber.
13:4. But Holofernes lay on his bed, fast asleep, being exceedingly
drunk.
13:5. And Judith spoke to her maid to stand without before the
chamber, and to watch:
13:6. And Judith stood before the bed praying with tears, and the
motion of her lips in silence,
13:7. Saying: Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, and in this hour
look on the works of my hands, that as thou hast promised, thou mayst
raise up Jerusalem thy city: and that I may bring to pass that which I
have purposed, having a belief that it might be done by thee.
13:8. And when she had said this, she went to the pillar that was at
his bed’s head, and loosed his sword that hung tied upon it.
13:9. And when she had drawn it out, she took him by the hair of his
head, and said: Strengthen me, O Lord God, at this hour.
13:10. And she struck twice upon his neck, and cut off his head, and
took off his canopy from the pillars, and rolled away his headless body.
13:11. And after a while she went out, and delivered the head of
Holofernes to her maid, and bade her put it into her wallet.
13:12. And they two went out according to their custom, as it were
to prayer, and they passed the camp, and having compassed the valley,
they came to the gate of the city.
13:13. And Judith from afar off cried to the watchmen upon the
walls: Open the gates for God is with us, who hath shewn his power in
Israel.

 13:14. And it came to pass, when the men had heard her voice, that
they called the ancients of the city.
13:15. And all ran to meet her from the least to the greatest: for
they now had no hopes that she would come.
13:16. And lighting up lights they all gathered round about her: and
she went up to a higher place, and commanded silence to be made.
And when all had held their peace,
13:17. Judith said: Praise ye the Lord our God, who hath not
forsaken them that hope in him.
13:18. And by me his handmaid he hath ful illed his mercy, which he
promised to the house of Israel: and he hath killed the enemy of his
people by my hand this night.
13:19. Then she brought forth the head of Holofernes out of the
wallet, and shewed it them, saying: Behold the head of Holofernes the
general of the army of the Assyrians, and behold his canopy, wherein
he lay in his drunkenness, where the Lord our God slew him by the
hand of a woman.
13:20. But as the same Lord liveth, his angel hath been my keeper
both going hence, and abiding there, and returning from thence
hither: and the Lord hath not suffered me his handmaid to be de iled,
but hath brought me back to you without pollution of sin, rejoicing for
his victory, for my escape, and for your deliverance.
13:21. Give all of you glory to him, because he is good, because his
mercy endureth for ever.
13:22. And they all adored the Lord, and said to her: The Lord hath
blessed thee by his power, because by thee he hath brought our
enemies to nought.
13:23. And Ozias the prince of the people of Israel, said to her:
Blessed art thou, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above all
women upon the earth.
13:24. Blessed be the Lord who made heaven and earth, who hath
directed thee to the cutting off the head of the prince of our enemies.

 13:25. Because he hath so magni ied thy name this day, that thy
praise shall not depart out of the mouth of men who shall be mindful
of the power of the Lord for ever, for that thou hast not spared thy life,
by reason of the distress and tribulation of thy people, but hast
prevented our ruin in the presence of our God.
13:26. And all the people said: So be it, so be it.
13:27. And Achior being called for came, and Judith said to him: The
God of Israel, to whom thou gavest testimony, that he revengeth
himself of his enemies, he hath cut off the head of all the unbelievers
this night by my hand.
13:28. And that thou mayst ind that it is so, behold the head of
Holofernes, who in the contempt of his pride despised the God of Israel:
and threatened them with death, saying: When the people of Israel
shall be taken, I will command thy sides to be pierced with a sword.
13:29. Then Achior seeing the head of Holofernes, being seized with
a great fear he fell on his face upon the earth, and his soul swooned
away.
13:30. But after he had recovered his spirits he fell down at her feet,
and reverenced her, and said:
13:31. Blessed art thou by thy God in every tabernacle of Jacob, for
in every nation which shall hear thy name, the God of Israel shall be
magni ied on occasion of thee.
Judith Chapter 14

The Israelites assault the Assyrians, who inding their general slain,
are seized with a panic fear.
14:1. And Judith said to all the people: Hear me, my brethren, hang
ye up this head upon our walls.
14:2. And as soon as the sun shall rise, let every man take his arms,
and rush ye out, not as going down beneath, but as making an assault.
14:3. Then the watchmen must needs run to awake their prince for
the battle.

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 14:4. And when the captains of them shall run to the tent of
Holofernes, and shall ind him without his head wallowing in his blood,
fear shall fall upon them.
14:5. And when you shall know that they are leeing, go after them
securely, for the Lord will destroy them under your feet.
14:6. Then Achior seeing the power that the God of Israel had
wrought, leaving the religion of the Gentiles, he believed God, and
circumcised the lesh of his foreskin, and was joined to the people of
Israel, with all the succession of his kindred until this present day.
14:7. And immediately at break of day, they hung up the head of
Holofernes upon the walls, and every man took his arms, and they
went out with a great noise and shouting.
14:8. And the watchmen seeing this, ran to the tent of Holofernes.
14:9. And they that were in the tent came, and made a noise, before
the door of the chamber to awake him, endeavouring by art to break
his rest, that Holofernes might awake, not by their calling him, but by
their noise.
14:10. For no man durst knock, or open and go into the chamber of
the general of the Assyrians.
14:11. But when his captains and tribunes were come, and all the
chiefs of the army of the king of the Assyrians, they said to the
chamberlains:
14:12. Go in, and awake him, for the mice, coming out of their holes,
have presumed to challenge us to ight.
14:13. Then Vagao going into his chamber, stood before the curtain,
and made a clapping with his hands: for he thought that he was
sleeping with Judith.
14:14. But when with hearkening, he perceived no motion of one
lying, he came near to the curtain, and lifting it up, and seeing the
body of Holofernes, lying upon the ground, without the head, weltering
in his blood, he cried out with a loud voice, with weeping, and rent his
garments.

 14:15. And he went into the tent of Judith, and not inding her, he
ran out to the people,
14:16. And said: One Hebrew woman hath made confusion in the
house of king Nabuchodonosor: for behold Holofernes lieth upon the
ground, and his head is not upon him.
14:17. Now when the chiefs of the army of the Assyrians had heard
this, they all rent their garments, and an intolerable fear and dread
fell upon them, and their minds were troubled exceedingly.
14:18. And there was a very great cry in the midst of their camp.
Judith Chapter 15

The Assyrians lee: the Hebrews pursue after them, and are enriched
by their spoils.
15:1. And when all the army heard that Holofernes was beheaded,
courage and counsel led from them, and being seized with trembling
and fear they thought only to save themselves by light.
15:2. So that no one spoke to his neighbour, but hanging down the
head, leaving all things behind, they made haste to escape from the
Hebrews, who, as they heard, were coming armed upon them, and led
by the ways of the ields, and the paths of the hills.
15:3. So the children of Israel seeing them leeing, followed after
them. And they went down sounding with trumpets and shouting after
them.
15:4. And because the Assyrians were not united together, they went
without order in their light; but the children of Israel pursuing in one
body, defeated all that they could ind.
15:5. And Ozias sent messengers through all the cities and countries
of Israel.
15:6. And every country, and every city, sent their chosen young men
armed after them, and they pursued them with the edge of the sword
until they came to the extremities of their con ines.

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 15:7. And the rest that were in Bethulia went into the camp of the
Assyrians, and took away the spoils which the Assyrians in their light
had left behind them, and they were laden exceedingly,
15:8. But they that returned conquerors to Bethulia, brought with
them all things that were theirs, so that there was no numbering of
their cattle, and beasts, and all their moveables, insomuch that from
the least to the greatest all were made rich by their spoils.
15:9. And Joachim the high priest came from Jerusalem to Bethulia
with all his ancients to see Judith.
15:10. And when she was come out to him, they all blessed her with
one voice, saying: Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of
Israel, thou art the honour of our people:
15:11. For thou hast done manfully, and thy heart has been
strengthened, because thou hast loved chastity, and after thy husband
hast not known any other: therefore also the hand of the Lord hath
strengthened thee, and therefore thou shalt be blessed for ever.
15:12. And all the people said: So be it, so be it.
15:13. And thirty days were scarce suf icient for the people of Israel
to gather up the spoils of the Assyrians.
15:14. But all those things that were proved to be the peculiar goods
of Holofernes, they gave to Judith in gold, and silver, and garments and
precious stones, and all household stuff, and they all were delivered to
her by the people.
15:15. And all the people rejoiced, with the women, and virgins, and
young men, playing on instruments and harps.
Judith Chapter 16

The canticle of Judith: her virtuous life and death.

16:1. Then Judith sung this canticle to the Lord, saying:
16:2. Begin ye to the Lord with timbrels, sing ye to the Lord with
cymbals, tune unto him a new psalm, extol and call upon his name.

 16:3. The Lord putteth an end to wars, the Lord is his name.
16:4. He hath set his camp in the midst of his people, to deliver us
from the hand of all our enemies.
16:5. The Assyrian came out of the mountains from the north in the
multitude of his strength: his multitude stopped up the torrents, and
their horses covered the valleys.
16:6. He bragged that he would set my borders on ire, and kill my
young men with the sword, to make my infants a prey, and my virgins
captives.
16:7. But the almighty Lord hath struck him, and hath delivered him
into the hands of a woman, and hath slain him.
16:8. For their mighty one did not fall by young men, neither did the
sons of Titan strike him, nor tall giants oppose themselves to him, but
Judith the daughter of Merari weakened him with the beauty of her
face.
16:9. For she put off her the garments of widowhood, and put on her
the garments of joy, to give joy to the children of Israel.
16:10. She anointed her face with ointment, and bound up her locks
with a crown, she took a new robe to deceive him.
16:11. Her sandals ravished his eyes, her beauty made his soul her
captive, with a sword she cut off his head.
16:12. The Persians quaked at her constancy, and the Medes at her
boldness.
16:13. Then the camp of the Assyrians howled, when my lowly ones
appeared, parched with thirst.
16:14. The sons of the damsels have pierced them through, and they
have killed them like children leeing away: they perished in battle
before the face of the Lord my God.
16:15. Let us sing a hymn to the Lord, let us sing a new hymn to our
God.

 16:16. O Adonai, Lord, great art thou, and glorious in thy power, and
no one can overcome thee.
16:17. Let all thy creatures serve thee: because thou hast spoken,
and they were made: thou didst send forth thy spirit, and they were
created, and there is no one that can resist thy voice.
16:18. The mountains shall be moved from the foundations with the
waters: the rocks shall melt as wax before thy face.
16:19. But they that fear thee, shall be great with thee in all things.
16:20. Woe be to the nation that riseth up against my people: for the
Lord almighty will take revenge on them, in the day of judgment he
will visit them.
16:21. For he will give ire, and worms into their lesh, that they may
burn, and may feel for ever.
16:22. And it came to pass after these things, that all the people,
after the victory, came to Jerusalem to adore the Lord: and as soon as
they were puri ied, they all offered holocausts, and vows, and their
promises.
16:23. And Judith offered for an anathema of oblivion all the arms of
Holofernes, which the people gave her, and the canopy that she had
taken away out of his chamber.
An anathema of oblivion.... That is, a gift or offering made to God, by way of an
everlasting monument, to prevent the oblivion or forgetting so great a bene it.
16:24. And the people were joyful in the sight of the sanctuary, and
for three months the joy of this victory was celebrated with Judith.
16:25. And after those days every man returned to his house, and
Judith was made great in Bethulia, and she was most renowned in all
the land of Israel.
16:26. And chastity was joined to her virtue, so that she knew no
man all the days of her life, after the death of Manasses her husband.
16:27. And on festival days she came forth with great glory.

 16:28. And she abode in her husband’s house a hundred and ive
years, and made her handmaid free, and she died, and was buried with
her husband in Bethulia.
16:29. And all the people mourned for seven days.
16:30. And all the time of her life there was none that troubled
Israel, nor many years after her death.
16:31. But the day of the festivity of this victory is received by the
Hebrews in the number of holy days, and is religiously observed by the
Jews from that time until this day.

THE BOOK OF ESTHER

This Book takes its name from queen Esther, whose history is here
recorded. The general opinion of almost all commentators on the Holy
Scriptures makes Mardochai the writer of it: which also may be
collected below from chap. 9 ver. 20.
Esther Chapter 1

King Assuerus maketh a great feast. Queen Vasthi being sent for
refuseth to come: for which disobedience she is deposed.
1:1. In the days of Assuerus, who reigned from India to Ethiopia over
a hundred and twenty seven provinces:
1:2. When he sat on the throne of his kingdom, the city Susan was
the capital of his kingdom.
1:3. Now in the third year of his reign he made a great feast for all
the princes, and for his servants, for the most mighty of the Persians,
and the nobles of the Medes, and the governors of the provinces in his
sight,

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 1:4. That he might shew the riches of the glory of his kingdom, and
the greatness, and boasting of his power, for a long time, to wit, for a
hundred and fourscore days.
1:5. And when the days of the feast were expired, he invited all the
people that were found in Susan, from the greatest to the least: and
commanded a feast to be made seven days in the court of the garden,
and of the wood, which was planted by the care and the hand of the
king.
1:6. And there were hung up on every side sky coloured, and green,
and violet hangings, fastened with cords of silk, and of purple, which
were put into rings of ivory, and were held up with marble pillars. The
beds also were of gold and silver, placed in order upon a loor paved
with porphyry and white marble: which was embellished with
painting of wonderful variety.
1:7. And they that were invited, drank in golden cups, and the meats
were brought in divers vessels one after another. Wine also in
abundance and of the best was presented, as was worthy of a king’s
magni icence.
1:8. Neither was there any one to compel them to drink that were
not willing, but as the king had appointed, who set over every table
one of his nobles, that every man might take what he would.
1:9. Also Vasthi the queen made a feast for the women in the palace,
where king Assuerus was used to dwell.
1:10. Now on the seventh day, when the king was merry, and after
very much drinking was well warmed with wine, he commanded
Mauman, and Bazatha, and Harbona, and Bagatha, and Abgatha, and
Zethar, and Charcas, the seven eunuchs that served in his presence,
1:11. To bring in queen Vasthi before the king, with the crown set
upon her head, to shew her beauty to all the people and the princes:
for she was exceeding beautiful.

 1:12. But she refused, and would not come at the king’s
commandment, which he had signi ied to her by the eunuchs.
Whereupon the king, being angry, and in lamed with a very great fury,
1:13. Asked the wise men, who according to the custom of the kings,
were always near his person, and all he did was by their counsel, who
knew the laws, and judgments of their forefathers:
1:14. (Now the chief and nearest him were, Charsena, and Sethar,
and Admatha, and Tharsis, and Mares, and Marsana, and Mamuchan,
seven princes of the Persians and of the Medes, who saw the face of the
king, and were used to sit irst after him:)
1:15. What sentence ought to pass upon Vasthi the queen, who had
refused to obey the commandment of king Assuerus, which he had sent
to her by the eunuchs?
1:16. And Mamuchan answered, in the hearing of the king and the
princes: Queen Vasthi hath not only injured the king, but also all the
people and princes that are in all the provinces of king Assuerus.
1:17. For this deed of the queen will go abroad to all women, so that
they will despise their husbands, and will say: King Assuerus
commanded that queen Vasthi should come in to him, and she would
not.
1:18. And by this example all the wives of the princes of the Persians
and the Medes will slight the commandments of their husbands:
wherefore the king’s indignation is just.
1:19. If it please thee, let an edict go out from thy presence, and let it
be written according to the law of the Persians and of the Medes,
which must not be altered, that Vasthi come in no more to the king,
but another, that is better than her, be made queen in her place.
1:20. And let this be published through all the provinces of thy
empire, (which is very wide,) and let all wives, as well of the greater as
of the lesser, give honour to their husbands.
1:21. His counsel pleased the king, and the princes: and the king did
according to the counsel of Mamuchan.

 1:22. And he sent letters to all the provinces of his kingdom, as every
nation could hear and read, in divers languages and characters, that
the husbands should be rulers and masters in their houses: and that
this should be published to every people.
Esther Chapter 2

Esther is advanced to be queen. Mardochai detecteth a plot against the

king.
2:1. After this, when the wrath of king Assuerus was appeased, he
remembered Vasthi, and what she had done and what she had
suffered:
2:2. And the king’s servants and his of icers said: Let young women
be sought for the king, virgins and beautiful,
2:3. And let some persons be sent through all the provinces to look
for beautiful maidens and virgins: and let them bring them to the city
of Susan, and put them into the house of the women under the hand of
Egeus the eunuch, who is the overseer and keeper of the king’s women:
and let them receive women’s ornaments, and other things necessary
for their use.
2:4. And whosoever among them all shall please the king’s eyes, let
her be queen instead of Vasthi. The word pleased the king: and he
commanded it should be done as they had suggested.
2:5. There was a man in the city of Susan, a Jew, named Mardochai,
the son of Jair, the son of Semei, the son of Cis, of the race of Jemini,
2:6. Who had been carried away from Jerusalem at the time that
Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon carried away Jechonias king of Juda,
2:7. And he had brought up his brother’s daughter Edissa, who by
another name was called Esther: now she had lost both her parents:
and was exceeding fair and beautiful. And her father and mother
being dead, Mardochai adopted her for his daughter.
2:8. And when the king’s ordinance was noised abroad, and
according to his commandment many beautiful virgins were brought

 to Susan, and were delivered to Egeus the eunuch: Esther also among
the rest of the maidens was delivered to him to be kept in the number
of the women.
2:9. And she pleased him, and found favour in his sight. And he
commanded the eunuch to hasten the women’s ornaments, and to
deliver to her her part, and seven of the most beautiful maidens of the
king’s house, and to adorn and deck out both her and her waiting
maids.
2:10. And she would not tell him her people nor her country. For
Mardochai had charged her to say nothing at all of that:
2:11. And he walked every day before the court of the house, in
which the chosen virgins were kept, having a care for Esther’s welfare,
and desiring to know what would befall her.
2:12. Now when every virgin’s turn came to go in to the king, after
all had been done for setting them off to advantage, it was the twelfth
month: so that for six months they were anointed with oil of myrrh,
and for other six months they used certain perfumes and sweet spices.
2:13. And when they were going in to the king, whatsoever they
asked to adorn themselves they received: and being decked out, as it
pleased them, they passed from the chamber of the women to the
king’s chamber.
2:14. And she that went in at evening, came out in the morning, and
from thence she was conducted to the second house, that was under
the hand of Susagaz the eunuch, who had the charge over the king’s
concubines: neither could she return any more to the king, unless the
king desired it, and had ordered her by name to come.
2:15. And as the time came orderly about, the day was at hand,
when Esther, the daughter of Abihail the brother of Mardochai, whom
he had adopted for his daughter, was to go in to the king. But she
sought not women’s ornaments, but whatsoever Egeus the eunuch the
keeper of the virgins had a mind, he gave her to adorn her. For she was

exceeding fair, and her incredible beauty made her appear agreeable
and amiable in the eyes of all.
2:16. So she was brought to the chamber of king Assuerus the tenth
month, which is called Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
2:17. And the king loved her more than all the women, and she had
favour and kindness before him above all the women, and he set the
royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of Vasthi.
2:18. And he commanded a magni icent feast to be prepared for all
the princes, and for his servants, for the marriage and wedding of
Esther, And he gave rest to all the provinces, and bestowed gifts
according to princely magni icence.
2:19. And when the virgins were sought the second time, and
gathered together, Mardochai stayed at the king’s gate,
2:20. Neither had Esther as yet declared her country and people,
according to his commandment. For whatsoever he commanded,
Esther observed: and she did all things in the same manner as she was
wont at that time when he brought her up a little one.
2:21. At that time, therefore, when Mardochai abode at the king’s
gate, Bagathan and Thares, two of the king’s eunuchs, who were
porters, and presided in the irst entry of the palace, were angry: and
they designed to rise up against the king, and to kill him.
2:22. And Mardochai had notice of it, and immediately he told it to
queen Esther: and she to the king in Mardochai’s name, who had
reported the thing unto her.
2:23. It was inquired into, and found out: and they were both
hanged on a gibbet. And it was put in the histories, and recorded in the
chronicles before the king.
Esther Chapter 3

Aman, advanced by the king, is offended at Mardochai, and therefore

procureth the king’s decree to destroy the whole nation of the Jews.

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 3:1. After these things, king Assuerus advanced Aman, the son of
Amadathi, who was of the race of Agag: and he set his throne above all
the princes that were with him.
3:2. And all the king’s servants, that were at the doors of the palace,
bent their knees, and worshipped Aman: for so the emperor had
commanded them, only Mardochai did not bend his knee, nor worship
him.
3:3. And the king’s servants that were chief at the doors of the
palace, said to him: Why dost thou alone not observe the king’s
commandment?
3:4. And when they were saying this often, and he would not
hearken to them, they told Aman, desirous to know whether he would
continue in his resolution: for he had told them that he was a Jew.
3:5. Now when Aman had heard this, and had proved by experience
that Mardochai did not bend his knee to him, nor worship him, he was
exceeding angry.
3:6. And he counted it nothing to lay his hands upon Mardochai
alone: for he had heard that he was of the nation of the Jews, and he
chose rather to destroy all the nation of the Jews that were in the
kingdom of Assuerus.
3:7. In the irst month (which is called Nisan) in the twelfth year of
the reign of Assuerus, the lot was cast into an urn, which in Hebrew is
called Phur, before Aman, on what day and what month the nation of
the Jews should be destroyed: and there came out the twelfth month,
which is called Adar.
3:8. And Aman said to king Assuerus: There is a people scattered
through all the provinces of thy kingdom, and separated one from
another, that use new laws and ceremonies, and moreover despise the
king’s ordinances: and thou knowest very well that it is not expedient
for thy kingdom that they should grow insolent by impunity.
3:9. If it please thee, decree that they may be destroyed, and I will
pay ten thousand talents to thy treasurers.

 3:10. And the king took the ring that he used, from his own hand,
and gave it to Aman, the son of Amadathi of the race of Agag, the
enemy of the Jews,
3:11. And he said to him: As to the money which thou promisest,
keep it for thyself: and as to the people, do with them as seemeth good
to thee.
3:12. And the king’s scribes were called in the irst month Nisan, on
the thirteenth day of the same month: and they wrote, as Aman had
commanded, to all the king’s lieutenants, and to the judges of the
provinces, and of divers nations, as every nation could read, and hear
according to their different languages, in the name of king Assuerus:
and the letters, sealed with his ring,
3:13. Were sent by the king’s messengers to all provinces, to kill and
destroy all the Jews, both young and old, little children, and women, in
one day, that is, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is called
Adar, and to make a spoil of their goods.
3:14. And the contents of the letters were to this effect, that all
provinces might know and be ready against that day.
3:15. The couriers that were sent made haste to ful il the king’s
commandment. And immediately the edict was hung up in Susan, the
king and Aman feasting together, and all the Jews that were in the city
weeping.
Esther Chapter 4

Mardochai desireth Esther to petition the king for the Jews. They join
in fasting and prayer.
4:1. Now when Mardochai had heard these things, he rent his
garments, and put on sackcloth, strewing ashes on his head and he
cried with a loud voice in the street in the midst of the city, shewing
the anguish of his mind.
4:2. And he came lamenting in this manner even to the gate of the
palace: for no one clothed with sackcloth might enter the king’s court.

 4:3. And in all provinces, towns, and places, to which the king’s cruel
edict was come, there was great mourning among the Jews, with
fasting, wailing, and weeping, many using sackcloth and ashes for
their bed.
4:4. Then Esther’s maids and her eunuchs went in, and told her. And
when she heard it she was in a consternation and she sent a garment,
to clothe him, and to take away the sackcloth: but he would not receive
it.
4:5. And she called for Athach the eunuch, whom the king had
appointed to attend upon her, and she commanded him to go to
Mardochai, and learn of him why he did this.
4:6. And Athach going out went to Mardochai, who was standing in
the street of the city, before the palace gate:
4:7. And Mardochai told him all that had happened, how Aman had
promised to pay money into the king’s treasures, to have the Jews
destroyed.
4:8. He gave him also a copy of the edict which was hanging up in
Susan, that he should shew it to the queen, and admonish her to go in
to the king, and to entreat him for her people.
4:9. And Athach went back and told Esther all that Mardochai had
said.
4:10. She answered him, and bade him say to Mardochai:
4:11. All the king’s servants, and all the provinces that are under his
dominion, know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, cometh into
the king’s inner court, who is not called for, is immediately to be put to
death without any delay: except the king shall hold out the golden
sceptre to him, in token of clemency, that so he may live. How then can
I go in to the king, who for these thirty days now have not been called
unto him?
4:12. And when Mardochai had heard this,

 4:13. He sent word to Esther again, saying: Think not that thou
mayst save thy life only, because thou art in the king’s house, more
than all the Jews:
4:14. For if thou wilt now hold thy peace, the Jews shall be delivered
by some other occasion: and thou, and thy father’s house shall perish.
And who knoweth whether thou art not therefore come to the
kingdom, that thou mightest be ready in such a time as this?
4:15. And again Esther sent to Mardochai in these words:
4:16. Go, and gather together all the Jews whom thou shalt ind in
Susan, and pray ye for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days and
three nights: and I with my handmaids will fast in like manner, and
then I will go in to the king, against the law, not being called, and
expose myself to death and to danger.
4:17. So Mardochai went, and did all that Esther had commanded
him.
Esther Chapter 5

Esther is graciously received: she inviteth the king and Aman to dinner,
Aman prepareth a gibbet for Mardochai.
5:1. And on the third day Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood
in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s hall: now
he sat upon his throne in the hall of the palace, over against the door
of the house.
5:2. And when he saw Esther the queen standing, she pleased his
eyes, and he held out toward her the golden sceptre, which he held in
his hand and she drew near, and kissed the top of his sceptre.
5:3. And the king said to her: What wilt thou, queen Esther? what is
thy request? if thou shouldst even ask one half of the kingdom, it shall
be given to thee.
5:4. But she answered: If it please the king, I beseech thee to come to
me this day, and Aman with thee to the banquet which I have
prepared.

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 5:5. And the king said forthwith: Call ye Aman quickly, that he may
obey Esther’s will. So the king and Aman came to the banquet which
the queen had prepared for them.
5:6. And the king said to her, after he had drunk wine plentifully:
What dost thou desire should be given thee? and for what thing askest
thou? although thou shouldst ask the half of my kingdom, thou shalt
have it.
5:7. And Esther answered: My petition and request is this:
5:8. If I have found favour in the king’s sight, and if it please the king
to give me what I ask, and to ful il my petition: let the king and Aman
come to the banquet which I have prepared them, and to morrow I will
open my mind to the king.
5:9. So Aman went out that day joyful and merry. And when he saw
Mardochai sitting before the gate of the palace, and that he not only
did not rise up to honour him, but did not so much as move from the
place where he sat, he was exceedingly angry:
5:10. But dissembling his anger, and returning into his house, he
called together to him his friends, and Zares his wife:
5:11. And he declared to them the greatness of his riches, and the
multitude of his children, and with how great glory the king had
advanced him above all his princes and servants.
5:12. And after this he said: Queen Esther also hath invited no other
to the banquet with the king, but me: and with her I am also to dine to
morrow with the king:
5:13. And whereas I have all these things, I think I have nothing, so
long as I see Mardochai the Jew sitting before the king’s gate.
5:14. Then Zares his wife, and the rest of his friends answered him:
Order a great beam to be prepared, ifty cubits high, and in the
morning speak to the king, that Mardochai may be hanged upon it,
and so thou shalt go full of joy with the king to the banquet. The
counsel pleased him, and he commanded a high gibbet to be prepared.

 Esther Chapter 6

The king hearing of the good service done him by Mardochai,

commandeth Aman to honour him next to the king, which he
performeth.
6:1. That night the king passed without sleep, and he commanded
the histories and chronicles of former times to be brought him. And
when they were reading them before him,
6:2. They came to that place where it was written, how Mardochai
had discovered the treason of Bagathan and Thares the eunuchs, who
sought to kill king Assuerus.
6:3. And when the king heard this, he said: What honour and reward
hath Mardochai received for this idelity? His servants and ministers
said to him: He hath received no reward at all.
No reward at all.... He received some presents from the king, chap. 12.5; but these
were so inconsiderable in the opinion of the courtiers, that they esteemed them
as nothing at all.
6:4. And the king said immediately: Who is in the court? for Aman
was coming in to the inner court of the king’s house, to speak to the
king, that he might order Mardochai to be hanged upon the gibbet,
which was prepared for him.
6:5. The servants answered: Aman standeth in the court, and the
king said: Let him come in.
6:6. And when he was come in, he said to him: What ought to be
done to the man whom the king is desirous to honour? But Aman
thinking in his heart, and supposing that the king would honour no
other but himself,
6:7. Answered: The man whom the king desireth to honour,
6:8. Ought to be clothed with the king’s apparel, and to be set upon
the horse that the king rideth upon, and to have the royal crown upon
his head,

 6:9. And let the irst of the king’s princes and nobles hold his horse,
and going through the street of the city, proclaim before him and say:
Thus shall he be honoured, whom the king hath a mind to honour.
6:10. And the king said to him: Make haste and take the robe and
the horse, and do as thou hast spoken to Mardochai the Jew, who
sitteth before the gates of the palace. Beware thou pass over any of
those things which thou hast spoken.
6:11. So Aman took the robe and the horse, and arraying Mardochai
in the street of the city, and setting him on the horse, went before him,
and proclaimed: This honour is he worthy of, whom the king hath a
mind to honour.
6:12. But Mardochai returned to the palace gate: and Aman made
haste to go to his house, mourning and having his head covered:
6:13. And he told Zares his wife, and his friends, all that had befallen
him. And the wise men whom he had in counsel, and his wife answered
him: If Mardochai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast
begun to fall, thou canst not resist him, but thou shalt fall in his sight.
6:14. As they were yet speaking, the king’s eunuchs came, and
compelled him to go quickly to the banquet which the queen had
prepared.
Esther Chapter 7

Esther’s petition for herself and her people: Aman is hanged upon the
gibbet he had prepared for Mardochai.
7:1. So the king and Aman went in, to drink with the queen.
7:2. And the king said to her again the second day, after he was
warm with wine: What is thy petition, Esther, that it may be granted
thee? and what wilt thou have done: although thou ask the half of my
kingdom, thou shalt have it.
7:3. Then she answered: If I have found favour in thy sight, O king,
and if it please thee, give me my life for which I ask, and my people for
which I request.

 7:4. For we are given up, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be

slain, and to perish. And would God we were sold for bondmen and
bondwomen: the evil might be borne with, and I would have mourned
in silence: but now we have an enemy, whose cruelty redoundeth upon
the king.
7:5. And king Assuerus answered and said: Who is this, and of what
power, that he should do these things?
7:6. And Esther said: It is this Aman that is our adversary and most
wicked enemy. Aman hearing this was forthwith astonished, not being
able to bear the countenance of the king and of the queen.
7:7. But the king being angry rose up, and went from the place of
the banquet into the garden set with trees. Aman also rose up to
entreat Esther the queen for his life, for he understood that evil was
prepared for him by the king.
7:8. And when the king came back out of the garden set with trees,
and entered into the place of the banquet, he found Aman was fallen
upon the bed on which Esther lay, and he said: He will force the queen
also in my presence, in my own house. The word was not yet gone out
of the king’s mouth, and immediately they covered his face.
7:9. And Harbona, one of the eunuchs that stood waiting on the
king, said: Behold the gibbet which he hath prepared for Mardochai,
who spoke for the king, standeth in Aman’s house, being ifty cubits
high. And the king said to him: Hang him upon it.
7:10. So Aman was hanged on the gibbet, which he had prepared for
Mardochai: and the king’s wrath ceased.
Esther Chapter 8

Mardochai is advanced: Aman’s letters are reversed.

8:1. On that day king Assuerus gave the house of Aman, the Jews’
enemy, to queen Esther, and Mardochai came in before the king. For
Esther had confessed to him that he was her uncle.

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 8:2. And the king took the ring which he had commanded to be
taken again from Aman, and gave it to Mardochai. And Esther set
Mardochai over her house.
8:3. And not content with these things, she fell down at the king’s
feet and wept, and speaking to him besought him, that he would give
orders that the malice of Aman the Agagite, and his most wicked
devices which he had invented against the Jews, should be of no effect.
8:4. But he, as the manner was, held out the golden sceptre with his
hand, which was the sign of clemency: and she arose up and stood
before him,
8:5. And said: If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his
sight, and my request be not disagreeable to him, I beseech thee, that
the former letters of Aman the traitor and enemy of the Jews, by which
he commanded that they should be destroyed in all the king’s
provinces, may be reversed by new letters.
8:6. For how can I endure the murdering and slaughter of my
people?
8:7. And king Assuerus answered Esther the queen, and Mardochai
the Jew: I have given Aman’s house to Esther, and I have commanded
him to be hanged on a gibbet, because he durst lay hands on the Jews.
8:8. Write ye therefore to the Jews, as it pleaseth you in the king’s
name, and seal the letters with my ring. For this was the custom, that
no man durst gainsay the letters which were sent in the king’s name,
and were sealed with his ring.
8:9. Then the king’s scribes and secretaries were called for (now it
was the time of the third month which is called Siban) the three and
twentieth day of the month, and letters were written, as Mardochai
had a mind, to the Jews, and to the governors, and to the deputies, and
to the judges, who were rulers over the hundred and twenty-seven
provinces, from India even to Ethiopia: to province and province, to
people and people, according to their languages and characters, and
to the Jews, according as they could read and hear.

 8:10. And these letters which were sent in the king’s name, were
sealed with his ring, and sent by posts: who were to run through all the
provinces, to prevent the former letters with new messages.
8:11. And the king gave orders to them, to speak to the Jews in every
city, and to command them to gather themselves together, and to
stand for their lives, and to kill and destroy all their enemies with their
wives and children and all their houses, and to take their spoil.
8:12. And one day of revenge was appointed through all the
provinces, to wit, the thirteenth of the twelfth month Adar.
8:13. And this was the content of the letter, that it should be noti ied
in all lands and peoples that were subject to the empire of king
Assuerus, that the Jews were ready to be revenged of their enemies.
8:14. So the swift posts went out carrying the messages, and the
king’s edict was hung up in Susan.
8:15. And Mardochai going forth out of the palace, and from the
king’s presence, shone in royal apparel, to wit, of violet and sky colour,
wearing a golden crown on his head, and clothed with a cloak of silk
and purple. And all the city rejoiced, and was glad.
8:16. But to the Jews, a new light seemed to rise, joy, honour, and
dancing.
8:17. And in all peoples, cities, and provinces, whithersoever the
king’s commandments came, there was wonderful rejoicing, feasts and
banquets, and keeping holy day: Insomuch that many of other nations
and religion, joined themselves to their worship and ceremonies. For a
great dread of the name of the Jews had fallen upon all.
Esther Chapter 9

The Jews kill their enemies that would have killed them. The days of
Phurim are appointed to be kept holy.
9:1. So on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which as we have
said above is called Adar, when all the Jews were designed to be
massacred, and their enemies were greedy after their blood, the case

being altered, the Jews began to have the upper hand, and to revenge
themselves of their adversaries.
To revenge, etc.... The Jews on this occasion, by authority from the king, were
made executioners of the public justice, for punishing by death a crime worthy of
death, viz., a malicious conspiracy for extirpating their whole nation.
9:2. And they gathered themselves together in every city, and town,
and place, to lay their hands on their enemies, and their persecutors.
And no one durst withstand them, for the fear of their power had gone
through every people.
9:3. And the judges of the provinces, and the governors, and
lieutenants, and every one in dignity, that presided over every place
and work, extolled the Jews for fear of Mardochai:
9:4. For they knew him to be prince of the palace, and to have great
power: and the fame of his name increased daily, and was spread
abroad through all men’s mouths.
9:5. So the Jews made a great slaughter of their enemies, and killed
them, repaying according to what they had prepared to do to them:
9:6. Insomuch that even in Susan they killed ive hundred men,
besides the ten sons of Aman the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews: whose
names are these:
9:7. Pharsandatha, and Delphon, and Esphatha
9:8. And Phoratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,
9:9. And Phermesta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Jezatha.
9:10. And when they had slain them, they would not touch the spoils
of their goods.
9:11. And presently the number of them that were killed in Susan
was brought to the king.
9:12. And he said to the queen: The Jews have killed ive hundred
men in the city of Susan, besides the ten sons of Aman: how many dost
thou think they have slain in all the provinces? What askest thou more,
and what wilt thou have me to command to be done?

 9:13. And she answered: If it please the king, let it be granted to the
Jews, to do to morrow in Susan as they have done to day, and that the
ten sons of Aman may be hanged upon gibbets.
9:14. And the king commanded that it should be so done. And
forthwith the edict was hung up in Susan, and the ten sons of Aman
were hanged.
9:15. And on the fourteenth day of the month Adar the Jews
gathered themselves together, and they killed in Susan three hundred
men: but they took not their substance.
9:16. Moreover through all the provinces which were subject to the
king’s dominion the Jews stood for their lives, and slew their enemies
and persecutors: insomuch that the number of them that were killed
amounted to seventy- ive thousand, and no man took any of their
goods.
9:17. Now the thirteenth day of the month Adar was the irst day
with them all of the slaughter, and on the fourteenth day they left off.
Which they ordained to be kept holy day, so that all times hereafter
they should celebrate it with feasting, joy, and banquets.
9:18. But they that were killing in the city of Susan, were employed
in the slaughter on the thirteenth and fourteenth day of the same
month: and on the ifteenth day they rested. And therefore they
appointed that day to be a holy day of feasting and gladness.
9:19. But those Jews that dwelt in towns not walled and in villages,
appointed the fourteenth day of the month Adar for banquets and
gladness, so as to rejoice on that day, and send one another portions of
their banquets and meats.
9:20. And Mardochai wrote all these things, and sent them
comprised in letters to the Jews that abode in all the king’s provinces,
both those that lay near and those afar off,
9:21. That they should receive the fourteenth and ifteenth day of
the month Adar for holy days, and always at the return of the year
should celebrate them with solemn honour:

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 9:22. Because on those days the Jews revenged themselves of their

enemies, and their mourning and sorrow were turned into mirth and
joy, and that these should be days of feasting and gladness, in which
they should send one to another portions of meats, and should give
gifts to the poor.
9:23. And the Jews undertook to observe with solemnity all they had
begun to do at that time, which Mardochai by letters had commanded
to be done.
9:24. For Aman, the son of Amadathi of the race of Agag, the enemy
and adversary of the Jews, had devised evil against them, to kill them
and destroy them; and had cast Phur, that is, the lot.
9:25. And afterwards Esther went in to the king, beseeching him
that his endeavours might be made void by the king’s letters: and the
evil that he had intended against the Jews, might return upon his own
head. And so both he and his sons were hanged upon gibbets.
9:26. And since that time these days are called Phurim, that is, of
lots: because Phur, that is, the lot, was cast into the urn. And all things
that were done, are contained in the volume of this epistle, that is, of
this book:
9:27. And the things that they suffered, and that were afterwards
changed, the Jews took upon themselves and their seed, and upon all
that had a mind to be joined to their religion, so that it should be
lawful for none to pass these days without solemnity: which the
writing testi ieth, and certain times require, as the years continually
succeed one another.
9:28. These are the days which shall never be forgot: and which all
provinces in the whole world shall celebrate throughout all
generations: neither is there any city wherein the days of Phurim, that
is, of lots, must not be observed by the Jews, and by their posterity,
which is bound to these ceremonies.

 9:29. And Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mardochai
the Jew, wrote also a second epistle, that with all diligence this day
should be established a festival for the time to come.
9:30. And they sent to all the Jews that were in the hundred and
twenty-seven provinces of king Assuerus, that they should have peace,
and receive truth,
9:31. And observe the days of lots, and celebrate them with joy in
their proper time: as Mardochai and Esther had appointed, and they
undertook them to be observed by themselves and by their seed, fasts,
and cries, and the days of lots,
9:32. And all things which are contained in the history of this book,
which is called Esther.
Esther Chapter 10

Assuerus’s greatness. Mardochai’s dignity.

10:1. And king Assuerus made all the land, and all the islands of the
sea tributary.
10:2. And his strength and his empire, and the dignity and greatness
wherewith he exalted Mardochai, are written in the books of the
Medes, and of the Persians:
10:3. And how Mardochai of the race of the Jews, was next after king
Assuerus: and great among the Jews, and acceptable to the people of
his brethren, seeking the good of his people, and speaking those things
which were for the welfare of his seed.
10:4. Then Mardochai said: God hath done these things.
Then Mardochai, etc.... Here St. Jerome advertiseth the reader, that what follows
is not in the Hebrew, but is found in the septuagint Greek edition, which the
seventy-two interpreters translated out of the Hebrew, or added by the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
10:5. I remember a dream that I saw, which signi ied these same
things: and nothing thereof hath failed.

A dream.... This dream was prophetical and extraordinary: otherwise the general
rule is not to observe dreams.
10:6. The little fountain which grew into a river, and was turned
into a light, and into the sun, and abounded into many waters, is
Esther, whom the king married, and made queen.
10:7. But the two dragons are I and Aman.
10:8. The nations that were assembled are they that endeavoured to
destroy the name of the Jews.
10:9. And my nation is Israel, who cried to the Lord, and the Lord
saved his people: and he delivered us from all evils, and hath wrought
great signs and wonders among the nations:
10:10. And he commanded that there should be two lots, one of the
people of God, and the other of all the nations.
10:11. And both lots came to the day appointed already from that
time before God to all nations:
10:12. And the Lord remembered his people, and had mercy on his
inheritance.
10:13. And these days shall be observed in the month of Adar on the
fourteenth, and ifteenth day of the same month, with all diligence,
and joy of the people gathered into one assembly, throughout all the
generations hereafter of the people of Israel.
Esther Chapter 11

The dream of Mardochai, which in the ancient Greek and Latin Bibles
was into the beginning of the book, but was detached by St. Jerome,
and put in this place.
11:1. In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra,
Dositheus, who said he was a priest, and of the Levitical race, and
Ptolemy his son brought this epistle of Phurim, which they said
Lysimachus the son of Ptolemy had interpreted in Jerusalem.

 11:2. In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the great, in the
irst day of the month Nisan, Mardochai the son of Jair, the son of
Semei, the son of Cis, of the tribe of Benjamin:
11:3. A Jew who dwelt in the city of Susan, a great man and among
the irst of the king’s court, had a dream.
11:4. Now he was of the number of the captives, whom
Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away from Jerusalem
with Jechonias king of Juda:
11:5. And this was his dream: Behold there were voices, and tumults,
and thunders, and earthquakes, and a disturbance upon the earth.
11:6. And behold two great dragons came forth ready to ight one
against another.
11:7. And at their cry all nations were stirred up to ight against the
nation of the just.
11:8. And that was a day of darkness and danger, of tribulation and
distress, and great fear upon the earth.
11:9. And the nation of the just was troubled fearing their own evils,
and was prepared for death.
11:10. And they cried to God: and as they were crying, a little
fountain grew into a very great river, and abounded into many waters.
11:11. The light and the sun rose up, and the humble were exalted,
and they devoured the glorious.
11:12. And when Mardochai had seen this, and arose out of his bed,
he was thinking what God would do: and he kept it ixed in his mind,
desirous to know what the dream should signify.
Esther Chapter 12

Mardochai detects the conspiracy of the two eunuchs.

12:1. And he abode at that time in the king’s court with Bagatha
and Thara the king’s eunuchs, who were porters of the palace.
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 12:2. And when he understood their designs, and had diligently

searched into their projects, he learned that they went about to lay
violent hands on king Artaxerxes, and he told the king thereof.
12:3. Then the king had them both examined, and after they had
confessed, commanded them to be put to death.
12:4. But the king made a record of what was done: and Mardochai
also committed the memory of the thing to writing.
12:5. And the king commanded him, to abide in the court of the
palace, and gave him presents for the information.
12:6. But Aman the son of Amadathi the Bugite was in great honour
with the king, and sought to hurt Mardochai and his people, because
of the two eunuchs of the king who were put to death.
Esther Chapter 13

A copy of a letter sent by Aman to destroy the Jews. Mardochai’s prayer

for the people.
13:1. And this was the copy of the letter: Artaxerxes the great king
who reigneth from India to Ethiopia, to the princes and governors of
the hundred and twenty-seven provinces, that are subject to his
empire, greeting.
13:2. Whereas I reigned over many nations, and had brought all the
world under my dominion, I was not willing to abuse the greatness of
my power, but to govern my subjects with clemency and that they
might live quietly without any terror, and might enjoy peace, which is
desired by all men,
13:3. But when I asked my counsellors how this might be
accomplished, one that excelled the rest in wisdom and idelity, and
was second after the king, Aman by name,
13:4. Told me that there was a people scattered through the whole
world, which used new laws, and acted against the customs of all
nations, despised the commandments of kings, and violated by their
opposition the concord of all nations.

 13:5. Wherefore having learned this, and seeing one nation in

opposition to all mankind using perverse laws, and going against our
commandments, and disturbing the peace and concord of the
provinces subject to us,
13:6. We have commanded that all whom Aman shall mark out, who
is chief over all the provinces, and second after the king, and whom we
honour as a father, shall be utterly destroyed by their enemies, with
their wives and children, and that none shall have pity on them, on the
fourteenth day of the twelfth month Adar of this present year:
13:7. That these wicked men going down to hell in one day, may
restore to our empire the peace which they had disturbed.
13:8. But Mardochai besought the Lord, remembering all his works,
13:9. And said: O Lord, Lord, almighty king, for all things are in thy
power, and there is none that can resist thy will, if thou determine to
save Israel.
13:10. Thou hast made heaven and earth and all things that are
under the cope of heaven.
13:11. Thou art Lord of all, and there is none that can resist thy
majesty.
13:12. Thou knowest all things, and thou knowest that it was not
out of pride and or any desire of glory, that I refused to worship the
proud Aman,
13:13. (For I would willingly and readily for the salvation of Israel
have kissed even the steps of his feet,)
13:14. But I feared lest I should transfer the honour of my God to a
man, and lest I should adore any one except my God.
13:15. And now, O Lord, O king, O God of Abraham, have mercy on
thy people, because our enemies resolve to destroy us, and extinguish
thy inheritance.
13:16. Despise not thy portion, which thou hast redeemed for thyself
out of Egypt.

 13:17. Hear my supplication, and be merciful to thy lot and

inheritance, and turn our mourning into joy, that we may live and
praise thy name, O Lord, and shut not the mouths of them that sing to
thee.
13:18. And all Israel with like mind and supplication cried to the
Lord, because they saw certain death hanging over their heads.
Esther Chapter 14

The prayer of Esther for herself and her people.

14:1. Queen Esther also, fearing the danger that was at hand, had
recourse to the Lord.
14:2. And when she had laid away her royal apparel, she put on
garments suitable for weeping and mourning: instead of divers
precious ointments, she covered her head with ashes and dung, and
she humbled her body with fasts: and all the places in which before she
was accustomed to rejoice, she illed with her torn hair.
14:3. And she prayed to the Lord the God of Israel, saying: O my
Lord, who alone art our king, help me a desolate woman, and who
have no other helper but thee.
14:4. My danger is in my hands.
14:5. I have heard of my father that thou, O Lord, didst take Israel
from among all nations, and our fathers from all their predecessors, to
possess them as an everlasting inheritance, and thou hast done to
them as thou hast promised.
14:6. We have sinned in thy sight, and therefore thou hast delivered
us into the hands of our enemies:
14:7. For we have worshipped their gods. Thou art just, O Lord.
14:8. And now they are not content to oppress us with most hard
bondage, but attributing the strength of their hands to the power of
their idols.

 14:9. They design to change thy promises, and destroy thy

inheritance, and shut the mouths of them that praise thee, and
extinguish the glory of thy temple and altar,
14:10. That they may open the mouths of Gentiles, and praise the
strength of idols, and magnify for ever a carnal king.
14:11. Give not, O Lord, thy sceptre to them that are not, lest they
laugh at our ruin: but turn their counsel upon themselves, and destroy
him that hath begun to rage against us.
14:12. Remember, O Lord, and shew thyself to us in the time of our
tribulation, and give me boldness, O Lord, king of gods, and of all
power:
14:13. Give me a well ordered speech in my mouth in the presence of
the lion, and turn his heart to the hatred of our enemy, that both he
himself may perish, and the rest that consent to him.
14:14. But deliver us by thy hand, and help me, who have no other
helper, but thee, O Lord, who hast the knowledge of all things.
14:15. And thou knowest that I hate the glory of the wicked, and
abhor the bed of the uncircumcised, and of every stranger.
14:16. Thou knowest my necessity, that I abominate the sign of my
pride and glory, which is upon my head in the days of my public
appearance, and detest it as a menstruous rag, and wear it not in the
days of my silence,
14:17. And that I have not eaten at Aman’s table, nor hath the king’s
banquet pleased me, and that I have not drunk the wine of the drink
offerings:
14:18. And that thy handmaid hath never rejoiced, since I was
brought hither unto this day but in thee, O Lord, the God of Abraham.
14:19. O God, who art mighty above all, hear the voice of them, that
have no other hope, and deliver us from the hand of the wicked, and
deliver me from my fear.

 Esther Chapter 15

Esther comes into the king’s presence: she is terri ied, but God turns his
heart.
15:1. And he commanded her (no doubt but he was Mardochai) to
go to the king, and petition for her people, and for her country.
15:2. Remember, (said he,) the days of thy low estate, how thou wast
brought up by my hand, because Aman the second after the king hath
spoken against us unto death.
15:3. And do thou call upon the Lord, and speak to the king for us,
and deliver us from death.
15:4. And on the third day she laid away the garments she wore, and
put on her glorious apparel.
15:5. And glittering in royal robes, after she had called upon God the
ruler and Saviour of all, she took two maids with her,
15:6. And upon one of them she leaned, as if for delicateness and
overmuch tenderness she were not able to bear up her own body.
15:7. And the other maid followed her lady, bearing up her train
lowing on the ground.
15:8. But she with a rosy colour in her face, and with gracious and
bright eyes hid a mind full of anguish, and exceeding great fear.
15:9. So going in she passed through all doors in order, and stood
before the king, where he sat upon his royal throne, clothed with his
royal robes, and glittering with gold, and precious stones, and he was
terrible to behold.
15:10. And when he had lifted up his countenance, and with burning
eyes had shewn the wrath of his heart, the queen sunk down, and her
colour turned pale, and she rested her weary head upon her
handmaid.
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 15:11. And God changed the king’s spirit into mildness, and all in
haste and in fear he leaped from his throne, and holding her up in his
arms, till she came to herself, caressed her with these words:
15:12. What is the matter, Esther? I am thy brother, fear not.
15:13. Thou shalt not die: for this law is not made for thee, but for
all others.
15:14. Come near then, and touch the sceptre.
15:15. And as she held her peace, he took the golden sceptre, and
laid it upon her neck, and kissed her, and said: Why dost thou not
speak to me?
15:16. She answered: I saw thee, my lord, as an angel of God, and my
heart was troubled for fear of thy majesty.
15:17. For thou, my lord, art very admirable, and thy face is full of
graces.
15:18. And while she was speaking, she fell down again, and was
almost in a swoon.
15:19. But the king was troubled, and all his servants comforted her.
Esther Chapter 16

A copy of the king’s letter in favour of the Jews.

16:1. The great king Artaxerxes, from India to Ethiopia, to the
governors and princes of a hundred and twenty-seven provinces,
which obey our command, sendeth greeting.
From India to Ethiopia.... That is, who reigneth from India to Ethiopia.
16:2. Many have abused unto pride the goodness of princes, and the
honour that hath been bestowed upon them:
16:3. And not only endeavour to oppress the king’s subjects, but not
bearing the glory that is given them, take in hand, to practise also
against them that gave it.

 16:4. Neither are they content not to return thanks for bene its
received, and to violate in themselves the laws of humanity, but they
think they can also escape the justice of God who seeth all things.
16:5. And they break out into so great madness, as to endeavour to
undermine by lies such as observe diligently the of ices committed to
them, and do all things in such manner as to be worthy of all men’s
praise,
16:6. While with crafty fraud they deceive the ears of princes that
are well meaning, and judge of others by their own nature.
16:7. Now this is proved both from ancient histories, and by the
things which are done daily, how the good designs of kings are
depraved by the evil suggestions of certain men.
16:8. Wherefore we must provide for the peace of all provinces.
16:9. Neither must you think, if we command different things, that it
cometh of the levity of our mind, but that we give sentence according
to the quality and necessity of times, as the pro it of the
commonwealth requireth.
16:10. Now that you may more plainly understand what we say,
Aman the son of Amadathi, a Macedonian both in mind and country,
and having nothing of the Persian blood, but with his cruelty staining
our goodness, was received being a stranger by us:
16:11. And found our humanity so great towards him, that he was
called our father, and was worshipped by all as the next man after the
king:
16:12. But he was so far puffed up with arrogancy, as to go about to
deprive us of our kingdom and life.
16:13. For with certain new and unheard of devices he hath sought
the destruction of Mardochai, by whose idelity and good services our
life was saved, and of Esther the partner of our kingdom with all their
nation:

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 16:14. Thinking that after they were slain, he might work treason
against us left alone without friends, and might transfer the kingdom
of the Persians to the Macedonians.
16:15. But we have found that the Jews, who were by that most
wicked man appointed to be slain, are in no fault at all, but
contrariwise, use just laws,
16:16. And are the children of the highest and the greatest, and the
ever living God, by whose bene it the kingdom was given both to our
fathers and to us, and is kept unto this day.
16:17. Wherefore know ye that those letters which he sent in our
name, are void and of no effect.
16:18. For which crime both he himself that devised it, and all his
kindred hang on gibbets, before the gates of this city Susan: not we,
but God repaying him as he deserved.
16:19. But this edict, which we now send, shall be published in all
cities, that the Jews may freely follow their own laws.
16:20. And you shall aid them that they may kill those who had
prepared themselves to kill them, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth
month, which is called Adar.
16:21. For the almighty God hath turned this day of sadness and
mourning into joy to them.
16:22. Wherefore you shall also count this day among other festival
days, and celebrate it with all joy, that it may be known also in times to
come,
16:23. That all they who faithfully obey the Persians, receive a
worthy reward for their idelity: but they that are traitors to their
kingdom, are destroyed for their wickedness.
16:24. And let every province and city, that will not be partaker of
this solemnity, perish by the sword and by ire, and be destroyed in
such manner as to be made unpassable, both to men and beasts, for an
example of contempt, and disobedience.

 THE BOOK OF JOB

This Book takes its name from the holy man of whom it treats: who,
according to the more probable opinion, was of the race of Esau; and
the same as Jobab, king of Edom, mentioned Gen. 36.33. It is uncertain
who was the writer of it. Some attribute it to Job himself; others to
Moses, or some one of the prophets. In the Hebrew it is written in
verse, from the beginning of the third chapter to the forty-second
chapter.
Job Chapter 1

Job’s virtue and riches. Satan by permission from God strippeth him of
all his substance. His patience.
1:1. There was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job, and
that man was simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil.
Hus.... The land of Hus was a part of Edom; as appears from Lam. 4.21.—Ibid.
Simple.... That is, innocent, sincere, and without guile.
1:2. And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
1:3. And his possession was seven thousand sheep, and three
thousand camels, and ive hundred yoke of oxen, and ive hundred she
asses, and a family exceedingly great: and this man was great among
all the people of the east.
1:4. And his sons went, and made a feast by houses, every one in his
day. And sending, they called their three sisters, to eat and drink with
them.
And made a feast by houses.... That is, each made a feast in his own house and
had his day, inviting the others, and their sisters.
1:5. And when the days of their feasting were gone about, Job sent to
them, and sancti ied them: and rising up early, offered holocausts for

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 every one of them. For he said: Lest perhaps my sons have sinned, and
have blessed God in their hearts. So did Job all days.
Blessed.... For greater horror of the very thought of blasphemy, the scripture both
here and ver. 11, and in the following chapter, ver. 5 and 9, uses the word bless to
signify its contrary.
1:6. Now on a certain day, when the sons of God came to stand
before the Lord, Satan also was present among them.
The sons of God.... The angels.—Ibid. Satan also, etc.... This passage represents to
us in a igure, accommodated to the ways and understandings of men, 1. The
restless endeavours of Satan against the servants of God; 2. That he can do
nothing without God’s permission; 3. That God doth not permit him to tempt
them above their strength: but assists them by his divine grace in such manner,
that the vain efforts of the enemy only serve to illustrate their virtue and
increase their merit.
1:7. And the Lord said to him: Whence comest thou? And he
answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked
through it.
1:8. And the Lord said to him: Hast thou considered my servant, Job,
that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and upright man, and
fearing God, and avoiding evil?
1:9. And Satan answering, said: Doth Job fear God in vain?
1:10. Hast thou not made a fence for him, and his house, and all his
substance round about, blessed the works of his hands, and his
possession hath increased on the earth?
1:11. But stretch forth thy hand a little, and touch all that he hath,
and see if he bless thee not to thy face.
1:12. Then the Lord said to Satan: Behold, all that he hath is in thy
hand: only put not forth thy hand upon his person. And Satan went
forth from the presence of the Lord.
1:13. Now upon a certain day, when his sons and daughters were
eating and drinking wine, in the house of their eldest brother,
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 1:14. There came a messenger to Job, and said: The oxen were
ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them,
1:15. And the Sabeans rushed in, and took all away, and slew the
servants with the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
1:16. And while he was yet speaking, another came, and said: The
ire of God fell from heaven, and striking the sheep and the servants,
hath consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
1:17. And while he also was yet speaking, there came another, and
said: The Chaldeans made three troops, and have fallen upon the
camels, and taken them; moreover, they have slain the servants with
the sword: and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
1:18. He was yet speaking, and behold another came in, and said:
Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of
their eldest brother,
1:19. A violent wind came on a sudden from the side of the desert,
and shook the four corners of the house, and it fell upon thy children,
and they are dead: and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
1:20. Then Job rose up, and rent his garments, and having shaven
his head, fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
1:21. And said: Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked
shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as
it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord.
1:22. In all these things Job sinned not by his lips, nor spoke he any
foolish thing against God.
Job Chapter 2
2:1. And it came to pass, when on a certain day the sons of God
came, and stood before the Lord, and Satan came amongst them, and
stood in his sight,
2:2. That the Lord said to Satan: Whence comest thou? And he
answered, and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked
through it.
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 2:3. And the Lord said to Satan: Hast thou considered my servant,
Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a man simple and upright,
and fearing God, and avoiding evil, and still keeping his innocence?
But thou hast moved me against him, that I should af lict him without
cause.
2:4. And Satan answered, and said: Skin for skin; and all that a man
hath, he will give for his life:
2:5. But put forth thy hand, and touch his bone and his lesh, and
then thou shalt see that he will bless thee to thy face.
2:6. And the Lord said to Satan: Behold, he is in thy hand, but yet
save his life.
2:7. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and struck
Job with a very grievous ulcer, from the sole of the foot even to the top
of his head:
2:8. And he took a potsherd and scraped the corrupt matter, sitting
on a dunghill.
2:9. And his wife said to him: Dost thou still continue in thy
simplicity? bless God and die.
2:10. And he said to her: Thou hast spoken like one of the foolish
women: If we have received good things at the hand of God, why
should we not receive evil? In all these things Job did not sin with his
lips.
2:11. Now when Job’s three friends heard all the evil that had
befallen him, they came every one from his own place, Eliphaz, the
Themanite, and Baldad, the Suhite, and Sophar, the Naamathite. For
they had made an appointment to come together and visit him, and
comfort him.
2:12. And when they had lifted up their eyes afar off, they knew him
not, and crying out, they wept, and rending their garments, they
sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

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 2:13. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven
nights and no man spoke to him a word: for they saw that his grief
was very great.
Job Chapter 3
3:1. After this, Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,
Cursed his day.... Job cursed the day of his birth, not by way of wishing evil to any
thing of God’s creation; but only to express in a stronger manner his sense of
human miseries in general, and of his own calamities in particular.
3:2. And he said:
3:3. Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it
was said: A man child is conceived.
3:4. Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from
above, and let not the light shine upon it.
3:5. Let darkness, and the shadow of death, cover it, let a mist
overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness.
3:6. Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be
counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.
3:7. Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise.
3:8. Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to raise up a
leviathan:
3:9. Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it expect
light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day:
3:10. Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor
took away evils from my eyes.
3:11. Why did I not die in the womb? why did I not perish when I
came out of the belly?
3:12. Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts?
3:13. For now I should have been asleep and still, and should have
rest in my sleep:
3:14. With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves
solitudes:

 3:15. Or with princes, that possess gold, and ill their houses with
silver:
3:16. Or as a hidden untimely birth, I should not be; or as they that,
being conceived, have not seen the light.
3:17. There the wicked cease from tumult, and there the wearied in
strength are at rest.
3:18. And they sometime bound together without disquiet, have not
heard the voice of the oppressor.
3:19. The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his
master.
3:20. Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that
are in bitterness of soul?
3:21. That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a
treasure:
3:22. And they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave?
3:23. To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him
with darkness?
3:24. Before I eat I sigh: and as over lowing waters, so is my roaring:
3:25. For the fear which I feared, hath come upon me: and that
which I was afraid of, hath befallen me.
3:26. Have I not dissembled? have I not kept silence? have I not been
quiet? and indignation is come upon me.
Job Chapter 4
4:1. Then Eliphaz, the Themanite, answered, and said:
4:2. If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill; but
who can withhold the words he hath conceived?
4:3. Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened the
weary hands:
4:4. Thy words have con irmed them that were staggering, and thou
hast strengthened the trembling knees:

 4:5. But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest: It
hath touched thee, and thou art troubled.
4:6. Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection
of thy ways?
4:7. Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or
when were the just destroyed?
4:8. On the contrary, I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow
sorrows, and reap them,
4:9. Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his
wrath.
4:10. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the
teeth of the whelps of lions, are broken:
4:11. The tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young lions
are scattered abroad.
4:12. Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by
stealth, as it were, received the veins of its whisper.
4:13. In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to
hold men,
4:14. Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were
affrighted:
4:15. And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my lesh stood
up.
4:16. There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image
before my eyes, and I heard the voice, as it were, of a gentle wind.
4:17. Shall man be justi ied in comparison of God, or shall a man be
more pure than his maker?
Shall man be justi ied in comparison of God, etc.... These are the words which
Eliphaz had heard from an angel, which, ver. 15, he calls a spirit.
4:18. Behold, they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels
he found wickedness:

 4:19. How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who
have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth?
4:20. From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because
no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever.
4:21. And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them:
they shall die, and not in wisdom.
Job Chapter 5
5:1. Call now, if there be any that will answer thee, and turn to some
of the saints.
5:2. Anger indeed killeth the foolish, and envy slayeth the little one.
5:3. I have seen a fool with a strong root, and I cursed his beauty
immediately.
5:4. His children shall be far from safety, and shall be destroyed in
the gate, and there shall be none to deliver them.
5:5. Whose harvest the hungry shall eat, and the armed man shall
take him by violence, and the thirsty shall drink up his riches.
5:6. Nothing upon earth is done without a cause, and sorrow doth
not spring out of the ground.
5:7. Man is born to labour, and the bird to ly.
5:8. Wherefore I will pray to the Lord, and address my speech to
God:
5:9. Who doth great things, and unsearchable and wonderful things
without number:
5:10. Who giveth rain upon the face of the earth, and watereth all
things with waters:
5:11. Who setteth up the humble on high, and comforteth with
health those that mourn.
5:12. Who bringeth to nought the designs of the malignant, so that
their hands cannot accomplish what they had begun:
5:13. Who catcheth the wise in their craftiness, and disappointeth
the counsel of the wicked:

 5:14. They shall meet with darkness in the day, and grope at
noonday as in the night.
5:15. But he shall save the needy from the sword of their mouth, and
the poor from the hand of the violent.
5:16. And to the needy there shall be hope, but iniquity shall draw in
her mouth.
5:17. Blessed is the man whom God correcteth: refuse not, therefore,
the chastising of the Lord.
5:18. For he woundeth, and cureth: he striketh, and his hands shall
heal.
5:19. In six troubles he shall deliver thee, and in the seventh, evil
shall not touch thee.
5:20. In famine he shall deliver thee from death; and in battle, from
the hand of the sword.
5:21. Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue: and thou
shalt not fear calamity when it cometh.
5:22. In destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: and thou shalt not
be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
5:23. But thou shalt have a covenant with the stones of the lands,
and the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with thee.
5:24. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle is in peace, and
visiting thy beauty, thou shalt not sin.
5:25. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be multiplied, and thy
offspring like the grass of the earth.
5:26. Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance, as a heap of
wheat is brought in its season.
5:27. Behold, this is even so, as we have searched out: which thou
having heard, consider it thoroughly in thy mind.
Job Chapter 6
6:1. But Job answered, and said:

 6:2. O that my sins, whereby I have deserved wrath, and the

calamity that I suffer, were weighed in a balance.
My sins, etc.... He does not mean to compare his sufferings with his real sins: but
with the imaginary crimes which his friends imputed to him: and especially with
his wrath, or grief, expressed in the third chapter, which they so much accused.
Though, as he tells them here, it bore no proportion with the greatness of his
calamity.
6:3. As the sand of the sea, this would appear heavier: therefore, my
words are full of sorrow:
6:4. For the arrows of the Lord are in me, the rage whereof drinketh
up my spirit, and the terrors of the Lord war against me.
6:5. Will the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or will the ox low
when he standeth before a full manger?
6:6. Or can an unsavoury thing be eaten, that is not seasoned with
salt? or can a man taste that which, when tasted, bringeth death?
6:7. The things which before my soul would not touch, now, through
anguish, are my meats.
6:8. Who will grant that my request may come: and that God may
give me what I look for?
6:9. And that he that hath begun may destroy me, that he may let
loose his hand, and cut me off?
6:10. And that this may be my comfort, that af licting me with
sorrow, he spare not, nor I contradict the words of the Holy one.
6:11. For what is my strength, that I can hold out? or what is my
end, that I should keep patience?
6:12. My strength is not the strength of stones, nor is my lesh of
brass.
6:13. Behold there is no help for me in myself, and my familiar
friends also are departed from me.
6:14. He that taketh away mercy from his friend, forsaketh the fear
of the Lord.

 6:15. My brethren have passed by me, as the torrent that passeth

swiftly in the valleys.
6:16. They that fear the hoary frost, the snow shall fall upon them.
6:17. At the time when they shall be scattered they shall perish: and
after it groweth hot, they shall be melted out of their place.
6:18. The paths of their steps are entangled: they shall walk in vain,
and shall perish.
6:19. Consider the paths of Thema, the ways of Saba, and wait a
little while.
6:20. They are confounded, because I have hoped: they are come
also even unto me, and are covered with shame.
6:21. Now you are come: and now, seeing my af liction, you are
afraid.
6:22. Did I say: Bring to me, and give me of your substance?
6:23. Or deliver me from the hand of the enemy, and rescue me out
of the hand of the mighty?
6:24. Teach me, and I will hold my peace: and if I have been ignorant
of any thing, instruct me.
6:25. Why have you detracted the words of truth, whereas there is
none of you that can reprove me?
6:26. You dress up speeches only to rebuke, and you utter words to
the wind.
6:27. You rush in upon the fatherless, and you endeavour to
overthrow your friend.
6:28. However, inish what you have begun: give ear and see
whether I lie.
6:29. Answer, I beseech you, without contention: and speaking that
which is just, judge ye.
6:30. And you shall not ind iniquity in my tongue, neither shall folly
sound in my mouth.

 Job Chapter 7
7:1. The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the
days of a hireling.
7:2. As a servant longeth for the shade, as the hireling looketh for
the end of his work;
7:3. So I also have had empty months, and have numbered to myself
wearisome nights.
7:4. If I lie down to sleep, I shall say: When shall I rise? and again, I
shall look for the evening, and shall be illed with sorrows even till
darkness.
7:5. My lesh is clothed with rottenness and the ilth of dust; my skin
is withered and drawn together.
7:6. My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the
weaver, and are consumed without any hope.
7:7. Remember that my life is but wind, and my eye shall not return
to see good things.
7:8. Nor shall the sight of man behold me: thy eyes are upon me, and
I shall be no more.
7:9. As a cloud is consumed, and passeth away: so he that shall go
down to hell shall not come up.
7:10. Nor shall he return any more into his house, neither shall his
place know him any more.
7:11. Wherefore, I will not spare my month, I will speak in the
af liction of my spirit: I will talk with the bitterness of my soul.
7:12. Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou hast enclosed me in a prison?
7:13. If I say: My bed shall comfort me, and I shall be relieved,
speaking with myself on my couch:
7:14. Thou wilt frighten me with dreams, and terrify me with
visions.
7:15. So that my soul rather chooseth hanging, and my bones death.
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 7:16. I have done with hope, I shall now live no longer: spare me, for
my days are nothing.
7:17. What is a man, that thou shouldst magnify him or why dost
thou set thy heart upon him?
7:18. Thou visitest him early in the morning, and thou provest him
suddenly.
7:19. How long wilt thou not spare me, nor suffer me to swallow
down my spittle?
7:20. I have sinned: what shall I do to thee, O keeper of men? why
hast thou set me opposite to thee, and am I become burdensome to
myself?
7:21. Why dost thou not remove my sin, and why dost thou not take
away my iniquity? Behold now I shall sleep in the dust: and if thou seek
me in the morning, I shall not be.
Job Chapter 8
8:1. Then Baldad, the Suhite, answered, and said:
8:2. How long wilt thou speak these things, and how long shall the
words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?
8:3. Doth God pervert judgment, or doth the Almighty overthrow
that which is just?
8:4. Although thy children have sinned against him, and he hath left
them in the hand of their iniquity:
8:5. Yet if thou wilt arise early to God, and wilt beseech the
Almighty:
8:6. If thou wilt walk clean and upright, he will presently awake
unto thee, and will make the dwelling of thy justice peaceable:
8:7. In so much, that if thy former things were small thy latter things
would be multiplied exceedingly.
8:8. For inquire of the former generation, and search diligently into
the memory of the fathers:

 8:9. (For we are but of yesterday, and are ignorant that our days
upon earth are but a shadow.)
8:10. And they shall teach thee: they shall speak to thee, and utter
words out of their hearts.
8:11. Can the rush be green without moisture? or sedge bush grow
without water?
8:12. When it is yet in lower, and is not plucked up with the hand, it
withereth before all herbs.
8:13. Even so are the ways of all that forget God, and the hope of the
hypocrite shall perish:
8:14. His folly shall not please him, and his trust shall be like the
spider’s web.
8:15. He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand: he shall
prop it up, and it shall not rise:
8:16. He seemeth to have moisture before the sun cometh; and at his
rising, his blossom shall shoot forth.
8:17. His roots shall be thick upon a heap of stones; and among the
stones he shall abide.
8:18. If one swallow him up out of his place, he shall deny him, and
shall say: I know thee not.
8:19. For this is the joy of his way, that others may spring again out
of the earth.
8:20. God will not cast away the simple, nor reach out his hand to
the evil doer:
8:21. Until thy mouth be illed with laughter, and thy lips with
rejoicing.
8:22. They that hate thee, shall be clothed with confusion: and the
dwelling of the wicked shall not stand.
Job Chapter 9
9:1. And Job answered, and said:

 9:2. Indeed I know it is so, and that man cannot be justi ied,
compared with God.
9:3. If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one for a
thousand.
9:4. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath resisted
him, and hath had peace?
9:5. Who hath removed mountains, and they whom he overthrew in
his wrath, knew it not.
9:6. Who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof
tremble.
9:7. Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not: and shutteth up the
stars, as it were, under a seal:
9:8. Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and walketh upon the
waves of the sea,
9:9. Who maketh Arcturus, and Orion, and Hyades, and the inner
parts of the south.
Arcturus, etc.... These are names of stars or constellations. In Hebrew, Ash, Cesil,
and Cimah. See note chap. 38, ver. 31.
9:10. Who doth things great and incomprehensible, and wonderful,
of which there is no number.
9:11. If he come to me, I shall not see him: if he depart, I shall not
understand.
9:12. If he examine on a sudden, who shall answer him? or who can
say: Why dost thou so?
9:13. God, whose wrath no man can resist, and under whom they
stoop that bear up the world.
9:14. What am I then, that I should answer him, and have words
with him?
9:15. I, who although I should have any just thing, would not
answer, but would make supplication to my judge.

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 9:16. And if he should hear me when I call, I should not believe that
he had heard my voice.
9:17. For he shall crush me in a whirlwind, and multiply my wounds
even without cause.
Without cause.... That is, without my knowing the cause: or without any crime of
mine.
9:18. He alloweth not my spirit to rest, and he illeth me with
bitterness.
9:19. If strength be demanded, he is most strong: if equity of
judgment, no man dare bear witness for me.
9:20. If I would justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me: if I
would shew myself innocent, he shall prove me wicked.
9:21. Although I should be simple, even this my soul shall be
ignorant of, and I shall be weary of my life.
9:22. One thing there is that I have spoken, both the innocent and
the wicked he consumeth.
9:23. If he scourge, let him kill at once, and not laugh at the pains of
the innocent.
9:24. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked, he covereth the
face of the judges thereof: and if it be not he, who is it then?
9:25. My days have been swifter than a post: they have led away
and have not seen good.
9:26. They have passed by as ships carrying fruits, as an eagle lying
to the prey.
9:27. If I say: I will not speak so: I change my face, and am
tormented with sorrow.
9:28. I feared all my works, knowing that thou didst not spare the
offender.
9:29. But if so also I am wicked, why have I laboured in vain?
9:30. If I be washed, as it were, with snow waters, and my hands
shall shine ever so clean:

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 9:31. Yet thou shalt plunge me in ilth, and my garments shall abhor
me.
9:32. For I shall not answer a man that is like myself: nor one that
may be heard with me equally in judgment.
9:33. There is none that may be able to reprove both, and to put his
hand between both.
9:34. Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify
me.
9:35. I will speak, and will not fear him: for I cannot answer while I
am in fear.
Job Chapter 10
10:1. My soul is weary of my life, I will let go my speech against
myself, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
10:2. I will say to God: Do not condemn me: tell me why thou judgest
me so?
10:3. Doth it seem good to thee that thou shouldst calumniate me,
and oppress me, the work of thy own hands, and help the counsel of
the wicked?
10:4. Hast thou eyes of lesh: or, shalt thou see as man seeth?
10:5. Are thy days as the days of man, and are thy years as the times
of men:
10:6. That thou shouldst inquire after my iniquity, and search after
my sin?
10:7. And shouldst know that I have done no wicked thing, whereas
there is no man that can deliver out of thy hand?
10:8. Thy hands have made me, and fashioned me wholly round
about, and dost thou thus cast me down headlong on a sudden?
10:9. Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay,
and thou wilt bring me into dust.
10:10. Hast thou not milked me as milk, and curdled me like cheese?

 10:11. Thou hast clothed me with skin and lesh: thou hast put me
together with bones and sinews:
10:12. Thou hast granted me life and mercy, and thy visitation hath
preserved my spirit.
10:13. Although thou conceal these things in thy heart, yet I know
that thou rememberest all things.
10:14. If I have sinned, and thou hast spared me for an hour: why
dost thou not suffer me to be clean from my iniquity?
10:15. And if I be wicked, woe unto me: and if just, I shall not lift up
my head, being illed with af liction and misery.
10:16. And for pride thou wilt take me as a lioness, and returning,
thou tormentest me wonderfully.
10:17. Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and multipliest thy
wrath upon me, and pains war against me.
10:18. Why didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? O that I had
been consumed, that eye might not see me!
10:19. I should have been as if I had not been, carried from the
womb to the grave.
10:20. Shall not the fewness of my days be ended shortly? Suffer me,
therefore, that I may lament my sorrow a little:
10:21. Before I go and return no more, to a land that is dark and
covered with the mist of death:
10:22. A land of misery and darkness, where the shadow of death,
and no order, but everlasting horror dwelleth.
Job Chapter 11

Sophar reproves Job, for justifying himself, and invites him to

repentance.
11:1. Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:
11:2. Shall not he that speaketh much, hear also? or shall a man full
of talk be justi ied?

 11:3. Shall men hold their peace to thee only? and when thou hast
mocked others, shall no man confute thee?
11:4. For thou hast said: My word is pure, and I am clean in thy
sight.
11:5. And I wish that God would speak with thee, and would open
his lips to thee,
11:6. That he might shew thee the secrets of wisdom, and that his
law is manifold, and thou mightest understand that he exacteth much
less of thee, than thy iniquity deserveth.
11:7. Peradventure thou wilt comprehend the steps of God, and wilt
ind out the Almighty perfectly?
11:8. He is higher than heaven, and what wilt thou do? he is deeper
than hell, and how wilt thou know?
11:9. The measure of him is longer than the earth, and broader than
the sea.
11:10. If he shall overturn all things, or shall press them together,
who shall contradict him?
11:11. For he knoweth the vanity of men, and when he seeth
iniquity, doth he not consider it?
11:12. A vain man is lifted up into pride, and thinketh himself born
free like a wild ass’s colt.
11:13. But thou hast hardened thy heart, and hast spread thy hands
to him.
11:14. If thou wilt put away from thee the iniquity that is in thy
hand, and let not injustice remain in thy tabernacle:
11:15. Then mayst thou lift up thy face without spot, and thou shalt
be steadfast, and shalt not fear.
11:16. Thou shalt also forget misery, and remember it only as
waters that are passed away.
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 11:17. And brightness like that of the noonday, shall arise to thee at
evening: and when thou shalt think thyself consumed, thou shalt rise
as the day star.
11:18. And thou shalt have con idence, hope being set before thee,
and being buried thou shalt sleep secure.
11:19. Thou shalt rest, and there shall be none to make thee afraid:
and many shall entreat thy face.
11:20. But the eyes of the wicked shall decay, and the way to escape
shall fail them, and their hope the abomination of the soul.
Job Chapter 12

Job’s reply to Sophar. He extols God’s power and wisdom.

12:1. Then Job answered, and said:
12:2. Are you then men alone, and shall wisdom die with you?
12:3. I also have a heart as well as you: for who is ignorant of these
things, which you know?
12:4. He that is mocked by his friends as I, shall call upon God and
he will hear him: for the simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn.
12:5. The lamp despised in the thoughts of the rich, is ready for the
time appointed.
12:6. The tabernacles of robbers abound, and they provoke God
boldly; whereas it is he that hath given all into their hands:
12:7. But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee: and the
birds of the air, and they shall tell thee.
12:8. Speak to the earth, and it shall answer thee: and the ishes of
the sea shall tell.
12:9. Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord hath made all these
things?
12:10. In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit
of all lesh of man.
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 12:11. Doth not the ear discern words, and the palate of him that
eateth, the taste?
12:12. In the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days prudence.
12:13. With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and
understanding.
12:14. If he pull down, there is no man that can build up: if he shut
up a man, there is none that can open.
12:15. If he withhold the waters, all things shall be dried up: and if
he send them out, they shall overturn the earth.
12:16. With him is strength and wisdom: he knoweth both the
deceivers, and him that is deceived.
12:17. He bringeth counsellors to a foolish end, and judges to
insensibility.
12:18. He looseth the belt of kings, and girdeth their loins with a
cord.
12:19. He leadeth away priests without glory, and overthroweth
nobles.
12:20. He changeth the speech of the true speakers, and taketh
away the doctrine of the aged.
12:21. He poureth contempt upon princes, and relieveth them that
were oppressed.
12:22. He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth up
to light the shadow of death.
12:23. He multiplieth nations, and destroyeth them, and restoreth
them again after they were overthrown.
12:24. He changeth the heart of the princes of the people of the
earth, and deceiveth them that they walk in vain where there is no
way.
12:25. They shall grope as in the dark, and not in the light, and he
shall make them stagger like men that are drunk.

 Job Chapter 13

Job persists in maintaining his innocence: and reproves his friends.

13:1. Behold my eye hath seen all these things, and my ear hath
heard them, and I have understood them all.
13:2. According to your knowledge I also know: neither am I inferior
to you.
13:3. But yet I will speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with
God.
13:4. Having irst shewn that you are forgers of lies, and
maintainers of perverse opinions.
13:5. And I wish you would hold your peace, that you might be
thought to be wise men.
13:6. Hear ye therefore my reproof, and attend to the judgment of
my lips.
13:7. Hath God any need of your lie, that you should speak
deceitfully for him?
13:8. Do you accept this person, and do you endeavour to judge for
God?
13:9. Or shall it please him, from whom nothing can be concealed?
or shall he be deceived as a man, with your deceitful dealings?
13:10. He shall reprove you, because in secret you accept his person.
13:11. As soon as he shall move himself, he shall trouble you: and his
dread shall fall upon you.
13:12. Your remembrance shall be compared to ashes, and your
necks shall be brought to clay.
13:13. Hold your peace a little while, that I may speak whatsoever
my mind shall suggest to me.
13:14. Why do I tear my lesh with my teeth, and carry my soul in
my hands?

 13:15. Although he should kill me, I will trust in him: but yet I will
reprove my ways in his sight.
13:16. And he shall be my saviour: for no hypocrite shall come
before his presence.
13:17. Hear ye my speech, and receive with your ears hidden truths.
13:18. If I shall be judged, I know that I shall be found just.
13:19. Who is he that will plead against me? let him come: why am I
consumed holding my peace?
13:20. Two things only do not to me, and then from thy face I shall
not be hid:
13:21. Withdraw thy hand far from me, and let not thy dread terrify
me.
13:22. Call me, and I will answer thee: or else I will speak, and do
thou answer me.
13:23. How many are my iniquities and sins? make me know my
crimes and offenses.
13:24. Why hidest thou thy face, and thinkest me thy enemy?
13:25. Against a leaf, that is carried away with the wind, thou
shewest thy power, and thou pursuest a dry straw.
13:26. For thou writest bitter things against me, and wilt consume
me for the sins of my youth.
13:27. Thou hast put my feet in the stocks, and hast observed all my
paths, and hast considered the steps of my feet:
13:28. Who am to be consumed as rottenness, and as a garment that
is motheaten.
Job Chapter 14

Job declares the shortness of man’s days: and professes his belief of a
resurrection.
14:1. Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is illed with
many miseries.

 14:2. Who cometh forth like a lower, and is destroyed, and leeth as
a shadow, and never continueth in the same state.
14:3. And dost thou think it meet to open thy eyes upon such an one,
and to bring him into judgment with thee?
14:4. Who can make him clean that is conceived of unclean seed? is
it not thou who only art?
14:5. The days of man are short, and the number of his months is
with thee: thou hast appointed his bounds which cannot be passed.
14:6. Depart a little from him, that he may rest until his wished for
day come, as that of the hireling.
14:7. A tree hath hope: if it be cut, it groweth green again, and the
boughs thereof sprout.
14:8. If its roots be old in the earth, and its stock be dead in the dust:
14:9. At the scent of water, it shall spring, and bring forth leaves, as
when it was irst planted.
14:10. But man when he shall be dead, and stripped and consumed,
I pray you where is he?
14:11. As if the waters should depart out of the sea, and an emptied
river should be dried up;
14:12. So man when he is fallen asleep shall not rise again; till the
heavens be broken, he shall not awake, nor rise up out of his sleep.
14:13. Who will grant me this, that thou mayst protect me in hell,
and hide me till thy wrath pass, and appoint me a time when thou wilt
remember me?
That thou mayst protect me in hell.... That is, in the state of the dead; and in the
place where the souls are kept waiting for their Redeemer.
14:14. Shall man that is dead, thinkest thou, live again? all the days
in which I am now in warfare, I expect until my change come.
14:15. Thou shalt call me, and I will answer thee: to the work of thy
hands thou shalt reach out thy right hand.
14:16. Thou indeed hast numbered my steps, but spare my sins.
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 14:17. Thou hast sealed up my offences as it were in a bag, but hast

cured my iniquity.
14:18. A mountain falling cometh to nought, and a rock is removed
out of its place.
14:19. Waters wear away the stones, and with inundation the
ground by little and little is washed away: so in like manner thou shalt
destroy man.
14:20. Thou hast strengthened him for a little while, that he may
pass away for ever: thou shalt change his face, and shalt send him
away.
14:21. Whether his children come to honour or dishonour, he shall
not understand.
14:22. But yet his lesh, while he shall live, shall have pain, and his
soul shall mourn over him.
Job Chapter 15

Eliphaz returns to the charge against Job, and describes the wretched
state of the wicked.
15:1. And Eliphaz the Themanite, answered, and said:
15:2. Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking in the wind,
and ill his stomach with burning heat?
15:3. Thou reprovest him by words, who is not equal to thee, and
thou speakest that which is not good for thee.
15:4. As much as is in thee, thou hast made void fear, and hast taken
away prayers from before God.
Thou hast made void fear.... That is, cast off the fear of offending God.
15:5. For thy iniquity hath taught thy mouth, and thou imitatest the
tongue of blasphemers.
15:6. Thy own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I: and thy own
lips shall answer thee.
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 15:7. Art thou the irst man that was born, or wast thou made
before the hills?
15:8. Hast thou heard God’s counsel, and shall his wisdom be
inferior to thee?
15:9. What knowest thou that we are ignorant of? what dost thou
understand that we know not?
15:10. There are with us also aged and ancient men, much elder
than thy fathers.
15:11. Is it a great matter that God should comfort thee? but thy
wicked words hinder this.
15:12. Why doth thy heart elevate thee, and why dost thou stare
with thy eyes, as if they were thinking great things?
15:13. Why doth thy spirit swell against God, to utter such words out
of thy mouth?
15:14. What is man that he should be without spot, and he that is
born of a woman that he should appear just?
15:15. Behold among his saints none is unchangeable, and the
heavens are not pure in his sight.
15:16. How much more is man abominable, and unpro itable, who
drinketh iniquity like water?
15:17. I will shew thee, hear me: and I will tell thee what I have seen.
15:18. Wise men confess and hide not their fathers.
Wise men confess and hide not their fathers.... That is, the knowledge and
documents they have received from their fathers they are not ashamed to own.
15:19. To whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger hath
passed among them.
15:20. The wicked man is proud all his days, and the number of the
years of his tyranny is uncertain.
15:21. The sound of dread is always in his ears: and when there is
peace, he always suspecteth treason.

 15:22. He believeth not that he may return from darkness to light,

looking round about for the sword on every side.
15:23. When he moveth himself to seek bread, he knoweth that the
day of darkness is ready at his hand.
15:24. Tribulation shall terrify him, and distress shall surround him,
as a king that is prepared for the battle.
15:25. For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and hath
strengthened himself against the Almighty.
15:26. He hath run against him with his neck raised up, and is
armed with a fat neck.
15:27. Fatness hath covered his face, and the fat hangeth down on
his sides.
15:28. He hath dwelt in desolate cities, and in desert houses that are
reduced into heaps.
15:29. He shall not be enriched, neither shall his substance continue,
neither shall he push his root in the earth.
15:30. He shall not depart out of darkness: the lame shall dry up his
branches, and he shall be taken away by the breath of his own mouth.
15:31. He shall not believe, being vainly deceived by error, that he
may be redeemed with any price.
15:32. Before his days be full he shall perish: and his hands shall
wither away.
15:33. He shall be blasted as a vine when its grapes are in the irst
lower, and as an olive tree that casteth its lower.
15:34. For the congregation of the hypocrite is barren, and ire shall
devour their tabernacles, who love to take bribes.
15:35. He hath conceived sorrow, and hath brought forth iniquity,
and his womb prepareth deceits.
Job Chapter 16

Job expostulates with his friends: and appeals to the judgment of God.
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 16:1. Then Job answered, and said:

16:2. I have often heard such things as these: you are all
troublesome comforters.
16:3. Shall windy words have no end? or is it any trouble to thee to
speak?
16:4. I also could speak like you: and would God your soul were for
my soul.
16:5. I would comfort you also with words, and would wag my head
over you.
16:6. I would strengthen you with my mouth, and would move my
lips, as sparing you.
16:7. But what shall I do? If I speak, my pain will not rest: and if I
hold my peace, it will not depart from me.
16:8. But now my sorrow hath oppressed me, and all my limbs are
brought to nothing.
16:9. My wrinkles bear witness against me, and a false speaker
riseth up against my face, contradicting me.
16:10. He hath gathered together his fury against me, and
threatening me he hath gnashed with his teeth upon me: my enemy
hath beheld me with terrible eyes.
16:11. They have opened their mouths upon me, and reproaching
me they have struck me on the cheek, they are illed with my pains.
16:12. God hath shut me up with the unjust man, and hath delivered
me into the hands of the wicked.
16:13. I that was formerly so wealthy, am all on a sudden broken to
pieces: he hath taken me by my neck, he hath broken me, and hath set
me up to be his mark.
16:14. He hath compassed me round about with his lances, he hath
wounded my loins, he hath not spared, and hath poured out my bowels
on the earth,

 16:15. He hath torn me with wound upon wound, he hath rushed in

upon me like a giant.
16:16. I have sowed sackcloth upon my skin, and have covered my
lesh with ashes.
16:17. My face is swollen with weeping, and my eyelids are dim.
16:18. These things have I suffered without the iniquity of my hand,
when I offered pure prayers to God.
16:19. O earth, cover not thou my blood, neither let my cry ind a
hiding place in thee.
16:20. For behold my witness is in heaven, and he that knoweth my
conscience is on high.
16:21. My friends are full of words: my eye poureth out tears to God.
16:22. And O that a man might so be judged with God, as the son of
man is judged with his companion!
16:23. For behold short years pass away, and I am walking in a path
by which I shall not return.
Job Chapter 17

Job’s hope in God: he expects rest in death.

17:1. My spirit shall be wasted, my days shall be shortened and only
the grave remaineth for me.
17:2. I have not sinned, and my eye abideth in bitterness.
Not sinned.... That is, I am not guilty of such sins as they charge me with.
17:3. Deliver me, O Lord, and set me beside thee, and let any man’s
hand ight against me.
17:4. Thou hast set their heart far from understanding, therefore
they shall not be exalted.
17:5. He promiseth a prey to his companions, and the eyes of his
children shall fail.
17:6. He hath made me as it were a byword of the people, and I am
an example before them.
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 17:7. My eye is dim through indignation, and my limbs are brought

as it were to nothing.
17:8. The just shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall be
raised up against the hypocrite.
17:9. And the just man shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean
hands shall be stronger and stronger.
17:10. Wherefore be you all converted, and come, and I shall not
ind among you any wise man.
17:11. My days have passed away, my thoughts are dissipated,
tormenting my heart.
17:12. They have turned night into day, and after darkness I hope
for light again.
17:13. If I wait hell is my house, and I have made my bed in
darkness.
Hell.... Sheol. The region of the dead.
17:14. I have said to rottenness: Thou art my father; to worms, my
mother and my sister.
17:15. Where is now then my expectation, and who considereth my
patience?
17:16. All that I have shall go down into the deepest pit: thinkest
thou that there at least I shall have rest?
Deepest pit.... Literally, hell.
Job Chapter 18

Baldad again reproves Job and describes the miseries of the wicked.
18:1. Then Baldad the Suhite answered, and said:
18:2. How long will you throw out words? understand irst, and so
let us speak.
18:3. Why are we reputed as beasts, and counted vile before you?
18:4. Thou that destroyest thy soul in thy fury, shall the earth be
forsaken for thee, and shall rocks be removed out of their place?
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 18:5. Shall not the light of the wicked be extinguished, and the lame
of his ire not shine?
18:6. The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and the lamp that is
over him, shall be put out.
18:7. The step of his strength shall be straitened, and his own
counsel shall cast him down headlong.
18:8. For he hath thrust his feet into a net, and walketh in its
meshes.
18:9. The sole of his foot shall be held in a snare, and thirst shall
burn against him.
18:10. A gin is hidden for him in the earth, and his trap upon the
path.
18:11. Fears shall terrify him on every side, and shall entangle his
feet.
18:12. Let his strength be wasted with famine, and let hunger
invade his ribs.
18:13. Let it devour the beauty of his skin, let the irstborn death
consume his arms.
18:14. Let his con idence be rooted out of his tabernacle, and let
destruction tread upon him like a king.
18:15. Let the companions of him that is not, dwell in his tabernacle,
let brimstone be sprinkled in his tent.
18:16. Let his roots be dried up beneath, and his harvest destroyed
above.
18:17. Let the memory of him perish from the earth, and let not his
name be renowned in the streets.
18:18. He shall drive him out of light into darkness, and shall
remove him out of the world.
18:19. His seed shall not subsist, nor his offspring among his people,
nor any remnants in his country.

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 18:20. They that come after him shall be astonished at his day, and
horror shall fall upon them that went before.
18:21. These then are the tabernacles of the wicked, and this the
place of him that knoweth not God.
Job Chapter 19

Job complains of the cruelty of his friends; he describes his own

sufferings: and his belief of a future resurrection.
19:1. Then Job answered, and said:
19:2. How long do you af lict my soul, and break me in pieces with
words?
19:3. Behold, these ten times you confound me, and are not ashamed
to oppress me.
19:4. For if I have been ignorant, my ignorance shall be with me.
19:5. But you set yourselves up against me, and reprove me with my
reproaches.
19:6. At least now understand, that God hath not af licted me with
an equal judgment, and compassed me with his scourges.
With an equal judgment.... St. Gregory explains these words thus: Job being a just
man, and truly considering his own life, thought that his af liction was greater
than his sins deserved: and in that respect, that the punishment was not equal,
yet it was just, as coming from God, who gives a crown of justice to those who
suffer for righteousness’ sake, and proves the just with tribulations, as gold is
tried by ire.
19:7. Behold I shall cry suffering violence, and no one will hear: I
shall cry aloud, and there is none to judge.
19:8. He hath hedged in my path round about, and I cannot pass,
and in my way he hath set darkness.
19:9. He hath stripped me of my glory, and hath taken the crown
from my head.
19:10. He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am lost, and he
hath taken away my hope, as from a tree that is plucked up.

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 19:11. His wrath is kindled against me, and he hath counted me as

his enemy.
19:12. His troops have come together, and have made themselves a
way by me, and have besieged my tabernacle round about.
19:13. He hath put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintance
like strangers have departed from me.
19:14. My kinsmen have forsaken me, and they that knew me, have
forgotten me.
19:15. They that dwell in my house, and my maidservants have
counted me as a stranger, and I have been like an alien in their eyes.
19:16. I called my servant, and he gave me no answer, I entreated
him with my own mouth.
19:17. My wife hath abhorred my breath, and I entreated the
children of my womb.
19:18. Even fools despised me, and when I was gone from them, they
spoke against me.
19:19. They that were sometime my counsellors, have abhorred me:
and he whom I loved most is turned against me.
19:20. The lesh being consumed, my bone hath cleaved to my skin,
and nothing but lips are left about my teeth.
19:21. Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends,
because the hand of the Lord hath touched me.
19:22. Why do you persecute me as God, and glut yourselves with my
lesh?
19:23. Who will grant me that my words may be written? who will
grant me that they may be marked down in a book?
19:24. With an iron pen and in a plate of lead, or else be graven with
an instrument in lint stone?
19:25. For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I
shall rise out of the earth.
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 Ver. 25, 26, and 27 shew Job’s explicit belief in his Redeemer, and also of the
resurrection of the lesh, not as one tree riseth in place of another, but that the
selfsame lesh shall rise at the last day, by the power of God, changed in quality
but not in substance, every one to receive sentence according to his works in this
life.
19:26. And I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my lesh I
shall see my God.
19:27. Whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not
another: this my hope is laid up in my bosom.
19:28. Why then do you say now: Let us persecute him, and let us
ind occasion of word against him?
19:29. Flee then from the face of the sword, for the sword is the
revenger of iniquities: and know ye that there is a judgment.
Job Chapter 20

Sophar declares the shortness of the prosperity of the wicked: and

their sudden downfall.
20:1. Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:
20:2. Therefore various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my
mind is hurried away to different things.
20:3. The doctrine with which thou reprovest me, I will hear, and the
spirit of my understanding shall answer for me.
20:4. This I know from the beginning, since man was placed upon
the earth,
20:5. That the praise of the wicked is short, and the joy of the
hypocrite but for a moment.
20:6. If his pride mount up even to heaven, and his head touch the
clouds:
20:7. In the end he shall be destroyed like a dunghill, and they that
had seen him, shall say: Where is he?
20:8. As a dream that leeth away he shall not be found, he shall
pass as a vision of the night:
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 20:9. The eyes that had seen him, shall see him no more, neither
shall his place any more behold him.
20:10. His children shall be oppressed with want, and his hands
shall render to him his sorrow.
20:11. His bones shall be illed with the vices of his youth, and they
shall sleep with him in the dust.
20:12. For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it
under his tongue.
20:13. He will spare it, and not leave it, and will hide it in his throat.
20:14. His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps
within him,
20:15. The riches which he hath swallowed, he shall vomit up, and
God shall draw them out of his belly.
20:16. He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper’s tongue shall
kill him.
20:17. Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of honey
and of butter.
20:18. He shall be punished for all that he did, and yet shall not be
consumed: according to the multitude of his devices so also shall he
suffer.
According to the multitude of his devices.... That is, his stratagems to gratify his
passions and to oppress and destroy the poor.
20:19. Because he broke in and stripped the poor: he hath violently
taken away a house which he did not build.
20:20. And yet his belly was not illed: and when he hath the things
he coveted, he shall not be able to possess them.
20:21. There was nothing left of his meat, and therefore nothing
shall continue of his goods:
20:22. When he shall be illed, he shall be straitened, he shall burn,
and every sorrow shall fall upon him.

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 20:23. May his belly be illed, that God may send forth the wrath of
his indignation upon him, and rain down his war upon him.
20:24. He shall lee from weapons of iron, and shall fall upon a bow
of brass.
20:25. The sword is drawn out, and cometh forth from its scabbard,
and glittereth in his bitterness: the terrible ones shall go and come
upon him.
20:26. All darkness is hid in his secret places: a ire that is not
kindled shall devour him, he shall be af licted when left in his
tabernacle.
20:27. The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise
up against him.
20:28. The offspring of his house shall be exposed, he shall be pulled
down in the day of God’s wrath.
20:29. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the
inheritance of his doings from the Lord.
Job Chapter 21

Job shews that the wicked often prosper in this world, even to the end
of their life: but that their judgment is in another world.
21:1. Then Job answered, and said:
21:2. Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.
21:3. Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my
words.
21:4. Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to
be troubled?
21:5. Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your inger on your
mouth.
21:6. As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh
hold on my lesh.

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 21:7. Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and
strengthened with riches?
21:8. Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen,
and of children’s children in their sight.
21:9. Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is
not upon them.
21:10. Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has
calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.
21:11. Their little ones go out like a lock, and their children dance
and play.
21:12. They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound
of the organ.
21:13. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go
down to hell.
21:14. Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the
knowledge of thy ways.
21:15. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what
doth it pro it us if we pray to him?
21:16. Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the
counsel of the wicked be far from me.
21:17. How often shall the lamp of the wicked be put out, and a
deluge come upon them, and he shall distribute the sorrows of his
wrath?
21:18. They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as
ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.
21:19. God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and
when he shall repay, then shall he know.
21:20. His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of
the wrath of the Almighty.
21:21. For what is it to him what befalleth his house after him: and
if the number of his months be diminished by one half?

 21:22. Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that
are high?
21:23. One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.
21:24. His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with
marrow.
21:25. But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:
21:26. And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall
cover them.
21:27. Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments
against me.
21:28. For you say: Where is the house of the prince? and where are
the dwelling places of the wicked?
21:29. Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall
perceive that he knoweth these same things.
21:30. Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction,
and he shall be brought to the day of wrath.
21:31. Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay
him what he hath done?
21:32. He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the
heap of the dead.
21:33. He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall
draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him.
Acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus.... The Hebrew word, which St. Jerome has
here rendered by the name Cocytus, (which the poets represent as a river in hell,)
signi ies a valley or a torrent: and in this place, is taken for the low region of
death and hell: which willingly, as it were, receives the wicked at their death:
who are ushered in by innumerable others that have gone before them; and are
followed by multitudes above number.
21:34. How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is
shewn to be repugnant to truth?
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 Job Chapter 22

Eliphaz falsely imputes many crimes to Job, but promises him

prosperity if he will repent.
22:1. Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
22:2. Can man be compared with God, even though he were of
perfect knowledge?
22:3. What doth it pro it God if thou be just? or what dost thou give
him if thy way be unspotted?
22:4. Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into
judgment:
22:5. And not for thy manifold wickedness and thy in inite
iniquities?
22:6. For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren without
cause, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
22:7. Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn
bread from the hungry.
22:8. In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and
being the most mighty thou holdest it.
22:9. Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the
fatherless thou hast broken in pieces.
22:10. Therefore art thou surrounded with snares, and sudden fear
troubleth thee.
22:11. And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness, and
that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of over lowing
waters?
22:12. Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is
elevated above the height of the stars?
22:13. And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it
were through a mist.

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 22:14. The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our
things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven.
22:15. Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men
have trodden?
22:16. Who were taken away before their time, and a lood hath
overthrown their foundation.
22:17. Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the
Almighty as if he could do nothing:
22:18. Whereas he had illed their houses with good things: whose
way of thinking be far from me.
22:19. The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall
laugh them to scorn.
22:20. Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not ire devoured
the remnants of them?
22:21. Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou
shalt have the best fruits.
22:22. Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy
heart.
22:23. If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and
shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
22:24. He shall give for earth lint, and for lint torrents of gold.
22:25. And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver
shall be heaped together for thee.
22:26. Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt
lift up thy face to God.
22:27. Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt
pay vows.
22:28. Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall come to thee, and light
shall shine in thy ways.
22:29. For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that
shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved.

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 22:30. The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the

cleanness of his hands.
Job Chapter 23

Job wishes to be tried at God’s tribunal.

23:1. Then Job answered, and said:
23:2. Now also my words are in bitterness, and the hand of my
scourge is more grievous than my mourning.
23:3. Who will grant me that I might know and ind him, and come
even to his throne?
23:4. I would set judgment before him, and would ill my mouth with
complaints.
23:5. That I might know the words that he would answer me, and
understand what he would say to me.
23:6. I would not that he should contend with me with much
strength, nor overwhelm me with the weight of his greatness.
23:7. Let him propose equity against me, and let my judgment come
to victory.
23:8. But if I go to the east, he appeareth not; if to the west, I shall
not understand him.
23:9. If to the left hand, what shall I do? I shall not take hold on him:
if I turn myself to the right hand, I shall not see him.
23:10. But he knoweth my way, and has tried me as gold that
passeth through the ire:
23:11. My foot hath followed his steps, I have kept his way, and have
not declined from it.
23:12. I have not departed from the commandments of his lips, and
the words of his mouth I have hid in my bosom.
23:13. For he is alone, and no man can turn away his thought: and
whatsoever his soul hath desired, that hath he done.

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 23:14. And when he shall have ful illed his will in me, many other
like things are also at hand with him.
23:15. And therefore I am troubled at his presence, and when I
consider him I am made pensive with fear.
23:16. God hath softened my heart, and the Almighty hath troubled
me.
23:17. For I have not perished because of the darkness that hangs
over me, neither hath the mist covered my face.
Job Chapter 24

God’s providence often suffers the wicked to go on a long time in their

sins: but punisheth them in another life.
24:1. Times are not hid from the Almighty: but they that know him,
know not his days.
24:2. Some have removed landmarks, have taken away locks by
force, and fed them.
24:3. They have driven away the ass of the fatherless, and have
taken away the widow’s ox for a pledge.
24:4. They have overturned the way of the poor, and have oppressed
together the meek of the earth.
24:5. Others like wild asses in the desert go forth to their work: by
watching for a prey they get bread for their children.
24:6. They reap the ield that is not their own, and gather the
vintage of his vineyard whom by violence they have oppressed.
24:7. They send men away naked, taking away their clothes who
have no covering in the cold:
24:8. Who are wet, with the showers of the mountains, and having
no covering embrace the stones.
24:9. They have violently robbed the fatherless, and stripped the
poor common people.

 24:10. From the naked and them that go without clothing, and from
the hungry they have taken away the ears of corn.
24:11. They have taken their rest at noon among the stores of them,
who after having trodden the winepresses suffer thirst.
24:12. Out of the cities they have made men to groan, and the soul of
the wounded hath cried out, and God doth not suffer it to pass
unrevenged.
24:13. They have been rebellious to the light, they have not known
his ways, neither have they returned by his paths.
24:14. The murderer riseth at the very break of day, he killeth the
needy, and the poor man: but in the night he will be as a thief.
24:15. The eye of the adulterer observeth darkness, saying: No eye
shall see me: and he will cover his face.
24:16. He diggeth through houses in the dark, as in the day they had
appointed for themselves, and they have not known the light.
24:17. If the morning suddenly appear, it is to them the shadow of
death: and they walk in darkness as if it were in light.
24:18. He is light upon the face of the water: cursed be his portion
on the earth, let him not walk by the way of the vineyards.
24:19. Let him pass from the snow waters to excessive heat, and his
sin even to hell.
24:20. Let mercy forget him: may worms be his sweetness: let him be
remembered no more, but be broken in pieces as an unfruitful tree.
24:21. For he hath fed the barren that beareth not, and to the
widow he hath done no good.
24:22. He hath pulled down the strong by his might: and when he
standeth up, he shall not trust to his life.
24:23. God hath given him place for penance, and he abuseth it unto
pride: but his eyes are upon his ways.

 24:24. They are lifted up for a little while and shall not stand, and
shall be brought down as all things, and shall be taken away, and as
the tops of the ears of corn they shall be broken.
24:25. And if it be not so, who can convince me that I have lied, and
set my words before God?
Job Chapter 25

God’s providence often suffers the wicked to go on a long time in their

sins: but punisheth them in another life.
25:1. Then Baldad the Suhite answered, and I said:
25:2. Power and terror are with him, who maketh peace in his high
places.
25:3. Is there any numbering of his soldiers? and upon whom shall
not his light arise?
25:4. Can man be justi ied compared with God, or he that is born of
a woman appear clean?
25:5. Behold even the moon doth not shine, and the stars are not
pure in his sight.
25:6. How much less man that is rottenness and the son of man who
is a worm?
Job Chapter 26

Job declares his sentiments of the wisdom and power of God.

26:1. Then Job answered, and said:
26:2. Whose helper art thou? is it of him that is weak? and dost thou
hold up the arm of him that has no strength?
26:3. To whom hast thou given counsel? perhaps to him that hath no
wisdom, and thou hast shewn thy very great prudence.
26:4. Whom hast thou desired to teach? was it not him that made
life?

 26:5. Behold the giants groan under the waters, and they that dwell
with them.
26:6. Hell is naked before him, and there is no covering for
destruction.
26:7. He stretched out the north over the empty space, and hangeth
the earth upon nothing.
26:8. He bindeth up the waters in his clouds, so that they break not
out and fall down together.
26:9. He withholdeth the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud
over it.
26:10. He hath set bounds about the waters, till light and darkness
come to an end.
26:11. The pillars of heaven tremble, and dread at his beck.
26:12. By his power the seas are suddenly gathered together, and his
wisdom has struck the proud one.
26:13. His spirit hath adorned the heavens, and his obstetric hand
brought forth the winding serpent.
His obstetric hand brought forth the winding serpent.... That is, the omnipotent
power of God: which brought forth all things created in time, but conceived in
the Divine mind from all eternity. The winding serpent, a constellation of ixed
stars winding round the north pole, called Draco. This appears from the
foregoing part of the same verse, His spirit hath adorned the heavens.
26:14. Lo, these things are said in part of his ways: and seeing we
have heard scarce a little drop of his word, who shall be able to behold
the thunder of his greatness?
Job Chapter 27

Job persists in asserting his own innocence, and that hypocrites will be
punished in the end.
27:1. Job also added, taking up his parable, and said:
27:2. As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment, and the
Almighty, who hath brought my soul to bitterness,

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 27:3. As long as breath remaineth in me, and the spirit of God in my
nostrils,
27:4. My lips shall not speak iniquity, neither shall my tongue
contrive lying.
27:5. God forbid that I should judge you to be just: till I die I will not
depart from my innocence.
27:6. My justi ication, which I have begun to hold, I will not forsake:
for my heart doth not reprehend me in all my life.
27:7. Let my enemy be as the ungodly, and my adversary as the
wicked one.
27:8. For what is the hope of the hypocrite if through covetousness
he take by violence, and God deliver not his soul?
27:9. Will God hear his cry, when distress shall come upon him?
27:10. Or can he delight himself in the Almighty, and call upon God
at all times?
27:11. I will teach you by the hand of God, what the Almighty hath,
and I will not conceal it.
27:12. Behold you all know it, and why do you speak vain things
without cause?
27:13. This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the
inheritance of the violent, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
27:14. If his sons be multiplied, they shall be for the sword, and his
grandsons shall not be illed with bread.
27:15. They that shall remain of him, shall be buried in death, and
his widows shall not weep.
27:16. If he shall heap together silver as earth, and prepare raiment
as clay,
27:17. He shall prepare indeed, but the just man shall be clothed
with it: and the innocent shall divide the silver.
27:18. He hath built his house as a moth, and as a keeper he hath
made a booth.

 27:19. The rich man when he shall sleep shall take away nothing
with him: he shall open his eyes and ind nothing.
27:20. Poverty like water shall take hold on him, a tempest shall
oppress him in the night:
27:21. A burning wind shall take him up, and carry him away, and
as a whirlwind shall snatch him from his place.
27:22. And he shall cast upon him, and shall not spare: out of his
hand he would willingly lee.
27:23. He shall clasp his hands upon him, and shall hiss at him,
beholding his place.
Job Chapter 28

Man’s industry searcheth out many things: true wisdom is taught by

God alone.
28:1. Silver hath beginnings of its veins, and gold hath a place
wherein it is melted.
28:2. Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone melted with heat is
turned into brass.
28:3. He hath set a time for darkness, and the end of all things he
considereth, the stone also that is in the dark and the shadow of death.
28:4. The lood divideth from the people that are on their journey,
those whom the food of the needy man hath forgotten, and who cannot
be come at.
28:5. The land, out of which bread grew in its place, hath been
overturned with ire.
28:6. The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and the clods of it
are gold.
28:7. The bird hath not known the path, neither hath the eye of the
vulture beheld it.
28:8. The children of the merchants have not trodden it, neither
hath the lioness passed by it.

 28:9. He hath stretched forth his hand to the lint, he hath

overturned mountains from the roots.
28:10. In the rocks he hath cut out rivers, and his eye hath seen
every precious thing.
28:11. The depths also of rivers he hath searched, and hidden things
he hath brought forth to light.
28:12. But where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of
understanding?
28:13. Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the
land of them that live in delights.
28:14. The depth saith: It is not in me: and the sea saith: It is not
with me.
28:15. The inest gold shall not purchase it, neither shall silver be
weighed in exchange for it.
28:16. It shall not be compared with the dyed colours of India, or
with the most precious stone sardonyx, or the sapphire.
28:17. Gold or crystal cannot equal it, neither shall any vessels of
gold be changed for it.
28:18. High and eminent things shall not be mentioned in
comparison of it: but wisdom is drawn out of secret places.
28:19. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equal to it, neither shall it
be compared to the cleanest dyeing.
28:20. Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of
understanding?
28:21. It is hid from the eyes of all living, and the fowls of the air
know it not.
28:22. Destruction and death have said: With our ears we have
heard the fame thereof.
28:23. God understandeth the way of it, and he knoweth the place
thereof.

 28:24. For he beholdeth the ends of the world: and looketh on all
things that are under heaven.
28:25. Who made a weight for the winds, and weighed the waters by
measure.
28:26. When he gave a law for the rain, and a way for the sounding
storms.
28:27. Then he saw it, and declared, and prepared, and searched it.
28:28. And he said to man: Behold the fear of the Lord, that is
wisdom: and to depart from evil, is understanding.
Job Chapter 29

Job relates his former happiness, and the respect that all men shewed
him.
29:1. Job also added, taking up his parable, and said:
29:2. Who will grant me, that I might be according to the months
past, according to the days in which God kept me?
29:3. When his lamp shined over my head, and I walked by his light
in darkness?
29:4. As I was in the days of my youth, when God was secretly in my
tabernacle?
29:5. When the Almighty was with me: and my servants round
about me?
29:6. When I washed my feet with butter, and the rock poured me
out rivers of oil?
29:7. When I went out to the gate of the city, and in the street they
prepared me a chair?
29:8. The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the old men
rose up and stood.
29:9. The princes ceased to speak, and laid the inger on their
mouth.

 29:10. The rulers held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to their
throat.
29:11. The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me
gave witness to me:
29:12. Because I had delivered the poor man that cried out; and the
fatherless, that had no helper.
29:13. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me,
and I comforted the heart of the widow.
29:14. I was clad with justice: and I clothed myself with my
judgment, as with a robe and a diadem.
29:15. I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame.
29:16. I was the father of the poor: and the cause which I knew not, I
searched out most diligently.
29:17. I broke the jaws of the wicked man, and out of his teeth I took
away the prey.
29:18. And I said: I shall die in my nest, and as a palm tree shall
multiply my days.
29:19. My root is opened beside the waters, and dew shall continue
in my harvest.
29:20. My glory shall always be renewed, and my bow in my hand
shall be repaired.
29:21. They that heard me, waited for my sentence, and being
attentive held their peace at my counsel.
29:22. To my words they durst add nothing, and my speech dropped
upon them.
29:23. They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth
as for a latter shower.
29:24. If at any time I laughed on them, they believed not, and the
light of my countenance fell not on earth.

 29:25. If I had a mind to go to them, I sat irst, and when I sat as a

king, with his army standing about him, yet I was a comforter of them
that mourned.
Job Chapter 30

Job shews the wonderful change of his temporal estate, from welfare to
great calamity.
30:1. But now the younger in time scorn me, whose fathers I would
not have set with the dogs of my lock:
But now the younger in time.... That is, younger than I am, and as it were
obscure, when I was conspicuous and in magni icence; they now look down on
me.
30:2. The strength of whose hands was to me as nothing, and they
were thought unworthy of life itself.
30:3. Barren with want and hunger, who gnawed in the wilderness,
dis igured with calamity and misery.
30:4. And they ate grass, and barks of trees, and the root of junipers
was their food.
30:5. Who snatched up these things out of the valleys, and when
they had found any of them, they ran to them with a cry.
30:6. They dwelt in the desert places of torrents, and in caves of
earth, or upon the gravel.
30:7. They pleased themselves among these kind of things, and
counted it delightful to be under the briers.
30:8. The children of foolish and base men, and not appearing at all
upon the earth.
30:9. Now I am turned into their song, and am become their byword.
30:10. They abhor me, and lee far from me, and are not afraid to
spit in my face.
30:11. For he hath opened his quiver, and hath af licted me, and
hath put a bridle into my mouth.
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 30:12. At the right hand of my rising, my calamities forthwith arose:

they have overthrown my feet, and have overwhelmed me with their
paths as with waves.
30:13. They have destroyed my ways, they have lain in wait against
me, and they have prevailed, and there was none to help.
30:14. They have rushed in upon me, as when a wall is broken, and a
gate opened, and have rolled themselves down to my miseries.
30:15. I am brought to nothing: as a wind thou hast taken away my
desire: and my prosperity hath passed away like a cloud.
30:16. And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of
af liction possess me.
30:17. In the night my bone is pierced with sorrows: and they that
feed upon me, do not sleep.
30:18. With the multitude of them my garment is consumed, and
they have girded me about, as with the collar of my coat.
30:19. I am compared to dirt, and am likened to embers and ashes.
30:20. I cry to thee, and thou hearest me not: I stand up, and thou
dost not regard me.
30:21. Thou art changed to be cruel toward me, and in the hardness
of thy hand thou art against me.
30:22. Thou hast lifted me up, and set me as it were upon the wind,
and thou hast mightily dashed me.
30:23. I know that thou wilt deliver me to death, where a house is
appointed for every one that liveth.
30:24. But yet thou stretchest not forth thy hand to their
consumption: and if they shall fall down thou wilt save.
30:25. I wept heretofore for him that was af licted, and my soul had
compassion on the poor.
30:26. I expected good things, and evils are come upon me: I waited
for light, and darkness broke out.
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 30:27. My inner parts have boiled without any rest, the days of
af liction have prevented me.
30:28. I went mourning without indignation; I rose up, and cried in
the crowd.
30:29. I was the brother of dragons, and companion of ostriches.
Brother of dragons, etc.... Imitating these creatures in their lamentable noise.
30:30. My skin is become black upon me, and my bones are dried up
with heat.
30:31. My harp is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice
of those that weep.
Job Chapter 31

Job, to defend himself from the unjust judgments of his friends, gives a
sincere account of his own virtues.
31:1. I made a covenant with my eyes, that I would not so much as
think upon a virgin.
31:2. For what part should God from above have in me, and what
inheritance the Almighty from on high?
31:3. Is not destruction to the wicked, and aversion to them that
work iniquity?
31:4. Doth not he consider my ways, and number all my steps?
31:5. If I have walked in vanity, and my foot hath made haste to
deceit:
31:6. Let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my
simplicity.
31:7. If my step hath turned out of the way, and if my heart hath
followed my eyes, and if a spot hath cleaved to my hands:
31:8. Then let me sow and let another reap: and let my offspring be
rooted out.
31:9. If my heart hath been deceived upon a woman, and if I have
laid wait at my friend’s door:
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 31:10. Let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lie
with her.
31:11. For this is a heinous crime, and a most grievous iniquity.
31:12. It is a ire that devoureth even to destruction, and rooteth up
all things that spring.
31:13. If I have despised to abide judgment with my manservant, or
my maidservant, when they had any controversy against me:
31:14. For what shall I do when God shall rise to judge? and when he
shall examine, what shall I answer him?
31:15. Did not he that made me in the womb make him also: and did
not one and the same form me in the womb?
31:16. If I have denied to the poor what they desired, and have made
the eyes of the widow wait:
31:17. If I have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath not
eaten thereof:
31:18. (For from my infancy mercy grew up with me: and it came
out with me from my mother’s womb:)
31:19. If I have despised him that was perishing for want of clothing,
and the poor man that had no covering:
31:20. If his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed
with the leece of my sheep:
31:21. If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, even when I
saw myself superior in the gate:
31:22. Let my shoulder fall from its joint, and let my arm with its
bones be broken.
31:23. For I have always feared God as waves swelling over me, and
his weight I was unable to bear.
31:24. If I have thought gold my strength, and have said to ine gold:
My con idence:
31:25. If I have rejoiced over my great riches, and because my hand
had gotten much.
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 31:26. If I beheld the sun when it shined and the moon going in
brightness:
If I beheld the sun, etc.... If I behold the sun and moon with admiration, knowing
them to be created and governed by the power of God, I call on my adversaries to
produce any thing against me, whereby I could be charged with worshipping the
sun or moon.
31:27. And my heart in secret hath rejoiced, and I have kissed my
hand with, my mouth:
31:28. Which is a very great iniquity, and a denial against the most
high God.
31:29. If I have been glad at the downfall of him that hated me, and
have rejoiced that evil had found him.
31:30. For I have not given my mouth to sin, by wishing a curse to
his soul.
31:31. If the men of my tabernacle have not said: Who will give us of
his lesh that we may be illed?
31:32. The stranger did not stay without, my door was open to the
traveller.
31:33. If as a man I have hid my sin, and have concealed my iniquity
in my bosom.
31:34. If I have been afraid at a very great multitude, and the
contempt of kinsmen hath terri ied me: and have not rather held my
peace, and not gone out of the door.
31:35. Who would grant me a hearing, that the Almighty may hear
my desire: and that he himself that judgeth would write a book,
31:36. That I may carry it on my shoulder, and put it about me as a
crown?
31:37. At every step of mine I would pronounce it, and offer it as to a
prince.
31:38. If my land cry against me, and with it the furrows thereof
mourn:
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 31:39. If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, and have
af licted the soul of the tillers thereof:
31:40. Let thistles grow up to me instead of wheat, and thorns
instead of barley.
The words of Job are ended.
Job Chapter 32

Eliu is angry with Job and his friends. He boasts of himself.

32:1. So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he seemed
just to himself.
32:2. And Eliu the son of Barachel the Buzite of the kindred of Ram,
was angry and was moved to indignation: now he was angry against
Job, because he said he was just before God.
32:3. And he was angry with his friends, because they had not found
a reasonable answer, but only had condemned Job.
32:4. So Eliu waited while Job was speaking because they were his
elders that were speaking.
32:5. But when he saw that the three were not able to answer, he
was exceedingly angry.
32:6. Then Eliu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered, and said: I
am younger in days, and you are more ancient, therefore hanging
down my head, I was afraid to shew you my opinion.
32:7. For I hoped that greater age would speak, and that a
multitude of years would teach wisdom.
32:8. But, as I see, there is a spirit in men, and the inspiration of the
Almighty giveth understanding.
32:9. They that are aged are not the wise men, neither do the
ancients understand judgment.
32:10. Therefore I will speak: Hearken to me, I also will shew you my
wisdom.
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 32:11. For I have waited for your words, I have given ear to your
wisdom, as long as you were disputing in words.
32:12. And as long as I thought you said some thing, I considered:
but, as I see, there is none of you that can convince Job, and answer his
words.
32:13. Lest you should say: We have found wisdom, God hath cast
him down, not man.
32:14. He hath spoken nothing to me, and I will not answer him
according to your words.
32:15. They were afraid, and answered no more, and they left off
speaking.
32:16. Therefore because I have waited, and they have not spoken:
they stood, and answered no more:
32:17. I also will answer my part, and will shew my knowledge.
32:18. For I am full of matter to speak of, and the spirit of my bowels
straiteneth me.
32:19. Behold, my belly is as new wine which wanteth vent, which
bursteth the new vessels.
32:20. I will speak and take breath a little: I will open my lips, and
will answer.
32:21. I will not accept the person of man, and I will not level God
with man.
I will not level God with man.... Here Eliu considers that Job hath put himself on a
level with God, by the manner he assumed to justify his own life in speaking to
God as if he spoke to an equal: Eliu expresses in the following ver. 22 his fear of
punishment hereafter for such an attempt.
32:22. For I know not how long I shall continue, and whether after a
while my Maker may take me away.
Job Chapter 33

Eliu blames Job for asserting his own innocence.

 33:1. Hear therefore, O Job, my speeches, and hearken to all my

words.
33:2. Behold now I have opened my mouth, let my tongue speak
within my jaws.
33:3. My words are from my upright heart, and my lips shall speak a
pure sentence.
33:4. The spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Almighty
gave me life.
33:5. If thou canst, answer me, and stand up against my face.
33:6. Behold God hath made me as well as thee, and of the same clay
I also was formed.
33:7. But yet let not my wonder terrify thee, and let not my
eloquence be burdensome to thee.
33:8. Now thou hast said in my hearing, and I have heard the voice
of thy words:
33:9. I am clean, and without sin: I am unspotted, and there is no
iniquity in me.
33:10. Because he hath found complaints against me, therefore he
hath counted me for his enemy.
33:11. He hath put my feet in the stocks, he hath observed all my
paths.
33:12. Now this is the thing in which thou art not justi ied: I will
answer thee, that God is greater than man.
33:13. Dost thou strive against him, because he hath not answered
thee to all words?
33:14. God speaketh once, and repeateth not the selfsame thing the
second time.
33:15. By a dream in a vision by night, when deep sleep falleth upon
men, and they are sleeping in their beds:
33:16. Then he openeth the ears of men, and teaching instructeth
them in what they are to learn.

 33:17. That he may withdraw a man from the things he is doing,

and may deliver him from pride.
33:18. Rescuing his soul from corruption: and his life from passing
to the sword.
33:19. He rebuketh also by sorrow in the bed, and he maketh all his
bones to wither.
33:20. Bread becometh abominable to him in his life, and to his soul
the meat which before he desired.
33:21. His lesh shall be consumed away, and his bones that were
covered shall be made bare.
33:22. His soul hath drawn near to corruption, and his life to the
destroyers.
33:23. If there shall be an angel speaking for him, one among
thousands, to declare man’s uprightness,
33:24. He shall have mercy on him, and shall say: Deliver him, that
he may not go down to corruption: I have found wherein I may be
merciful to him.
33:25. His lesh is consumed with punishments, let him return to the
days of his youth.
33:26. He shall pray to God, and he will be gracious to him: and he
shall see his face with joy, and he will render to man his justice.
33:27. He shall look upon men, and shall say: I have sinned, and
indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I have deserved.
33:28. He hath delivered his soul from going into destruction, that it
may live and see the light.
33:29. Behold, all these things God worketh three times within every
one.
33:30. That he may withdraw their souls from corruption, and
enlighten them with the light of the living.
33:31. Attend, Job, and hearken to me, and hold thy peace, whilst I
speak.

 33:32. But if thou hast any thing to say, answer me, speak: for I
would have thee to appear just.
33:33. And if thou have not, hear me: hold thy peace, and I will teach
thee wisdom.
Job Chapter 34

Eliu charges Job with blasphemy: and sets forth the power and justice
of God.
34:1. And Eliu continued his discourse, and said:
34:2. Hear ye, wise men, my words, and ye learned, hearken to me:
34:3. For the ear trieth words, and the mouth discerneth meats by
the taste.
34:4. Let us choose to us judgment, and let us see among ourselves
what is the best.
34:5. For Job hath said: I am just, and God hath overthrown my
judgment.
34:6. For in judging me there is a lie: my arrow is violent without
any sin.
34:7. What man is there like Job, who drinketh up scorning like
water?
34:8. Who goeth in company with them that work iniquity, and
walketh with wicked men?
34:9. For he hath said: Man shall not please God, although he run
with him.
34:10. Therefore, ye men of understanding, hear me: far from God
be wickedness, and iniquity from the Almighty.
34:11. For he will render to a man his work, and according to the
ways of every one he will reward them.
34:12. For in very deed God will not condemn without cause, neither
will the Almighty pervert judgment.

 34:13. What other hath he appointed over the earth? or whom hath
he set over the world which he made?
34:14. If he turn his heart to him, he shall draw his spirit and breath
unto himself.
34:15. All lesh shall perish together, and man shall return into
ashes.
34:16. If then thou hast understanding, hear what is said, and
hearken to the voice of my words.
34:17. Can he be healed that loveth not judgment? and how dost
thou so far condemn him that is just?
34:18. Who saith to the king: Thou art an apostate: who calleth
rulers ungodly:
34:19. Who accepteth not the persons of princes: nor hath regarded
the tyrant, when he contended against the poor man: for all are the
work of his hands.
34:20. They shall suddenly die, and the people shall be troubled at
midnight, and they shall pass, and take away the violent without hand.
34:21. For his eyes are upon the ways of men, and he considereth all
their steps.
34:22. There is no darkness, and there is no shadow of death, where
they may be hid who work iniquity.
34:23. For it is no longer in the power of man to enter into judgment
with God.
34:24. He shall break in pieces many and innumerable, and shall
make others to stand in their stead.
34:25. For he knoweth their works: and therefore he shall bring
night on them, and they shall be destroyed.
34:26. He hath struck them, as being wicked, in open sight.
34:27. Who as it were on purpose have revolted from him, and
would not understand all his ways:

 34:28. So that they caused the cry of the needy to come to him, and
he heard the voice of the poor.
34:29. For when he granteth peace, who is there that can condemn?
When he hideth his countenance, who is there that can behold him,
whether it regard nations, or all men?
34:30. Who maketh a man that is a hypocrite to reign for the sins of
the people?
34:31. Seeing then I have spoken of God, I will not hinder thee in thy
turn.
34:32. If I have erred, teach thou me: if I have spoken iniquity, I will
add no more.
34:33. Doth God require it of thee, because it hath displeased thee?
for thou begannest to speak, and not I: but if thou know any thing
better, speak.
34:34. Let men of understanding speak to me, and let a wise man
hearken to me.
34:35. But Job hath spoken foolishly, and his words sound not
discipline.
34:36. My father, let Job be tried even to the end: cease not from the
man of iniquity.
34:37. Because he addeth blasphemy upon his sins, let him be tied
fast in the mean time amongst us: and then let him provoke God to
judgment with his speeches.
Job Chapter 35

Eliu declares that the good or evil done by man cannot reach God.
35:1. Moreover Eliu spoke these words:
35:2. Doth thy thought seem right to thee, that thou shouldst say: I
am more just than God?
35:3. For thou saidst: That which is right doth not please thee: or
what will it pro it thee if I sin?

 35:4. Therefore I will answer thy words, and thy friends with thee.
35:5. Look up to heaven and see, and behold the sky, that it is higher
than thee.
35:6. If thou sin, what shalt thou hurt him? and if thy iniquities be
multiplied, what shalt thou do against him?
35:7. And if thou do justly, what shalt thou give him, or what shall
he receive of thy hand?
35:8. Thy wickedness may hurt a man that is like thee: and thy
justice may help the son of man.
35:9. By reason of the multitude of oppressors they shall cry out:
and shall wail for the violence of the arm of tyrants.
35:10. And he hath not said: Where is God, who made me, who hath
given songs in the night?
35:11. Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and
instructeth us more than the fowls of the air.
35:12. There shall they cry, and he will not hear, because of the
pride of evil men.
35:13. God therefore will not hear in vain, and the Almighty will
look into the causes of every one.
35:14. Yea, when thou shalt say: He considereth not: be judged
before him, and expect him.
35:15. For he doth not now bring on his fury, neither doth he
revenge wickedness exceedingly.
35:16. Therefore Job openeth his mouth in vain, and multiplieth
words without knowledge.
Job Chapter 36

Eliu proceeds in setting forth the justice and power of God.

36:1. Eliu also proceeded, and said:
36:2. Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee: for I have yet somewhat
to speak in God’s behalf.

 36:3. I will repeat my knowledge from the beginning, and I will

prove my Maker just.
36:4. For indeed my words are without a lie, and perfect knowledge
shall be proved to thee.
36:5. God doth not cast away the mighty, whereas he himself also is
mighty.
36:6. But he saveth not the wicked, and he giveth judgment to the
poor.
36:7. He will not take away his eyes from the just, and he placeth
kings on the throne for ever, and they are exalted.
36:8. And if they shall be in chains, and be bound with the cords of
poverty:
36:9. He shall shew them their works, and their wicked deeds,
because they have been violent.
36:10. He also shall open their ear, to correct them: and shall speak,
that they may return from iniquity.
36:11. If they shall hear and observe, they shall accomplish their
days in good, and their years in glory.
36:12. But if they hear not, they shall pass by the sword, and shall be
consumed in folly.
36:13. Dissemblers and crafty men prove the wrath of God, neither
shall they cry when they are bound.
36:14. Their soul shall die in a storm, and their life among the
effeminate.
36:15. He shall deliver the poor out of his distress, and shall open his
ear in af liction.
36:16. Therefore he shall set thee at large out of the narrow mouth,
and which hath no foundation under it: and the rest of thy table shall
be full of fatness.

 Out of the narrow mouth.... That is, out of hell, whose entrance is narrow, and its
depth bottomless; but iguratively meant here, that is, from his miseries and
calamity to be restored to his former state of happiness.
36:17. Thy cause hath been judged as that of the wicked, cause and
judgment thou shalt recover.
36:18. Therefore let not anger overcome thee to oppress any man:
neither let multitude of gifts turn thee aside.
36:19. Lay down thy greatness without tribulation, and all the
mighty of strength.
36:20. Prolong not the night that people may come up for them.
36:21. Beware thou turn not aside to iniquity: for this thou hast
begun to follow after misery.
For this thou hast begun to follow after misery.... Eliu charges Job, that
notwithstanding his misery, he does not fear God as he ought: but in his
judgment, falls into iniquity.
36:22. Behold, God is high in his strength, and none is like him
among the lawgivers.
36:23. Who can search out his ways? or who can say to him: Thou
hast wrought iniquity?
36:24. Remember that thou knowest not his work, concerning which
men have sung.
36:25. All men see him, every one beholdeth afar off.
36:26. Behold, God is great, exceeding our knowledge: the number of
his years is inestimable.
36:27. He lifteth up the drops of rain, and poureth out showers like
loods:
36:28. Which low from the clouds that cover all above.
36:29. If he will spread out clouds as his tent,
36:30. And lighten with his light from above, he shall cover also the
ends of the sea.
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 36:31. For by these he judgeth people, and giveth food to many

mortals.
36:32. In his hands he hideth the light, and commandeth it to come
again.
36:33. He sheweth his friend concerning it, that it is his possession,
and that he may come up to it.
Job Chapter 37

Eliu goes on in his discourse, shewing God’s wisdom and power, by his
wonderful works.
37:1. At this my heart trembleth, and is moved out of its place.
37:2. Hear ye attentively the terror of his voice, and the sound that
cometh out of his mouth.
37:3. He beholdeth under all the heavens, and his light is upon the
ends of the earth.
37:4. After it a noise shall roar, he shall thunder with the voice of his
majesty, and shall not be found out, when his voice shall be heard.
37:5. God shall thunder wonderfully with his voice, he that doth
great and unsearchable things.
37:6. He commandeth the snow to go down upon the earth, and the
winter rain, and the shower of his strength.
37:7. He sealeth up the hand of all men, that every one may know
his works.
He sealeth up, etc.... When he sends those showers of his strength, that is, those
storms of rain, he seals up, that is, he shuts up the hands of men from their usual
works abroad, and con ines them within doors, to consider his works; or to
forecast their works, that is, what they themselves are to do.
37:8. Then the beast shall go into his covert, and shall abide in his
den.
37:9. Out of the inner parts shall a tempest come, and cold out of the
north.

 37:10. When God bloweth there cometh frost, and again the waters
are poured out abundantly.
37:11. Corn desireth clouds, and the clouds spread their light:
37:12. Which go round about, whithersoever the will of him that
governeth them shall lead them, to whatsoever he shall command
them upon the face of the whole earth:
37:13. Whether in one tribe, or in his own land, or in what place
soever of his mercy he shall command them to be found.
37:14. Hearken to these things, Job: Stand, and consider the
wondrous works of God.
37:15. Dost thou know when God commanded the rains, to shew his
light of his clouds?
37:16. Knowest thou the great paths of the clouds, and the perfect
knowledges?
37:17. Are not thy garments hot, when the south wind blows upon
the earth?
37:18. Thou perhaps hast made the heavens with him, which are
most strong, as if they were of molten brass.
37:19. Shew us what we may say to him: for we are wrapped up in
darkness.
37:20. Who shall tell him the things I speak? even if a man shall
speak, he shall be swallowed up.
He shall be swallowed up.... All that man can say when he speaks of God, is so
little and inconsiderable in comparison with the subject, that man is lost, and as
it were swallowed up in so immense an ocean.
37:21. But now they see not the light: the air on a sudden shall be
thickened into clouds, and the wind shall pass and drive them away.
37:22. Cold cometh out of the north, and to God praise with fear.
37:23. We cannot ind him worthily: he is great in strength, and in
judgment, and in justice, and he is ineffable.

 37:24. Therefore men shall fear him, and all that seem to themselves
to be wise, shall not dare to behold him.
Job Chapter 38

God interposes and shews from the things he hath made, that man
cannot comprehend his power and wisdom.
38:1. Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said:
The Lord. That is, an angel speaking in the name of the Lord.
38:2. Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskilful words?
38:3. Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and answer thou
me.
38:4. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? tell
me if thou hast understanding.
38:5. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest or who
hath stretched the line upon it?
38:6. Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner
stone thereof,
38:7. When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons
of God made a joyful melody?
38:8. Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as issuing
out of the womb:
38:9. When I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in a
mist as in swaddling bands?
38:10. I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors:
38:11. And I said: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further,
and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves.
38:12. Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew
the dawning of the day its place?
38:13. And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking
them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it?

 38:14. The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a

garment.
38:15. From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high
arm shall be broken.
38:16. Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in
the lowest parts of the deep?
38:17. Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou
seen the darksome doors?
38:18. Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou
knowest all things?
38:19. Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the place
of darkness?
38:20. That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and
understand the paths of the house thereof.
38:21. Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born? and didst
thou know the number of thy days?
38:22. Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or hast
thou beheld the treasures of the hail:
38:23. Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the
day of battle and war?
38:24. By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the
earth?
38:25. Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy
thunder:
38:26. That it should rain on the earth without man in the
wilderness, where no mortal dwelleth:
38:27. That it should ill the desert and desolate land, and should
bring forth green grass?
38:28. Who is the father of rain? or who begot the drops of dew?
38:29. Out of whose womb came the ice? and the frost from heaven
who hath gendered it?

 38:30. The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of the
deep is congealed.
38:31. Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars the
Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of Arcturus?
Pleiades.... Hebrew, Cimah. A cluster of seven stars in the constellation Taurus or
the Bull. Arcturus, a bright star in the constellation Bootes. The Hebrew name
Cesil, is variously interpreted; by some, Orion; by others, the Great Bear is
understood.
38:32. Canst thou bring forth the day star in its time, and make the
evening star to rise upon the children of the earth?
38:33. Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down
the reason thereof on the earth?
38:34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an abundance
of waters may cover thee?
38:35. Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they
return and say to thee: Here we are?
38:36. Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the
cock understanding?
Understanding.... That instinct by which he distinguishes the times of crowing in
the night.
38:37. Who can declare the order of the heavens, or who can make
the harmony of heaven to sleep?
38:38. When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods
fastened together?
38:39. Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the
appetite of her whelps,
38:40. When they couch in the dens and lie in wait in holes?
38:41. Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry
to God, wandering about, because they have no meat?

 Job Chapter 39

The wonders of the power and providence of God in many of his

creatures.
39:1. Knowest thou the time when the wild goats bring forth among
the rocks, or hast thou observed the hinds when they fawn?
39:2. Hast thou numbered the months of their conceiving, or
knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
39:3. They bow themselves to bring forth young, and they cast them,
and send forth roarings.
39:4. Their young are weaned and go to feed: they go forth, and
return not to them.
39:5. Who hath sent out the wild ass free, and who hath loosed his
bonds?
39:6. To whom I have given a house in the wilderness, and his
dwellings in the barren land.
39:7. He scorneth the multitude of the city, he heareth not the cry of
the driver.
39:8. He looketh round about the mountains of his pasture, and
seeketh for every green thing,
39:9. Shall the rhinoceros be willing to serve thee, or will he stay at
thy crib?
39:10. Canst thou bind the rhinoceros with thy thong to plough, or
will he break the clods of the valleys after thee?
39:11. Wilt thou have con idence in his great strength, and leave thy
labours to him?
39:12. Wilt thou trust him that he will render thee the seed, and
gather it into thy barn loor?
39:13. The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of
the hawk.

 39:14. When she leaveth her eggs on the earth, thou perhaps wilt
warm them in the dust.
39:15. She forgetteth that the foot may tread upon them, or that the
beasts of the ield may break them.
39:16. She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were
not hers, she hath laboured in vain, no fear constraining her.
39:17. For God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he given
her understanding.
39:18. When time shall be, she setteth up her wings on high: she
scorneth the horse and his rider.
39:19. Wilt thou give strength to the horse or clothe his neck with
neighing?
39:20. Wilt thou lift him up like the locusts? the glory of his nostrils
is terror.
39:21. He breaketh up the earth with his hoof, he pranceth boldly, he
goeth forward to meet armed men.
39:22. He despiseth fear, he turneth not his back to the sword.
39:23. Above him shall the quiver rattle, the spear and shield shall
glitter.
39:24. Chasing and raging he swalloweth the ground, neither doth
he make account when the noise of the trumpet soundeth.
39:25. When he heareth the trumpet he saith: Ha, ha: he smelleth
the battle afar off, the encouraging of the captains, and the shouting
of the army.
39:26. Doth the hawk wax feathered by thy wisdom, spreading her
wings to the south?
39:27. Will the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest
in high places?
39:28. She abideth among the rocks, and dwelleth among cragged
lints, and stony hills, where there is no access.
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 39:29. From thence she looketh for the prey, and her eyes behold
afar off.
39:30. Her young ones shall suck up blood: and wheresoever the
carcass shall be, she is immediately there.
39:31. And the Lord went on, and said to Job:
39:32. Shall he that contendeth with God be so easily silenced?
surely he that reproveth God, ought to answer him.
39:33. Then Job answered the Lord, and said:
39:34. What can I answer, who hath spoken inconsiderately? I will
lay my hand upon my mouth.
Spoken inconsiderately.... If we discuss all Job’s words (saith St. Gregory), we
shall ind nothing impiously spoken; as may be gathered from the words of the
Lord himself, chap. 42, ver. 7, 8; but what was reprehensible in him, was the
manner of expressing himself at times, speaking too much of his own af liction,
and too little of God’s goodness towards him, which here he acknowledges as
inconsiderate.
39:35. One thing I have spoken, which I wish I had not said: and
another, to which I will add no more.
Job Chapter 40

Of the power of God in the behemoth and the leviathan.

40:1. And the Lord answering Job out of the whirlwind, said:
40:2. Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and do thou tell
me.
40:3. Wilt thou make void my judgment: and condemn me, that thou
mayst be justi ied?
40:4. And hast thou an arm like God, and canst thou thunder with a
voice like him?
40:5. Clothe thyself with beauty, and set thyself up on high, and be
glorious, and put on goodly garments.
40:6. Scatter the proud in thy indignation, and behold every
arrogant man, and humble him.

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 40:7. Look on all that are proud, and confound them, and crush the
wicked in their place,
40:8. Hide them in the dust together, and plunge their faces into the
pit.
40:9. Then I will confess that thy right hand is able to save thee.
40:10. Behold behemoth whom I made with thee, he eateth grass
like an ox.
Behemoth.... In Hebrew, behema, which signi ies in general an animal; but many
authors explain, that here it is put for the elephant.
40:11. His strength is in his loins, and his force in the navel of his
belly.
40:12. He setteth up his tail like a cedar, the sinews of his testicles
are wrapped together.
40:13. His bones are like pipes of brass, his gristle like plates of iron.
40:14. He is the beginning of the ways of God, who made him, he will
apply his sword.
He will apply his sword.... This text is variously explained: some explain the
sword, the horn given to the animal for his defence: others, the power that God
hath given to the animal for his defence: others, the power that God hath given
to man to slay him, notwithstanding his great size and strength.
40:15. To him the mountains bring forth grass: there all the beasts
of the ield shall play.
40:16. He sleepeth under the shadow, in the covert of the reed, and
in moist places.
40:17. The shades cover his shadow, the willows of the brook shall
compass him about.
40:18. Behold, he will drink up a river, and not wonder: and he
trusteth that the Jordan may run into his mouth.
40:19. In his eyes as with a hook he shall take him, and bore through
his nostrils with stakes.

 40:20. Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a hook, or canst thou
tie his tongue with a cord?
Leviathan.... The whale or some sea monster.
40:21. Canst thou put a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw
with a buckle?
40:22. Will he make many supplications to thee, or speak soft words
to thee?
40:23. Will he make a covenant with thee, and wilt thou take him to
be a servant for ever,
40:24. Shalt thou play with him as with a bird, or tie him up for thy
handmaids?
40:25. Shall friends cut him in pieces, shall merchants divide him?
40:26. Wilt thou ill nets with his skin, and the cabins of ishes with
his head?
40:27. Lay thy hand upon him: remember the battle, and speak no
more.
40:28. Behold his hope shall fail him, and in the sight of all he shall
be cast down.
Job Chapter 41

A further description of the leviathan.

41:1. I will not stir him up, like one that is cruel, for who can resist
my countenance?
41:2. Who hath given me before that I should repay him? All things
that are under heaven are mine.
41:3. I will not spare him, nor his mighty words, and framed to make
supplication.
41:4. Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can go into
the midst of his mouth?
41:5. Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible
round about.

 41:6. His body is like molten shields, shut close up with scales
pressing upon one another.
41:7. One is joined to another, and not so much as any air can come
between them:
41:8. They stick one to another and they hold one another fast, and
shall not be separated.
41:9. His sneezing is like the shining of ire, and his eyes like the
eyelids of the morning.
41:10. Out of his mouth go forth lamps, like torches of lighted ire.
41:11. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, like that of a pot heated and
boiling.
41:12. His breath kindleth coals, and a lame cometh forth out of his
mouth.
41:13. In his neck strength shall dwell, and want goeth before his
face.
41:14. The members of his lesh cleave one to another: he shall send
lightnings against him, and they shall not be carried to another place.
41:15. His heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as irm as a smith’s
anvil,
41:16. When he shall raise him up, the angels shall fear, and being
affrighted shall purify themselves.
Angels.... Elim, Hebrew: which signi ies here, the mighty, the most valiant, shall
fear this monstrous ish, and in their fear shall seek to be puri ied.
41:17. When a sword shall lay at him, it shall not be able to hold,
nor a spear, nor a breastplate.
41:18. For he shall esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.
41:19. The archer shall not put him to light, the stones of the sling
are to him like stubble.
41:20. As stubble will he esteem the hammer, and he will laugh him
to scorn who shaketh the spear.

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 41:21. The beams of the sun shall be under him, and he shall strew
gold under him like mire.
Under him.... He shall not value the beams of the sun; and gold to him shall be
like mire.
41:22. He shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot, and shall make
it as when ointments boil.
41:23. A path shall shine after him, he shall esteem the deep as
growing old.
The deep as growing old.... Growing hoary, as it were with the froth which he
leaves behind him.
41:24. There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him
who was made to fear no one,
41:25. He beholdeth every high thing, he is king over all the children
of pride.
He is king, etc.... He is superior in strength to all that are great and strong
amongst living creatures: mystically it is understood of the devil, who is king
over all the proud.
Job Chapter 42

Job submits himself. God pronounces in his favour. Job offers sacri ice
for his friends. He is blessed with riches and children, and dies happily,
42:1. Then Job answered the Lord, and said:
42:2. I know that thou canst do all things, and no thought is hid
from thee.
42:3. Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore
I have spoken unwisely, and things that above measure exceeded my
knowledge.
42:4. Hear, and I will speak: I will ask thee, and do thou tell me.
42:5. With the hearing of the ear, I have heard thee, but now my eye
seeth thee.

 42:6. Therefore I reprehend myself, and do penance in dust and

ashes.
42:7. And after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, he said to
Eliphaz the Themanite: My wrath is kindled against thee, and against
thy two friends, because you have not spoken the thing that is right
before me, as my servant Job hath.
42:8. Take unto you therefore seven oxen and seven rams, and go to
my servant Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust, and my servant
Job shall pray for you: his face I will accept, that folly be not imputed
to you: for you have not spoken right things before me, as my servant
Job hath.
42:9. So Eliphaz the Themanite, and Baldad the Suhite, and Sophar
the Naamathite went, and did as the Lord had spoken to them, and the
Lord accepted the face of Job.
42:10. The Lord also was turned at the penance of Job, when he
prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had
before.
42:11. And all his brethren came to him, and all his sisters, and all
that knew him before, and they ate bread with him in his house: and
bemoaned him, and comforted him upon all the evil that God had
brought upon him. And every man gave him one ewe, and one earring
of gold.
42:12. And the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his
beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand
camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.
42:13. And he had seven sons, and three daughters.
42:14. And he called the name of one Dies, and the name of the
second Cassia, and the name of the third Cornustibii.
42:15. And there were not found in all the earth women so beautiful
as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among
their brethren.

 42:16. And Job lived after these things, a hundred and forty years,
and he saw his children, and his children’s children, unto the fourth
generation, and he died an old man, and full of days.

THE BOOK OF PSALMS

The psalms are called by the Hebrews TEHILLIM, that is, Hymns of
Praise. The author, of a great part of them at least, was king David:
but many are of opinion that some of them were made by Asaph, and
others whose names are pre ixed in the titles.
Psalms Chapter 1

Beatus vir.
The happiness of the just and the evil state of the wicked.
1:1. Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of
pestilence:
1:2. But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall
meditate day and night.
1:3. And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running
waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season. And his leaf
shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.
1:4. Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind
driveth from the face of the earth.
1:5. Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor
sinners in the council of the just.
1:6. For the Lord knoweth the way of the just: and the way of the
wicked shall perish.

 Psalms Chapter 2

Quare fremuerunt.
The vain efforts of persecutors against Christ and his church.
2:1. Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain
things?
2:2. The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together,
against the Lord, and against his Christ.
2:3. Let us break their bonds asunder: and let us cast away their
yoke from us.
2:4. He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord
shall deride them.
2:5. Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and trouble them in
his rage.
2:6. But I am appointed king by him over Sion, his holy mountain,
preaching his commandment.
2:7. The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I
begotten thee.
2:8. Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance,
and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.
2:9. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and shalt break them in
pieces like a potter’s vessel.
2:10. And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you that
judge the earth.
2:11. Serve ye the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto him with
trembling.
2:12. Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and you
perish from the just way.
2:13. When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all
they that trust in him.

 Psalms Chapter 3

Domine, quid multiplicati.

The prophet’s danger and delivery from his son Absalom: mystically,
the passion and resurrection of Christ.
3:1. The psalm of David when he led from the face of his son
Absalom.
3:2. Why, O Lord, are they multipied that af lict me? many are they
who rise up against me.
3:3. Many say to my soul: There is no salvation for him in his God.
3:4. But thou, O Lord, art my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of
my head.
3:5. I have cried to the Lord with my voice: and he hath heard me
from his holy hill.
3:6. I have slept and have taken my rest: and I have risen up,
because the Lord hath protected me.
3:7. I will not fear thousands of the people surrounding me: arise, O
Lord; save me, O my God.
3:8. For thou hast struck all them who are my adversaries without
cause: thou hast broken the teeth of sinners.
3:9. Salvation is of the Lord: and thy blessing is upon thy people.
Psalms Chapter 4

Cum invocarem.
The prophet teacheth us to lee to God in tribulation, with con idence
in him.
4:1. Unto the end, in verses. A psalm for David.
Unto the end.... Or, as St. Jerome renders it, victori, to him that overcometh:
which some understand of the chief musician; to whom they suppose the psalms,
which bear that title, were given to be sung: we rather understand the psalms

 thus inscribed to refer to Christ, who is the end of the law, and the great
conqueror of death and hell, and to the New Testament.—Ibid. In verses, in
carminibus.... In the Hebrew, it is neghinoth, supposed by some to be a musical
instrument, with which this psalm was to be sung.—Ibid. For David, or to
David.... That is, inspired to David himself, or to be sung.
4:2. When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me: when I
was in distress, thou hast enlarged me. Have mercy on me: and hear
my prayer.
4:3. O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? why do you
love vanity, and seek after lying?
4:4. Know ye also that the Lord hath made his holy one wonderful:
the Lord will hear me when I shall cry unto him.
4:5. Be ye angry, and sin not: the things you say in your hearts, be
sorry for them upon your beds.
4:6. Offer up the sacri ice of justice, and trust in the Lord: many say,
Who sheweth us good things?
4:7. The light of thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us: thou
hast given gladness in my heart.
4:8. By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil, they are multiplied.
4:9. In peace in the self same I will sleep, and I will rest:
4:10. For thou, O Lord, singularly hast settled me in hope.
Psalms Chapter 5

Verba mea auribul.

A prayer to God against the iniquities of men.
5:1. Unto the end, for her that obtaineth the inheritance. A psalm for
David.
For her that obtaineth the inheritance.... That is, for the church of Christ.
5:2. Give ear, O Lord, to my words, understand my cry.
5:3. Hearken to the voice of my prayer, O my King and my God.

 5:4. For to thee will I pray: O Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear
my voice.
5:5. In the morning I will stand before thee, and I will see: because
thou art not a God that willest iniquity.
5:6. Neither shall the wicked dwell near thee: nor shall the unjust
abide before thy eyes.
5:7. Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity: thou wilt destroy all
that speak a lie. The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor.
5:8. But as for me in the multitude of thy mercy, I will come into thy
house; I will worship towards thy holy temple, in thy fear.
5:9. Conduct me, O Lord, in thy justice: because of my enemies, direct
my way in thy sight.
5:10. For there is no truth in their mouth: their heart is vain.
5:11. Their throat is an open sepulchre: they dealt deceitfully with
their tongues: judge them, O God. Let them fall from their devices:
according to the multitude of their wickednesses cast them out: for
they have provoked thee, O Lord.
5:12. But let all them be glad that hope in thee: they shall rejoice for
ever, and thou shalt dwell in them. And all they that love thy name
shall glory in thee.
5:13. For thou wilt bless the just. O Lord, thou hast crowned us, as
with a shield of thy good will.
Psalms Chapter 6

Domine, ne in furore.
A prayer of a penitent sinner, under the scourge of God. The irst
penitential psalm.
6:1. Unto the end, in verses, a psalm for David, for the octave.
For the octave.... That is, to be sung on an instrument of eight strings. St.
Augustine understands it mystically, of the last resurrection, and the world to
come; which is, as it were, the octave, or eighth day, after the seven days of this

 mortal life: and for this octave, sinners must dispose themselves, like David, by
bewailing their sins, whilst they are here upon earth.
6:2. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation, nor chastise me in thy
wrath.
6:3. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak: heal me, O Lord, for
my bones are troubled.
6:4. And my soul is troubled exceedingly: but thou, O Lord, how
long?
6:5. Turn to me, O Lord, and deliver my soul: O save me for thy
mercy’s sake.
6:6. For there is no one in death, that is mindful of thee: and who
shall confess to thee in hell?
6:7. I have laboured in my groanings, every night I will wash my
bed: I will water my couch with my tears.
6:8. My eye is troubled through indignation: I have grown old
amongst all my enemies.
6:9. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity: for the Lord hath
heard the voice of my weeping.
6:10. The Lord hath heard my supplication: the Lord hath received
my prayer.
6:11. Let all my enemies be ashamed, and be very much troubled: let
them be turned back, and be ashamed very speedily.
Psalms Chapter 7

Domine, Deus meus.

David, trusting in the justice of his cause, prayeth for God’s help
against his enemies.
7:1. The psalm of David, which he sung to the Lord, for the words of
Chusi, the son of Jemini.
7:2. O Lord, my God, in thee have I put my trust; save me from all
them that persecute me, and deliver me.

 7:3. Lest at any time he seize upon my soul like a lion, while there is
no one to redeem me, nor to save.
7:4. O Lord, my God, if I have done this thing, if there be iniquity in
my hands:
7:5. If I have rendered to them that repaid me evils, let me
deservedly fall empty before my enemies.
7:6. Let the enemy pursue my soul, and take it, and tread down my
life, on the earth, and bring down my glory to the dust.
7:7. Rise up, O Lord, in thy anger: and be thou exalted in the borders
of my enemies. And arise, O Lord, my God, in the precept which thou
hast commanded:
7:8. And a congregation of people shall surround thee. And for their
sakes return thou on high.
7:9. The Lord judgeth the people. Judge me, O Lord, according to my
justice, and according to my innocence in me.
7:10. The wickedness of sinners shall be brought to nought; and
thou shalt direct the just: the searcher of hearts and reins is God.
7:11. Just is my help from the Lord; who saveth the upright of heart.
7:12. God is a just judge, strong and patient: is he angry every day?
7:13. Except you will be converted, he will brandish his sword; he
hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
7:14. And in it he hath prepared the instruments of death, he hath
made ready his arrows for them that burn.
For them that burn.... That is, against the persecutors of his saints.
7:15. Behold he hath been in labour with injustice: he hath
conceived sorrow, and brought forth iniquity.
7:16. He hath opened a pit and dug it: and he is fallen into the hole
he made.
7:17. His sorrow shall be turned on his own head: and his iniquity
shall come down upon his crown.

 7:18. I will give glory to the Lord according to his justice: and will
sing to the name of the Lord the most high.
Psalms Chapter 8

Domine, Dominus noster.

God is wonderful in his works; especially in mankind, singularly
exalted by the incarnation of Christ.
8:1. Unto the end, for the presses: a psalm for David.
The presses.... In Hebrew, Gittith, supposed to be a musical instrument.
8:2. O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth!
For thy magni icence is elevated above the heavens.
8:3. Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected
praise, because of thy enemies, that thou mayst destroy the enemy and
the avenger.
8:4. For I will behold thy heavens, the works of thy ingers: the moon
and the stars which thou hast founded.
8:5. What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man,
that thou visitest him?
8:6. Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast
crowned him with glory and honour:
8:7. And hast set him over the works of thy hands.
8:8. Thou hast subjected all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen:
moreover, the beasts also of the ields.
8:9. The birds of the air, and the ishes of the sea, that pass through
the paths of the sea.
8:10. O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole
earth!
Psalms Chapter 9

Con itebor tibi, Domine. The church praiseth God for his protection
against her enemies.
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 9:1. Unto the end, for the hidden things of the Son. A psalm for
David.
The hidden things of the Son.... The humility and sufferings of Christ, the Son of
God; and of good Christians, who are his sons by adoption; are called hidden
things, with regard to the children of this world, who know not the value and
merit of them.
9:2. I will give praise to thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: I will
relate all thy wonders.
9:3. I will be glad, and rejoice in thee: I will sing to thy name, O thou
most high.
9:4. When my enemy shall be turned back: they shall be weakened,
and perish before thy face.
9:5. For thou hast maintained my judgment and my cause: thou hast
sat on the throne, who judgest justice.
9:6. Thou hast rebuked the Gentiles, and the wicked one hath
perished; thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.
9:7. The swords of the enemy have failed unto the end: and their
cities thou hast destroyed. Their memory hath perished with a noise:
9:8. But the Lord remaineth for ever. He hath prepared his throne in
judgment:
9:9. And he shall judge the world in equity, he shall judge the people
in justice.
9:10. And the Lord is become a refuge for the poor: a helper in due
time in tribulation.
9:11. And let them trust in thee who know thy name: for thou hast
not forsaken them that seek thee, O Lord.
9:12. Sing ye to the Lord, who dwelleth in Sion: declare his ways
among the Gentiles:
9:13. For requiring their blood, he hath remembered them: he hath
not forgotten the cry of the poor.

 9:14. Have mercy on me, O Lord: see my humiliation which I suffer

from my enemies.
9:15. Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death, that I may
declare all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion.
9:16. I will rejoice in thy salvation: the Gentiles have stuck fast in the
destruction which they prepared. Their foot hath been taken in the
very snare which they hid.
9:17. The Lord shall be known when he executeth judgments: the
sinner hath been caught in the works of his own hands.
9:18. The wicked shall be turned into hell, all the nations that forget
God.
9:19. For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end: the
patience of the poor shall not perish for ever.
9:20. Arise, O Lord, let not man be strengthened: let the Gentiles be
judged in thy sight.
9:21. Appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver over them: that the Gentiles may
know themselves to be but men.
Here the late Hebrew doctors divide this psalm into two, making ver. 22 the
beginning of Psalm 10. And again they join Psalms 146 and 147 into one, in
order that the whole number of psalms should not exceed 150. And in this
manner the psalms are numbered in the Protestant Bible.
Psalm 10 according to the Hebrews.
9a:1. Why, O Lord, hast thou retired afar off? why dost thou slight us
in our wants, in the time of trouble?
9a:2. Whilst the wicked man is proud, the poor is set on ire: they
are caught in the counsels which they devise.
9a:3. For the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul: and the
unjust man is blessed.
9a:4. The sinner hath provoked the Lord, according to the multitude
of his wrath, he will not seek him:

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 9a:5. God is not before his eyes: his ways are ilthy at all times. Thy
judgments are removed from his sight: he shall rule over all his
enemies.
9a:6. For he hath said in his heart: I shall not be moved from
generation to generation, and shall be without evil.
9a:7. His mouth is full of cursing, and of bitterness, and of deceit:
under his tongue are labour and sorrow.
9a:8. He sitteth in ambush with the rich, in private places, that he
may kill the innocent.
9a:9. His eyes are upon the poor man: he lieth in wait, in secret, like
a lion in his den. He lieth in ambush, that he may catch the poor man:
so catch the poor, whilst he draweth him to him.
9a:10. In his net he will bring him down, he will crouch and fall,
when he shall have power over the poor.
9a:11. For he hath said in his heart: God hath forgotten, he hath
turned away his face, not to see to the end.
9a:12. Arise, O Lord God, let thy hand be exalted: forget not the poor.
9a:13. Wherefore hath the wicked provoked God? for he hath said in
his heart: He will not require it.
9a:14. Thou seest it, for thou considerest labour and sorrow: that
thou mayst deliver them into thy hands. To thee is the poor man left:
thou wilt be a helper to the orphan.
9a:15. Break thou the arm of the sinner and of the malignant: his
sin shall be sought, and shall not be found.
9a:16. The Lord shall reign to eternity, yea, for ever and ever: ye
Gentiles shall perish from his land.
9a:17. The Lord hath heard the desire of the poor: thy ear hath
heard the preparation of their heart.
9a:18. To judge for the fatherless and for the humble, that man may
no more presume to magnify himself upon earth.

 Psalms Chapter 10

In Domino con ido.

The just man’s con idence in God in the midst of persecutions.
10:1. Unto the end. A psalm to David.
10:2. In the Lord I put my trust: how then do you say to my soul: Get
thee away from hence to the mountain, like a sparrow.
10:3. For, lo, the wicked have bent their bow: they have prepared
their arrows in the quiver, to shoot in the dark the upright of heart.
10:4. For they have destroyed the things which thou hast made: but
what has the just man done?
10:5. The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven.
His eyes look on the poor man: his eyelids examine the sons of men.
10:6. The Lord trieth the just and the wicked: but he that loveth
iniquity, hateth his own soul.
10:7. He shall rain snares upon sinners: ire and brimstone, and
storms of winds, shall be the portion of their cup.
10:8. For the Lord is just, and hath loved justice: his countenance
hath beheld righteousness.
Psalms Chapter 11

Salvum me fac.
The prophet calls for God’s help against the wicked.
11:1. Unto the end: for the octave, a psalm for David.
11:2. Save me, O Lord, for there is now no saint: truths are decayed
from among the children of men.
11:3. They have spoken vain things, every one to his neighbour: with
deceitful lips, and with a double heart have they spoken.
11:4. May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips, and the tongue that
speaketh proud things.
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 11:5. Who have said: We will magnify our tongue: our lips are our
own: who is Lord over us?
11:6. By reason of the misery of the needy, and the groans of the
poor, now will I arise, saith the Lord. I will set him in safety: I will deal
con idently in his regard.
11:7. The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried by the
ire, purged from the earth, re ined seven times.
11:8. Thou, O Lord, wilt preserve us: and keep us from this
generation for ever.
11:9. The wicked walk round about: according to thy highness, thou
hast multiplied the children of men.
Psalms Chapter 12

Usquequo, Domine.
A prayer in tribulation.
12:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David. How long, O Lord, wilt thou
forget me unto the end? how long dost thou turn away thy face from
me?
12:2. How long shall I take counsels in my soul, sorrow in my heart
all the day?
12:3. How long shall my enemy be exalted over Me?
12:4. Consider, and hear me, O Lord, my God. Enlighten my eyes, that
I never sleep in death:
12:5. Lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him.
They that trouble me, will rejoice when I am moved:
12:6. But I have trusted in thy mercy. My heart shall rejoice in thy
salvation: I will sing to the Lord, who giveth me good things: yea, I will
sing to the name of the Lord, the most high.
Psalms Chapter 13

Dixit insipiens.
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The general corruption of man before our redemption by Christ.

13:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David. The fool hath said in his
heart: There is no God. They are corrupt, and are become abominable
in their ways: there is none that doth good, no not one.
13:2. The Lord hath looked down from heaven upon the children of
men, to see if there be any that understand and seek God.
13:3. They are all gone aside, they are become unpro itable
together: there is none that doth good: no not one. Their throat is an
open sepulchre; with their tongues they acted deceitfully: the poison of
asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness;
their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and unhappiness in their
ways; and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of
God before their eyes.
13:4. Shall not all they know that work iniquity, who devour my
people as they eat bread?
13:5. They have not called upon the Lord: there have they trembled
for fear, where there was no fear.
13:6. For the Lord is in the just generation: you have confounded the
counsel of the poor man; but the Lord is his hope.
13:7. Who shall give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? when the
Lord shall have turned away the captivity of his people, Jacob shall
rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Psalms Chapter 14

Domine, quis habitabit.

What kind of men shall dwell in the heavenly Sion.
14:1. A psalm for David. Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? or
who shall rest in thy holy hill?
14:2. He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:

 14:3. He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit
in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a
reproach against his neighbours.
14:4. In his sight the malignant is brought to nothing: but he
glori ieth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his neighbour,
and deceiveth not;
14:5. He that hath not put out his money to usury, nor taken bribes
against the innocent: He that doth these things, shall not be moved for
ever.
Psalms Chapter 15

Conserva me, Domine.

Christ’s future victory and triumph over the world and death.
15:1. The inscription of a title to David himself. Preserve me, O Lord,
for I have put my trust in thee.
The inscription of a title.... That is, of a pillar or monument, staylographia: which
is as much as to say, that this psalm is most worthy to be engraved on an
everlasting monument.
15:2. I have said to the Lord, thou art my God, for thou hast no need
of my goods.
15:3. To the saints, who are in his land, he hath made wonderful all
my desires in them.
15:4. Their in irmities were multiplied: afterwards they made haste.
I will not gather together their meetings for bloodofferings: nor will I
be mindful of their names by my lips.
15:5. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: it is
thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me.
15:6. The lines are fallen unto me in goodly places: for my
inheritance is goodly to me.
15:7. I will bless the Lord, who hath given me understanding:
moreover, my reins also have corrected me even till night.

 15:8. I set the Lord always in my sight: for he is at my right hand,

that I be not moved.
15:9. Therefore my heart hath been glad, and my tongue hath
rejoiced: moreover, my lesh also shall rest in hope.
15:10. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; nor wilt thou give
thy holy one to see corruption.
15:11. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt ill
me with joy with thy countenance: at thy right hand are delights even
to the end.
Psalms Chapter 16

Exaudi, Domine, justitiam.

A just man’s prayer in tribulation against the malice of his enemy.
16:1. The prayer of David. Hear, O Lord, my justice: attend to my
supplication. Give ear unto my prayer, which proceedeth not from
deceitful lips.
16:2. Let my judgment come forth from thy countenance: let thy
eyes behold the things that are equitable.
16:3. Thou hast proved my heart, and visited it by night, thou hast
tried me by ire: and iniquity hath not been found in me.
16:4. That my mouth may not speak the works of men: for the sake
of the words of thy lips, I have kept hard ways.
16:5. Perfect thou my goings in thy paths: that my footsteps be not
moved.
16:6. I have cried to thee, for thou, O God, hast heard me: O incline
thy ear unto me, and hear my words.
16:7. Shew forth thy wonderful mercies; thou who savest them that
trust in thee.
16:8. From them that resist thy right hand keep me, as the apple of
thy eye. Protect me under the shadow of thy wings.

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 16:9. From the face of the wicked who have af licted me. My enemies
have surrounded my soul:
16:10. They have shut up their fat: their mouth hath spoken proudly.
Their fat.... That is, their bowels of compassion: for they have none for me.
16:11. They have cast me forth, and now they have surrounded me:
they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth.
16:12. They have taken me, as a lion prepared for the prey; and as a
young lion dwelling in secret places.
16:13. Arise, O Lord, disappoint him and supplant him; deliver my
soul from the wicked one; thy sword
16:14. From the enemies of thy hand. O Lord, divide them from the
few of the earth in their life: their belly is illed from thy hidden stores.
They are full of children: and they have left to their little ones the rest
of their substance.
Divide them from the few, etc.... That is, cut them off from the earth, and the few
tri ling things thereof; which they are so proud of, or divide them from the few;
that is, from thy elect, who are but few; that they may no longer have it in their
power to oppress them. It is not meant by way of a curse or imprecation; but, as
many other the like passages in the psalms, by way of a prediction, or prophecy
of what should come upon them, in punishment of their wickedness. Ibid. Thy
hidden stores.... Thy secret treasures, out of which thou furnishest those earthly
goods, which, with a bountiful hand thou hast distributed both to the good and
the bad.
16:15. But as for me, I will appear before thy sight in justice: I shall
be satis ied when thy glory shall appear.
Psalms Chapter 17

Diligam te, Domine.

David’s thanks to God for his delivery from all his enemies.
17:1. Unto the end, for David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke to
the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered
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 him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: and
he said:
17:2. I will love thee, O Lord, my strength:
17:3. The Lord is my irmament, my refuge, and my deliverer. My
God is my helper, and in him will I put my trust. My protector, and the
horn of my salvation, and my support.
17:4. Praising, I will call upon the Lord: and I shall be saved from my
enemies.
17:5. The sorrows of death surrounded me: and the torrents of
iniquity troubled me.
17:6. The sorrows of hell encompassed me: and the snares of death
prevented me.
17:7. In my af liction I called upon the Lord, and I cried to my God:
And he heard my voice from his holy temple: and my cry before him
came into his ears.
17:8. The earth shook and trembled: the foundations of the
mountains were troubled and were moved, because he was angry with
them.
17:9. There went up a smoke in his wrath: and a ire lamed from his
face: coals were kindled by it.
17:10. He bowed the heavens, and came down, and darkness was
under his feet.
17:11. And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he lew; he lew
upon the wings of the winds.
17:12. And he made darkness his covert, his pavilion round about
him: dark waters in the clouds of the air.
17:13. At the brightness that was before him the clouds passed, hail
and coals of ire.
17:14. And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Highest gave
his voice: hail and coals of ire.

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 17:15. And he sent forth his arrows, and he scattered them: he
multiplied lightnings, and troubled them.
17:16. Then the fountains of waters appeared, and the foundations
of the world were discovered: At thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the
spirit of thy wrath.
17:17. He sent from on high, and took me: and received me out of
many waters.
17:18. He delivered me from my strongest enemies, and from them
that hated me: for they were too strong for me.
17:19. They prevented me in the day of my af liction: and the Lord
became my protector.
17:20. And he brought me forth into a large place: he saved me,
because he was well pleased with me.
17:21. And the Lord will reward me according to my justice; and will
repay me according to the cleanness of my hands:
17:22. Because I have kept the ways of the Lord; and have not done
wickedly against my God.
17:23. For all his judgments are in my sight: and his justices I have
not put away from me.
17:24. And I shall be spotless with him: and shall keep myself from
my iniquity.
17:25. And the Lord will reward me according to my justice: and
according to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes.
17:26. With the holy thou wilt be holy; and with the innocent man
thou wilt be innocent:
17:27. And with the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse
thou wilt be perverted.
17:28. For thou wilt save the humble people; but wilt bring down
the eyes of the proud.
17:29. For thou lightest my lamp, O Lord: O my God, enlighten my
darkness.

 17:30. For by thee I shall be delivered from temptation; and through

my God I shall go over a wall.
17:31. As for my God, his way is unde iled: the words of the Lord are
ire-tried: he is the protector of all that trust in him.
17:32. For who is God but the Lord? or who is God but our God?
17:33. God, who hath girt me with strength; and made my way
blameless.
17:34. Who hath made my feet like the feet of harts: and who setteth
me upon high places.
17:35. Who teacheth my hands to war: and thou hast made my arms
like a brazen bow.
17:36. And thou hast given me the protection of thy salvation: and
thy right hand hath held me up: And thy discipline hath corrected me
unto the end: and thy discipline, the same shall teach me.
17:37. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; and my feet are not
weakened.
17:38. I will pursue after my enemies, and overtake them: and I will
not turn again till they are consumed.
17:39. I will break them, and they shall not be able to stand: they
shall fall under my feet.
17:40. And thou hast girded me with strength unto battle; and hast
subdued under me them that rose up against me.
17:41. And thou hast made my enemies turn their back upon me,
and hast destroyed them that hated me.
17:42. They cried, but there was none to save them, to the Lord: but
he heard them not.
17:43. And I shall beat them as small as the dust before the wind; I
shall bring them to nought, like the dirt in the streets.
17:44. Thou wilt deliver me from the contradictions of the people;
thou wilt make me head of the Gentiles.
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 17:45. A people which I knew not, hath served me: at the hearing of
the ear they have obeyed me.
17:46. The children that are strangers have lied to me, strange
children have faded away, and have halted from their paths.
17:47. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my God, and let the God of my
salvation be exalted.
17:48. O God, who avengest me, and subduest the people under me,
my deliverer from my enraged enemies.
17:49. And thou wilt lift me up above them that rise up against me:
from the unjust man thou wilt deliver me.
17:50. Therefore will I give glory to thee, O Lord, among the nations,
and I will sing a psalm to thy name.
17:51. Giving great deliverance to his king, and shewing mercy to
David, his anointed: and to his seed for ever.
Psalms Chapter 18

Coeli enarrant.
The works of God shew forth his glory: his law is greatly to be
esteemed and loved.
18:1. Unto the end. A Psalm for David.
18:2. The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the irmament
declareth the work of his hands.
18:3. Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night sheweth
knowledge.
18:4. There are no speeches nor languages, where their voices are
not heard.
18:5. Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words
unto the ends of the world.

 18:6. He hath set his tabernacle in the sun: and he as a bridegroom

coming out of his bridechamber, Hath rejoiced as a giant to run the
way:
18:7. His going out is from the end of heaven, And his circuit even to
the end thereof: and there is no one that can hide himself from his
heat.
18:8. The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls: the
testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones.
18:9. The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts: the
commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes.
18:10. The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for ever and ever: the
judgments of the Lord are true, justi ied in themselves.
18:11. More to be desired than gold and many precious stones: and
sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.
18:12. For thy servant keepeth them, and in keeping them there is a
great reward.
18:13. Who can understand sins? from my secret ones cleanse me, O
Lord:
18:14. And from those of others spare thy servant. If they shall have
no dominion over me, then shall I be without spot: and I shall be
cleansed from the greatest sin.
18:15. And the words of my mouth shall be such as may please: and
the meditation of my heart always in thy sight. O Lord, my helper and
my Redeemer.
Psalms Chapter 19

Exaudiat te Dominus.
A prayer for the king.
19:1. Unto the end. A psalm for David.
19:2. May the Lord hear thee in the day of tribulation: may the
name of the God of Jacob protect thee.

 19:3. May he send thee help from the sanctuary: and defend thee out
of Sion.
19:4. May he be mindful of all thy sacri ices: and may thy whole
burntoffering be made fat.
19:5. May he give thee according to thy own heart; and con irm all
thy counsels.
19:6. We will rejoice in thy salvation; and in the name of our God we
shall be exalted.
19:7. The Lord ful il all thy petitions: now have I known that the
Lord hath saved his anointed. He will hear him from his holy heaven:
the salvation of his right hand is in powers.
The salvation of his right hand is in powers.... That is, in strength. His right hand
is strong and mighty to save them that trust in him.
19:8. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call
upon the name of the Lord, our God.
19:9. They are bound, and have fallen: but we are risen, and are set
upright. O Lord, save the king: and hear us in the day that we shall call
upon thee.
Psalms Chapter 20

Domine, in virtute.
Praise to God for Christ’s exaltation after his passion.
20:1. Unto the end. A psalm for David.
20:2. In thy strength, O Lord, the king shall joy; and in thy salvation
he shall rejoice exceedingly.
20:3. Thou hast given him his heart’s desire: and hast not
withholden from him the will of his lips.
20:4. For thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness: thou
hast set on his head a crown of precious stones.
20:5. He asked life of thee: and thou hast given him length of days
for ever and ever.

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 20:6. His glory is great in thy salvation: glory and great beauty shalt
thou lay upon him.
20:7. For thou shalt give him to be a blessing for ever and ever: thou
shalt make him joyful in gladness with thy countenance.
20:8. For the king hopeth in the Lord: and through the mercy of the
most High he shall not be moved.
20:9. Let thy hand be found by all thy enemies: let thy right hand
ind out all them that hate thee.
20:10. Thou shalt make them as an oven of ire, in the time of thy
anger: the Lord shall trouble them in his wrath, and ire shall devour
them.
20:11. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth: and their seed
from among the children of men.
20:12. For they have intended evils against thee: they have devised
counsels which they have not been able to establish.
20:13. For thou shalt make them turn their back: in thy remnants
thou shalt prepare their face.
In thy remnants thou shalt prepare their face.... Or thou shalt set thy remnants
against their faces. That is, thou shalt make them see what punishments remain
for them hereafter from thy justice. Instead of remnants, St. Jerome renders it
funes, that is, cords or strings, viz., of the bow of divine justice, from which God
directs his arrows against the faces of his enemies.
20:14. Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thy own strength: we will sing and
praise thy power.
Psalms Chapter 21

Deus Deus meus.

Christ’s passion: and the conversion of the Gentiles.
21:1. Unto the end, for the morning protection, a psalm for David.
21:2. O God my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? Far
from my salvation are the words of my sins.
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 The words of my sins.... That is, the sins of the world, which I have taken upon
myself, cry out against me, and are the cause of all my sufferings.
21:3. O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by
night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me.
21:4. But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel.
21:5. In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou
hast delivered them.
21:6. They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee,
and were not confounded.
21:7. But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the
outcast of the people.
21:8. All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have
spoken with the lips, and wagged the head.
21:9. He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him,
seeing he delighteth in him.
21:10. For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my
hope from the breasts of my mother.
21:11. I was cast upon thee from the womb. From my mother’s
womb thou art my God,
21:12. Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is
none to help me.
21:13. Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me.
21:14.They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening
and roaring.
21:15. I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered.
My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels.
21:16. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath
cleaved to my jaws: and thou hast brought me down into the dust of
death.
21:17. For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the
malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet.

 21:18. They have numbered all my bones. And they have looked and
stared upon me.
21:19. They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my
vesture they cast lots.
21:20. But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me;
look towards my defence.
21:21. Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the
hand of the dog.
21:22. Save me from the lion’s mouth; and my lowness from the
horns of the unicorns.
21:23. I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the
church will I praise thee.
21:24. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob,
glorify him.
21:25. Let all the seed of Israel fear him: because he hath not
slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath
he turned away his face from me: and when I cried to him he heard
me.
21:26. With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows
in the sight of them that fear him.
21:27. The poor shall eat and shall be illed: and they shall praise
the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever.
21:28. All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be
converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore
in his sight.
21:29. For the kingdom is the Lord’s; and he shall have dominion
over the nations.
21:30. All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all
they that go down to the earth shall fall before him.
21:31. And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him.

 21:32. There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and

the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born,
which the Lord hath made.
Psalms Chapter 22

Dominus regit me.

God’s spiritual bene its to faithful souls.
22:1. A psalm for David. The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want
nothing.
Ruleth me.... In Hebrew, Is my shepherd, viz., to feed, guide, and govern me.
22:2. He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up,
on the water of refreshment:
22:3. He hath converted my soul. He hath led me on the paths of
justice, for his own name’s sake.
22:4. For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they have
comforted me.
22:5. Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that af lict
me. Thou hast anointed my head with oil; and my chalice which
inebriateth me, how goodly is it!
22:6. And thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days.
Psalms Chapter 23

Domini est terra.

Who are they that shall ascend to heaven: Christ’s triumphant
ascension thither.
23:1. On the irst day of the week, a psalm for David. The earth is the
Lord’s and the fulness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell
therein.

 23:2. For he hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it
upon the rivers.
23:3. Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall
stand in his holy place?
23:4. The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken
his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.
23:5. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God
his Saviour.
23:6. This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek
the face of the God of Jacob.
23:7. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal
gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.
23:8. Who is this King of Glory? the Lord who is strong and mighty:
the Lord mighty in battle.
23:9. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal
gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.
23:10. Who is this King of Glory? the Lord of hosts, he is the King of
Glory.
Psalms Chapter 24

Ad te, Domine, levavi.

A prayer for grace, mercy, and protection against our enemies.
24:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David. To thee, O Lord, have I lifted
up my soul.
24:2. In thee, O my God, I put my trust; let me not be ashamed.
24:3. Neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that
wait on thee shall be confounded.
24:4. Let all them be confounded that act unjust things without
cause. Shew, O Lord, thy ways to me, and teach me thy paths.

 24:5. Direct me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art God my
Saviour; and on thee have I waited all the day long.
24:6. Remember, O Lord, thy bowels of compassion; and thy mercies
that are from the beginning of the world.
24:7. The sins of my youth and my ignorances do not remember.
According to thy mercy remember thou me: for thy goodness’ sake, O
Lord.
24:8. The Lord is sweet and righteous: therefore he will give a law to
sinners in the way.
24:9. He will guide the mild in judgment: he will teach the meek his
ways.
24:10. All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, to them that
seek after his covenant and his testimonies.
24:11. For thy name’s sake, O Lord, thou wilt pardon my sin: for it is
great.
24:12. Who is the man that feareth the Lord? He hath appointed
him a law in the way he hath chosen.
24:13. His soul shall dwell in good things: and his seed shall inherit
the land.
24:14. The Lord is a irmament to them that fear him: and his
covenant shall be made manifest to them.
24:15. My eyes are ever towards the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet
out of the snare.
24:16. Look thou upon me, and have mercy on me; for I am alone
and poor.
24:17. The troubles of my heart are multiplied: deliver me from my
necessities.
24:18. See my abjection and my labour; and forgive me all my sins.
24:19. Consider my enemies for they are multiplied, and have hated
me with an unjust hatred.

 24:20. Keep thou my soul, and deliver me: I shall not be ashamed, for
I have hoped in thee.
24:21. The innocent and the upright have adhered to me: because I
have waited on thee.
24:22. Deliver Israel, O God, from all his tribulations.
Psalms Chapter 25

Judica me, Domine.

David’s prayer to God in his distress, to be delivered, that he may come
to worship him in his tabernacle.
25:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David. Judge me, O Lord, for I have
walked in my innocence: and I have put my trust in the Lord, and shall
not be weakened.
25:2. Prove me, O Lord, and try me; burn my reins and my heart.
25:3. For thy mercy is before my eyes; and I am well pleased with thy
truth.
25:4. I have not sat with the council of vanity: neither will I go in
with the doers of unjust things.
25:5. I have hated the assembly of the malignant; and with the
wicked I will not sit.
25:6. I will wash my hands among the innocent; and will compass
thy altar, O Lord:
25:7. That I may hear the voice of thy praise: and tell of all thy
wondrous works.
25:8. I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house; and the place
where thy glory dwelleth.
25:9. Take not away my soul, O God, with the wicked: nor my life
with bloody men:
25:10. In whose hands are iniquities: their right hand is illed with
gifts.

 25:11. But as for me, I have walked in my innocence: redeem me,

and have mercy on me.
25:12. My foot hath stood in the direct way: in the churches I will
bless thee, O Lord.
Psalms Chapter 26

Dominus illuminatio.
David’s faith and hope in God.
26:1. The psalm of David before he was anointed. The Lord is my
light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of
my life: of whom shall I be afraid?
26:2. Whilst the wicked draw near against me, to eat my lesh. My
enemies that trouble me, have themselves been weakened, and have
fallen.
26:3. If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart
shall not fear. If a battle should rise up against me, in this will I be
con ident.
26:4. One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That I may
see the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple.
26:5. For he hath hidden me in his tabernacle; in the day of evils, he
hath protected me in the secret place of his tabernacle.
26:6. He hath exalted me upon a rock: and now he hath lifted up my
head above my enemies. I have gone round, and have offered up in his
tabernacle a sacri ice of jubilation: I will sing, and recite a psalm to
the Lord.
26:7. Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to thee: have
mercy on me and hear me.
26:8. My heart hath said to thee: My face hath sought thee: thy face,
O Lord, will I still seek.
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 26:9. Turn not away thy face from me; decline not in thy wrath from
thy servant. Be thou my helper, forsake me not; do not thou despise
me, O God my Saviour.
26:10. For my father and my mother have left me: but the Lord hath
taken me up.
26:11. Set me, O Lord, a law in thy way, and guide me in the right
path, because of my enemies.
26:12. Deliver me not over to the will of them that trouble me; for
unjust witnesses have risen up against me; and iniquity hath lied to
itself.
26:13. I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the
living.
26:14. Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage,
and wait thou for the Lord.
Psalms Chapter 27

Ad te, Domine, clamabo.

David’s prayer that his enemies may not prevail over him.
27:1. A psalm for David himself. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord: O my
God, be not thou silent to me: lest if thou be silent to me, I become like
them that go down into the pit.
27:2. Hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication, when I pray to thee;
when I lift up my hands to thy holy temple.
27:3. Draw me not away together with the wicked; and with the
workers of iniquity destroy me not: Who speak peace with their
neighbour, but evils are in their hearts.
27:4. Give them according to their works, and according to the
wickedness of their inventions. According to the works of their hands
give thou to them: render to them their reward.

 27:5. Because they have not understood the works of the Lord, and
the operations of his hands: thou shalt destroy them, and shalt not
build them up.
27:6. Blessed be the Lord, for he hath heard the voice of my
supplication.
27:7. The Lord is my helper and my protector: in him hath my heart
con ided, and I have been helped. And my lesh hath lourished again,
and with my will I will give praise to him.
27:8. The Lord is the strength of his people, and the protector of the
salvation of his anointed.
27:9. Save, O Lord, thy people, and bless thy inheritance: and rule
them and exalt them for ever.
Psalms Chapter 28

Afferte Domino.
An invitation to glorify God, with a commemoration of his mighty
works.
28:1. A psalm for David, at the inishing of the tabernacle. Bring to
the Lord, O ye children of God: bring to the Lord the offspring of rams.
28:2. Bring to the Lord glory and honour: bring to the Lord glory to
his name: adore ye the Lord in his holy court.
28:3. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of majesty
hath thundered, The Lord is upon many waters.
28:4. The voice of the Lord is in power; the voice of the Lord in
magni icence.
28:5. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars: yea, the Lord shall
break the cedars of Libanus.
28:6. And shall reduce them to pieces, as a calf of Libanus, and as
the beloved son of unicorns.
Shall reduce them to pieces, etc.... In Hebrew, shall make them to skip like a calf.
The psalmist here describes the effects of thunder (which he calls the voice of the
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 Lord) which sometimes breaks down the tallest and strongest trees; and makes
their broken branches skip, etc. All this is to be understood mystically of the
powerful voice of God’s word in his church; which has broken the pride of the
great ones of this world, and brought many of them meekly and joyfully to
submit their necks to the sweet yoke of Christ.
28:7. The voice of the Lord divideth the lame of ire:
28:8. The voice of the Lord shaketh the desert: and the Lord shall
shake the desert of Cades.
28:9. The voice of the Lord prepareth the stags: and he will discover
the thick woods: and in his temple all shall speak his glory.
28:10. The Lord maketh the lood to dwell: and the Lord shall sit
king for ever. The Lord will give strength to his people: the Lord will
bless his people with peace.
Psalms Chapter 29

Exaltabo te, Domine.

David praiseth God for his deliverance, and his merciful dealings with
him.
29:1. A psalm of a canticle, at the dedication of David’s house.
29:2. I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: and hast not
made my enemies to rejoice over me.
29:3. O Lord my God, I have cried to thee, and thou hast healed me.
29:4. Thou hast brought forth, O Lord, my soul from hell: thou hast
saved me from them that go down into the pit.
29:5. Sing to the Lord, O ye his saints: and give praise to the memory
of his holiness.
29:6. For wrath is in his indignation; and life in his good will. In the
evening weeping shall have place, and in the morning gladness.
29:7. And in my abundance I said: I shall never be moved.
29:8. O Lord, in thy favour, thou gavest strength to my beauty. Thou
turnedst away thy face from me, and I became troubled.

 29:9. To thee, O Lord, will I cry: and I will make supplication to my

God.
29:10. What pro it is there in my blood, whilst I go down to
corruption? Shall dust confess to thee, or declare thy truth?
29:11. The Lord hath heard, and hath had mercy on me: the Lord
became my helper.
29:12. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into joy: thou hast cut
my sackcloth, and hast compassed me with gladness:
29:13. To the end that my glory may sing to thee, and I may not
regret: O Lord my God, I will give praise to thee for ever.
Psalms Chapter 30

In te, Domine, speravi.

A prayer of a just man under af liction.
30:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David, in an ecstasy.
30:2. In thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded:
deliver me in thy justice.
30:3. Bow down thy ear to me: make haste to deliver me. Be thou
unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me.
30:4. For thou art my strength and my refuge; and for thy name’s
sake thou wilt lead me, and nourish me.
30:5. Thou wilt bring me out of this snare, which they have hidden
for me: for thou art my protector.
30:6. Into thy hands I commend my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O
Lord, the God of truth.
30:7. Thou hast hated them that regard vanities, to no purpose. But
I have hoped in the Lord:
30:8. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy. For thou hast regarded
my humility, thou hast saved my soul out of distresses.

 30:9. And thou hast not shut me up in the hands of the enemy: thou
hast set my feet in a spacious place.
30:10. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am af licted: my eye is
troubled with wrath, my soul, and my belly:
30:11. For my life is wasted with grief: and my years in sighs. My
strength is weakened through poverty and my bones are disturbed.
30:12. I am become a reproach among all my enemies, and very
much to my neighbours; and a fear to my acquaintance. They that saw
me without led from me.
30:13. I am forgotten as one dead from the heart. I am become as a
vessel that is destroyed.
30:14. For I have heard the blame of many that dwell round about.
While they assembled together against me, they consulted to take
away my life.
30:15. But I have put my trust in thee, O Lord: I said: Thou art my
God.
30:16. My lots are in thy hands. Deliver me out of the hands of my
enemies; and from them that persecute me.
30:17. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; save me in thy
mercy.
30:18. Let me not be confounded, O Lord, for I have called upon thee.
Let the wicked be ashamed, and be brought down to hell.
30:19. Let deceitful lips be made dumb. Which speak iniquity
against the just, with pride and abuse.
30:20. O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which
thou hast hidden for them that fear thee! Which thou hast wrought for
them that hope in thee, in the sight of the sons of men.
30:21. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy face, from the
disturbance of men. Thou shalt protect them in thy tabernacle from
the contradiction of tongues.

 30:22. Blessed be the Lord, for he hath shewn his wonderful mercy
to me in a forti ied city.
30:23. But I said in the excess of my mind: I am cast away from
before thy eyes. Therefore thou hast heard the voice of my prayer,
when I cried to thee.
30:24. O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord will require
truth, and will repay them abundantly that act proudly.
30:25. Do ye manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, all ye
that hope in the Lord.
Psalms Chapter 31

Beati quorum.
The second penitential psalm.
31:1. To David himself, understanding. Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
31:2. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin, and
in whose spirit there is no guile.
31:3. Because I was silent my bones grew old; whilst I cried out all
the day long.
Because I was silent, etc.... That is, whilst I kept silence, by concealing, or refusing
to confess my sins, thy hand was heavy upon me, etc.
31:4. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: I am turned in
my anguish, whilst the thorn is fastened.
I am turned, etc.... That is, I turn and roll about in my bed to seek for ease in my
pain whilst the thorn of thy justice pierces my lesh, and sticks fast in me. Or, I am
turned: that is, I am converted to thee, my God, by being brought to a better
understanding by thy chastisements. In the Hebrew it is, my moisture is turned
into the droughts of the summer.
31:5. I have acknowledged my sin to thee, and my injustice I have
not concealed. I said I will confess against my self my injustice to the
Lord: and thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sin.

 31:6. For this shall every one that is holy pray to thee in a
seasonable time. And yet in a lood of many waters, they shall not
come nigh unto him.
31:7. Thou art my refuge from the trouble which hath encompassed
me: my joy, deliver me from them that surround me.
31:8. I will give thee understanding, and I will instruct thee in this
way, in which thou shalt go: I will ix my eyes upon thee.
31:9. Do not become like the horse and the mule, who have no
understanding. With bit and bridle bind fast their jaws, who come not
near unto thee.
31:10. Many are the scourges of the sinner, but mercy shall
encompass him that hopeth in the Lord.
31:11. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye just, and glory, all ye right
of heart.
Psalms Chapter 32

Exultate, justi.
An exhortation to praise God, and to trust in him.
32:1. A psalm for David. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye just: praise
becometh the upright.
32:2. Give praise to the Lord on the harp; sing to him with the
psaltery, the instrument of ten strings.
32:3. Sing to him a new canticle, sing well unto him with a loud
noise.
32:4. For the word of the Lord is right, and all his works are done
with faithfulness.
32:5. He loveth mercy and judgment; the earth is full of the mercy of
the Lord.
32:6. By the word of the Lord the heavens were established; and all
the power of them by the spirit of his mouth:

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 32:7. Gathering together the waters of the sea, as in a vessel; laying

up the depths in storehouses.
32:8. Let all the earth fear the Lord, and let all the inhabitants of the
world be in awe of him.
32:9. For he spoke and they were made: he commanded and they
were created.
32:10. The Lord bringeth to nought the counsels of nations; and he
rejecteth the devices of people, and casteth away the counsels of
princes.
32:11. But the counsel of the Lord standeth for ever: the thoughts of
his heart to all generations.
32:12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord: the people whom
he hath chosen for his inheritance.
32:13. The Lord hath looked from heaven: he hath beheld all the
sons of men.
32:14. From his habitation which he hath prepared, he hath looked
upon all that dwell on the earth.
32:15. He who hath made the hearts of every one of them: who
understandeth all their works.
32:16. The king is not saved by a great army: nor shall the giant be
saved by his own great strength.
32:17. Vain is the horse for safety: neither shall he be saved by the
abundance of his strength.
32:18. Behold the eyes of the Lord are on them that fear him: and on
them that hope in his mercy.
32:19. To deliver their souls from death; and feed them in famine.
32:20. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: for he is our helper and
protector.
32:21. For in him our heart shall rejoice: and in his holy name we
have trusted.
32:22. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we have hoped in thee.

 Psalms Chapter 33

Benedicam Dominum.
An exhortation to the praise, and service of God.
33:1. For David, when he changed his countenance before
Achimelech, who dismissed him, and he went his way. [1 Kings 21.]
33:2. I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be always in
my mouth.
33:3. In the Lord shall my soul be praised: let the meek hear and
rejoice.
33:4. O magnify the Lord with me; and let us extol his name
together.
33:5. I sought the Lord, and he heard me; and he delivered me from
all my troubles.
33:6. Come ye to him and be enlightened: and your faces shall not be
confounded.
33:7. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him: and saved him
out of all his troubles.
33:8. The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that
fear him: and shall deliver them.
33:9. O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that
hopeth in him.
33:10. Fear the Lord, all ye his saints: for there is no want to them
that fear him.
33:11. The rich have wanted, and have suffered hunger: but they
that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good.
33:12. Come, children, hearken to me: I will teach you the fear of the
Lord.
33:13. Who is the man that desireth life: who loveth to see good
days?

 33:14. Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
33:15. Turn away from evil and do good: seek after peace and
pursue it.
33:16. The eyes of the Lord are upon the just: and his ears unto their
prayers.
33:17. But the countenance of the Lord is against them that do evil
things: to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
33:18. The just cried, and the Lord heard them: and delivered them
out of all their troubles.
33:19. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart: and
he will save the humble of spirit.
33:20. Many are the af lictions of the just; but out of them all will
the Lord deliver them.
33:21. The Lord keepeth all their bones, not one of them shall be
broken.
33:22. The death of the wicked is very evil: and they that hate the
just shall be guilty.
33:23. The Lord will redeem the souls of his servants: and none of
them that trust in him shall offend.
Psalms Chapter 34

Judica, Domine, nocentes me.

David, in the person of Christ, prayeth against his persecutors:
prophetically foreshewing the punishments that shall fall upon them.
34:1. For David himself. Judge thou, O Lord, them that wrong me:
overthrow them that ight against me.
34:2. Take hold of arms and shield: and rise up to help me.
34:3. Bring out the sword, and shut up the way against them that
persecute me: say to my soul: I am thy salvation.

 34:4. Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek after my soul.
Let them be turned back and be confounded that devise evil against
me.
34:5. Let them become as dust before the wind: and let the angel of
the Lord straiten them.
34:6. Let their way become dark and slippery; and let the angel of
the Lord pursue them.
34:7. For without cause they have hidden their net for me unto
destruction: without cause they have upbraided my soul.
34:8. Let the snare which he knoweth not come upon him: and let
the net which he hath hidden catch him: and into that very snare let
them fall.
34:9. But my soul shall rejoice in the Lord; and shall be delighted in
his salvation.
34:10. All my bones shall say: Lord, who is like to thee? Who
deliverest the poor from the hand of them that are stronger than he;
the needy and the poor from them that strip him.
34:11. Unjust witnesses rising up have asked me things I knew not.
34:12. They repaid me evil for good: to the depriving me of my soul.
34:13. But as for me, when they were troublesome to me, I was
clothed with haircloth. I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer
shall be turned into my bosom.
34:14. As a neighbour and as an own brother, so did I please: as one
mourning and sorrowful so was I humbled.
34:15. But they rejoiced against me, and came together: scourges
were gathered together upon me, and I knew not.
34:16. They were separated, and repented not: they tempted me,
they scoffed at me with scorn: they gnashed upon me with their teeth.
34:17. Lord, when wilt thou look upon me? rescue thou my soul from
their malice: my only one from the lions.

 34:18. I will give thanks to thee in a great church; I will praise thee
in a strong people.
34:19. Let not them that are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me:
who have hated me without cause, and wink with the eyes.
34:20. For they spoke indeed peaceably to me; and speaking in the
anger of the earth they devised guile.
34:21. And they opened their mouth wide against me; they said:
Well done, well done, our eyes have seen it.
34:22. Thou hast seen, O Lord, be not thou silent: O Lord, depart not
from me.
34:23. Arise, and be attentive to my judgment: to my cause, my God,
and my Lord.
34:24. Judge me, O Lord my God according to thy justice, and let
them not rejoice over me.
34:25. Let them not say in their hearts: It is well, it is well, to our
mind: neither let them say: We have swallowed him up.
34:26. Let them blush: and be ashamed together, who rejoice at my
evils. Let them be clothed with confusion and shame, who speak great
things against me.
34:27. Let them rejoice and be glad, who are well pleased with my
justice, and let them say always: The Lord be magni ied, who delights
in the peace of his servant.
34:28. And my tongue shall meditate thy justice, thy praise all the
day long.
Psalms Chapter 35

Dixit injustus.
The malice of sinners, and the goodness of God.
35:1. Unto the end, for the servant of God, David himself.

 35:2. The unjust hath said within himself, that he would sin: there is
no fear of God before his eyes.
35:3. For in his sight he hath done deceitfully, that his iniquity may
be found unto hatred.
Unto hatred.... That is, hateful to God.
35:4. The words of his mouth are iniquity and guile: he would not
understand that he might do well.
35:5. He hath devised iniquity on his bed, he hath set himself on
every way that is not good: but evil he hath not hated.
35:6. O Lord, thy mercy is in heaven, and thy truth reacheth even to
the clouds.
35:7. Thy justice is as the mountains of God, thy judgments are a
great deep. Men and beasts thou wilt preserve, O Lord:
35:8. O how hast thou multiplied thy mercy, O God! But the children
of men shall put their trust under the covert of thy wings.
35:9. They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house; and thou
shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure.
35:10. For with thee is the fountain of life; and in thy light we shall
see light.
35:11. Extend thy mercy to them that know thee, and thy justice to
them that are right in heart.
35:12. Let not the foot of pride come to me, and let not the hand of
the sinner move me.
35:13. There the workers of iniquity are fallen, they are cast out,
and could not stand.
Psalms Chapter 36

Noli aemulari.
An exhortation to despise this world; and the short prosperity of the
wicked; and to trust in Providence.

 36:1. Be not emulous of evildoers; nor envy them that work iniquity.
36:2. For they shall shortly wither away as grass, and as the green
herbs shall quickly fall.
36:3. Trust in the Lord, and do good, and dwell in the land, and thou
shalt be fed with its riches.
36:4. Delight in the Lord, and he will give thee the requests of thy
heart.
36:5. Commit thy way to the Lord, and trust in him, and he will do it.
36:6. And he will bring forth thy justice as the light, and thy
judgment as the noonday.
36:7. Be subject to the Lord and pray to him. Envy not the man who
prospereth in his way; the man who doth unjust things.
36:8. Cease from anger, and leave rage; have no emulation to do
evil.
36:9. For evildoers shall be cut off: but they that wait upon the Lord,
they shall inherit the land.
36:10. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: and thou
shalt seek his place, and shalt not ind it.
36:11. But the meek shall inherit the land, and shall delight in
abundance of peace.
36:12. The sinner shall watch the just man: and shall gnash upon
him with his teeth.
36:13. But the Lord shall laugh at him: for he foreseeth that his day
shall come.
36:14. The wicked have drawn out the sword: they have bent their
bow. To cast down the poor and needy, to kill the upright of heart.
36:15. Let their sword enter into their own hearts, and let their bow
be broken.
36:16. Better is a little to the just, than the great riches of the
wicked.

 36:17. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken in pieces; but the
Lord strengtheneth the just.
36:18. The Lord knoweth the days of the unde iled; and their
inheritance shall be for ever.
36:19. They shall not be confounded in the evil time; and in the days
of famine they shall be illed:
36:20. Because the wicked shall perish. And the enemies of the Lord,
presently after they shall be honoured and exalted, shall come to
nothing and vanish like smoke.
36:21. The sinner shall borrow, and not pay again; but the just
sheweth mercy and shall give.
36:22. For such as bless him shall inherit the land: but such as curse
him shall perish.
36:23. With the Lord shall the steps of a man be directed, and he
shall like well his way.
36:24. When he shall fall he shall not be bruised, for the Lord
putteth his hand under him.
36:25. I have been young and now am old; and I have not seen the
just forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread.
36:26. He sheweth mercy, and lendeth all the day long; and his seed
shall be in blessing.
36:27. Decline from evil and do good, and dwell for ever and ever.
36:28. For the Lord loveth judgment, and will not forsake his saints:
they shall be preserved for ever. The unjust shall be punished, and the
seed of the wicked shall perish.
36:29. But the just shall inherit the land, and shall dwell therein for
evermore.
36:30. The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom: and his tongue
shall speak judgment.
36:31. The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be
supplanted.

 36:32. The wicked watcheth the just man, and seeketh to put him to
death,
36:33. But the Lord will not leave him in his hands; nor condemn
him when he shall be judged.
36:34. Expect the Lord and keep his way: and he will exalt thee to
inherit the land: when the sinners shall perish thou shalt see.
36:35. I have seen the wicked highly exalted, and lifted up like the
cedars of Libanus.
36:36. And I passed by, and lo, he was not: and I sought him and his
place was not found.
36:37. Keep innocence, and behold justice: for there are remnants
for the peaceable man.
36:38. But the unjust shall be destroyed together: the remnants of
the wicked shall perish.
36:39. But the salvation of the just is from the Lord, and he is their
protector in the time of trouble.
36:40. And the Lord will help them and deliver them: and he will
rescue them from the wicked, and save them because they have hoped
in him.
Psalms Chapter 37

Domine, ne in furore.
A prayer of a penitent for the remission of his sins. The third
penitential psalm.
37:1. A psalm for David, for a remembrance of the sabbath.
For a remembrance.... Viz., of our miseries and sins: and to be sung on the
sabbath day.
37:2. Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; nor chastise me in
thy wrath.
37:3. For thy arrows are fastened in me: and thy hand hath been
strong upon me.

 37:4. There is no health in my lesh, because of thy wrath: there is no

peace for my bones, because of my sins.
37:5. For my iniquities are gone over my head: and as a heavy
burden are become heavy upon me.
37:6. My sores are putri ied and corrupted, because of my
foolishness.
37:7. I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end: I
walked sorrowful all the day long.
37:8. For my loins are illed with illusions; and there is no health in
my lesh.
37:9. I am af licted and humbled exceedingly: I roared with the
groaning of my heart.
37:10. Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not
hidden from thee.
37:11. My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, and the light
of my eyes itself is not with me.
37:12. My friends and my neighbours have drawn near, and stood
against me. And they that were near me stood afar off:
37:13. And they that sought my soul used violence. And they that
sought evils to me spoke vain things, and studied deceits all the day
long.
37:14. But I, as a deaf man, heard not: and as a dumb man not
opening his mouth.
37:15. And I became as a man that heareth not: and that hath no
reproofs in his mouth.
37:16. For in thee, O Lord, have I hoped: thou wilt hear me, O Lord
my God.
37:17. For I said: Lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me: and
whilst my feet are moved, they speak great things against me.
37:18. For I am ready for scourges: and my sorrow is continually
before me.
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 37:19. For I will declare my iniquity: and I will think for my sin.
37:20. But my enemies live, and are stronger than I: and they that
hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
37:21. They that render evil for good, have detracted me, because I
followed goodness.
37:22. For sake me not, O Lord my God: do not thou depart from me.
37:23. Attend unto my help, O Lord, the God of my salvation.
Psalms Chapter 38

Dixi custodiam.
A just man’s peace and patience in his sufferings; considering the
vanity of the world, and the providence of God.
38:1. Unto the end, for Idithun himself, a canticle of David.
38:2. I said: I will take heed to my ways: that I sin not with my
tongue. I have set a guard to my mouth, when the sinner stood against
me.
38:3. I was dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence from good
things: and my sorrow was renewed.
38:4. My heart grew hot within me: and in my meditation a ire shall
lame out.
38:5. I spoke with my tongue: O Lord, make me know my end. And
what is the number of my days: that I may know what is wanting to
me.
38:6. Behold thou hast made my days measurable, and my
substance is as nothing before thee. And indeed all things are vanity:
every man living.
38:7. Surely man passeth as an image: yea, and he is disquieted in
vain. He storeth up: and he knoweth not for whom he shall gather
these things.
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 38:8. And now what is my hope? is it not the Lord? and my substance
is with thee.
38:9. Deliver thou me from all my iniquities: thou hast made me a
reproach to the fool.
38:10. I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, because thou hast
done it.
38:11. Remove thy scourges from me. The strength of thy hand hath
made me faint in rebukes:
38:12. Thou hast corrected man for iniquity. And thou hast made his
soul to waste away like a spider: surely in vain is any man disquieted.
38:13. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my supplication: give ear to my
tears. Be not silent: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner as
all my fathers were.
38:14. O forgive me, that I may be refreshed, before I go hence, and
be no more.
Psalms Chapter 39

Expectans expectavi.
Christ’s coming, and redeeming mankind.
39:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David himself.
39:2. With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and he was
attentive to me.
39:3. And he heard my prayers, and brought me out of the pit of
misery and the mire of dregs. And he set my feet upon a rock, and
directed my steps.
39:4. And he put a new canticle into my mouth, a song to our God.
Many shall see, and shall fear: and they shall hope in the Lord.
39:5. Blessed is the man whose trust is in the name of the Lord; and
who hath not had regard to vanities, and lying follies.

 39:6. Thou hast multiplied thy wonderful works, O Lord my God: and
in thy thoughts there is no one like to thee. I have declared and I have
spoken they are multiplied above number.
39:7. Sacri ice and oblation thou didst not desire; but thou hast
pierced ears for me. Burnt offering and sin offering thou didst not
require:
39:8. Then said I, Behold I come. In the head of the book it is written
of me
39:9. That I should do thy will: O my God, I have desired it, and thy
law in the midst of my heart.
39:10. I have declared thy justice in a great church, lo, I will not
restrain my lips: O Lord, thou knowest it.
39:11. I have not hid thy justice within my heart: I have declared thy
truth and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy mercy and thy truth
from a great council.
39:12. Withhold not thou, O Lord, thy tender mercies from me: thy
mercy and thy truth have always upheld me.
39:13. For evils without number have surrounded me; my iniquities
have overtaken me, and I was not able to see. They are multiplied
above the hairs of my head: and my heart hath forsaken me.
My iniquities.... That is, the sins of all mankind, which I have taken upon me.
39:14. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: look down, O Lord, to help
me.
39:15. Let them be confounded and ashamed together, that seek
after my soul to take it away. Let them be turned backward and be
ashamed that desire evils to me.
39:16. Let them immediately bear their confusion, that say to me:
’Tis well, ’tis well.
’Tis well.... The Hebrew here is an interjection of insult and derision, like the Vah.
Matt. 27.49.

 39:17. Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such
as love thy salvation say always: The Lord be magni ied.
39:18. But I am a beggar and poor: the Lord is careful for me. Thou
art my helper and my protector: O my God, be not slack.
Psalms Chapter 40

Beatus qui intelligit.

The happiness of him that shall believe in Christ; notwithstanding the
humility and poverty in which he shall come: the malice of his enemies,
especially of the traitor Judas.
40:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David himself.
40:2. Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and the
poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day.
40:3. The Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed
upon the earth: and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.
40:4. The Lord help him on his bed of sorrow: thou hast turned all
his couch in his sickness.
40:5. I said: O Lord, be thou merciful to me: heal my soul, for I have
sinned against thee.
40:6. My enemies have spoken evils against me: when shall he die
and his name perish?
40:7. And if he came in to see me, he spoke vain things: his heart
gathered together iniquity to itself. He went out and spoke to the same
purpose.
40:8. All my enemies whispered together against me: they devised
evils to me.
40:9. They determined against me an unjust word: shall he that
sleepeth rise again no more?
40:10. For even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my
bread, hath greatly supplanted me.

 40:11. But thou, O Lord, have mercy on me, and raise me up again:
and I will requite them.
40:12. By this I know, that thou hast had a good will for me: because
my enemy shall not rejoice over me.
40:13. But thou hast upheld me by reason of my innocence: and hast
established me in thy sight for ever.
40:14. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel from eternity to eternity.
So be it. So be it.
Psalms Chapter 41

Quemadmodum desiderat.
The fervent desire of the just after God: hope in af lictions.
41:1. Unto the end, understanding for the sons of Core.
41:2. As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul
panteth after thee, O God.
41:3. My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I
come and appear before the face of God?
41:4. My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to
me daily: Where is thy God?
41:5. These things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me: for
I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the
house of God: With the voice of joy and praise; the noise of one
feasting.
41:6. Why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou trouble me?
Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my
countenance,
41:7. And my God. My soul is troubled within my self: therefore will I
remember thee from the land of Jordan and Hermoniim, from the little
hill.
41:8. Deep calleth on deep, at the noise of thy lood-gates. All thy
heights and thy billows have passed over me.

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 41:9. In the daytime the Lord hath commanded his mercy; and a
canticle to him in the night. With me is prayer to the God of my life.
41:10. I will say to God: Thou art my support. Why hast thou
forgotten me? and why go I mourning, whilst my enemy af licteth me?
41:11. Whilst my bones are broken, my enemies who trouble me
have reproached me; Whilst they say to me day by day: Where is thy
God?
41:12. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why dost thou
disquiet me? Hope thou in God, for I will still give praise to him: the
salvation of my countenance, and my God.
Psalms Chapter 42

Judica me, Deus.

The prophet aspireth after the temple and altar of God.
42:1. A psalm for David. Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause
from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and
deceitful man.
42:2. For thou art God my strength: why hast thou cast me off? and
why do I go sorrowful whilst the enemy af licteth me?
42:3. Send forth thy light and thy truth: they have conducted me,
and brought me unto thy holy hill, and into thy tabernacles.
42:4. And I will go in to the altar of God: to God who giveth joy to my
youth.
42:5. To thee, O God my God, I will give praise upon the harp: why
art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me?
42:6. Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of
my countenance, and my God.
Psalms Chapter 43

Deus auribus nostris.

 The church commemorates former favours, and present af lictions;

under which she prays for succour.
43:1. Unto the end, for the sons of Core, to give understanding.
43:2. We have heard, O God, with our ears: our fathers have
declared to us, The work thou hast wrought in their days, and in the
days of old.
43:3. Thy hand destroyed the Gentiles, and thou plantedst them:
thou didst af lict the people and cast them out.
43:4. For they got not the possession of the land by their own sword:
neither did their own arm save them. But thy right hand and thy arm,
and the light of thy countenance: because thou wast pleased with
them.
43:5. Thou art thyself my king and my God, who commandest the
saving of Jacob.
43:6. Through thee we will push down our enemies with the horn:
and through thy name we will despise them that rise up against us.
43:7. For I will not trust in my bow: neither shall my sword save me.
43:8. But thou hast saved us from them that af lict us: and hast put
them to shame that hate us.
43:9. In God shall we glory all the day long: and in thy name we will
give praise for ever.
43:10. But now thou hast cast us off, and put us to shame: and thou,
O God, wilt not go out with our armies.
43:11. Thou hast made us turn our back to our enemies: and they
that hated us plundered for themselves.
43:12. Thou hast given us up like sheep to be eaten: thou hast
scattered us among the nations.
43:13. Thou hast sold thy people for no price: and there was no
reckoning in the exchange of them.
43:14. Thou hast made us a reproach to our neighbours, a scoff and
derision to them that are round about us.

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 43:15. Thou hast made us a byword among the Gentiles: a shaking

of the head among the people.
43:16. All the day long my shame is before me: and the confusion of
my face hath covered me,
43:17. At the voice of him that reproacheth and detracteth me: at
the face of the enemy and persecutor.
43:18. All these things have come upon us, yet we have not forgotten
thee: and we have not done wickedly in thy covenant.
43:19. And our heart hath not turned back: neither hast thou turned
aside our steps from thy way.
43:20. For thou hast humbled us in the place of af liction: and the
shadow of death hath covered us.
43:21. If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have
spread forth our hands to a strange god:
43:22. Shall not God search out these things: for he knoweth the
secrets of the heart. Because for thy sake we are killed all the day long:
we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
43:23. Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, and cast us not off to
the end.
43:24. Why turnest thou thy face away? and forgettest our want and
our trouble?
43:25. For our soul is humbled down to the dust: our belly cleaveth
to the earth.
43:26. Arise, O Lord, help us and redeem us for thy name’s sake.
Psalms Chapter 44

Eructavit cor meum.

The excellence of Christ’s kingdom, and the endowments of his church.
44:1. Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, for the sons of
Core, for understanding. A canticle for the Beloved.

 For them that shall be changed.... i.e., for souls happily changed, by being
converted to God.—Ibid. The Beloved.... Viz., Our Lord Jesus Christ.
44:2. My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the
king: My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly.
44:3. Thou art beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured
abroad in thy lips; therefore hath God blessed thee for ever.
44:4. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty.
44:5. With thy comeliness and thy beauty set out, proceed
prosperously, and reign. Because of truth and meekness and justice:
and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully.
44:6. Thy arrows are sharp: under thee shall people fall, into the
hearts of the king’s enemies.
44:7. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: the sceptre of thy
kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness.
44:8. Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
44:9. Myrrh and stacte and cassia perfume thy garments, from the
ivory houses: out of which
44:10. The daughters of kings have delighted thee in thy glory. The
queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with
variety.
44:11. Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: and forget
thy people and thy father’s house.
44:12. And the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is the Lord
thy God, and him they shall adore.
44:13. And the daughters of Tyre with gifts, yea, all the rich among
the people, shall entreat thy countenance.
44:14. All the glory of the king’s daughter is within in golden
borders,
44:15. Clothed round about with varieties. After her shall virgins be
brought to the king: her neighbours shall be brought to thee.

 44:16. They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing: they shall
be brought into the temple of the king.
44:17. Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee: thou shalt make
them princes over all the earth.
44:18. They shall remember thy name throughout all generations.
Therefore shall people praise thee for ever; yea, for ever and ever.
Psalms Chapter 45

Deus noster refugium.

The church in persecution trusteth in the protection of God.
45:1. Unto the end, for the sons of Core, for the hidden.
45:2. Our God is our refuge and strength: a helper in troubles, which
have found us exceedingly.
45:3. Therefore we will not fear, when the earth shall be troubled;
and the mountains shall be removed into the heart of the sea.
45:4. Their waters roared and were troubled: the mountains were
troubled with his strength.
45:5. The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful: the most
High hath sancti ied his own tabernacle.
45:6. God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved: God will help
it in the morning early.
45:7. Nations were troubled, and kingdoms were bowed down: he
uttered his voice, the earth trembled.
45:8. The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our protector.
45:9. Come and behold ye the works of the Lord: what wonders he
hath done upon earth,
45:10. Making wars to cease even to the end of the earth. He shall
destroy the bow, and break the weapons: and the shield he shall burn
in the ire.
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 45:11. Be still and see that I am God; I will be exalted among the
nations, and I will be exalted in the earth.
45:12. The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our
protector.
Psalms Chapter 46

Omnes gentes, plaudite.

The Gentiles are invited to praise God for the establishment of the
kingdom of Christ.
46:1. Unto the end, for the sons of Core.
46:2. O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the
voice of joy,
46:3. For the Lord is high, terrible: a great king over all the earth.
46:4. He hath subdued the people under us; and the nations under
our feet.
46:5. He hath chosen for us his inheritance, the beauty of Jacob
which he hath loved.
46:6. God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of
trumpet.
46:7. Sing praises to our God, sing ye: sing praises to our king, sing
ye.
46:8. For God is the king of all the earth: sing ye wisely.
46:9. God shall reign over the nations: God sitteth on his holy throne.
46:10. The princes of the people are gathered together, with the God
of Abraham: for the strong gods of the earth are exceedingly exalted.
Psalms Chapter 47

Magnus Dominus.
God is greatly to be praised for the establishment of his church.

 47:1. A psalm of a canticle, for the sons of Core, on the second day of
the week.
47:2. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of
our God, in his holy mountain.
47:3. With the joy of the whole earth is mount Sion founded, on the
sides of the north, the city of the great king.
47:4. In her houses shall God be known, when he shall protect her.
47:5. For behold the kings of the earth assembled themselves: they
gathered together.
47:6. So they saw, and they wondered, they were troubled, they were
moved:
47:7. Trembling took hold of them. There were pains as of a woman
in labour.
47:8. With a vehement wind thou shalt break in pieces the ships of
Tharsis.
47:9. As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the Lord of
hosts, in the city of our God: God hath founded it for ever.
47:10. We have received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple.
47:11. According to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise unto the
ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of justice.
47:12. Let mount Sion rejoice, and the daughters of Juda be glad;
because of thy judgments, O Lord.
47:13. Surround Sion, and encompass her: tell lye in her towers.
47:14. Set your hearts on her strength; and distribute her houses,
that ye may relate it in another generation.
47:15. For this is God, our God unto eternity, and for ever and ever:
he shall rule us for evermore.
Psalms Chapter 48

Audite haec, omnes gentes.

 The folly of worldlings, who live on in sin, without thinking of death or

hell.
48:1. Unto the end, a psalm for the sons of Core.
48:2. Hear these things, all ye nations: give ear, all ye inhabitants of
the world.
48:3. All you that are earthborn, and you sons of men: both rich and
poor together.
48:4. My mouth shall speak wisdom: and the meditation of my heart
understanding.
48:5. I will incline my ear to a parable; I will open my proposition on
the psaltery.
48:6. Why shall I fear in the evil day? the iniquity of my heel shall
encompass me.
The iniquity of my heel.... That is, the iniquity of my steps or ways: or the iniquity
of my pride, with which as with the heel, I have spurned and kicked at my
neighbours: or the iniquity of my heel, that is, the iniquity in which I shall be
found in death. The meaning of this verse is, Why should I now indulge those
passions and sinful affections, or commit now those sins, which will cause me so
much fear and anguish in the evil day; when the sorrows of death shall compass
me, and the perils of hell shall ind me?
48:7. They that trust in their own strength, and glory in the
multitude of their riches,
They that trust, etc.... As much as to say, let them fear that trust in their strength
or riches: for they have great reason to fear: seeing no brother or other man,
how much a friend soever, can by any price or labour rescue them from death.
48:8. No brother can redeem, nor shall man redeem: he shall not
give to God his ransom,
48:9. Nor the price of the redemption of his soul: and shall labour
for ever,
And shall labour for ever, etc.... This seems to be a continuation of the foregoing
sentence: as much as to say no man can by any price or ransom prolong his life,
that so he may still continue to labour here, and live to the end of the world.

 Others understand it of the eternal sorrows, and dying life of hell, which is the
dreadful consequence of dying in sin.
48:10. And shall still live unto the end.
48:11. He shall not see destruction, when he shall see the wise dying:
the senseless and the fool shall perish together: And they shall leave
their riches to strangers:
He shall not see destruction, etc.... Or, shall he not see destruction? As much as to
say, however thoughtless he may be of his death, he must not expect to escape;
when even the wise and the good are not exempt from dying.
48:12. And their sepulchres shall be their houses for ever. Their
dwelling places to all generations: they have called their lands by their
names.
They have called, etc.... That is, they have left their names on their graves, which
alone remain of their lands.
48:13. And man when he was in honour did not understand; he is
compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them.
48:14. This way of theirs is a stumblingblock to them: and
afterwards they shall delight in their mouth.
They shall delight in their mouth.... Notwithstanding the wretched way in which
they walk, they shall applaud themselves with their mouths, and glory in their
doings.
48:15. They are laid in hell like sheep: death shall feed upon them.
And the just shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their
help shall decay in hell from their glory.
In the morning.... That is, in the resurrection to a new life; when the just shall
judge and condemn the wicked. Ibid. From their glory.... That is, when their
short-lived glory in this world shall be past, and be no more.
48:16. But God will redeem my soul from the hand of hell, when he
shall receive me.
48:17. Be not thou afraid, when a man shall be made rich, and when
the glory of his house shall be increased.

 48:18. For when he shall die he shall take nothing away; nor shall
his glory descend with him.
48:19. For in his lifetime his soul will be blessed: and he will praise
thee when thou shalt do well to him.
48:20. He shall go in to the generations of his fathers: and he shall
never see light.
48:21. Man when he was in honour did not understand: he hath
been compared to senseless beasts, and made like to them.
Psalms Chapter 49

Deus deorum.
The coming of Christ: who prefers virtue and inward purity before the
blood of victims.
49:1. A psalm for Asaph. The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken: and
he hath called the earth. From the rising of the sun, to the going down
thereof:
49:2. Out of Sion the loveliness of his beauty.
49:3. God shall come manifestly: our God shall come, and shall not
keep silence. A ire shall burn before him: and a mighty tempest shall
be round about him.
49:4. He shall call heaven from above, and the earth, to judge his
people.
49:5. Gather ye together his saints to him: who set his covenant
before sacri ices.
49:6. And the heavens shall declare his justice: for God is judge.
49:7. Hear, O my people, and I will speak: O Israel, and I will testify
to thee: I am God, thy God.
49:8. I will not reprove thee for thy sacri ices: and thy burnt
offerings are always in my sight.

 49:9. I will not take calves out of thy house: nor he goats out of thy
locks.
49:10. For all the beasts of the woods are mine: the cattle on the
hills, and the oxen.
49:11. I know all the fowls of the air: and with me is the beauty of
the ield.
49:12. If I should be hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is
mine, and the fulness thereof.
49:13. Shall I eat the lesh of bullocks? or shall I drink the blood of
goats?
49:14. Offer to God the sacri ice of praise: and pay thy vows to the
most High.
49:15. And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and
thou shalt glorify me.
49:16. But to the sinner God hath said: Why dost thou declare my
justices, and take my covenant in thy mouth?
49:17. Seeing thou hast hated discipline: and hast cast my words
behind thee.
49:18. If thou didst see a thief thou didst run with him: and with
adulterers thou hast been a partaker.
49:19. Thy mouth hath abounded with evil, and thy tongue framed
deceits.
49:20. Sitting thou didst speak against thy brother, and didst lay a
scandal against thy mother’s son:
49:21. These things hast thou done, and I was silent. Thou
thoughtest unjustly that I should be like to thee: but I will reprove
thee, and set before thy face.
49:22. Understand these things, you that forget God; lest he snatch
you away, and there be none to deliver you.
49:23. The sacri ice of praise shall glorify me: and there is the way
by which I will shew him the salvation of God.
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 Psalms Chapter 50

Miserere.
The repentance and confession of David after his sin. The fourth
penitential psalm.
50:1. Unto the end, a psalm of David,
50:2. When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had sinned
with Bethsabee. [2 Kings 12.]
50:3. Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity.
50:4. Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my
sin.
50:5. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me.
50:6. To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: that
thou mayst be justi ied in thy words, and mayst overcome when thou
art judged.
50:7. For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my
mother conceive me.
50:8. For behold thou hast loved truth: the uncertain and hidden
things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me.
50:9. Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed:
thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
50:10. To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness: and the
bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.
50:11. Turn away thy face from my sins, and blot out all my
iniquities.
50:12. Create a clean heart in me, O God: and renew a right spirit
within my bowels.
50:13. Cast me not away from thy face; and take not thy holy spirit
from me.

 50:14. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me

with a perfect spirit.
50:15. I will teach the unjust thy ways: and the wicked shall be
converted to thee.
50:16. Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation: and
my tongue shall extol thy justice.
50:17. O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare
thy praise.
50:18. For if thou hadst desired sacri ice, I would indeed have given
it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.
50:19. A sacri ice to God is an af licted spirit: a contrite and
humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
50:20. Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion; that the
walls of Jerusalem may be built up.
50:21. Then shalt thou accept the sacri ice of justice, oblations and
whole burnt offerings: then shall they lay calves upon thy altar.
Psalms Chapter 51

Quid gloriaris.
David condemneth the wickedness of Doeg, and foretelleth his
destruction.
51:1. Unto the end, understanding for David,
51:2. When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul: David went to the
house of Achimelech.
51:3. Why dost thou glory in malice, thou that art mighty in
iniquity?
51:4. All the day long thy tongue hath devised injustice: as a sharp
razor, thou hast wrought deceit.
51:5. Thou hast loved malice more than goodness: and iniquity
rather than to speak righteousness.

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 51:6. Thou hast loved all the words of ruin, O deceitful tongue.
51:7. Therefore will God destroy thee for ever: he will pluck thee out,
and remove thee from thy dwelling place: and thy root out of the land
of the living.
51:8. The just shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, and say:
51:9. Behold the man that made not God his helper: But trusted in
the abundance of his riches: and prevailed in his vanity.
51:10. But I, as a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, have hoped
in the mercy of God for ever, yea for ever and ever.
51:11. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I
will wait on thy name, for it is good in the sight of thy saints.
Psalms Chapter 52

Dixit insipiens.
The general corruption of man before the coming of Christ.
52:1. Unto the end, for Maeleth, understandings to David. The fool
said in his heart: There is no God.
Maeleth.... Or Machalath. A musical instrument, or a chorus of musicians, for St.
Jerome renders it, per chorum.
52:2. They are corrupted, and become abominable in iniquities:
there is none that doth good.
52:3. God looked down from heaven on the children of men: to see if
there were any that did understand, or did seek God.
52:4. All have gone aside, they are become unpro itable together,
there is none that doth good, no not one.
52:5. Shall not all the workers of iniquity know, who eat up my
people as they eat bread?
52:6. They have not called upon God: there have they trembled for
fear, where there was no fear. For God hath scattered the bones of
them that please men: they have been confounded, because God hath
despised them.

 God hath scattered the bones, etc.... That is, God has brought to nothing the
strength of all those that seek to please men, to the prejudice of their duty to
their Maker.
52:7. Who will give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? when God
shall bring back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and
Israel shall be glad.
Psalms Chapter 53

Deus, in nomine tuo.

A prayer for help in distress.
53:1. Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David.
53:2. When the men of Ziph had come and said to Saul: Is not David
hidden with us? [1 Kings 23.19]
53:3. Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me in thy strength.
53:4. O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth.
53:5. For strangers have risen up against me; and the mighty have
sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes.
53:6. For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of
my soul.
53:7. Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in thy
truth.
53:8. I will freely sacri ice to thee, and will give praise, O God, to thy
name: because it is good:
53:9. For thou hast delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye hath
looked down upon my enemies.
Psalms Chapter 54

Exaudi, Deus.
A prayer of a just man under persecution from the wicked. It agrees to
Christ persecuted by the Jews, and betrayed by Judas.

 54:1. Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David.

54:2. Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication:
54:3. Be attentive to me and hear me. I am grieved in my exercise;
and am troubled,
54:4. At the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of the sinner.
For they have cast iniquities upon me: and in wrath they were
troublesome to me.
54:5. My heart is troubled within me: and the fear of death is fallen
upon me.
54:6. Fear and trembling are come upon me: and darkness hath
covered me.
54:7. And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will ly
and be at rest?
54:8. Lo, I have gone far off lying away; and I abode in the
wilderness.
54:9. I waited for him that hath saved me from pusillanimity of
spirit, and a storm.
54:10. Cast down, O Lord, and divide their tongues; for I have seen
iniquity and contradiction in the city.
54:11. Day and night shall iniquity surround it upon its walls: and in
the midst thereof are labour,
54:12. And injustice. And usury and deceit have not departed from
its streets.
54:13. For if my enemy had reviled me, I would verily have borne
with it. And if he that hated me had spoken great things against me, I
would perhaps have hidden my self from him.
54:14. But thou a man of one mind, my guide, and my familiar,
54:15. Who didst take sweetmeats together with me: in the house of
God we walked with consent.
54:16. Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into
hell. For there is wickedness in their dwellings: in the midst of them.

 Let death, etc.... This, and such like imprecations which occur in the psalms, are
delivered prophetically; that is, by way of foretelling the punishments which
shall fall upon the wicked from divine justice, and approving the righteous ways
of God: but not by way of ill will, or uncharitable curses, which the law of God
disallows.
54:17. But I have cried to God: and the Lord will save me.
54:18. Evening and morning, and at noon I will speak and declare:
and he shall hear my voice.
54:19. He shall redeem my soul in peace from them that draw near
to me: for among many they were with me.
Among many, etc.... That is, they that drew near to attack me were many in
company all combined to ight against me.
54:20. God shall hear, and the Eternal shall humble them. For there
is no change with them, and they have not feared God:
54:21. He hath stretched forth his hand to repay. They have de iled
his covenant,
54:22. They are divided by the wrath of his countenance, and his
heart hath drawn near. His words are smoother than oil, and the same
are darts.
They are divided, etc.... Dispersed, scattered, and brought to nothing, by the
wrath of God; who looks with indignation on their wicked and deceitful ways.
54:23. Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he
shall not suffer the just to waver for ever.
54:24. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of
destruction. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;
but I will trust in thee, O Lord.
Psalms Chapter 55

Miserere mei, Deus.

A prayer of David in danger and distress.

 55:1. Unto the end, for a people that is removed at a distance form
the sanctuary: for David, for an inscription of a title (or pillar) when
the Philistines held him in Geth.
55:2. Have mercy on me, O God, for man hath trodden me under
foot; all the day long he hath af licted me ighting against me.
55:3. My enemies have trodden on me all the day long; for they are
many that make war against me.
55:4. From the height of the day I shall fear: but I will trust in thee.
The height of the day.... That is, even at noonday, when the sun is the highest, I
am still in danger.
55:5. In God I will praise my words, in God I have put my trust: I will
not fear what lesh can do against me.
My words.... The words or promises God has made in my favour.
55:6. All the day long they detested my words: all their thoughts
were against me unto evil.
55:7. They will dwell and hide themselves: they will watch my heel.
As they have waited for my soul,
55:8. For nothing shalt thou save them: in thy anger thou shalt
break the people in pieces. O God,
For nothing shalt thou save them.... That is, since they lie in wait to ruin my soul,
thou shalt for no consideration favour or assist them, but execute thy justice
upon them.
55:9. I have declared to thee my life: thou hast set my tears in thy
sight, As also in thy promise.
55:10. Then shall my enemies be turned back. In what day soever I
shall call upon thee, behold I know thou art my God.
55:11. In God will I praise the word, in the Lord will I praise his
speech. In God have I hoped, I will not fear what man can do to me.
55:12. In me, O God, are vows to thee, which I will pay, praises to
thee:

 55:13. Because thou hast delivered my soul from death, my feet from
falling: that I may please in the sight of God, in the light of the living.
Psalms Chapter 56

Miserere mei, Deus. The prophet prays in his af liction, and praises God
for his delivery.
56:1. Unto the end, destroy not, for David, for an inscription of a
title, when he led from Saul into the cave. [1 Kings 24.]
Destroy not.... Suffer me not to be destroyed.
56:2. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me: for my soul
trusteth in thee. And in the shadow of thy wings will I hope, until
iniquity pass away.
56:3. I will cry to God the most high; to God who hath done good to
me.
56:4. He hath sent from heaven and delivered me: he hath made
them a reproach that trod upon me. God hath sent his mercy and his
truth,
56:5. And he hath delivered my soul from the midst of the young
lions. I slept troubled. The sons of men, whose teeth are weapons and
arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
56:6. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory above
all the earth.
56:7. They prepared a snare for my feet; and they bowed down my
soul. They dug a pit before my face, and they are fallen into it.
56:8. My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing, and
rehearse a psalm.
56:9. Arise, O my glory, arise psaltery and harp: I will arise early.
56:10. I will give praise to thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing
a psalm to thee among the nations.
56:11. For thy mercy is magni ied even to the heavens: and thy truth
unto the clouds.

 56:12. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory
above all the earth.
Psalms Chapter 57

Si vere utique.
David reproveth the wicked, and foretelleth their punishment.
57:1. Unto the end, destroy not, for David, for an inscription of a
title.
57:2. If in very deed ye speak justice: judge right things, ye sons of
men.
57:3. For in your heart you work iniquity: your hands forge injustice
in the earth.
57:4. The wicked are alienated from the womb; they have gone
astray from the womb: they have spoken false things.
57:5. Their madness is according to the likeness of a serpent: like the
deaf asp that stoppeth her ears:
57:6. Which will not hear the voice of the charmers; nor of the
wizard that charmeth wisely.
57:7. God shall break in pieces their teeth in their mouth: the Lord
shall break the grinders of the lions.
57:8. They shall come to nothing, like water running down; he hath
bent his bow till they be weakened.
57:9. Like wax that melteth they shall be taken away: ire hath
fallen on them, and they shall not see the sun.
57:10. Before your thorns could know the brier; he swalloweth them
up, as alive, in his wrath.
Before your thorns, etc.... That is, before your thorns grow up, so as to become
strong briers, they shall be overtaken and consumed by divine justice,
swallowing them up, as it were, alive in his wrath.
57:11. The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge: he shall
wash his hands in the blood of the sinner.

 Shall wash his hands, etc.... Shall applaud the justice of God, and take occasion
from the consideration of the punishment of the wicked to wash and cleanse his
hands from sin.
57:12. And man shall say: If indeed there be fruit to the just: there is
indeed a God that judgeth them on the earth.
Psalms Chapter 58

Eripe me.
A prayer to be delivered from the wicked, with con idence in God’s help
and protection. It agrees to Christ and his enemies the Jews.
58:1. Unto the end, destroy not, for David for an inscription of a title,
when Saul sent and watched his house to kill him. [1 Kings 19.]
58:2. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; and defend me from
them that rise up against me.
58:3. Deliver me from them that work iniquity, and save me from
bloody men.
58:4. For behold they have caught my soul: the mighty have rushed
in upon me:
58:5. Neither is it my iniquity, nor my sin, O Lord: without iniquity
have I run, and directed my steps.
58:6. Rise up thou to meet me, and behold: even thou, O Lord, the
God of hosts, the God of Israel. Attend to visit all the nations: have no
mercy on all them that work iniquity.
58:7. They shall return at evening, and shall suffer hunger like dogs:
and shall go round about the city.
58:8. Behold they shall speak with their mouth, and a sword is in
their lips: for who, say they, hath heard us?
58:9. But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them: thou shalt bring all the
nations to nothing.
58:10. I will keep my strength to thee: for thou art my protector:
58:11. My God, his mercy shall prevent me.

 58:12. God shall let me see over my enemies: slay them not, lest at
any time my people forget. Scatter them by thy power; and bring them
down, O Lord, my protector:
58:13. For the sin of their mouth, and the word of their lips: and let
them be taken in their pride. And for their cursing and lying they shall
be talked of,
58:14. When they are consumed: when they are consumed by thy
wrath, and they shall be no more. And they shall know that God will
rule Jacob, and all the ends of the earth.
58:15. They shall return at evening and shall suffer hunger like
dogs: and shall go round about the city.
58:16. They shall be scattered abroad to eat, and shall murmur if
they be not illed.
58:17. But I will sing thy strength: and will extol thy mercy in the
morning. For thou art become my support, and my refuge, in the day of
my trouble.
58:18. Unto thee, O my helper, will I sing, for thou art God my
defence: my God my mercy.
Psalms Chapter 59

Deus, repulisti nos.

After many af lictions, the church of Christ shall prevail.
59:1. Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, for the
inscription of a title, to David himself, for doctrine,
59:2. When he set ire to Mesopotamia of Syria and Sobal: and Joab
returned and slew of Edom, in the vale of the saltpits, twelve thousand
men.
59:3. O God, thou hast cast us off, and hast destroyed us; thou hast
been angry, and hast had mercy on us.
59:4. Thou hast moved the earth, and hast troubled it: heal thou the
breaches thereof, for it has been moved.

 59:5. Thou hast shewn thy people hard things; thou hast made us
drink the wine of sorrow.
59:6. Thou hast given a warning to them that fear thee: that they
may lee from before the bow: That thy beloved may be delivered.
59:7. Save me with thy right hand, and hear me.
59:8. God hath spoken in his holy place: I will rejoice, and I will
divide Sichem; and will mete out the vale of tabernacles.
59:9. Galaad is mine, and Manasses is mine: and Ephraim is the
strength of my head. Juda is my king:
59:10. Moab is the pot of my hope. Into Edom will I stretch out my
shoe: to me the foreigners are made subject.
The pot of my hope.... Or my watering pot. That is, a vessel for meaner uses, by
being reduced to serve me, even in the meanest employments.—Ibid.
Foreigners.... So the Philistines are called, who had no kindred with the Israelites;
whereas the Edomites, Moabites, etc., were originally of the same family.
59:11. Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into
Edom?
59:12. Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou,
O God, go out with our armies?
59:13. Give us help from trouble: for vain is the salvation of man.
59:14. Through God we shall do mightily: and he shall bring to
nothing them that af lict us.
Psalms Chapter 60

Exaudi, Deus.
A prayer for the coming of the kingdom of Christ, which shall have no
end.
60:1. Unto the end, in hymns, for David.
60:2. Hear, O God, my supplication: be attentive to my prayer.

 60:3. To thee have I cried from the ends of the earth: when my heart
was in anguish, thou hast exalted me on a rock. Thou hast conducted
me;
60:4. For thou hast been my hope; a tower of strength against the
face of the enemy.
60:5. In thy tabernacle I shall dwell for ever: I shall be protected
under the covert of thy wings.
60:6. For thou, my God, hast heard my prayer: thou hast given an
inheritance to them that fear thy name.
60:7. Thou wilt add days to the days of the king: his years even to
generation and generation.
60:8. He abideth for ever in the sight of God: his mercy and truth
who shall search?
60:9. So will I sing a psalm to thy name for ever and ever: that I may
pay my vows from day to day.
Psalms Chapter 61

Nonne Deo.
The prophet encourageth himself and all others to trust in God, and
serve him.
61:1. Unto the end, for Idithun, a psalm of David.
61:2. Shall not my soul be subject to God? for from him is my
salvation.
61:3. For he is my God and my saviour: he is my protector, I shall be
moved no more.
61:4. How long do you rush in upon a man? you all kill, as if you
were thrusting down a leaning wall, and a tottering fence.
61:5. But they have thought to cast away my price; I ran in thirst:
they blessed with their mouth, but cursed with their heart.

 61:6. But be thou, O my soul, subject to God: for from him is my

patience.
61:7. For he is my God and my saviour: he is my helper, I shall not be
moved.
61:8. In God is my salvation and my glory: he is the God of my help,
and my hope is in God.
61:9. Trust in him, all ye congregation of people: pour out your
hearts before him. God is our helper for ever.
61:10. But vain are the sons of men, the sons of men are liars in the
balances: that by vanity they may together deceive.
Are liars in the balances, etc.... They are so vain and light, that if they are put into
the scales, they will be found to be of no weight; and to be mere lies, deceit, and
vanity. Or, They are liars in their balances, by weighing things by false weights,
and preferring the temporal before the eternal.
61:11. Trust not in iniquity, and cover not robberies: if riches
abound, set not your heart upon them.
61:12. God hath spoken once, these two things have I heard, that
power belongeth to God,
61:13. And mercy to thee, O Lord; for thou wilt render to every man
according to his works.
Psalms Chapter 62

Deus Deus meus, ad te.

The prophet aspireth after God.
62:1. A psalm of David while he was in the desert of Edom.
62:2. O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day. For thee my
soul hath thirsted; for thee my lesh, O how many ways!
62:3. In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water: so
in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy
glory.
62:4. For thy mercy is better than lives: thee my lips will praise.

 62:5. Thus will I bless thee all my life long: and in thy name I will lift
up my hands.
62:6. Let my soul be illed as with marrow and fatness: and my
mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.
62:7. If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on
thee in the morning:
62:8. Because thou hast been my helper. And I will rejoice under the
covert of thy wings:
62:9. My soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received
me.
62:10. But they have sought my soul in vain, they shall go into the
lower parts of the earth:
62:11. They shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall
be the portions of foxes.
62:12. But the king shall rejoice in God, all they shall be praised that
swear by him: because the mouth is stopped of them that speak wicked
things.
Psalms Chapter 63

Exaudi Deus orationem.

A prayer in af liction, with con idence in God that he will bring to
nought the machinations of persecutors.
63:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David.
63:2. Hear O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to thee:
deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy.
63:3. Thou hast protected me from the assembly of the malignant;
from the multitude of the workers of iniquity.
63:4. For they have whetted their tongues like a sword; they have
bent their bow a bitter thing,
63:5. To shoot in secret the unde iled.

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 63:6. They will shoot at him on a sudden, and will not fear: they are
resolute in wickedness. They have talked of hiding snares; they have
said: Who shall see them?
63:7. They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their
search. Man shall come to a deep heart:
A deep heart.... That is, crafty, subtle, deep projects and designs; which
nevertheless shall not succeed; for God shall be exalted in bringing them to
nought by his wisdom and power.
63:8. And God shall be exalted. The arrows of children are their
wounds:
The arrows of children are their wounds.... That is, the wounds, stripes, or blows,
they seek to in lict upon the just, are but like the weak efforts of children’s
arrows, which can do no execution: and their tongues, that is, their speeches
against them come to nothing.
63:9. And their tongues against them are made weak. All that saw
them were troubled;
63:10. And every man was afraid. And they declared the works of
God, and understood his doings.
63:11. The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in him: and
all the upright in heart shall be praised.
Psalms Chapter 64

Te decet.
God is to be praised in his church, to which all nations shall be called.
64:1. To the end, a psalm of David. The canticle of Jeremias and
Ezechiel to the people of the captivity, when they began to go out.
Of the captivity.... That is, the people of the captivity of Babylon. This is not in the
Hebrew, but is found in the ancient translation of the Septuagint.
64:2. A hymn, O God, becometh thee in Sion: and a vow shall be paid
to thee in Jerusalem.
64:3. O hear my prayer: all lesh shall come to thee.

 64:4. The words of the wicked have prevailed over us: and thou wilt
pardon our transgressions.
64:5. Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen and taken to thee: he
shall dwell in thy courts. We shall be illed with the good things of thy
house; holy is thy temple,
64:6. Wonderful in justice. Hear us, O God our saviour, who art the
hope of all the ends of the earth, and in the sea afar off.
64:7. Thou who preparest the mountains by thy strength, being
girded with power:
64:8. Who troublest the depth of the sea, the noise of its waves. The
Gentiles shall be troubled,
64:9. And they that dwell in the uttermost borders shall be afraid at
thy signs: thou shalt make the outgoings of the morning and of the
evening to be joyful.
64:10. Thou hast visited the earth, and hast plentifully watered it;
thou hast many ways enriched it. The river of God is illed with water,
thou hast prepared their food: for so is its preparation.
64:11. Fill up plentifully the streams thereof, multiply its fruits; it
shall spring up and rejoice in its showers.
64:12. Thou shalt bless the crown of the year of thy goodness: and
thy ields shall be illed with plenty.
64:13. The beautiful places of the wilderness shall grow fat: and the
hills shall be girded about with joy,
64:14. The rams of the lock are clothed, and the vales shall abound
with corn: they shall shout, yea they shall sing a hymn.
Psalms Chapter 65

Jubilate Deo.
An invitation to praise God.
65:1. Unto the end, a canticle of a psalm of the resurrection. Shout
with joy to God, all the earth,
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 65:2. Sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise.

65:3. Say unto God, How terrible are thy works, O Lord! in the
multitude of thy strength thy enemies shall lie to thee.
65:4. Let all the earth adore thee, and sing to thee: let it sing a
psalm to thy name.
65:5. Come and see the works of God; who is terrible in his counsels
over the sons of men.
65:6. Who turneth the sea into dry land, in the river they shall pass
on foot: there shall we rejoice in him.
65:7. Who by his power ruleth for ever: his eyes behold the nations;
let not them that provoke him be exalted in themselves.
65:8. O bless our God, ye Gentiles: and make the voice of his praise to
be heard.
65:9. Who hath set my soul to live: and hath not suffered my feet to
be moved:
65:10. For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us by ire, as
silver is tried.
65:11. Thou hast brought us into a net, thou hast laid af lictions on
our back:
65:12. Thou hast set men over our heads. We have passed through
ire and water, and thou hast brought us out into a refreshment.
65:13. I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee
my vows,
65:14. Which my lips have uttered, And my mouth hath spoken,
when I was in trouble.
65:15. I will offer up to thee holocausts full of marrow, with burnt
offerings of rams: I will offer to thee bullocks with goats.
65:16. Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what
great things he hath done for my soul.
65:17. I cried to him with my mouth: and I extolled him with my
tongue.
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 65:18. If I have looked at iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear
me.
65:19. Therefore hath God heard me, and hath attended to the voice
of my supplication.
65:20. Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his
mercy from me.
Psalms Chapter 66

Deus misereatur.
A prayer for the propagation of the church.
66:1. Unto the end, in hymns, a psalm of a canticle for David.
66:2. May God have mercy on us, and bless us: may he cause the
light of his countenance to shine upon us, and may he have mercy on
us.
66:3. That we may know thy way upon earth: thy salvation in all
nations.
66:4. Let people confess to thee, O God: let all people give praise to
thee.
66:5. Let the nations be glad and rejoice: for thou judgest the people
with justice, and directest the nations upon earth.
66:6. Let the people, O God, confess to thee: let all the people give
praise to thee:
66:7. The earth hath yielded her fruit. May God, our God bless us,
66:8. May God bless us: and all the ends of the earth fear him.
Psalms Chapter 67

Exurgat Deus.
The glorious establishment of the church of the New Testament,
pre igured by the bene its bestowed on the people of Israel.
67:1. Unto the end, a psalm of a canticle for David himself.

 67:2. Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: and let them
that hate him lee from before his face.
67:3. As smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish away: as wax melteth
before the ire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
67:4. And let the just feast, and rejoice before God: and be delighted
with gladness.
67:5. Sing ye to God, sing a psalm to his name, make a way for him
who ascendeth upon the west: the Lord is his name. Rejoice ye before
him: but the wicked shall be troubled at his presence,
Who ascendeth upon the west.... Super occasum. St. Gregory understands it of
Christ, who after his going down, like the sun, in the west, by his passion and
death, ascended more glorious, and carried all before him. St. Jerome renders it,
who ascendeth, or cometh up, through the deserts.
67:6. Who is the father of orphans, and the judge of widows. God in
his holy place:
67:7. God who maketh men of one manner to dwell in a house: Who
bringeth out them that were bound in strength; in like manner them
that provoke, that dwell in sepulchres.
Of one manner.... That is, agreeing in faith, unanimous in love, and following the
same manner of discipline. It is veri ied in the servants of God, living together in
his house, which is the church. 1 Tim. 3.15.—Ibid. Them that were bound, etc....
The power and mercy of God appears in his bringing out of their captivity those
that were strongly bound in their sins: and in restoring to his grace those whose
behaviour had been most provoking; and who by their evil habits were not only
dead, but buried in their sepulchres.
67:8. O God, when thou didst go forth in the sight of thy people,
when thou didst pass through the desert:
67:9. The earth was moved, and the heavens dropped at the
presence of the God of Sina, at the presence of the God of Israel.
67:10. Thou shalt set aside for thy inheritance a free rain, O God:
and it was weakened, but thou hast made it perfect.
A free rain.... the manna, which rained plentifully from heaven, in favour of God’s
inheritance, that is, of his people Israel: which was weakened indeed under a
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 variety of af lictions, but was made perfect by God; that is, was still supported by
divine providence, and brought on to the promised land. It agrees particularly to
the church of Christ his true inheritance, which is plentifully watered with the
free rain of heavenly grace; and through many in irmities, that is, crosses and
tribulations, is made perfect, and itted for eternal glory.
67:11. In it shall thy animals dwell; in thy sweetness, O God, thou
hast provided for the poor.
In it, etc.... That is, in this church, which is thy fold and thy inheritance, shall thy
animals, thy sheep, dwell: where thou hast plentifully provided for them.
67:12. The Lord shall give the word to them that preach good
tidings with great power.
To them that preach good tidings.... Evangelizantibus. That is, to the preachers of
the gospel; who receiving the word from the Lord, shall with great power and
ef icacy preach throughout the world the glad tidings of a Saviour, and of
eternal salvation through him.
67:13. The king of powers is of the beloved, of the beloved; and the
beauty of the house shall divide spoils.
The king of powers.... That is, the mighty King, the Lord of hosts, is of the beloved,
of the beloved; that is, is on the side of Christ, his most beloved son: and his
beautiful house, viz., the church, in which God dwells forever, shall by her
spiritual conquests divide the spoils of many nations. The Hebrew (as it now
stands pointed) is thus rendered, The kings of armies have led, they have led,
and she that dwells at home (or the beauty of the house) shall divide the spoils.
67:14. If you sleep among the midst of lots, you shall be as the wings
of a dove covered with silver, and the hinder parts of her back with the
paleness of gold.
If you sleep among the midst of lots (intermedios cleros, etc.)... Viz., in such
dangers and persecutions, as if your enemies were casting lots for your goods
and persons: or in the midst of the lots, (intermedios terminos, as St. Jerome
renders it,) that is, upon the very bounds or borders of the dominions of your
enemies: you shall be secure nevertheless under the divine protection; and shall
be enabled to ly away, like a dove, with glittering wings and feathers shining
like the palest and most precious gold; that is, with great increase of virtue, and
glowing with the fervour of charity.
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 67:15. When he that is in heaven appointeth kings over her, they

shall be whited with snow in Selmon.
Kings over her.... That is, pastors and rulers over his church, viz., the apostles and
their successors. Then by their ministry shall men be made whiter than the snow
which lies on the top of the high mountain Selmon.
67:16. The mountain of God is a fat mountain. A curdled mountain,
a fat mountain.
The mountain of God.... The church, which, Isa. 2.2, is called The mountain of the
house of the Lord upon the top of mountains. It is here called a fat and a curdled
mountain; that is to say, most fruitful, and enriched by the spiritual gifts and
graces of the Holy Ghost.
67:17. Why suspect, ye curdled mountains? A mountain in which
God is well pleased to dwell: for there the Lord shall dwell unto the
end.
Why suspect, ye curdled mountains?.... Why do you suppose or imagine there
may be any other such curdled mountains? You are mistaken: the mountain thus
favoured by God is but one; and this same he has chosen for his dwelling for ever.
67:18. The chariot of God is attended by ten thousands; thousands of
them that rejoice: the Lord is among them in Sina, in the holy place.
The chariot of God.... Descending to give his law on mount Sina: as also of Jesus
Christ his Son, ascending into heaven, to send from thence the Holy Ghost, to
publish his new law, is attended with ten thousands, that is, with an innumerable
multitude of joyful angels.
67:19. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive;
thou hast received gifts in men. Yea for those also that do not believe,
the dwelling of the Lord God.
Led captivity captive.... Carrying away with thee to heaven those who before had
been the captives of Satan; and receiving from God the Father gifts to be
distributed to men; even to those who were before unbelievers.
67:20. Blessed be the Lord day by day: the God of our salvation will
make our journey prosperous to us.
67:21. Our God is the God of salvation: and of the Lord, of the Lord
are the issues from death.

 The issues from death.... The Lord alone is master of the issues, by which we may
escape from death.
67:22. But God shall break the heads of his enemies: the hairy crown
of them that walk on in their sins.
67:23. The Lord said: I will turn them from Basan, I will turn them
into the depth of the sea:
I will turn them from Basan, etc.... I will cast out my enemies from their rich
possessions, signi ied by Basan, a fruitful country; and I will drive them into the
depth of the sea: and make such a slaughter of them, that the feet of my servants
may be dyed in their blood, etc.
67:24. That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thy enemies; the
tongue of thy dogs be red with the same.
67:25. They have seen thy goings, O God, the goings of my God: of my
king who is in his sanctuary.
Thy goings.... Thy ways, thy proceedings, by which thou didst formerly take
possession of the promised land in favour of thy people; and shalt afterwards of
the whole world, which thou shalt subdue to thy Son.
67:26. Princes went before joined with singers, in the midst of young
damsels playing on timbrels.
Princes.... The apostles, the irst converters of nations; attended by numbers of
perfect souls, singing the divine praises, and virgins consecrated to God.
67:27. In the churches bless ye God the Lord, from the fountains of
Israel.
From the fountains of Israel.... From whom both Christ and his apostles sprung.
By Benjamin, the holy fathers on this place understand St. Paul, who was of that
tribe, named here a youth, because he was the last called to the apostleship. By
the princes of Juda, Zabulon, and Nephthali, we may understand the other
apostles, who were of the tribe of Juda; or of the tribes of Zabulon, and
Nephthali, where our Lord began to preach, Matt. 4.13, etc.
67:28. There is Benjamin a youth, in ecstasy of mind. The princes of
Juda are their leaders: the princes of Zabulon, the princes of Nephthali.
67:29. Command thy strength, O God con irm, O God, what thou hast
wrought in us.

 Command thy strength.... Give orders that thy strength may be always with us.
67:30. From thy temple in Jerusalem, kings shall offer presents to
thee.
67:31. Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds, the congregation of bulls
with the kine of the people; who seek to exclude them who are tried
with silver. Scatter thou the nations that delight in wars:
Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds.... or the wild beasts, which lie hid in the
reeds. That is, the devils, who hide themselves in order to surprise their prey. Or
by wild beasts, are here understood persecutors, who, for all their attempts
against the Church, are but as weak reeds, which cannot prevail against them
who are supported by the strength of the Almighty. The same are also called the
congregation of bulls (from their rage against the Church) who assemble
together all their kine, that is, the people their subjects, to exclude if they can,
from Christ and his inheritance, his constant confessors, who are like silver tried
by ire.
67:32. Ambassadors shall come out of Egypt: Ethiopia shall soon
stretch out her hands to God.
Ambassadors shall come, etc.... It is a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles,
and by name of the Egyptians and Ethiopians.
67:33. Sing to God, ye kingdoms of the earth: sing ye to the Lord:
Sing ye to God,
67:34. Who mounteth above the heaven of heavens, to the east.
Behold he will give to his voice the voice of power:
To the east.... From mount Olivet, which is on the east side of Jerusalem.—Ibid.
The voice of power.... That is, he will make his voice to be a powerful voice: by
calling from death to life, such as were dead in mortal sin: as at the last day he
will by the power of his voice call all the dead from their graves.
67:35. Give ye glory to God for Israel, his magni icence, and his
power is in the clouds.
67:36. God is wonderful in his saints: the God of Israel is he who will
give power and strength to his people. Blessed be God.
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 Psalms Chapter 68

Salvum me fac, Deus.

Christ in his passion declareth the greatness of his sufferings, and the
malice of his persecutors the Jews; and foretelleth their reprobation.
68:1. Unto the end, for them that shall be changed; for David.
For them that shall be changed.... A psalm for Christian converts, to remember
the passion of Christ.
68:2. Save me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul.
The waters.... Of af lictions and sorrows. My soul is sorrowful even unto death.
Matt. 26.38.
68:3. I stick fast in the mire of the deep and there is no sure
standing. I am come into the depth of the sea, and a tempest hath
overwhelmed me.
68:4. I have laboured with crying; my jaws are become hoarse, my
eyes have failed, whilst I hope in my God.
68:5. They are multiplied above the hairs of my head, who hate me
without cause. My enemies are grown strong who have wrongfully
persecuted me: then did I pay that which I took not away.
I pay that which I took not away.... Christ in his passion made restitution of what
he had not taken away, by suffering the punishment due to our sins, and so
repairing the injury we had done to God.
68:6. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my offences are not
hidden from thee:
My foolishness and my offences.... which my enemies impute to me: or the follies
and sins of men, which I have taken upon myself.
68:7. Let not them be ashamed for me, who look for thee, O Lord, the
Lord of hosts. Let them not be confounded on my account, who seek
thee, O God of Israel.
68:8. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath
covered my face.

 68:9. I am become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to the

sons of my mother.
68:10. For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up: and the
reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
68:11. And I covered my soul in fasting: and it was made a reproach
to me.
68:12. And I made haircloth my garment: and I became a byword to
them.
68:13. They that sat in the gate spoke against me: and they that
drank wine made me their song.
68:14. But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord; for the time of thy
good pleasure, O God. In the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the
truth of thy salvation.
68:15. Draw me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast: deliver me
from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
68:16. Let not the tempest of water drown me, nor the deep water
swallow me up: and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
68:17. Hear me, O Lord, for thy mercy is kind; look upon me
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
68:18. And turn not away thy face from thy servant: for I am in
trouble, hear me speedily.
68:19. Attend to my soul, and deliver it: save me because of my
enemies.
68:20. Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion, and my
shame.
68:21. In thy sight are all they that af lict me; my heart hath
expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve
together with me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort
me, and I found none.
68:22. And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave
me vinegar to drink.

 68:23. Let their table become as a snare before them, and a

recompense, and a stumblingblock.
Let their table, etc.... What here follows in the style of an imprecation, is a
prophecy of the wretched state to which the Jews should be reduced in
punishment of their wilful obstinacy.
68:24. Let their eyes be darkened that they see not; and their back
bend thou down always.
68:25. Pour out thy indignation upon them: and let thy wrathful
anger take hold of them.
68:26. Let their habitation be made desolate: and let there be none
to dwell in their tabernacles.
68:27. Because they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten;
and they have added to the grief of my wounds.
68:28. Add thou iniquity upon their iniquity: and let them not come
into thy justice.
68:29. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; and with the
just let them not be written.
68:30. But I am poor and sorrowful: thy salvation, O God, hath set
me up.
68:31. I will praise the name of God with a canticle: and I will
magnify him with praise.
68:32. And it shall please God better than a young calf, that
bringeth forth horns and hoofs.
68:33. Let the poor see and rejoice: seek ye God, and your soul shall
live.
68:34. For the Lord hath heard the poor: and hath not despised his
prisoners.
68:35. Let the heavens and the earth praise him; the sea, and every
thing that creepeth therein.
68:36. For God will save Sion, and the cities of Juda shall be built up.
And they shall dwell there, and acquire it by inheritance.

 Sion.... The catholic church. The cities of Juda, etc., her places of worship, which
shall be established throughout the world. And there, viz., in this church of
Christ, shall his servants dwell, etc.
68:37. And the seed of his servants shall possess it; and they that
love his name shall dwell therein.
Psalms Chapter 69

Deus in adjutorium.
A prayer in persecution.
69:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David, to bring to remembrance that
the Lord saved him.
69:2. O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
69:3. Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul:
69:4. Let them be turned backward, and blush for shame that desire
evils to me: Let them be presently turned away blushing for shame
that say to me: ’Tis well, ’tis well.
’Tis well, ’tis well.... Euge, euge. St. Jerome renders it, vah, vah! which is the voice
of one insulting and deriding. Some understand it as a detestation of deceitful
latterers.
69:5. Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee; and let such
as love thy salvation say always: The Lord be magni ied.
69:6. But I am needy and poor; O God, help me. Thou art my helper
and my deliverer: O lord, make no delay.
Psalms Chapter 70

In te, Domine.
A prayer for perseverance.
70:1. A psalm for David. Of the sons of Jonadab, and the former
captives. In thee, O Lord, I have hoped, let me never be put to
confusion:
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 Of the sons of Jonadab.... The Rechabites, of whom see Jer. 35. By this addition of
the seventy-two interpreters, we gather that this psalm was usually sung in the
synagogue, in the person of the Rechabites, and of those who were irst carried
away into captivity.
70:2. Deliver me in thy justice, and rescue me. Incline thy ear unto
me, and save me.
70:3. Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a place of strength:
that thou mayst make me safe. For thou art my irmament and my
refuge.
70:4. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the sinner, and out of
the hand of the transgressor of the law and of the unjust.
70:5. For thou art my patience, O Lord: my hope, O Lord, from my
youth.
70:6. By thee have I been con irmed from the womb: from my
mother’s womb thou art my protector. Of thee I shall continually sing:
70:7. I am become unto many as a wonder, but thou art a strong
helper.
70:8. Let my mouth be illed with praise, that I may sing thy glory;
thy greatness all the day long.
70:9. Cast me not off in the time of old age: when my strength shall
fail, do not thou forsake me.
70:10. For my enemies have spoken against me; and they that
watched my soul have consulted together,
70:11. Saying: God hath forsaken him: pursue and take him, for
there is none to deliver him.
70:12. O God, be not thou far from me: O my God, make haste to my
help.
70:13. Let them be confounded and come to nothing that detract my
soul; let them be covered with confusion and shame that seek my hurt.
70:14. But I will always hope; and will add to all thy praise.

 70:15. My mouth shall shew forth thy justice; thy salvation all the
day long. Because I have not known learning,
Learning.... As much as to say, I build not upon human learning, but only on the
power and justice of God.
70:16. I will enter into the powers of the Lord: O Lord, I will be
mindful of thy justice alone.
70:17. Thou hast taught me, O God, from my youth: and till now I
will declare thy wonderful works.
70:18. And unto old age and grey hairs: O God, forsake me not, Until
I shew forth thy arm to all the generation that is to come: Thy power,
70:19. And thy justice, O God, even to the highest great things thou
hast done: O God, who is like to thee?
70:20. How great troubles hast thou shewn me, many and grievous:
and turning thou hast brought me to life, and hast brought me back
again from the depths of the earth:
70:21. Thou hast multiplied thy magni icence; and turning to me
thou hast comforted me.
70:22. For I will also confess to thee thy truth with the instruments
of psaltery: O God, I will sing to thee with the harp, thou holy one of
Israel.
70:23. My lips shall greatly rejoice, when I shall sing to thee; and my
soul which thou hast redeemed.
70:24. Yea and my tongue shall meditate on thy justice all the day;
when they shall be confounded and put to shame that seek evils to me.
Psalms Chapter 71

Deus, judicium tuum.

A prophecy of the coming of Christ, and of his kingdom: pre igured by
Solomon and his happy reign.
71:1. A psalm on Solomon.

 71:2. Give to the king thy judgment, O God, and to the king’s son thy
justice: To judge thy people with justice, and thy poor with judgment.
71:3. Let the mountains receive peace for the people: and the hills
justice.
71:4. He shall judge the poor of the people, and he shall save the
children of the poor: and he shall humble the oppressor.
71:5. And he shall continue with the sun and before the moon,
throughout all generations.
71:6. He shall come down like rain upon the leece; and as showers
falling gently upon the earth.
71:7. In his days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace, till
the moon be taken away.
71:8. And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the
ends of the earth.
71:9. Before him the Ethiopians shall fall down: and his enemies
shall lick the ground.
71:10. The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents: the
kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts:
71:11. And all kings of the earth shall adore him: all nations shall
serve him.
71:12. For he shall deliver the poor from the mighty: and the needy
that had no helper.
71:13. He shall spare the poor and needy: and he shall save the souls
of the poor.
71:14. He shall redeem their souls from usuries and iniquity: and
their names shall be honourable in his sight.
71:15. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of
Arabia, for him they shall always adore: they shall bless him all the
day.

 71:16. And there shall be a irmament on the earth on the tops of

mountains, above Libanus shall the fruit thereof be exalted: and they
of the city shall lourish like the grass of the earth.
A irmament on the earth, etc.... This may be understood of the church of Christ,
ever irm and visible: and of the lourishing condition of its congregation.
71:17. Let his name be blessed for evermore: his name continueth
before the sun. And in him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed:
all nations shall magnify him.
71:18. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone doth
wonderful things.
71:19. And blessed be the name of his majesty for ever: and the
whole earth shall be illed with his majesty. So be it. So be it.
71:20. The praises of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
Are ended.... By this it appears that this psalm, though placed here, was in order
of time the last of those which David composed.
Psalms Chapter 72

Quam bonus Israel Deus.

The temptation of the weak, upon seeing the prosperity of the wicked,
is overcome by the consideration of the justice of God, who will quickly
render to every one according to his works.
72:1. A psalm for Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to them that are
of a right heart!
72:2. But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well nigh
slipped.
72:3. Because I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the
prosperity of sinners.
72:4. For there is no regard to their death, nor is there strength in
their stripes.
72:5. They are not in the labour of men: neither shall they be
scourged like other men.
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 72:6. Therefore pride hath held them fast: they are covered with
their iniquity and their wickedness.
72:7. Their iniquity hath come forth, as it were from fatness: they
have passed into the affection of the heart.
Fatness.... Abundance and temporal prosperity, which hath encouraged them in
their iniquity: and made them give themselves up to their irregular affections.
72:8. They have thought and spoken wickedness: they have spoken
iniquity on high.
72:9. They have set their mouth against heaven: and their tongue
hath passed through the earth.
72:10. Therefore will my people return here and full days shall be
found in them.
Return here.... or hither. The weak among the servants of God, will be apt often to
return to this thought, and will be shocked when they consider the full days, that
is, the long and prosperous life of the wicked; and will be tempted to make the
re lections against providence which are set down in the following verses.
72:11. And they said: How doth God know? and is there knowledge
in the most High?
72:12. Behold these are sinners; and yet, abounding in the world
they have obtained riches.
72:13. And I said: Then have I in vain justi ied my heart, and washed
my hands among the innocent.
72:14. And I have been scourged all the day; and my chastisement
hath been in the mornings.
72:15. If I said: I will speak thus; behold I should condemn the
generation of thy children.
If I said, etc.... That is, if I should indulge such thoughts as these.
72:16. I studied that I might know this thing, it is a labour in my
sight:
72:17. Until I go into the sanctuary of God, and understand
concerning their last ends.
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 72:18. But indeed for deceits thou hast put it to them: when they
were lifted up thou hast cast them down.
Thou hast put it to them.... In punishment of their deceits, or for deceiving them,
thou hast brought evils upon them in their last end, which, in their prosperity
they never apprehended.
72:19. How are they brought to desolation? they have suddenly
ceased to be: they have perished by reason of their iniquity.
72:20. As the dream of them that awake, O Lord; so in thy city thou
shalt bring their image to nothing.
72:21. For my heart hath been in lamed, and my reins have been
changed:
72:22. And I am brought to nothing, and I knew not.
72:23. I am become as a beast before thee: and I am always with
thee.
72:24. Thou hast held me by my right hand; and by thy will thou
hast conducted me, and with thy glory thou hast received me.
72:25. For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire
upon earth?
72:26. For thee my lesh and my heart hath fainted away: thou art
the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever.
72:27. For behold they that go far from thee shall perish: thou hast
destroyed all them that are disloyal to thee.
72:28. But it is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in
the Lord God: That I may declare all thy praises, in the gates of the
daughter of Sion.
Psalms Chapter 73

Ut quid, Deus.
A prayer of the church under grievous persecutions.

 73:1. Understanding for Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off
unto the end: why is thy wrath enkindled against the sheep of thy
pasture?
73:2. Remember thy congregation, which thou hast possessed from
the beginning. The sceptre of thy inheritance which thou hast
redeemed: mount Sion in which thou hast dwelt.
73:3. Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end; see what
things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
73:4. And they that hate thee have made their boasts, in the midst of
thy solemnity. They have set up their ensigns for signs,
Their ensigns, etc.... They have ixed their colours for signs and trophies, both on
the gates, and on the highest top of the temple: and they knew not, that is, they
regarded not the sanctity of the place. This psalm manifestly foretells the time of
the Machabees, and the profanation of the temple by Antiochus.
73:5. And they knew not both in the going out and on the highest
top. As with axes in a wood of trees,
73:6. They have cut down at once the gates thereof, with axe and
hatchet they have brought it down.
73:7. They have set ire to thy sanctuary: they have de iled the
dwelling place of thy name on the earth.
73:8. They said in their heart, the whole kindred of them together:
Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land.
73:9. Our signs we have not seen, there is now no prophet: and he
will know us no more.
73:10. How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach: is the adversary
to provoke thy name for ever?
73:11. Why dost thou turn away thy hand: and thy right hand out of
the midst of thy bosom for ever?
73:12. But God is our king before ages: he hath wrought salvation in
the midst of the earth.
73:13. Thou by thy strength didst make the sea irm: thou didst
crush the heads of the dragons in the waters.

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 The sea irm.... By making the waters of the Red Sea stand like irm walls, whilst
Israel passed through: and destroying the Egyptians called here dragons from
their cruelty, in the same waters, with their king: casting up their bodies on the
shore to be stripped by the Ethiopians inhabiting in those days the coast of
Arabia.
73:14. Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon: thou hast given
him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians.
73:15. Thou hast broken up the fountains and the torrents: thou
hast dried up the Ethan rivers.
Ethan rivers.... That is, rivers which run with strong streams. This was veri ied in
Jordan, Jos. 3, and in Arnon, Num. 21.14.
73:16. Thine is the day, and thine is the night: thou hast made the
morning light and the sun.
73:17. Thou hast made all the borders of the earth: the summer and
the spring were formed by thee.
73:18. Remember this, the enemy hath reproached the Lord: and a
foolish people hath provoked thy name.
73:19. Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to thee: and
forget not to the end the souls of thy poor.
73:20. Have regard to thy covenant: for they that are the obscure of
the earth have been illed with dwellings of iniquity.
The obscure of the earth.... Mean and ignoble wretches have been illed, that is,
enriched, with houses of iniquity, that is, with our estates and possessions, which
they have unjustly acquired.
73:21. Let not the humble be turned away with confusion: the poor
and needy shall praise thy name.
73:22. Arise, O God, judge thy own cause: remember thy reproaches
with which the foolish man hath reproached thee all the day.
73:23. Forget not the voices of thy enemies: the pride of them that
hate thee ascendeth continually.

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 Psalms Chapter 74

Con itebimur tibi.

There is a just judgment to come: therefore let the wicked take care.
74:1. Unto the end, corrupt not, a psalm of a canticle for Asaph.
Corrupt not.... It is believed to have been the beginning of some ode or hymn, to
the tune of which this psalm was to be sung. St. Augustine and other fathers take
it to be an admonition of the spirit of God, not to faint or fail in our hope: but to
persevere with constancy in good: because God will not fail in his due time to
render to every man according to his works.
74:2. We will praise thee, O God: we will praise, and we will call
upon thy name. We will relate thy wondrous works:
74:3. When I shall take a time, I will judge justices.
When I shall take a time.... In proper times: particularly at the last day, when the
earth shall melt away at the presence of the great Judge: the same who
originally laid the foundations of it, and as it were established its pillars.
74:4. The earth is melted, and all that dwell therein: I have
established the pillars thereof.
74:5. I said to the wicked: Do not act wickedly: and to the sinners:
Lift not up the horn.
74:6. Lift not up your horn on high: speak not iniquity against God.
74:7. For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the
desert hills:
74:8. For God is the judge. One he putteth down, and another he
lifteth up:
74:9. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup of strong wine full of
mixture. And he hath poured it out from this to that: but the dregs
thereof are not emptied: all the sinners of the earth shall drink.
74:10. But I will declare for ever: I will sing to the God of Jacob.
74:11. And I will break all the horns of sinners: but the horns of the
just shall be exalted.
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 Psalms Chapter 75

Notus in Judaea.
God is known in his church: and exerts his power in protecting it. It
alludes to the slaughter of the Assyrians, in the days of king Ezechias.
75:1. Unto the end, in praises, a psalm for Asaph: a canticle to the
Assyrians.
75:2. In Judea God is known: his name is great in Israel.
75:3. And his place is in peace: and his abode in Sion:
75:4. There hath he broken the powers of bows, the shield, the
sword, and the battle.
75:5. Thou enlightenest wonderfully from the everlasting hills.
75:6. All the foolish of heart were troubled. They have slept their
sleep; and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands.
75:7. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, they have all slumbered that
mounted on horseback.
75:8. Thou art terrible, and who shall resist thee? from that time thy
wrath.
From that time, etc.... From the time that thy wrath shall break out.
75:9. Thou hast caused judgment to be heard from heaven: the
earth trembled and was still,
75:10. When God arose in judgment, to save all the meek of the
earth.
75:11. For the thought of man shall give praise to thee: and the
remainders of the thought shall keep holiday to thee.
75:12. Vow ye, and pay to the Lord your God: all you that are round
about him bring presents. To him that is terrible,
75:13. Even to him who taketh away the spirit of princes: to the
terrible with the kings of the earth.

 Psalms Chapter 76

Voce mea.
The faithful have recourse to God in trouble of mind, with con idence
in his mercy and power.
76:1. Unto the end, for Idithun, a psalm of Asaph.
76:2. I cried to the Lord with my voice; to God with my voice, and he
gave ear to me.
76:3. In the day of my trouble I sought God, with my hands lifted up
to him in the night, and I was not deceived. My soul refused to be
comforted:
76:4. I remembered God, and was delighted, and was exercised, and
my spirit swooned away.
76:5. My eyes prevented the watches: I was troubled, and I spoke
not.
76:6. I thought upon the days of old: and I had in my mind the
eternal years.
76:7. And I meditated in the night with my own heart: and I was
exercised and I swept my spirit.
76:8. Will God then cast off for ever? or will he never be more
favourable again?
76:9. Or will he cut off his mercy for ever, from generation to
generation?
76:10. Or will God forget to shew mercy? or will he in his anger shut
up his mercies?
76:11. And I said, Now have I begun: this is the change of the right
hand of the most High.
76:12. I remembered the works of the Lord: for I will be mindful of
thy wonders from the beginning.

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 76:13. And I will meditate on all thy works: and will be employed in
thy inventions.
76:14. Thy way, O God, is in the holy place: who is the great God like
our God?
76:15. Thou art the God that dost wonders. Thou hast made thy
power known among the nations:
76:16. With thy arm thou hast redeemed thy people the children of
Jacob and of Joseph.
76:17. The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee: and they
were afraid, and the depths were troubled.
76:18. Great was the noise of the waters: the clouds sent out a
sound. For thy arrows pass:
76:19. The voice of thy thunder in a wheel. Thy lightnings
enlightened the world: the earth shook and trembled.
76:20. Thy way is in the sea, and thy paths in many waters: and thy
footsteps shall not be known.
76:21. Thou hast conducted thy people like sheep, by the hand of
Moses and Aaron.
Psalms Chapter 77

Attendite.
God’s great bene its to the people of Israel, notwithstanding their
ingratitude.
77:1. Understanding for Asaph. Attend, O my people, to my law:
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
77:2. I will open my mouth in parables: I will utter propositions
from the beginning.
Propositions.... Deep and mysterious sayings. By this it appears that the
historical facts of ancient times, commemorated in this psalm, were deep and
mysterious: as being igures of great truths appertaining to the time of the New
Testament.

 77:3. How great things have we heard and known, and our fathers
have told us.
77:4. They have not been hidden from their children, in another
generation. Declaring the praises of the Lord, and his powers, and his
wonders which he hath done.
77:5. And he set up a testimony in Jacob: and made a law in Israel.
How great things he commanded our fathers, that they should make
the same known to their children:
77:6. That another generation might know them. The children that
should be born and should rise up, and declare them to their children.
77:7. That they may put their hope in God and may not forget the
works of God: and may seek his commandments.
77:8. That they may not become like their fathers, a perverse and
exasperating generation. A generation that set not their heart aright:
and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
77:9. The sons of Ephraim who bend and shoot with the bow: they
have turned back in the day of battle.
77:10. They kept not the covenant of God: and in his law they would
not walk.
77:11. And they forgot his bene its, and his wonders that he had
shewn them.
77:12. Wonderful things did he do in the sight of their fathers, in the
land of Egypt, in the ield of Tanis.
77:13. He divided the sea and brought them through: and he made
the waters to stand as in a vessel.
77:14. And he conducted them with a cloud by day: and all the night
with a light of ire.
77:15. He struck the rock in the wilderness: and gave them to drink,
as out of the great deep.
77:16. He brought forth water out of the rock: and made streams
run down as rivers.

 77:17. And they added yet more sin against him: they provoked the
most High to wrath in the place without water.
77:18. And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking meat for
their desires.
77:19. And they spoke ill of God: they said: Can God furnish a table
in the wilderness?
77:20. Because he struck the rock, and the waters gushed out, and
the streams over lowed. Can he also give bread, or provide a table for
his people?
77:21. Therefore the Lord heard, and was angry: and a ire was
kindled against Jacob, and wrath came up against Israel.
77:22. Because they believed not in God: and trusted not in his
salvation.
77:23. And he had commanded the clouds from above, and had
opened the doors of heaven.
77:24. And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had
given them the bread of heaven.
77:25. Man ate the bread of angels: he sent them provisions in
abundance.
77:26. He removed the south wind from heaven: and by his power
brought in the south-west wind.
77:27. And he rained upon them lesh as dust: and feathered fowls
like as the sand of the sea.
77:28. And they fell in the midst of their camp, round about their
pavilions.
77:29. So they did eat, and were illed exceedingly, and he gave them
their desire:
77:30. they were not defrauded of that which they craved. As yet
their meat was in their mouth:
77:31. And the wrath of God came upon them. And he slew the fat
ones amongst them, and brought down the chosen men of Israel.

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 77:32. In all these things they sinned still: and they believed not for
his wondrous works.
77:33. And their days were consumed in vanity, and their years in
haste.
77:34. When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned,
and came to him early in the morning.
77:35. And they remembered that God was their helper: and the
most high God their redeemer.
77:36. And they loved him with their mouth: and with their tongue
they lied unto him:
77:37. But their heart was not right with him: nor were they
counted faithful in his covenant.
77:38. But he is merciful, and will forgive their sins: and will not
destroy them. And many a time did he turn away his anger: and did
not kindle all his wrath.
77:39. And he remembered that they are lesh: a wind that goeth
and returneth not.
77:40. How often did they provoke him in the desert: and move him
to wrath in the place without water?
77:41. And they turned back and tempted God: and grieved the holy
one of Israel.
77:42. They remembered not his hand, in the day that he redeemed
them from the hand of him that af licted them:
77:43. How he wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the
ield of Tanis.
77:44. And he turned their rivers into blood, and their showers that
they might not drink.
77:45. He sent amongst them divers sorts of lies, which devoured
them: and frogs which destroyed them.
77:46. And he gave up their fruits to the blast, and their labours to
the locust.
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 77:47. And he destroyed their vineyards with hail, and their
mulberry trees with hoarfrost.
77:48. And he gave up their cattle to the hail, and their stock to the
ire.
77:49. And he sent upon them the wrath of his indignation:
indignation and wrath and trouble, which he sent by evil angels.
77:50. He made a way for a path to his anger: he spared not their
souls from death, and their cattle he shut up in death.
77:51. And he killed all the irstborn in the land of Egypt: the
irstfruits of all their labour in the tabernacles of Cham.
77:52. And he took away his own people as sheep: and guided them
in the wilderness like a lock.
77:53. And he brought them out in hope and they feared not: and
the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
77:54. And he brought them into the mountain of his sanctuary: the
mountain which his right hand had purchased. And he cast out the
Gentiles before them: and by lot divided to them their land by a line of
distribution.
77:55. And he made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles.
77:56. Yet they tempted, and provoked the most high God: and they
kept not his testimonies.
77:57. And they turned away, and kept not the covenant: even like
their fathers they were turned aside as a crooked bow.
77:58. They provoked him to anger on their hills: and moved him to
jealousy with their graven things.
77:59. God heard, and despised them, and he reduced Israel
exceedingly as it were to nothing.
77:60. And he put away the tabernacle of Silo, his tabernacle where
he dwelt among men.
77:61. And he delivered their strength into captivity: and their
beauty into the hands of the enemy.
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 77:62. And he shut up his people under the sword: and he despised
his inheritance.
77:63. Fire consumed their young men: and their maidens were not
lamented.
77:64. Their priests fell by the sword: and their widows did not
mourn.
77:65. And the Lord was awaked as one out of sleep, and like a
mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine.
77:66. And he smote his enemies on the hinder parts: he put them to
an everlasting reproach.
77:67. And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph: and chose not the
tribe of Ephraim:
77:68. But he chose the tribe of Juda, mount Sion which he loved.
77:69. And he built his sanctuary as of unicorns, in the land which
he founded for ever.
As of unicorns.... That is, irm and strong like the horn of the unicorn. This is one
of the chiefest of the propositions of this psalm, foreshewing the irm
establishment of the one, true, and everlasting sanctuary of God, in his church.
77:70. And he chose his servant David, and took him from the locks
of sheep: he brought him from following the ewes great with young,
77:71. To feed Jacob his servant and Israel his inheritance.
77:72. And he fed them in the innocence of his heart: and conducted
them by the skilfulness of his hands.
Psalms Chapter 78

Deus, venerunt gentes.

The church in time of persecution prayeth for relief. It seems to belong
to the time of the Machabees.
78:1. A psalm for Asaph. O God, the heathens are come into thy
inheritance, they have de iled thy holy temple: they have made
Jerusalem as a place to keep fruit.

 78:2. They have given the dead bodies of thy servants to be meat for
the fowls of the air: the lesh of thy saints for the beasts of the earth.
78:3. They have poured out their blood as water, round about
Jerusalem and there was none to bury them.
78:4. We are become a reproach to our neighbours: a scorn and
derision to them that are round about us.
78:5. How long, O Lord, wilt thou be angry for ever: shall thy zeal be
kindled like a ire?
78:6. Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that have not known
thee: and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
78:7. Because they have devoured Jacob; and have laid waste his
place.
78:8. Remember not our former iniquities: let thy mercies speedily
prevent us, for we are become exceeding poor.
78:9. Help us, O God, our saviour: and for the glory of thy name, O
Lord, deliver us: and forgive us our sins for thy name’s sake:
78:10. Lest they should say among the Gentiles: Where is their God?
And let him be made known among the nations before our eyes, By the
revenging the blood of thy servants, which hath been shed:
78:11. Let the sighing of the prisoners come in before thee.
According to the greatness of thy arm, take possession of the children
of them that have been put to death.
78:12. And render to our neighbours sevenfold in their bosom: the
reproach wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
78:13. But we thy people, and the sheep of thy pasture, will give
thanks to thee for ever. We will shew forth thy praise, unto generation
and generation.
Psalms Chapter 79

Qui regis Israel.

 A prayer for the church in tribulation, commemorating God’s former

favours.
79:1. Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, a testimony for
Asaph, a psalm.
79:2. Give ear, O thou that rulest Israel: thou that leadest Joseph like
a sheep. Thou that sittest upon the cherubims, shine forth
79:3. Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasses. Stir up thy might,
and come to save us.
79:4. Convert us, O God: and shew us thy face, and we shall be saved.
79:5. O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the
prayer of thy servant?
79:6. How long wilt thou feed us with the bread of tears: and give us
for our drink tears in measure?
79:7. Thou hast made us to be a contradiction to our neighbours:
and our enemies have scoffed at us.
79:8. O God of hosts, convert us: and shew thy face, and we shall be
saved.
79:9. Thou hast brought a vineyard out of Egypt: thou hast cast out
the Gentiles and planted it.
79:10. Thou wast the guide of its journey in its sight: thou plantedst
the roots thereof, and it illed the land.
79:11. The shadow of it covered the hills: and the branches thereof
the cedars of God.
79:12. It stretched forth its branches unto the sea, and its boughs
unto the river.
79:13. Why hast thou broken down the hedge thereof, so that all
they who pass by the way do pluck it?
79:14. The boar out of the wood hath laid it waste: and a singular
wild beast hath devoured it.

 79:15. Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven, and see,
and visit this vineyard:
79:16. And perfect the same which thy right hand hath planted: and
upon the son of man whom thou hast con irmed for thyself.
79:17. Things set on ire and dug down shall perish at the rebuke of
thy countenance.
Things set on ire, etc.... So this vineyard of thine, almost consumed already, must
perish, if thou continue thy rebukes.
79:18. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand: and upon
the son of man whom thou hast con irmed for thyself.
The man of thy right hand.... Christ.
79:19. And we depart not from thee, thou shalt quicken us: and we
will call upon thy name.
79:20. O Lord God of hosts, convert us and shew thy face, and we
shall be saved.
Psalms Chapter 80

Exultate Deo.
An invitation to a solemn praising of God.
80:1. Unto the end, for the winepresses, a psalm for Asaph himself.
For the winepresses, etc.... Torcularibus. It either signi ies a musical instrument,
or that this psalm was to be sung at the feast of the tabernacles after the
gathering in of the vintage.
80:2. Rejoice to God our helper: sing aloud to the God of Jacob.
80:3. Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel: the pleasant
psaltery with the harp.
80:4. Blow up the trumpet on the new moon, on the noted day of
your solemnity.
80:5. For it is a commandment in Israel, and a judgment to the God
of Jacob.

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 80:6. He ordained it for a testimony in Joseph, when he came out of

the land of Egypt: he heard a tongue which he knew not.
80:7. He removed his back from the burdens: his hands had served
in baskets.
80:8. Thou calledst upon me in af liction, and I delivered thee: I
heard thee in the secret place of tempest: I proved thee at the waters
of contradiction.
In the secret place of tempest.... Heb., Of thunder. When thou soughtest to hide
thyself from the tempest: or, when I came down to mount Sina, hidden from thy
eyes in a storm of thunder.
80:9. Hear, O my people, and I will testify to thee: O Israel, if thou
wilt hearken to me,
80:10. there shall be no new god in thee: neither shalt thou adore a
strange god.
80:11. For I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land
of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will ill it.
80:12. But my people heard not my voice: and Israel hearkened not
to me.
80:13. So I let them go according to the desires of their heart: they
shall walk in their own inventions.
80:14. If my people had heard me: if Israel had walked in my ways:
80:15. I should soon have humbled their enemies, and laid my hand
on them that troubled them.
80:16. The enemies of the Lord have lied to him: and their time shall
be for ever.
Their time shall be forever.... Impenitent sinners shall suffer for ever.
80:17. And he fed them with the fat of wheat, and illed them with
honey out of the rock.
Psalms Chapter 81

Deus stetit.

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 An exhortation to judges and men in power.

81:1. A psalm for Asaph. God hath stood in the congregation of gods:
and being in the midst of them he judgeth gods.
81:2. How long will you judge unjustly: and accept the persons of
the wicked?
81:3. Judge for the needy and fatherless: do justice to the humble
and the poor.
81:4. Rescue the poor; and deliver the needy out of the hand of the
sinner.
81:5. They have not known nor understood: they walk on in
darkness: all the foundations of the earth shall be moved.
81:6. I have said: You are gods and all of you the sons of the most
High.
81:7. But you like men shall die: and shall fall like one of the princes.
81:8. Arise, O God, judge thou the earth: for thou shalt inherit
among all the nations.
Psalms Chapter 82

Deus, quis similis.

A prayer against the enemies of God’s church.
82:1. A canticle of a psalm for Asaph.
82:2. O God, who shall be like to thee? hold not thy peace, neither be
thou still, O God.
82:3. For lo, thy enemies have made a noise: and they that hate thee
have lifted up the head.
82:4. They have taken a malicious counsel against thy people, and
have consulted against thy saints.
82:5. They have said: Come and let us destroy them, so that they be
not a nation: and let the name of Israel be remembered no more.

 82:6. For they have contrived with one consent: they have made a
covenant together against thee,
82:7. The tabernacles of the Edomites, and the Ishmahelites: Moab,
and the Agarens,
82:8. Gebal, and Ammon and Amalec: the Philistines, with the
inhabitants of Tyre.
82:9. Yea, and the Assyrian also is joined with them: they are come
to the aid of the sons of Lot.
82:10. Do to them as thou didst to Madian and to Sisara: as to Jabin
at the brook of Cisson.
82:11. Who perished at Endor: and became as dung for the earth.
82:12. Make their princes like Oreb, and Zeb, and Zebee, and
Salmana. All their princes,
82:13. Who have said: Let us possess the sanctuary of God for an
inheritance.
82:14. O my God, make them like a wheel; and as stubble before the
wind.
82:15. As ire which burneth the wood: and as a lame burning
mountains:
82:16. So shalt thou pursue them with thy tempest: and shalt
trouble them in thy wrath.
82:17. Fill their faces with shame; and they shall seek thy name, O
Lord.
82:18. Let them be ashamed and troubled for ever and ever: and let
them be confounded and perish.
82:19. And let them know that the Lord is thy name: thou alone art
the most High over all the earth.
Psalms Chapter 83

Quam dilecta.

 The soul aspireth after heaven; rejoicing in the mean time, in being in
the communion of God’s church upon earth.
83:1. Unto the end, for the winepresses, a psalm for the sons of Core.
83:2. How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!
83:3. my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My
heart and my lesh have rejoiced in the living God.
83:4. For the sparrow hath found herself a house, and the turtle a
nest for herself where she may lay her young ones: Thy altars, O Lord
of hosts, my king and my God.
83:5. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord: they shall
praise thee for ever and ever.
83:6. Blessed is the man whose help is from thee: in his heart he
hath disposed to ascend by steps,
In his heart he hath disposed to ascend by steps, etc.... Ascensiones in corde suo
disposuit. As by steps men ascended to the temple of God situated on a hill; so the
good Christian ascends towards the eternal temple by certain steps of virtue
disposed or ordered within the heart: and this whilst he lives as yet in the body,
in this vale of tears, the place which man hath set: that is, which he hath brought
himself to: being cast out of paradise for his sin.
83:7. In the vale of tears, in the place which he hath set.
83:8. For the lawgiver shall give a blessing, they shall go from virtue
to virtue: the God of gods shall be seen in Sion.
83:9. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob.
83:10. Behold, O God our protector: and look on the face of thy
Christ.
83:11. For better is one day in thy courts above thousands. I have
chosen to be an abject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in
the tabernacles of sinners.
83:12. For God loveth mercy and truth: the Lord will give grace and
glory.

 83:13. He will not deprive of good things them that walk in

innocence: O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
Psalms Chapter 84

Benedixisti, Domine.
The coming of Christ, to bring peace and salvation to man.
84:1. Unto the end, for the sons of Core, a psalm.
84:2. Lord, thou hast blessed thy land: thou hast turned away the
captivity of Jacob.
84:3. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people: thou hast
covered all their sins.
84:4. Thou hast mitigated all thy anger: thou hast turned away from
the wrath of thy indignation.
84:5. Convert us, O God our saviour: and turn off thy anger from us.
84:6. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever: or wilt thou extend thy
wrath from generation to generation?
84:7. Thou wilt turn, O God, and bring us to life: and thy people shall
rejoice in thee.
84:8. Shew us, O Lord, thy mercy; and grant us thy salvation.
84:9. I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me: for he will
speak peace unto his people: And unto his saints: and unto them that
are converted to the heart.
84:10. Surely his salvation is near to them that fear him: that glory
may dwell in our land.
84:11. Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have
kissed.
84:12. Truth is sprung out of the earth: and justice hath looked
down from heaven.
84:13. For the Lord will give goodness: and our earth shall yield her
fruit.

 84:14. Justice shall walk before him: and shall set his steps in the
way.
Psalms Chapter 85

Inclina, Domine.
A prayer for God’s grace to assist us to the end.
85:1. A prayer for David himself. Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear
me: for I am needy and poor.
85:2. Preserve my soul, for I am holy: save thy servant, O my God,
that trusteth in thee.
I am holy.... I am by my of ice and profession dedicated to thy service.
85:3. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day.
85:4. Give joy to the soul of thy servant, for to thee, O Lord, I have
lifted up my soul.
85:5. For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy
to all that call upon thee.
85:6. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer: and attend to the voice of my
petition.
85:7. I have called upon thee in the day of my trouble: because thou
hast heard me.
85:8. There is none among the gods like unto thee, O Lord: and there
is none according to thy works.
85:9. All the nations thou hast made shall come and adore before
thee, O Lord: and they shall glorify thy name.
85:10. For thou art great and dost wonderful things: thou art God
alone.
85:11. Conduct me, O Lord, in thy way, and I will walk in thy truth:
let my heart rejoice that it may fear thy name.
85:12. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I
will glorify thy name for ever:

 85:13. For thy mercy is great towards me: and thou hast delivered
my soul out of the lower hell.
85:14. O God, the wicked are risen up against me, and the assembly
of the mighty have sought my soul: and they have not set thee before
their eyes.
85:15. And thou, O Lord, art a God of compassion, and merciful,
patient, and of much mercy, and true.
85:16. O look upon me, and have mercy on me: give thy command to
thy servant, and save the son of thy handmaid.
85:17. Shew me a token for good: that they who hate me may see,
and be confounded, because thou, O Lord, hast helped me and hast
comforted me.
Psalms Chapter 86

Fundamenta ejus.
The glory of the church of Christ.
86:1. For the sons of Core, a psalm of a canticle. The foundations
thereof are in the holy mountains:
The holy mountains.... The apostles and prophets. Eph. 2.20.
86:2. The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the tabernacles of
Jacob.
86:3. Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God.
86:4. I will be mindful of Rahab and of Babylon knowing me. Behold
the foreigners, and Tyre, and the people of the Ethiopians, these were
there.
Rahab.... Egypt, etc. To this Sion, which is the church of God, many shall resort
from all nations.
86:5. Shall not Sion say: This man and that man is born in her? and
the Highest himself hath founded her.
Shall not Sion say, etc.... The meaning is, that Sion, viz., the church, shall not only
be able to commemorate this or that particular person of renown born in her,

 but also to glory in great multitudes of people and princes of her communion;
who have been foretold in the writings of the prophets, and registered in the
writings of the apostles.
86:6. The Lord shall tell in his writings of peoples and of princes, of
them that have been in her.
86:7. The dwelling in thee is as it were of all rejoicing.
Psalms Chapter 87

Domine, Deus salutis.

A prayer of one under grievous af liction: it agrees to Christ in his
passion, and alludes to his death and burial.
87:1. A canticle of a psalm for the sons of Core: unto the end, for
Maheleth, to answer understanding of Eman the Ezrahite.
Maheleth.... A musical instrument, or chorus of musicians, to answer one another.
—Ibid. Understanding.... Or a psalm of instruction, composed by Eman the
Ezrahite, or by David, in his name.
87:2. O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in
the night before thee.
87:3. Let my prayer come in before thee: incline thy ear to my
petition.
87:4. For my soul is illed with evils: and my life hath drawn nigh to
hell.
87:5. I am counted among them that go down to the pit: I am
become as a man without help,
87:6. Free among the dead. Like the slain sleeping in the sepulchres,
whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.
87:7. They have laid me in the lower pit: in the dark places, and in
the shadow of death.
87:8. Thy wrath is strong over me: and all thy waves thou hast
brought in upon me.

 87:9. Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me: they have
set me an abomination to themselves. I was delivered up, and came not
forth:
87:10. My eyes languished through poverty. All the day I cried to
thee, O Lord: I stretched out my hands to thee.
87:11. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? or shall physicians raise
to life, and give praise to thee?
87:12. Shall any one in the sepulchre declare thy mercy: and thy
truth in destruction?
87:13. Shall thy wonders be known in the dark; and thy justice in the
land of forgetfulness?
87:14. But I, O Lord, have cried to thee: and in the morning my
prayer shall prevent thee.
87:15. Lord, why castest thou off my prayer: why turnest thou away
thy face from me?
87:16. I am poor, and in labours from my youth: and being exalted
have been humbled and troubled.
87:17. Thy wrath hath come upon me: and thy terrors have troubled
me.
87:18. They have come round about me like water all the day: they
have compassed me about together.
87:19. Friend and neighbour thou hast put far from me: and my
acquaintance, because of misery.
Psalms Chapter 88

Misericordias Domini.
The perpetuity of the church of Christ, in consequence of the promise
of God: which, notwithstanding, God permits her to suffer sometimes
most grievous af lictions.
88:1. Of understanding, for Ethan the Ezrahite.

 88:2. The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever. I will shew forth thy
truth with my mouth to generation and generation.
88:3. For thou hast said: Mercy shall be built up for ever in the
heavens: thy truth shall be prepared in them.
88:4. I have made a covenant with my elect: I have sworn to David
my servant:
88:5. Thy seed will I settle for ever. And I will build up thy throne
unto generation and generation.
88:6. The heavens shall confess thy wonders, O Lord: and thy truth
in the church of the saints.
88:7. For who in the clouds can be compared to the Lord: or who
among the sons of God shall be like to God?
88:8. God, who is glori ied in the assembly of the saints: great and
terrible above all them that are about him.
88:9. O Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? thou art mighty, O
Lord, and thy truth is round about thee.
88:10. Thou rulest the power of the sea: and appeasest the motion of
the waves thereof.
88:11. Thou hast humbled the proud one, as one that is slain: with
the arm of thy strength thou hast scattered thy enemies.
88:12. Thine are the heavens, and thine is the earth: the world and
the fulness thereof thou hast founded:
88:13. The north and the sea thou hast created. Thabor and Hermon
shall rejoice in thy name:
88:14. Thy arm is with might. Let thy hand be strengthened, and thy
right hand exalted:
88:15. Justice and judgment are the preparation of thy throne.
Mercy and truth shall go before thy face:
88:16. Blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation. They shall
walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance:

 88:17. And in thy name they shall rejoice all the day, and in thy
justice they shall be exalted.
88:18. For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy good
pleasure shall our horn be exalted.
88:19. For our protection is of the Lord, and of our king the holy one
of Israel.
88:20. Then thou spokest in a vision to thy saints, and saidst: I have
laid help upon one that is mighty, and have exalted one chosen out of
my people.
88:21. I have found David my servant: with my holy oil I have
anointed him.
88:22. For my hand shall help him: and my arm shall strengthen
him.
88:23. The enemy shall have no advantage over him: nor the son of
iniquity have power to hurt him.
88:24. And I will cut down his enemies before his face; and them
that hate him I will put to light.
88:25. And my truth and my mercy shall be with him: and in my
name shall his horn be exalted.
88:26. And I will set his hand in the sea; and his right hand in the
rivers.
88:27. He shall cry out to me: Thou art my father: my God, and the
support of my salvation.
88:28. And I will make him my irstborn, high above the kings of the
earth.
88:29. I will keep my mercy for him for ever: and my covenant
faithful to him.
88:30. And I will make his seed to endure for evermore: and his
throne as the days of heaven.
88:31. And if his children forsake my law, and walk not in my
judgments:

 88:32. If they profane my justices: and keep not my commandments:

88:33. I will visit their iniquities with a rod and their sins with
stripes.
88:34. But my mercy I will not take away from him: nor will I suffer
my truth to fail.
88:35. Neither will I profane my covenant: and the words that
proceed from my mouth I will not make void.
88:36. Once have I sworn by my holiness: I will not lie unto David:
88:37. His seed shall endure for ever.
88:38. And his throne as the sun before me: and as the moon perfect
for ever, and a faithful witness in heaven.
88:39. But thou hast rejected and despised: thou hast been angry
with my anointed.
88:40. Thou hast overthrown the covenant of thy servant: thou hast
profaned his sanctuary on the earth.
Overthrown the covenant, etc.... All this seems to relate to the time of the
captivity of Babylon, in which, for the sins of the people and their princes, God
seemed to have set aside for a while the covenant he made with David.
88:41. Thou hast broken down all his hedges: thou hast made his
strength fear.
88:42. All that pass by the way have robbed him: he is become a
reproach to his neighbours.
88:43. Thou hast set up the right hand of them that oppress him:
thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
88:44. Thou hast turned away the help of his sword; and hast not
assisted him in battle.
88:45. Thou hast made his puri ication to cease: and thou hast cast
his throne down to the ground.
88:46. Thou hast shortened the days of his time: thou hast covered
him with confusion.

 88:47. How long, O Lord, turnest thou away unto the end? shall thy
anger burn like ire?
88:48. Remember what my substance is: for hast thou made all the
children of men in vain?
88:49. Who is the man that shall live, and not see death: that shall
deliver his soul from the hand of hell?
88:50. Lord, where are thy ancient mercies, according to what thou
didst swear to David in thy truth?
88:51. Be mindful, O Lord, of the reproach of thy servants (which I
have held in my bosom) of many nations:
88:52. Wherewith thy enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith
they have reproached the change of thy anointed.
88:53. Blessed be the Lord for evermore. So be it. So be it.
Psalms Chapter 89

Domine, refugium.
A prayer for the mercy of God: recounting the shortness and miseries
of the days of man.
89:1. A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our
refuge from generation to generation.
89:2. Before the mountains were made, or the earth and the world
was formed; from eternity and to eternity thou art God.
89:3. Turn not man away to be brought low: and thou hast said: Be
converted, O ye sons of men.
Turn not man away, etc.... Suffer him not quite to perish from thee, since thou art
pleased to call upon him to be converted to thee.
89:4. For a thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday, which is
past. And as a watch in the night,
89:5. Things that are counted nothing, shall their years be.
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 89:6. In the morning man shall grow up like grass; in the morning
he shall lourish and pass away: in the evening he shall fall, grow dry,
and wither.
89:7. For in thy wrath we have fainted away: and are troubled in thy
indignation.
89:8. Thou hast set our iniquities before thy eyes: our life in the light
of thy countenance.
89:9. For all our days are spent; and in thy wrath we have fainted
away. Our years shall be considered as a spider:
As a spider.... As frail and weak as a spider’s web; and miserable withal, whilst
like a spider we spend our bowels in weaving webs to catch lies.
89:10. The days of our years in them are threescore and ten years.
But if in the strong they be fourscore years: and what is more of them
is labour and sorrow. For mildness is come upon us: and we shall be
corrected.
Mildness is come upon us, etc.... God’s mildness corrects us; inasmuch as he deals
kindly with us, in shortening the days of this miserable life; and so weaning our
affections from all its transitory enjoyments, and teaching us true wisdom.
89:11. Who knoweth the power of thy anger, and for thy fear
89:12. Can number thy wrath? So make thy right hand known: and
men learned in heart, in wisdom.
89:13. Return, O Lord, how long? and be entreated in favour of thy
servants.
89:14. We are illed in the morning with thy mercy: and we have
rejoiced, and are delighted all our days.
89:15. We have rejoiced for the days in which thou hast humbled us:
for the years in which we have seen evils.
89:16. Look upon thy servants and upon their works: and direct
their children.
89:17. And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us: and
direct thou the works of our hands over us; yea, the work of our hands
do thou direct.
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 Psalms Chapter 90

Qui habitat.
The just is secure under the protection of God.
90:1. The praise of a canticle for David. He that dwelleth in the aid
of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
90:2. He shall say to the Lord: Thou art my protector, and my refuge:
my God, in him will I trust.
90:3. For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and
from the sharp word.
90:4. He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his
wings thou shalt trust.
90:5. His truth shall compass thee with a shield: thou shalt not be
afraid of the terror of the night.
90:6. Of the arrow that lieth in the day, of the business that walketh
about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
90:7. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right
hand: but it shall not come nigh thee.
90:8. But thou shalt consider with thy eyes: and shalt see the reward
of the wicked.
90:9. Because thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou hast made the most
High thy refuge.
90:10. There shall no evil come to thee: nor shall the scourge come
near thy dwelling.
90:11. For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in
all thy ways.
90:12. In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot
against a stone.
90:13. Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt
trample under foot the lion and the dragon.

 90:14. Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him

because he hath known my name.
90:15. He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in
tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
90:16. I will ill him with length of days; and I will shew him my
salvation.
Psalms Chapter 91

Bonum est con iteri.

God is to be praised for his wondrous works.
91:1. A psalm of a canticle on the sabbath day.
91:2. It is good to give praise to the Lord: and to sing to thy name, O
most High.
91:3. To shew forth thy mercy in the morning, and thy truth in the
night:
91:4. Upon an instrument of ten strings, upon the psaltery: with a
canticle upon the harp.
91:5. For thou hast given me, O Lord, a delight in thy doings: and in
the works of thy hands I shall rejoice.
91:6. O Lord, how great are thy works! thy thoughts are exceeding
deep.
91:7. The senseless man shall not know: nor will the fool understand
these things.
91:8. When the wicked shall spring up as grass: and all the workers
of iniquity shall appear: That they may perish for ever and ever:
91:9. But thou, O Lord, art most high for evermore.
91:10. For behold thy enemies, O lord, for behold thy enemies shall
perish: and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
91:11. But my horn shall be exalted like that of the unicorn: and my
old age in plentiful mercy.

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 91:12. My eye also hath looked down upon my enemies: and my ear
shall hear of the downfall of the malignant that rise up against me.
91:13. The just shall lourish like the palm tree: he shall grow up like
the cedar of Libanus.
91:14. They that are planted in the house of the Lord shall lourish
in the courts of the house of our God.
91:15. They shall still increase in a fruitful old age: and shall be well
treated,
91:16. That they may shew, That the Lord our God is righteous, and
there is no iniquity in him.
Psalms Chapter 92

Dominus regnavit.
The glory and stability of the kingdom; that is, of the church of Christ.
Praise in the way of a canticle, for David himself, on the day before the
sabbath, when the earth was founded.
92:1. The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty: the Lord is
clothed with strength, and hath girded himself. For he hath established
the world which shall not be moved.
92:2. My throne is prepared from of old: thou art from everlasting.
92:3. The loods have lifted up, O Lord: the loods have lifted up their
voice. The loods have lifted up their waves,
92:4. With the noise of many waters. Wonderful are the surges of the
sea: wonderful is the Lord on high.
92:5. Thy testimonies are become exceedingly credible: holiness
becometh thy house, O Lord, unto length of days.
Psalms Chapter 93

Deus ultionum.
God shall judge and punish the oppressors of his people.

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 A psalm for David himself on the fourth day of the week.

93:1. The Lord is the God to whom revenge belongeth: the God of
revenge hath acted freely.
93:2. Lift up thyself, thou that judgest the earth: render a reward to
the proud.
93:3. How long shall sinners, O Lord: how long shall sinners glory?
93:4. Shall they utter, and speak iniquity: shall all speak who work
injustice?
93:5. Thy people, O Lord, they have brought low: and they have
af licted thy inheritance.
93:6. They have slain the widow and the stranger: and they have
murdered the fatherless.
93:7. And they have said: The Lord shall not see: neither shall the
God of Jacob understand.
93:8. Understand, ye senseless among the people: and, you fools, be
wise at last.
93:9. He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he that formed
the eye, doth he not consider?
93:10. He that chastiseth nations, shall he not rebuke: he that
teacheth man knowledge?
93:11. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vain.
93:12. Blessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct, O Lord: and
shalt teach him out of thy law.
93:13. That thou mayst give him rest from the evil days: till a pit be
dug for the wicked.
Rest from the evil days.... That thou mayst mitigate the sorrows, to which he is
exposed, during the short and evil days of his mortality.
93:14. For the Lord will not cast off his people: neither will he
forsake his own inheritance.
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 93:15. Until justice be turned into judgment: and they that are near
it are all the upright in heart.
Until justice be turned into judgment, etc.... By being put in execution; which will
be agreeable to all the upright in heart.
93:16. Who shall rise up for me against the evildoers? or who shall
stand with me against the workers of iniquity?
93:17. Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost
dwelt in hell.
93:18. If I said: My foot is moved: thy mercy, O Lord, assisted me.
93:19. According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy
comforts have given joy to my soul.
93:20. Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, who framest labour in
commandment?
Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, etc.... That is, wilt thou, O God, who art
always just, admit of the seat of iniquity: that is, of injustice, or unjust judges, to
have any partnership with thee? Thou who framest, or makest, labour in
commandment, that is, thou who obligest us to labour with all diligence to keep
thy commandments.
93:21. They will hunt after the soul of the just, and will condemn
innocent blood.
93:22. But the Lord is my refuge: and my God the help of my hope.
93:23. And he will render them their iniquity: and in their malice he
will destroy them: the Lord our God will destroy them.
Psalms Chapter 94

Venite exultemus.
An invitation to adore and serve God, and to hear his voice.
Praise of a canticle for David himself.
94:1. Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God
our saviour.

 94:2. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make
a joyful noise to him with psalms.
94:3. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
94:4. For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of
the mountains are his.
94:5. For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry
land.
94:6. Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord
that made us.
94:7. For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his
pasture and the sheep of his hand.
94:8. To day if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:
94:9. As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in
the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and
saw my works.
94:10. Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I
said: These always err in heart.
94:11. And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my
wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.
Psalms Chapter 95

Cantate Domino.
An exhortation to praise God for the coming of Christ and his kingdom.
95:1. A canticle for David himself, when the house was built after
the captivity. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: sing to the Lord, all
the earth.
When the house was built, etc.... Alluding to that time, and then ordered to be
sung: but principally relating to the building of the church of Christ, after our
redemption from the captivity of Satan.
95:2. Sing ye to the Lord and bless his name: shew forth his
salvation from day to day.

 95:3. Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all
people.
95:4. For the Lord is great, and exceedingly to be praised: he is to be
feared above all gods.
95:5. For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made
the heavens.
95:6. Praise and beauty are before him: holiness and majesty in his
sanctuary.
95:7. Bring ye to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the Gentiles, bring ye to
the Lord glory and honour:
95:8. Bring to the Lord glory unto his name. Bring up sacri ices, and
come into his courts:
95:9. Adore ye the Lord in his holy court. Let all the earth be moved
at his presence.
95:10. Say ye among the Gentiles, the Lord hath reigned. For he hath
corrected the world, which shall not be moved: he will judge the people
with justice.
95:11. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, let the sea
be moved, and the fulness thereof:
95:12. The ields and all things that are in them shall be joyful. Then
shall all the trees of the woods rejoice
95:13. before the face of the Lord, because he cometh: because he
cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with justice, and
the people with his truth.
Psalms Chapter 96

Dominus regnavit.
All are invited to rejoice at the glorious coming and reign of Christ.
96:1. For the same David, when his land was restored again to him.
The Lord hath reigned, let the earth rejoice: let many islands be glad.

 96:2. Clouds and darkness are round about him: justice and
judgment are the establishment of his throne.
Clouds and darkness.... The coming of Christ in the clouds with great terror and
majesty to judge the world, is here prophesied.
96:3. A ire shall go before him, and shall burn his enemies round
about.
96:4. His lightnings have shone forth to the world: the earth saw
and trembled.
96:5. The mountains melted like wax, at the presence of the Lord: at
the presence of the Lord of all the earth.
96:6. The heavens declared his justice: and all people saw his glory.
96:7. Let them be all confounded that adore graven things, and that
glory in their idols. Adore him, all you his angels:
96:8. Sion heard, and was glad. And the daughters of Juda rejoiced,
because of thy judgments, O Lord.
96:9. For thou art the most high Lord over all the earth: thou art
exalted exceedingly above all gods.
96:10. You that love the Lord, hate evil: the Lord preserveth the
souls of his saints, he will deliver them out of the hand of the sinner.
96:11. Light is risen to the just, and joy to the right of heart.
96:12. Rejoice, ye just, in the Lord: and give praise to the
remembrance of his holiness.
Psalms Chapter 97

Cantate Domino.
All are again invited to praise the Lord, for the victories of Christ.
97:1. A psalm for David himself. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle:
because he hath done wonderful things. His right hand hath wrought
for him salvation, and his arm is holy.

 97:2. The Lord hath made known his salvation: he hath revealed his
justice in the sight of the Gentiles.
97:3. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house
of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
97:4. Sing joyfully to God, all the earth; make melody, rejoice and
sing.
97:5. Sing praise to the Lord on the harp, on the harp, and with the
voice of a psalm:
97:6. With long trumpets, and sound of cornet. Make a joyful noise
before the Lord our king:
97:7. Let the sea be moved and the fullness thereof: the world and
they that dwell therein.
97:8. The rivers shall clap their hands, the mountains shall rejoice
together
97:9. At the presence of the Lord: because he cometh to judge the
earth. He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with
equity.
Psalms Chapter 98

Dominus regnavit.
The reign of the Lord in Sion: that is, of Christ in his church.
98:1. A psalm for David himself. The Lord hath reigned, let the
people be angry: he that sitteth on the cherubims: let the earth be
moved.
Let the people be angry.... Though many enemies rage, and the whole earth be
stirred up to oppose the reign of Christ, he shall still prevail.
98:2. The lord is great in Sion, and high above all people.
98:3. Let them give praise to thy great name: for it is terrible and
holy:
98:4. And the king’s honour loveth judgment. Thou hast prepared
directions: thou hast done judgment and justice in Jacob.

 Loveth judgment.... Requireth discretion.—Ibid. Directions.... Most right and just

laws to direct men.
98:5. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and adore his footstool, for it is holy.
Adore his footstool.... The ark of the covenant was called, in the Old Testament,
God’s footstool: over which he was understood to sit, on his propitiatory, or
mercy seat, as on a throne, between the wings of the cherubims, in the
sanctuary: to which the children of Israel paid a great veneration. But as this
psalm evidently relates to Christ, and the New Testament, where the ark has no
place, the holy fathers understand this text, of the worship paid by the church to
the body and blood of Christ in the sacred mysteries: inasmuch as the humanity
of Christ is, as it were, the footstool of the divinity. So St. Ambrose, L. 3. De Spiritu
Sancto, c. 12. And St. Augustine upon this psalm.
98:6. Moses and Aaron among his priests: and Samuel among them
that call upon his name. They called upon the Lord, and he heard
them:
Moses and Aaron among his priests.... By this it is evident, that Moses also was a
priest, and indeed the chief priest, inasmuch as he consecrated Aaron, and
offered sacri ice for him. Lev. 8. So that his pre-eminence over Aaron makes
nothing for lay church headship.
98:7. He spoke to them in the pillar of the cloud. They kept his
testimonies, and the commandment which he gave them.
98:8. Thou didst hear them, O Lord our God: thou wast a merciful
God to them, and taking vengeance on all their inventions.
All their inventions.... that is, all the enterprises of their enemies against them, as
in the case of Core, Dathan, and Abiron.
98:9. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and adore at his holy mountain: for
the Lord our God is holy.
Psalms Chapter 99

Jubilate Deo.
All are invited to rejoice in God the creator of all.
99:1. A psalm of praise.

 99:2. Sing joyfully to God, all the earth: serve ye the Lord with
gladness. Come in before his presence with exceeding great joy.
99:3. Know ye that the Lord he is God: he made us, and not we
ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
99:4. Go ye into his gates with praise, into his courts with hymns:
and give glory to him. Praise ye his name:
99:5. For the Lord is sweet, his mercy endureth for ever, and his
truth to generation and generation.
Psalms Chapter 100

Misericordiam et judicium.
The prophet exhorteth all by his example, to follow mercy and justice.
100:1. A psalm for David himself. Mercy and judgment I will sing to
thee, O Lord: I will sing,
100:2. And I will understand in the unspotted way, when thou shalt
come to me. I walked in the innocence of my heart, in the midst of my
house.
I will understand, etc.... That is, I will apply my mind, I will do my endeavour, to
know and to follow the perfect way of thy commandments: not trusting to my
own strength, but relying on thy coming to me by thy grace.
100:3. I will not set before my eyes any unjust thing: I hated the
workers of iniquities.
100:4. The perverse heart did not cleave to me: and the malignant,
that turned aside from me, I would not know.
100:5. The man that in private detracted his neighbour, him did I
persecute. With him that had a proud eye, and an unsatiable heart, I
would not eat.
100:6. My eyes were upon the faithful of the earth, to sit with me:
the man that walked in the perfect way, he served me.
100:7. He that worketh pride shall not dwell in the midst of my
house: he that speaketh unjust things did not prosper before my eyes.

 100:8. In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land: that I
might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord.
Psalms Chapter 101

Domine, exaudi.
A prayer for one in af liction: the ifth penitential psalm.
101:1. The prayer of the poor man, when he was anxious, and
poured out his supplication before the Lord.
101:2. Hear, O Lord, my prayer: and let my cry come to thee.
101:3. Turn not away thy face from me: in the day when I am in
trouble, incline thy ear to me. In what day soever I shall call upon thee,
hear me speedily.
101:4. For my days are vanished like smoke, and my bones are
grown dry like fuel for the ire.
101:5. I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered: because I
forgot to eat my bread.
101:6. Through the voice of my groaning, my bone hath cleaved to
my lesh.
101:7. I am become like to a pelican of the wilderness: I am like a
night raven in the house.
A pelican, etc.... I am become through grief, like birds that affect solitude and
darkness.
101:8. I have watched, and am become as a sparrow all alone on the
housetop.
101:9. All the day long my enemies reproached me: and they that
praised me did swear against me.
101:10. For I did eat ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with
weeping.
101:11. Because of thy anger and indignation: for having lifted me
up thou hast thrown me down.
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 101:12. My days have declined like a shadow, and I am withered like

grass.
101:13. But thou, O Lord, endurest for ever: and thy memorial to all
generations.
101:14. Thou shalt arise and have mercy on Sion: for it is time to
have mercy on it, for the time is come.
101:15. For the stones thereof have pleased thy servants: and they
shall have pity on the earth thereof.
101:16. And the Gentiles shall fear thy name, O Lord, and all the
kings of the earth thy glory.
101:17. For the Lord hath built up Sion: and he shall be seen in his
glory.
101:18. He hath had regard to the prayer of the humble: and he
hath not despised their petition.
101:19. Let these things be written unto another generation: and
the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord:
101:20. Because he hath looked forth from his high sanctuary: from
heaven the Lord hath looked upon the earth.
101:21. That he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters:
that he might release the children of the slain:
101:22. That they may declare the name of the Lord in Sion: and his
praise in Jerusalem;
101:23. When the people assemble together, and kings, to serve the
Lord.
101:24. He answered him in the way of his strength: Declare unto
me the fewness of my days.
He answered him in the way of his strength.... That is, the people, mentioned in
the foregoing verse, or the penitent, in whose person this psalm is delivered,
answered the Lord in the way of his strength: that is, according to the best of his
power and strength: or when he was in the lower of his age and strength:
inquiring after the fewness of his days: to know if he should live long enough to
see the happy restoration of Sion, etc.

 101:25. Call me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are unto
generation and generation.
101:26. In the beginning, O Lord, thou foundedst the earth: and the
heavens are the works of thy hands.
101:27. They shall perish but thou remainest: and all of them shall
grow old like a garment: And as a vesture thou shalt change them, and
they shall be changed.
101:28. But thou art always the selfsame, and thy years shall not
fail.
101:29. The children of thy servants shall continue and their seed
shall be directed for ever.
Psalms Chapter 102

Benedic, anima.
Thanksgiving to God for his mercies.
102:1. For David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is
within me bless his holy name.
102:2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all he hath done
for thee.
102:3. Who forgiveth all thy iniquities: who healeth all thy diseases.
102:4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction: who crowneth thee
with mercy and compassion.
102:5. Who satis ieth thy desire with good things: thy youth shall be
renewed like the eagle’s.
102:6. The Lord doth mercies, and judgment for all that suffer
wrong.
102:7. He hath made his ways known to Moses: his wills to the
children of Israel.
102:8. The Lord is compassionate and merciful: longsuffering and
plenteous in mercy.

 102:9. He will not always be angry: nor will he threaten for ever.
102:10. He hath not dealt with us according to our sins: nor
rewarded us according to our iniquities.
102:11. For according to the height of the heaven above the earth:
he hath strengthened his mercy towards them that fear him.
102:12. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed
our iniquities from us.
102:13. As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the
Lord compassion on them that fear him:
102:14. For he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are
dust:
102:15. Man’s days are as grass, as the lower of the ield so shall he
lourish.
102:16. For the spirit shall pass in him, and he shall not be: and he
shall know his place no more.
102:17. But the mercy of the Lord is from eternity and unto eternity
upon them that fear him: And his justice unto children’s children,
102:18. To such as keep his covenant, And are mindful of his
commandments to do them.
102:19. The lord hath prepared his throne in heaven: and his
kingdom shall rule over all.
102:20. Bless the Lord, all ye his angels: you that are mighty in
strength, and execute his word, hearkening to the voice of his orders.
102:21. Bless the Lord, all ye his hosts: you ministers of his that do
his will.
102:22. Bless the Lord, all his works: in every place of his dominion,
O my soul, bless thou the Lord.
Psalms Chapter 103

Benedic, anima.
God is to be praised for his mighty works, and wonderful providence.
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 103:1. For David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul: O Lord my God,
thou art exceedingly great. Thou hast put on praise and beauty:
103:2. And art clothed with light as with a garment. Who stretchest
out the heaven like a pavilion:
103:3. Who coverest the higher rooms thereof with water. Who
makest the clouds thy chariot: who walkest upon the wings of the
winds.
103:4. Who makest thy angels spirits: and thy ministers a burning
ire.
103:5. Who hast founded the earth upon its own bases: it shall not
be moved for ever and ever.
103:6. The deep like a garment is its clothing: above the mountains
shall the waters stand.
103:7. At thy rebuke they shall lee: at the voice of thy thunder they
shall fear.
103:8. The mountains ascend, and the plains descend into the place
which thou hast founded for them.
103:9. Thou hast set a bound which they shall not pass over; neither
shall they return to cover the earth.
103:10. Thou sendest forth springs in the vales: between the midst
of the hills the waters shall pass.
103:11. All the beasts of the ield shall drink: the wild asses shall
expect in their thirst.
103:12. Over them the birds of the air shall dwell: from the midst of
the rocks they shall give forth their voices.
103:13. Thou waterest the hills from thy upper rooms: the earth
shall be illed with the fruit of thy works:
103:14. Bringing forth grass for cattle, and herb for the service of
men. That thou mayst bring bread out of the earth:
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 103:15. And that wine may cheer the heart of man. That he may
make the face cheerful with oil: and that bread may strengthen man’s
heart.
103:16. The trees of the ield shall be illed, and the cedars of
Libanus which he hath planted:
103:17. There the sparrows shall make their nests. The highest of
them is the house of the heron.
103:18. The high hills are a refuge for the harts, the rock for the
irchins.
103:19. He hath made the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his
going down.
103:20. Thou hast appointed darkness, and it is night: in it shall all
the beasts of the woods go about:
103:21. The young lions roaring after their prey, and seeking their
meat from God.
103:22. The sun ariseth, and they are gathered together: and they
shall lie down in their dens.
103:23. Man shall go forth to his work, and to his labour until the
evening.
103:24. How great are thy works, O Lord? thou hast made all things
in wisdom: the earth is illed with thy riches.
103:25. So is this great sea, which stretcheth wide its arms: there
are creeping things without number: Creatures little and great.
103:26. There the ships shall go. This sea dragon which thou hast
formed to play therein.
103:27. All expect of thee that thou give them food in season.
103:28. What thou givest to them they shall gather up: when thou
openest thy hand, they shall all be illed with good.
103:29. But if thou turnest away thy face, they shall be troubled:
thou shalt take away their breath, and they shall fail, and shall return
to their dust.

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 103:30. Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created:
and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
103:31. May the glory of the Lord endure for ever: the Lord shall
rejoice in his works.
103:32. He looketh upon the earth, and maketh it tremble: he
toucheth the mountains, and they smoke.
103:33. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to
my God while I have my being.
103:34. Let my speech be acceptable to him: but I will take delight in
the Lord.
103:35. Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and the unjust, so
that they be no more: O my soul, bless thou the Lord.
Psalms Chapter 104

Con itemini Domino.

A thanksgiving to God for his bene its to his people Israel.
Alleluia.
104:1. Give glory to the Lord, and call upon his name: declare his
deeds among the Gentiles.
104:2. Sing to him, yea sing praises to him: relate all his wondrous
works.
104:3. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that
seek the Lord.
104:4. Seek ye the lord, and be strengthened: seek his face evermore.
104:5. Remember his marvellous works which he hath done; his
wonders, and the judgments of his mouth.
104:6. O ye seed of Abraham his servant; ye sons of Jacob his chosen.
104:7. He is the Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth.
104:8. He hath remembered his covenant for ever: the word which
he commanded to a thousand generations.
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 104:9. Which he made to Abraham; and his oath to Isaac:

104:10. And he appointed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel
for an everlasting testament:
104:11. Saying: To thee will I give the land of Chanaan, the lot of
your inheritance.
104:12. When they were but a small number: yea very few, and
sojourners therein:
104:13. And they passed from nation to nation, and from one
kingdom to another people.
104:14. He suffered no man to hurt them: and he reproved kings for
their sakes.
104:15. Touch ye not my anointed: and do no evil to my prophets.
104:16. And he called a famine upon the land: and he broke in
pieces all the support of bread.
104:17. He sent a man before them: Joseph, who was sold for a slave.
104:18. They humbled his feet in fetters: the iron pierced his soul,
104:19. Until his word came. The word of the Lord in lamed him.
104:20. The king sent, and he released him: the ruler of the people,
and he set him at liberty.
104:21. He made him master of his house, and ruler of all his
possession.
104:22. That he might instruct his princes as himself, and teach his
ancients wisdom.
104:23. And Israel went into Egypt: and Jacob was a sojourner in
the land of Cham.
104:24. And he increased his people exceedingly: and strengthened
them over their enemies.
104:25. He turned their heart to hate his people: and to deal
deceitfully with his servants.
He turned their heart, etc.... Not that God (who is never the author of sin) moved
the Egyptians to hate and persecute his people; but that the Egyptians took

 occasion of hating and envying them, from the sight of the bene its which God
bestowed upon them.
104:26. He sent Moses his servant: Aaron the man whom he had
chosen.
104:27. He gave them power to shew them signs, and his wonders in
the land of Cham.
104:28. He sent darkness, and made it obscure: and grieved not his
words.
Grieved not his words.... That is, he was not wanting to ful il his words: or he did
not grieve Moses and Aaron, the carriers of his words: or he did not grieve his
words, that is, his sons, the children of Israel, who enjoyed light whilst the
Egyptians were oppressed with darkness.
104:29. He turned their waters into blood, and destroyed their ish.
104:30. Their land brought forth frogs, in the inner chambers of
their kings.
104:31. He spoke, and there came divers sorts of lies and sciniphs in
all their coasts.
Sciniphs.... See the annotation, Ex.8.16.
104:32. He gave them hail for rain, a burning ire in the land.
104:33. And he destroyed their vineyards and their ig trees: and he
broke in pieces the trees of their coasts.
104:34. He spoke, and the locust came, and the bruchus, of which
there was no number.
Bruchus.... An insect of the locust kind.
104:35. And they devoured all the grass in their land, and consumed
all the fruit of their ground.
104:36. And he slew all the irstborn in their land: the irstfruits of
all their labour.
104:37. And he brought them out with silver and gold: and there
was not among their tribes one that was feeble.

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 104:38. Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them lay
upon them.
104:39. He spread a cloud for their protection, and ire to give them
light in the night.
104:40. They asked, and the quail came: and he illed them with the
bread of heaven.
104:41. He opened the rock, and waters lowed: rivers ran down in
the dry land.
104:42. Because he remembered his holy word, which he had spoken
to his servant Abraham.
104:43. And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen
with gladness.
104:44. And he gave them the lands of the Gentiles: and they
possessed the labours of the people:
104:45. That they might observe his justi ications, and seek after his
law.
His justi ications.... That is, his commandments; which here, and in many other
places of the scripture, are called justi ications, because the keeping of them
makes man just. The Protestants render it by the word statutes, in favour of their
doctrine, which does not allow good works to justify.
Psalms Chapter 105

Con itemini Domino.

A confession of the manifold sins and ingratitudes of the Israelites.
Alleluia.
105:1. Give glory to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth
for ever.
105:2. Who shall declare the powers of the Lord? who shall set forth
all his praises?
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 105:3. Blessed are they that keep judgment, and do justice at all
times.
105:4. Remember us, O Lord, in the favour of thy people: visit us
with thy salvation.
105:5. That we may see the good of thy chosen, that we may rejoice
in the joy of thy nation: that thou mayst be praised with thy
inheritance.
105:6. We have sinned with our fathers: we have acted unjustly, we
have wrought iniquity.
105:7. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt: they
remembered not the multitude of thy mercies: And they provoked to
wrath going up to the sea, even the Red Sea.
105:8. And he saved them for his own name’s sake: that he might
make his power known.
105:9. And he rebuked the Red Sea and it was dried up: and he led
them through the depths, as in a wilderness.
105:10. And he saved them from the hand of them that hated them:
and he redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
105:11. And the water covered them that af licted them: there was
not one of them left.
105:12. And they believed his words: and they sang his praises.
105:13. They had quickly done, they forgot his works: and they
waited not for his counsel.
105:14. And they coveted their desire in the desert: and they
tempted God in the place without water.
105:15. And he gave them their request: and sent fulness into their
souls.
105:16. And they provoked Moses in the camp, Aaron the holy one of
the Lord.
105:17. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan: and covered
the congregation of Abiron.

 105:18. And a ire was kindled in their congregation: the lame

burned the wicked.
105:19. They made also a calf in Horeb: and they adored the graven
thing.
105:20. And they changed their glory into the likeness of a calf that
eateth grass.
105:21. They forgot God, who saved them, who had done great
things in Egypt,
105:22. Wondrous works in the land of Cham: terrible things in the
Red Sea.
105:23. And he said that he would destroy them: had not Moses his
chosen stood before him in the breach: To turn away his wrath, lest he
should destroy them.
105:24. And they set at nought the desirable land. They believed not
his word,
105:25. And they murmured in their tents: they hearkened not to
the voice of the Lord.
105:26. And he lifted up his hand over them: to overthrow them in
the desert;
105:27. And to cast down their seed among the nations, and to
scatter them in the countries.
105:28. They also were initiated to Beelphegor: and ate the
sacri ices of the dead.
Initiated.... That is, they dedicated, or consecrated themselves to the idol of the
Moabites and Madianites, called Beelphegor, or Baal-Peor. Num. 25.3.—Ibid. The
dead.... Viz., idols without life.
105:29. And they provoked him with their inventions: and
destruction was multiplied among them.
105:30. Then Phinees stood up, and paci ied him: and the slaughter
ceased.
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 105:31. And it was reputed to him unto justice, to generation and
generation for evermore.
105:32. They provoked him also at the waters of contradiction: and
Moses was af licted for their sakes:
105:33. Because they exasperated his spirit. And he distinguished
with his lips.
He distinguished with his lips.... Moses, by occasion of the people’s rebellion and
incredulity, was guilty of distinguishing with his lips; when, instead of speaking
to the rock, as God had commanded, he said to the people, with a certain
hesitation in his faith, Hear ye, rebellious and incredulous: Can we from this rock
bring out water for you? Num. 20.10.
105:34. They did not destroy the nations of which the Lord spoke
unto them.
105:35. And they were mingled among the heathens, and learned
their works:
105:36. And served their idols, and it became a stumblingblock to
them.
105:37. And they sacri iced their sons, and their daughters to devils.
105:38. And they shed innocent blood: the blood of their sons and of
their daughters which they sacri iced to the idols of Chanaan. And the
land was polluted with blood,
105:39. And was de iled with their works: and they went aside after
their own inventions.
105:40. And the Lord was exceedingly angry with his people: and he
abhorred his inheritance.
105:41. And he delivered them into the hands of the nations: and
they that hated them had dominion over them.
105:42. And their enemies af licted them: and they were humbled
under their hands:
105:43. Many times did he deliver them. But they provoked him with
their counsel: and they were brought low by their iniquities.

 105:44. And he saw when they were in tribulation: and he heard

their prayer.
105:45. And he was mindful of his covenant: and repented according
to the multitude of his mercies.
105:46. And he gave them unto mercies, in the sight of all those that
had made them captives.
105:47. Save us, O Lord, our God: and gather us from among the
nations: That we may give thanks to thy holy name, and may glory in
thy praise.
105:48. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, from everlasting to
everlasting: and let all the people say: So be it, so be it.
Psalms Chapter 106

Con itemini Domino.

All are invited to give thanks to God for his perpetual providence over
men.
Alleluia.
106:1. Give glory to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth
for ever.
106:2. Let them say so that have been redeemed by the Lord, whom
he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy: and gathered out of the
countries.
106:3. From the rising and from the setting of the sun, from the
north and from the sea.
106:4. They wandered in a wilderness, in a place without water:
they found not the way of a city for their habitation.
106:5. They were hungry and thirsty: their soul fainted in them.
106:6. And they cried to the Lord in their tribulation: and he
delivered them out of their distresses.
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 106:7. And he led them into the right way, that they might go to a
city of habitation.
106:8. Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him: and his
wonderful works to the children of men.
106:9. For he hath satis ied the empty soul, and hath illed the
hungry soul with good things.
106:10. Such as sat in darkness and in the shadow of death: bound
in want and in iron.
106:11. Because they had exasperated the words of God: and
provoked the counsel of the most High:
106:12. And their heart was humbled with labours: they were
weakened, and there was none to help them.
106:13. Then they cried to the Lord in their af liction: and he
delivered them out of their distresses.
106:14. And he brought them out of darkness, and the shadow of
death; and broke their bonds in sunder.
106:15. Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him, and his
wonderful works to the children of men.
106:16. Because he hath broken gates of brass, and burst iron bars.
106:17. He took them out of the way of their iniquity: for they were
brought low for their injustices.
106:18. Their soul abhorred all manner of meat: and they drew nigh
even to the gates of death.
106:19. And they cried to the Lord in their af liction: and he
delivered them out of their distresses.
106:20. He sent his word, and healed them: and delivered them from
their destructions.
106:21. Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him: and his
wonderful works to the children of men.
106:22. And let them sacri ice the sacri ice of praise: and declare his
works with joy.

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 106:23. They that go down to the sea in ships, doing business in the
great waters:
106:24. These have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in
the deep.
106:25. He said the word, and there arose a storm of wind: and the
waves thereof were lifted up.
106:26. They mount up to the heavens, and they go down to the
depths: their soul pined away with evils.
106:27. They were troubled, and reeled like a drunken man; and all
their wisdom was swallowed up.
106:28. And they cried to the Lord in their af liction: and he brought
them out of their distresses.
106:29. And he turned the storm into a breeze: and its waves were
still.
106:30. And they rejoiced because they were still: and he brought
them to the haven which they wished for.
106:31. Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him, and his
wonderful works to the children of men.
106:32. And let them exalt him in the church of the people: and
praise him in the chair of the ancients.
106:33. He hath turned rivers into a wilderness: and the sources of
waters into dry ground:
106:34. A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them
that dwell therein.
106:35. He hath turned a wilderness into pools of waters, and a dry
land into water springs.
106:36. And hath placed there the hungry; and they made a city for
their habitation.
106:37. And they sowed ields, and planted vineyards: and they
yielded fruit of birth.

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 106:38. And he blessed them, and they were multiplied exceedingly:
and their cattle he suffered not to decrease.
106:39. Then they were brought to be few: and they were af licted
through the trouble of evils and sorrow.
106:40. Contempt was poured forth upon their princes: and he
caused them to wander where there was no passing, and out of the
way.
106:41. And he helped the poor out of poverty: and made him
families like a lock of sheep.
106:42. The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and all iniquity shall
stop her mouth.
106:43. Who is wise, and will keep these things; and will understand
the mercies of the Lord?
Psalms Chapter 107

Paratum cor meum.

The prophet praiseth God for bene its received.
107:1. A canticle of a psalm for David himself.
107:2. My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing, and
will give praise, with my glory.
107:3. Arise, my glory; arise, psaltery and harp: I will arise in the
morning early.
107:4. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: and I will sing
unto thee among the nations.
107:5. For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth even
unto the clouds.
107:6. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory over
all the earth:
107:7. That thy beloved may be delivered. Save with thy right hand
and hear me.

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 107:8. God hath spoken in his holiness. I will rejoice, and I will divide
Sichem and I will mete out the vale of tabernacles.
107:9. Galaad is mine: and Manasses is mine and Ephraim the
protection of my head. Juda is my king:
107:10. Moab the pot of my hope. Over Edom I will stretch out my
shoe: the aliens are become my friends.
107:11. Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me
into Edom?
107:12. Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not
thou, O God, go forth with our armies?
107:13. O grant us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
107:14. Through God we shall do mightily: and he will bring our
enemies to nothing.
Psalms Chapter 108

Deus, laudem meam.

David in the person of Christ, prayeth against his persecutors; more
especially the traitor Judas: foretelling and approving his just
punishment for his obstinacy in sin and inal impenitence.
108:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David.
108:2. O God, be not thou silent in my praise: for the mouth of the
wicked and the mouth of the deceitful man is opened against me.
108:3. They have spoken against me with deceitful tongues; and
they have compassed me about with words of hatred; and have fought
against me without cause.
108:4. Instead of making me a return of love, they detracted me: but
I gave myself to prayer.
108:5. And they repaid me evil for good: and hatred for my love.
108:6. Set thou the sinner over him: and may the devil stand at his
right hand.

 Set thou the sinner over him, etc.... Give to the devil, that arch-sinner, power over
him: let him enter into him, and possess him. The imprecations, contained in the
thirty verses of this psalm, are opposed to the thirty pieces of silver for which
Judas betrayed our Lord; and are to be taken as prophetic denunciations of the
evils that should befall the traitor and his accomplices the Jews; and not properly
as curses.
108:7. When he is judged, may he go out condemned; and may his
prayer be turned to sin.
108:8. May his days be few: and his bishopric let another take.
108:9. May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
108:10. Let his children be carried about vagabonds, and beg; and
let them be cast out of their dwellings.
108:11. May the usurer search all his substance: and let strangers
plunder his labours.
108:12. May there be none to help him: nor none to pity his
fatherless offspring.
108:13. May his posterity be cut off; in one generation may his name
be blotted out.
108:14. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered in the sight of
the Lord: and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
108:15. May they be before the Lord continually, and let the memory
of them perish from the earth:
108:16. because he remembered not to shew mercy,
108:17. But persecuted the poor man and the beggar; and the
broken in heart, to put him to death.
108:18. And he loved cursing, and it shall come unto him: and he
would not have blessing, and it shall be far from him. And he put on
cursing, like a garment: and it went in like water into his entrails, and
like oil in his bones.
108:19. May it be unto him like a garment which covereth him; and
like a girdle with which he is girded continually.

 108:20. This is the work of them who detract me before the Lord;
and who speak evils against my soul.
108:21. But thou, O Lord, do with me for thy name’s sake: because
thy mercy is sweet. Do thou deliver me,
108:22. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is troubled within
me.
108:23. I am taken away like the shadow when it declineth: and I
am shaken off as locusts.
108:24. My knees are weakened through fasting: and my lesh is
changed for oil.
For oil.... Propter oleum. The meaning is, my lesh is changed, being perfectly
emaciated and dried up, as having lost all its oil or fatness.
108:25. And I am become a reproach to them: they saw me and they
shaked their heads.
108:26. Help me, O Lord my God; save me; according to thy mercy.
108:27. And let them know that this is thy hand: and that thou, O
Lord, hast done it.
108:28. They will curse and thou wilt bless: let them that rise up
against me be confounded: but thy servant shall rejoice.
108:29. Let them that detract me be clothed with shame: and let
them be covered with their confusion as with a double cloak.
108:30. I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth: and in
the midst of many I will praise him.
108:31. Because he hath stood at the right hand of the poor, to save
my soul from persecutors.
Psalms Chapter 109

Dixit Dominus.
Christ’s exaltation and everlasting priesthood.

 109:1. A psalm for David. The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my
right hand: Until I make thy enemies thy footstool.
109:2. The Lord will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion:
rule thou in the midst of thy enemies.
109:3. With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength: in the
brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot
thee.
109:4. The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a
priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.
109:5. The Lord at thy right hand hath broken kings in the day of his
wrath.
109:6. He shall judge among nations, he shall ill ruins: he shall
crush the heads in the land of many.
109:7. He shall drink of the torrent in the way: therefore shall he lift
up the head.
Psalms Chapter 110

Con itebor tibi, Domine.

God is to be praised for his graces, and bene its to his church.
Alleluia.
110:1. I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; in the council
of the just, and in the congregation.
110:2. Great are the works of the Lord: sought out according to all
his wills.
110:3. His work is praise and magni icence: and his justice
continueth for ever and ever.
110:4. He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being
a merciful and gracious Lord:
110:5. He hath given food to them that fear him. He will be mindful
for ever of his covenant:
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 110:6. He will shew forth to his people the power of his works.
110:7. That he may give them the inheritance of the Gentiles: the
works of his hands are truth and judgment.
110:8. All his commandments are faithful: con irmed for ever and
ever, made in truth and equity.
110:9. He hath sent redemption to his people: he hath commanded
his covenant for ever. Holy and terrible is his name:
110:10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good
understanding to all that do it: his praise continueth for ever and ever.
Psalms Chapter 111

Beatus vir.
The good man is happy.
Alleluia, of the returning of Aggeus and Zacharias.
Of the returning, etc.... This is in the Greek and Latin, but not in the Hebrew. It
signi ies that this psalm was proper to be sung at the time of the return of the
people from their captivity; to inculcate to them, how happy they might be, if
they would be constant in the service of God.
111:1. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he shall delight
exceedingly in his commandments.
111:2. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the
righteous shall be blessed.
111:3. Glory and wealth shall be in his house: and his justice
remaineth for ever and ever.
111:4. To the righteous a light is risen up in darkness: he is merciful,
and compassionate and just.
111:5. Acceptable is the man that sheweth mercy and lendeth: he
shall order his words with judgment:
111:6. Because he shall not be moved for ever.
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 111:7. The just shall be in everlasting remembrance: he shall not

fear the evil hearing. His heart is ready to hope in the Lord:
111:8. His heart is strengthened, he shall not be moved until he look
over his enemies.
111:9. He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor: his justice
remaineth for ever and ever: his horn shall be exalted in glory.
111:10. The wicked shall see, and shall be angry, he shall gnash with
his teeth and pine away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.
Psalms Chapter 112

Laudate, pueri.
God is to be praised for his regard to the poor and humble.
Alleluia.
112:1. Praise the Lord, ye children: praise ye the name of the Lord.
112:2. Blessed be the name of the Lord, from henceforth now and for
ever.
112:3. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same,
the name of the Lord is worthy of praise.
112:4. The Lord is high above all nations; and his glory above the
heavens.
112:5. Who is as the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high:
112:6. and looketh down on the low things in heaven and in earth?
112:7. Raising up the needy from the earth, and lifting up the poor
out of the dunghill:
112:8. That he may place him with princes, with the princes of his
people.
112:9. Who maketh a barren woman to dwell in a house, the joyful
mother of children.

 Psalms Chapter 113

In exitu Israel.
God hath shewn his power in delivering his people: idols are vain. The
Hebrews divide this into two psalms.
Alleluia.
113:1. When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a
barbarous people:
113:2. Judea was made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.
113:3. The sea saw and led: Jordan was turned back.
113:4. The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like the lambs
of the lock.
113:5. What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou didst lee: and thou, O
Jordan, that thou wast turned back?
113:6. Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams, and ye hills, like
lambs of the lock?
113:7. At the presence of the Lord the earth was moved, at the
presence of the God of Jacob:
113:8. Who turned the rock into pools of water, and the stony hill
into fountains of waters.
113:1. Not to us, O Lord, not to us; but to thy name give glory.
113:2. For thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake: lest the Gentiles
should say: Where is their God?
113:3. But our God is in heaven: he hath done all things whatsoever
he would.
113:4. The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of the
hands of men.
113:5. They have mouths and speak not: they have eyes and see not.
113:6. They have ears and hear not: they have noses and smell not.
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 113:7. They have hands and feel not: they have feet and walk not:
neither shall they cry out through their throat.
113:8. Let them that make them become like unto them: and all
such as trust in them.
113:9. The house of Israel hath hoped in the Lord: he is their helper
and their protector.
113:10. The house of Aaron hath hoped in the Lord: he is their
helper and their protector.
113:11. They that fear the Lord have hoped in the Lord: he is their
helper and their protector.
113:12. The Lord hath been mindful of us, and hath blessed us. He
hath blessed the house of Israel: he hath blessed the house of Aaron.
113:13. He hath blessed all that fear the Lord, both little and great.
113:14. May the Lord add blessings upon you: upon you, and upon
your children.
113:15. Blessed be you of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
113:16. The heaven of heaven is the Lord’s: but the earth he has
given to the children of men.
113:17. The dead shall not praise thee, O Lord: nor any of them that
go down to hell.
113:18. But we that live bless the Lord: from this time now and for
ever.
Psalms Chapter 114

Dilexi.
The prayer of a just man in af liction, with a lively con idence in God.
Alleluia.
114:1. I have loved, because the Lord will hear the voice of my
prayer.

 114:2. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me: and in my days I
will call upon him.
114:3. The sorrows of death have compassed me: and the perils of
hell have found me. I met with trouble and sorrow:
114:4. And I called upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, deliver my
soul.
114:5. The Lord is merciful and just, and our God sheweth mercy.
114:6. The Lord is the keeper of little ones: I was humbled, and he
delivered me.
114:7. Turn, O my soul, into thy rest: for the Lord hath been
bountiful to thee.
114:8. For he hath delivered my soul from death: my eyes from tears,
my feet from falling.
114:9. I will please the Lord in the land of the living.
Psalms Chapter 115

Credidi.
This in the Hebrew is joined with the foregoing psalm, and continues
to express the faith and gratitude of the psalmist.
Alleluia.
115:10. I have believed, therefore have I spoken; but I have been
humbled exceedingly.
115:11. I said in my excess: Every man is a liar.
115:12. What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things that he
hath rendered to me?
115:13. I will take the chalice of salvation; and I will call upon the
name of the Lord.
115:14. I will pay my vows to the Lord before all his people:
115:15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

 115:16. O Lord, for I am thy servant: I am thy servant, and the son of
thy handmaid. Thou hast broken my bonds:
115:17. I will sacri ice to thee the sacri ice of praise, and I will call
upon the name of the Lord.
115:18. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the sight of all his people:
115:19. In the courts of the house of the Lord, in the midst of thee, O
Jerusalem.
Psalms Chapter 116

Laudate Dominum.
All nations are called upon to praise God for his mercy and truth.
Alleluia.
116:1. O Praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
116:2. For his mercy is con irmed upon us: and the truth of the Lord
remaineth for ever.
Psalms Chapter 117

Con itemini Domino.

The psalmist praiseth God for his delivery from evils: putteth his whole
trust in him; and foretelleth the coming of Christ.
Alleluia.
117:1. Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth
for ever.
117:2. Let Israel now say, that he is good: that his mercy endureth
for ever.
117:3. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for
ever.
117:4. Let them that fear the Lord now say, that his mercy endureth
for ever.
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 117:5. In my trouble I called upon the Lord: and the Lord heard me,
and enlarged me.
117:6. The Lord is my helper: I will not fear what man can do unto
me.
117:7. The Lord is my helper: and I will look over my enemies.
117:8. It is good to con ide in the Lord, rather than to have
con idence in man.
117:9. It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in princes.
117:10. All nations compassed me about; and, in the name of the
Lord I have been revenged on them.
117:11. Surrounding me they compassed me about: and in the name
of the Lord I have been revenged on them.
117:12. They surrounded me like bees, and they burned like ire
among thorns: and in the name of the Lord I was revenged on them.
117:13. Being pushed I was overturned that I might fall: but the
Lord supported me.
117:14. The Lord is my strength and my praise: and he is become my
salvation.
117:15. The voice of rejoicing and of salvation is in the tabernacles
of the just.
117:16. The right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength: the right
hand of the Lord hath exalted me: the right hand of the Lord hath
wrought strength.
117:17. I shall not die, but live: and shall declare the works of the
Lord.
117:18. The Lord chastising hath chastised me: but he hath not
delivered me over to death.
117:19. Open ye to me the gates of justice: I will go in to them, and
give praise to the Lord.
117:20. This is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it.

 117:21. I will give glory to thee because thou hast heard me: and art
become my salvation.
117:22. The stone which the builders rejected; the same is become
the head of the corner.
117:23. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes.
117:24. This is the day which the Lord hath made: let us be glad and
rejoice therein.
117:25. O Lord, save me: O Lord, give good success.
117:26. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord. We have
blessed you out of the house of the Lord.
117:27. The Lord is God, and he hath shone upon us. Appoint a
solemn day, with shady boughs, even to the horn of the altar.
117:28. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God,
and I will exalt thee. I will praise thee, because thou hast heard me,
and art become my salvation.
117:29. O praise ye the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth
for ever.
Psalms Chapter 118

Beati immaculati.
Of the excellence of virtue consisting in the love and observance of the
commandments of God.
Alleluia.
ALEPH.
Aleph.... The irst eight verses of this psalm in the original begin with Aleph,
which is the name of the irst letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The second eight
verses begin with Beth, the name of the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet;
and so to the end of the whole alphabet, in all twenty-two letters, each letter
having eight verses. This order is variously expounded by the holy fathers; which
shews the dif iculty of understanding the holy scriptures, and consequently with
what humility, and submission to the Church they are to be read.

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 118:1. Blessed are the unde iled in the way, who walk in the law of
the Lord.
118:2. Blessed are they that search his testimonies: that seek him
with their whole heart.
His testimonies.... The commandments of God are called his testimonies, because
they testify his holy will unto us. Note here, that in almost every verse of this
psalm (which in number are 176) the word and law of God, and the love and
observance of it, is perpetually inculcated, under a variety of denominations, all
signifying the same thing.
118:3. For they that work iniquity, have not walked in his ways.
118:4. Thou hast commanded thy commandments to be kept most
diligently.
118:5. O! that my ways may be directed to keep thy justi ications.
118:6. Then shall I not be confounded, when I shall look into all thy
commandments.
118:7. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have
learned the judgments of thy justice.
118:8. I will keep thy justi ications: O! do not thou utterly forsake
me.
BETH.
118:9. By what doth a young man correct his way? by observing thy
words.
118:10. With my whole heart have I sought after thee: let me not
stray from thy commandments.
118:11. Thy words have I hidden in my heart, that I may not sin
against thee.
118:12. Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy justi ications.
118:13. With my lips I have pronounced all the judgments of thy
mouth.

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 118:14. I have been delighted in the way of thy testimonies, as in all

riches.
118:15. I will meditate on thy commandments: and I will consider
thy ways.
118:16. I will think of thy justi ications: I will not forget thy words.
GIMEL.
118:17. Give bountifully to thy servant, enliven me: and I shall keep
thy words.
118:18. Open thou my eyes: and I will consider the wondrous things
of thy law.
118:19. I am a sojourner on the earth: hide not thy commandments
from me.
118:20. My soul hath coveted to long for thy justi ications, at all
times.
118:21. Thou hast rebuked the proud: they are cursed who decline
from thy commandments.
118:22. Remove from me reproach and contempt: because I have
sought after thy testimonies.
118:23. For princes sat, and spoke against me: but thy servant was
employed in thy justi ications.
118:24. For thy testimonies are my meditation: and thy
justi ications my counsel.
DALETH.
118:25. My soul hath cleaved to the pavement: quicken thou me
according to thy word.
118:26. I have declared my ways, and thou hast heard me: teach me
thy justi ications.
118:27. Make me to understand the way of thy justi ications: and I
shall be exercised in thy wondrous works.
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 118:28. My soul hath slumbered through heaviness: strengthen thou

me in thy words.
118:29. Remove from me the way of iniquity: and out of thy law
have mercy on me.
118:30. I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments I have not
forgotten.
118:31. I have stuck to thy testimonies, O Lord: put me not to shame.
118:32. I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst
enlarge my heart.
HE.
118:33. Set before me for a law the way of thy justi ications, O Lord:
and I will always seek after it.
118:34. Give me understanding, and I will search thy law; and I will
keep it with my whole heart.
118:35. Lead me into the path of thy commandments; for this same I
have desired.
118:36. Incline my heart into thy testimonies and not to
covetousness.
118:37. Turn away my eyes that they may not behold vanity:
quicken me in thy way.
118:38. Establish thy word to thy servant, in thy fear.
118:39. Turn away my reproach, which I have apprehended: for thy
judgments are delightful.
118:40. Behold I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy
justice.
VAU.
118:41. Let thy mercy also come upon me, O Lord: thy salvation
according to thy word.

 118:42. So shall I answer them that reproach me in any thing; that I

have trusted in thy words.
118:43. And take not thou the word of truth utterly out of my
mouth: for in thy words, I have hoped exceedingly.
118:44. So shall I always keep thy law, for ever and ever.
118:45. And I walked at large: because I have sought after thy
commandments.
118:46. And I spoke of thy testimonies before kings: and I was not
ashamed.
118:47. I meditated also on thy commandments, which I loved.
118:48. And I lifted up my hands to thy commandments, which I
loved: and I was exercised in thy justi ications.
ZAIN.
118:49. Be thou mindful of thy word to thy servant, in which thou
hast given me hope.
118:50. This hath comforted me in my humiliation: because thy
word hath enlivened me.
118:51. The proud did iniquitously altogether: but I declined not
from thy law.
118:52. I remembered, O Lord, thy judgments of old: and I was
comforted.
118:53. A fainting hath taken hold of me, because of the wicked that
forsake thy law.
118:54. Thy justi ications were the subject of my song, in the place
of my pilgrimage.
118:55. In the night I have remembered thy name, O Lord: and have
kept thy law.
118:56. This happened to me: because I sought after thy
justi ications.
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 HETH.
118:57. O Lord, my portion, I have said, I would keep thy law.
118:58. I entreated thy face with all my heart: have mercy on me
according to thy word.
118:59. I have thought on my ways: and turned my feet unto thy
testimonies.
118:60. I am ready, and am not troubled: that I may keep thy
commandments.
118:61. The cords of the wicked have encompassed me: but I have
not forgotten thy law.
118:62. I rose at midnight to give praise to thee; for the judgments
of thy justi ication.
118:63. I am a partaker with all them that fear thee, and that keep
thy commandments.
118:64. The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy
justi ications.
TETH.
118:65. Thou hast done well with thy servant, O Lord, according to
thy word.
118:66. Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge; for I have
believed thy commandments.
118:67. Before I was humbled I offended; therefore have I kept thy
word.
118:68. Thou art good; and in thy goodness teach me thy
justi ications.
118:69. The iniquity of the proud hath been multiplied over me: but
I will seek thy commandments with my whole heart.
118:70. Their heart is curdled like milk: but I have meditated on thy
law.

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 118:71. It is good for me that thou hast humbled me, that I may
learn thy justi ications.
118:72. The law of thy mouth is good to me, above thousands of gold
and silver.
JOD.
118:73. Thy hands have made me and formed me: give me
understanding, and I will learn thy commandments.
118:74. They that fear thee shall see me, and shall be glad: because I
have greatly hoped in thy words.
118:75. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are equity: and in thy
truth thou hast humbled me.
118:76. O! let thy mercy be for my comfort, according to thy word
unto thy servant.
118:77. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, and I shall live: for thy
law is my meditation.
118:78. Let the proud be ashamed, because they have done unjustly
towards me: but I will be employed in thy commandments.
118:79. Let them that fear thee turn to me: and they that know thy
testimonies.
118:80. Let my heart be unde iled in thy justi ications, that I may
not be confounded.
CAPH.
118:81. My soul hath fainted after thy salvation: and in thy word I
have very much hoped.
118:82. My eyes have failed for thy word, saying: When wilt thou
comfort me?
118:83. For I am become like a bottle in the frost: I have not
forgotten thy justi ications.

 118:84. How many are the days of thy servant: when wilt thou
execute judgment on them that persecute me?
118:85. The wicked have told me fables: but not as thy law.
118:86. All thy statutes are truth: they have persecuted me unjustly,
do thou help me.
118:87. They had almost made an end of me upon earth: but I have
not forsaken thy commandments.
118:88. Quicken thou me according to thy mercy: and I shall keep
the testimonies of thy mouth.
LAMED.
118:89. For ever, O Lord, thy word standeth irm in heaven.
118:90. Thy truth unto all generations: thou hast founded the earth,
and it continueth.
118:91. By thy ordinance the day goeth on: for all things serve thee.
118:92. Unless thy law had been my meditation, I had then perhaps
perished in my abjection.
118:93. Thy justi ications I will never forget: for by them thou hast
given me life.
118:94. I am thine, save thou me: for I have sought thy justi ications.
118:95. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I have
understood thy testimonies.
118:96. I have seen an end of all perfection: thy commandment is
exceeding broad.
MEM.
118:97. O how have I loved thy law, O Lord! it is my meditation all
the day.
118:98. Through thy commandment, thou hast made me wiser than
my enemies: for it is ever with me.

 118:99. I have understood more than all my teachers: because thy

testimonies are my meditation.
118:100. I have had understanding above ancients: because I have
sought thy commandments.
118:101. I have restrained my feet from every evil way: that I may
keep thy words.
118:102. I have not declined from thy judgments, because thou hast
set me a law.
118:103. How sweet are thy words to my palate! more than honey to
my mouth.
118:104. By thy commandments I have had understanding:
therefore have I hated every way of iniquity.
NUN.
118:105. Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths.
118:106. I have sworn and am determined to keep the judgments of
thy justice.
118:107. I have been humbled, O Lord, exceedingly: quicken thou me
according to thy word.
118:108. The free offerings of my mouth make acceptable, O Lord:
and teach me thy judgments.
118:109. My soul is continually in my hands: and I have not
forgotten thy law.
118:110. Sinners have laid a snare for me: but I have not erred from
thy precepts.
118:111. I have purchased thy testimonies for an inheritance for
ever: because they are the joy of my heart.
118:112. I have inclined my heart to do thy justi ications for ever, for
the reward.
SAMECH.

 118:113. I have hated the unjust: and have loved thy law.
118:114. Thou art my helper and my protector: and in thy word I
have greatly hoped.
118:115. Depart from me, ye malignant: and I will search the
commandments of my God.
118:116. Uphold me according to thy word, and I shall live: and let
me not be confounded in my expectation.
118:117. Help me, and I shall be saved: and I will meditate always
on thy justi ications.
118:118. Thou hast despised all them that fall off from thy
judgments; for their thought is unjust.
118:119. I have accounted all the sinners of the earth prevaricators:
therefore have I loved thy testimonies.
118:120. Pierce thou my lesh with thy fear: for I am afraid of thy
judgments.
AIN.
118:121. I have done judgment and justice: give me not up to them
that slander me.
118:122. Uphold thy servant unto good: let not the proud
calumniate me.
118:123. My eyes have fainted after thy salvation: and for the word
of thy justice.
118:124. Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy: and teach
me thy justi ications.
118:125. I am thy servant: give me understanding that I may know
thy testimonies.
118:126. It is time, O Lord, to do: they have dissipated thy law.
118:127. Therefore have I loved thy commandments above gold and
the topaz.

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 118:128. Therefore was I directed to all thy commandments: I have

hated all wicked ways.
PHE.
118:129. Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore my soul hath
sought them.
118:130. The declaration of thy words giveth light: and giveth
understanding to little ones.
118:131. I opened my mouth, and panted: because I longed for thy
commandments.
118:132. Look thou upon me, and have mercy on me according to
the judgment of them that love thy name.
118:133. Direct my steps according to thy word: and let no iniquity
have dominion over me.
118:134. Redeem me from the calumnies of men: that I may keep
thy commandments.
118:135. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: and teach me thy
justi ications.
118:136. My eyes have sent forth springs of water: because they
have not kept thy law.
SADE.
118:137. Thou art just, O Lord: and thy judgment is right.
118:138. Thou hast commanded justice thy testimonies: and thy
truth exceedingly.
118:139. My zeal hath made me pine away: because my enemies
forgot thy words.
118:140. Thy word is exceedingly re ined: and thy servant hath
loved it.
118:141. I am very young and despised; but I forget not thy
justi ications.
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 118:142. Thy justice is justice for ever: and thy law is the truth.
118:143. Trouble and anguish have found me: thy commandments
are my meditation.
118:144. Thy testimonies are justice for ever: give me
understanding, and I shall live.
COPH.
118:145. I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord: I will seek
thy justi ications.
118:146. I cried unto thee, save me: that I may keep thy
commandments.
118:147. I prevented the dawning of the day, and cried: because in
thy words I very much hoped.
118:148. My eyes to thee have prevented the morning: that I might
meditate on thy words.
118:149. Hear thou my voice, O Lord, according to thy mercy: and
quicken me according to thy judgment.
118:150. They that persecute me have drawn nigh to iniquity; but
they are gone far off from thy law.
118:151. Thou art near, O Lord: and all thy ways are truth.
118:152. I have known from the beginning concerning thy
testimonies: that thou hast founded them for ever.
RES.
118:153. See my humiliation and deliver me for I have not forgotten
thy law.
118:154. Judge my judgment and redeem me: quicken thou me for
thy word’s sake.
118:155. Salvation is far from sinners; because they have not sought
thy justi ications.

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 118:156. Many, O Lord, are thy mercies: quicken me according to thy

judgment.
118:157. Many are they that persecute me and af lict me; but I have
not declined from thy testimonies.
118:158. I beheld the transgressors, and pined away; because they
kept not thy word.
118:159. Behold I have loved thy commandments, O Lord; quicken
me thou in thy mercy.
118:160. The beginning of thy words is truth: all the judgments of
thy justice are for ever.
SIN.
118:161. Princes have persecuted me without cause: and my heart
hath been in awe of thy words.
118:162. I will rejoice at thy words, as one that hath found great
spoil.
118:163. I have hated and abhorred iniquity; but I have loved thy
law.
118:164. Seven times a day I have given praise to thee, for the
judgments of thy justice.
118:165. Much peace have they that love thy law, and to them there
is no stumbling block.
118:166. I looked for thy salvation, O Lord: and I loved thy
commandments.
118:167. My soul hath kept thy testimonies and hath loved them
exceedingly.
118:168. I have kept thy commandments and thy testimonies:
because all my ways are in thy sight.
TAU.

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 118:169. Let my supplication, O Lord, come near in thy sight: give
me understanding according to thy word.
118:170. Let my request come in before thee; deliver thou me
according to thy word.
118:171. My lips shall utter a hymn, when thou shalt teach me thy
justi ications.
118:172. My tongue shall pronounce thy word: because all thy
commandments are justice.
118:173. Let thy hand be with me to save me; for I have chosen thy
precepts.
118:174. I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; and thy law is my
meditation.
118:175. My soul shall live and shall praise thee: and thy judgments
shall help me.
118:176. I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost: seek thy
servant, because I have not forgotten thy commandments.
Psalms Chapter 119

Ad Dominum.
A prayer in tribulation.
A gradual canticle.
A gradual canticle.... The following psalms, in number ifteen, are called gradual
psalms, or canticles, from the word gradus, signifying steps, ascensions, or
degrees: either because they were appointed to be sung on the ifteen steps, by
which the people ascended to the temple: or, that in the singing of them the voice
was to be raised by certain steps or ascensions: or, that they were to be sung by
the people returning from their captivity and ascending to Jerusalem, which was
seated amongst mountains. The holy fathers, in a mystical sense, understand
these steps, or ascensions, of the degrees by which Christians spiritually ascend
to virtue and perfection; and to the true temple of God in the heavenly Jerusalem.
119:1. In my trouble I cried to the Lord: and he heard me.
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 119:2. O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful

tongue.
119:3. What shall be given to thee, or what shall be added to thee, to
a deceitful tongue?
119:4. The sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals that lay waste.
119:5. Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged! I have dwelt with
the inhabitants of Cedar:
119:6. My soul hath been long a sojourner.
119:7. With them that hated peace I was peaceable: when I spoke to
them they fought against me without cause.
Psalms Chapter 120

Levavi oculos.
God is the keeper of his servants.
A gradual canticle.
120:1. I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help
shall come to me.
120:2. My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
120:3. May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: neither let him
slumber that keepeth thee.
120:4. Behold he shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepeth
Israel.
120:5. The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy protection upon thy
right hand.
120:6. The sun shall not burn thee by day: nor the moon by night.
120:7. The Lord keepeth thee from all evil: may the Lord keep thy
soul.
120:8. May the Lord keep thy coming in and thy going out; from
henceforth now and for ever.

 Psalms Chapter 121

Laetatus sum in his.

The desire and hope of the just for the coming of the kingdom of God,
and the peace of his church.
A gradual canticle.
121:1. I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into
the house of the Lord.
121:2. Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem.
121:3. Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together.
121:4. For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord: the
testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord.
121:5. Because their seats have sat in judgment, seats upon the
house of David.
121:6. Pray ye for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and
abundance for them that love thee.
121:7. Let peace be in thy strength: and abundance in thy towers.
121:8. For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbours, I spoke
peace of thee.
121:9. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good
things for thee.
Psalms Chapter 122

Ad te levavi.
A prayer in af liction, with con idence in God.
A gradual canticle.
122:1. To thee have I lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven.

 122:2. Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their

masters, As the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress:
so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us.
122:3. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us: for we are
greatly illed with contempt.
122:4. For our soul is greatly illed: we are a reproach to the rich,
and contempt to the proud.
Psalms Chapter 123

Nisi quia Domini.

The church giveth glory to God for her deliverance, from the hands of
her enemies.
A gradual canticle.
123:1. If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now
say:
123:2. If it had not been that the Lord was with us, When men rose
up against us,
123:3. Perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was
enkindled against us,
123:4. Perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.
123:5. Our soul hath passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had
passed through a water insupportable.
123:6. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us to be a prey to
their teeth.
123:7. Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of
the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we are delivered.
123:8. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and
earth.

 Psalms Chapter 124

Qui con idunt.

The just are always under God’s protection.
A gradual canticle.
124:1. They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion: he shall
not be moved for ever that dwelleth
124:2. In Jerusalem. Mountains are round about it: so the Lord is
round about his people from henceforth now and for ever.
124:3. For the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners upon the lot of
the just: that the just may not stretch forth their hands to iniquity.
124:4. Do good, O Lord, to those that are good, and to the upright of
heart.
124:5. But such as turn aside into bonds, the Lord shall lead out
with the workers of iniquity: peace upon Israel.
Psalms Chapter 125

In convertendo.
The people of God rejoice at their delivery from captivity.
A gradual canticle.
125:1. When the Lord brought back the captivity of Sion, we became
like men comforted.
125:2. Then was our mouth illed with gladness; and our tongue
with joy. Then shall they say among the Gentiles: The Lord hath done
great things for them.
125:3. The Lord hath done great things for us: we are become joyful.
125:4. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as a stream in the south.
125:5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
125:6. Going they went and wept, casting their seeds.

 125:7. But coming they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their
sheaves.
Psalms Chapter 126

Nisi Dominus.
Nothing can be done without God’s grace and blessing.
A gradual canticle of Solomon.
126:1. Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build
it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it.
126:2. It is vain for you to rise before light, rise ye after you have
sitten, you that eat the bread of sorrow. When he shall give sleep to his
beloved,
It is vain for you to rise before light.... That is, your early rising, your labour and
worldly solicitude, will be vain, that is, will avail you nothing, without the light,
grace, and blessing of God.
126:3. Behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the reward,
the fruit of the womb.
126:4. As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them
that have been shaken.
126:5. Blessed is the man that hath illed the desire with them; he
shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate.
Psalms Chapter 127

Beati omnes.
The fear of God is the way to happiness.
A gradual canticle.
127:1. Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
127:2. For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou,
and it shall be well with thee.

 127:3. Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house. Thy
children as olive plants, round about thy table.
127:4. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.
127:5. May the Lord bless thee out of Sion: and mayst thou see the
good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
127:6. And mayst thou see thy children’s children, peace upon Israel.
Psalms Chapter 128

Saepe expugnaverunt.
The church of God is invincible: her persecutors come to nothing.
A gradual canticle.
128:1. Often have they fought against me from my youth, let Israel
now say.
128:2. Often have they fought against me from my youth: but they
could not prevail over me.
128:3. The wicked have wrought upon my back: they have
lengthened their iniquity.
128:4. The Lord who is just will cut the necks of sinners:
128:5. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Sion.
128:6. Let them be as grass upon the tops of houses: which
withereth before it be plucked up:
128:7. Who with the mower illeth not his hand: nor he that
gathereth sheaves his bosom.
128:8. And they that passed by have not said: The blessing of the
Lord be upon you: we have blessed you in the name of the Lord.
Psalms Chapter 129

De profundis.
A prayer of a sinner, trusting in the mercies of God. The sixth
penitential psalm.

 A gradual canticle.
129:1. Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord:
129:2. Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of
my supplication.
129:3. If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it.
129:4. For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of
thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord. My soul hath relied on his
word:
129:5. my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
129:6. From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in
the Lord.
129:7. Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful
redemption.
129:8. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Psalms Chapter 130

Domine, none est.

The prophet’s humility.
A gradual canticle of David.
130:1. Lord, my heart is not exalted: nor are my eyes lofty. Neither
have I walked in great matters, nor in wonderful things above me.
130:2. If I was not humbly minded, but exalted my soul: As a child
that is weaned is towards his mother, so reward in my soul.
130:3. Let Israel hope in the Lord, from henceforth now and for ever.
Psalms Chapter 131

Memento, Domine.
A prayer for the ful illing of the promise made to David.

 A gradual canticle.
131:1. O Lord, remember David, and all his meekness.
131:2. How he swore to the Lord, he vowed a vow to the God of
Jacob:
131:3. If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house: if I shall go up
into the bed wherein I lie:
131:4. If I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids,
131:5. Or rest to my temples: until I ind out a place for the Lord, a
tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
131:6. Behold we have heard of it in Ephrata: we have found it in
the ields of the wood.
We have heard of it in Ephrata.... When I was young, and lived in Bethlehem,
otherwise called Ephrata, I heard of God’s tabernacle and ark, and had a devout
desire of seeking it; and accordingly I found it at Cariathiarim, the city of the
woods: where it was till it was removed to Jerusalem. See 1 Par. 13.
131:7. We will go into his tabernacle: we will adore in the place
where his feet stood.
131:8. Arise, O Lord, into thy resting place: thou and the ark, which
thou hast sancti ied.
131:9. Let thy priests be clothed with justice: and let thy saints
rejoice.
131:10. For thy servant David’s sake, turn not away the face of thy
anointed.
131:11. The Lord hath sworn truth to David, and he will not make it
void: of the fruit of thy womb I will set upon thy throne.
131:12. If thy children will keep my covenant, and these my
testimonies which I shall teach them: Their children also for evermore
shall sit upon thy throne.
131:13. For the Lord hath chosen Sion: he hath chosen it for his
dwelling.
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 131:14. This is my rest for ever and ever: here will I dwell, for I have
chosen it.
131:15. Blessing I will bless her widow: I will satisfy her poor with
bread.
131:16. I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall
rejoice with exceeding great joy.
131:17. There will I bring forth a horn to David: I have prepared a
lamp for my anointed.
131:18. His enemies I will clothe with confusion: but upon him shall
my sancti ication lourish.
Psalms Chapter 132

Ecce quam bonum.

The happiness of brotherly love and concord.
A gradual canticle of David.
132:1. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity:
132:2. Like the precious ointment on the head, that ran down upon
the beard, the beard of Aaron, Which ran down to the skirt of his
garment:
132:3. As the dew of Hermon, which descendeth upon mount Sion.
For there the Lord hath commanded blessing, and life for evermore.
Psalms Chapter 133

Ecce nunc benedicite.

An exhortation to praise God continually.
A gradual canticle.
133:1. Behold now bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord: Who
stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

 133:2. In the nights lift up your hands to the holy places, and bless
ye the Lord.
133:3. May the Lord out of Sion bless thee, he that made heaven and
earth.
Psalms Chapter 134

Laudate nomen.
An exhortation to praise God: the vanity of idols.
134:1. Alleluia. Praise ye the name of the Lord: O you his servants,
praise the Lord:
134:2. You that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the
house of our God.
134:3. Praise ye the Lord, for the Lord is good: sing ye to his name,
for it is sweet.
134:4. For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself: Israel for his
own possession.
134:5. For I have known that the Lord is great, and our God is above
all gods.
134:6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased he hath done, in heaven, in
earth, in the sea, and in all the deeps.
134:7. He bringeth up clouds from the end of the earth: he hath
made lightnings for the rain. He bringeth forth winds out of his stores:
134:8. He slew the irstborn of Egypt from man even unto beast.
134:9. He sent forth signs and wonders in the midst of thee, O Egypt:
upon Pharao, and upon all his servants.
134:10. He smote many nations, and slew mighty kings:
134:11. Sehon king of the Amorrhites, and Og king of Basan, and all
the kingdoms of Chanaan.
134:12. And gave their land for an inheritance, for an inheritance to
his people Israel.

 134:13. Thy name, O Lord, is for ever: thy memorial, O Lord, unto all
generations.
134:14. For the Lord will judge his people, and will be entreated in
favour of his servants.
134:15. The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of
men’s hands.
134:16. They have a mouth, but they speak not: they have eyes, but
they see not.
134:17. They have ears, but they hear not: neither is there any
breath in their mouths.
134:18. Let them that make them be like to them: and every one
that trusteth in them.
134:19. Bless the Lord, O house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of
Aaron.
134:20. Bless the Lord, O house of Levi: you that fear the Lord, bless
the Lord.
134:21. Blessed be the Lord out of Sion, who dwelleth in Jerusalem.
Psalms Chapter 135

Con itemini Domino.

God is to be praised for his wonderful works.
135:1. Alleluia. Praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy
endureth for ever.
Praise the Lord.... By this invitation to praise the Lord, thrice repeated, we
profess the Blessed Trinity, One God in three distinct Persons, the Father, and the
Son, and the Holy Ghost.
135:2. Praise ye the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.
135:3. Praise ye the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.
135:4. Who alone doth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for
ever.
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 135:5. Who made the heavens in understanding: for his mercy

endureth for ever.
135:6. Who established the earth above the waters: for his mercy
endureth for ever.
135:7. Who made the great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever.
135:8. The sun to rule the day: for his mercy endureth for ever.
135:9. The moon and the stars to rule the night: for his mercy
endureth for ever.
135:10. Who smote Egypt with their irstborn: for his mercy
endureth for ever.
135:11. Who brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy
endureth for ever.
135:12. With a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm: for his
mercy endureth for ever.
135:13. Who divided the Red Sea into parts: for his mercy endureth
for ever.
135:14. And brought out Israel through the midst thereof: for his
mercy endureth for ever.
135:15. And overthrew Pharao and his host in the Red Sea: for his
mercy endureth for ever.
135:16. Who led his people through the desert: for his mercy
endureth for ever.
135:17. Who smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever.
135:18. And slew strong kings: for his mercy endureth for ever.
135:19. Sehon king of the Amorrhites: for his mercy endureth for
ever.
135:20. And Og king of Basan: for his mercy endureth for ever.
135:21. And he gave their land for an inheritance: for his mercy
endureth for ever.
135:22. For an inheritance to his servant Israel: for his mercy
endureth for ever.

 135:23. For he was mindful of us in our af liction: for his mercy

endureth for ever.
135:24. And he redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy
endureth for ever.
135:25. Who giveth food to all lesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.
135:26. Give glory to the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for
ever.
135:27. Give glory to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for
ever.
Psalms Chapter 136

Super lumina.
The lamentation of the people of God in their captivity in Babylon.
A psalm of David, for Jeremias.
For Jeremias.... For the time of Jeremias, and the captivity of Babylon.
136:1. Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we
remembered Sion:
136:2. On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our
instruments.
136:3. For there they that led us into captivity required of us the
words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a
hymn of the songs of Sion.
136:4. How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?
136:5. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.
136:6. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If
I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy.
136:7. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of
Jerusalem: Who say: Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
136:8. O daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who
shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us.

 136:9. Blessed be he that shall take and dash thy little ones against
the rock.
Dash thy little ones, etc.... In the spiritual sense, we dash the little ones of Babylon
against the rock, when we mortify our passions, and sti le the irst motions of
them, by a speedy recourse to the rock which is Christ.
Psalms Chapter 137

Con itebor tibi.

Thanksgiving to God for his bene its.
137:1. For David himself. I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole
heart: for thou hast heard the words of my mouth. I will sing praise to
thee in the sight of the angels:
137:2. I will worship towards thy holy temple, and I will give glory
to thy name. For thy mercy, and for thy truth: for thou hast magni ied
thy holy name above all.
137:3. In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me: thou shalt
multiply strength in my soul.
137:4. May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee: for they have
heard all the words of thy mouth.
137:5. And let them sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the
glory of the Lord.
137:6. For the Lord is high, and looketh on the low: and the high he
knoweth afar off.
137:7. If I shall walk in the midst of tribulation, thou wilt quicken
me: and thou hast stretched forth thy hand against the wrath of my
enemies: and thy right hand hath saved me.
137:8. The Lord will repay for me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for
ever: O despise not the works of thy hands.
Psalms Chapter 138

Domine, probasti.
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 God’s special providence over his servants.
138:1. Unto the end, a psalm of David. Lord, thou hast proved me,
and known me:
138:2. Thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up.
138:3. Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my
line thou hast searched out.
138:4. And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in
my tongue.
There is no speech, etc.... Viz., unknown to thee: or when there is no speech in my
tongue; yet my whole interior and my most secret thoughts are known to thee.
138:5. Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those
of old: thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me.
138:6. Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I
cannot reach to it.
138:7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I lee from
thy face?
138:8. If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell,
thou art present.
138:9. If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the
uttermost parts of the sea:
138:10. Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand
shall hold me.
138:11. And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall
be my light in my pleasures.
138:12. But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be
light all the day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to
thee.
138:13. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me
from my mother’s womb.
138:14. I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magni ied:
wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well.

 138:15. My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in
secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.
138:16. Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all
shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them.
138:17. But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly
honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
138:18. I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the
sand, I rose up and am still with thee.
138:19. If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart
from me:
138:20. Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy cities in
vain.
Because you say in thought, etc.... Depart from me, you wicked, who plot against
the servants of God, and think to cast them out of the cities of their habitation; as
if they have received them in vain, and to no purpose.
138:21. Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pined
away because of thy enemies?
138:22. I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are
become enemies to me.
I have hated them.... Not with an hatred of malice, but a zeal for the observance
of God’s commandments; which he saw were despised by the wicked, who are to
be considered enemies to God.
138:23. Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and
know my paths.
138:24. And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in
the eternal way.
Psalms Chapter 139

Eripe me, Domine.

A prayer to be delivered from the wicked.
139:1. Unto the end, a psalm of David.

 139:2. Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: rescue me from the
unjust man.
139:3. Who have devised iniquities in their hearts: all the day long
they designed battles.
139:4. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent: the venom
of asps is under their lips.
139:5. Keep me, O Lord, from the hand of the wicked: and from
unjust men deliver me. Who have proposed to supplant my steps:
139:6. The proud have hidden a net for me. And they have stretched
out cords for a snare: they have laid for me a stumblingblock by the
wayside.
139:7. I said to the Lord: Thou art my God: hear, O Lord, the voice of
my supplication.
139:8. O Lord, Lord, the strength of my salvation: thou hast
overshadowed my head in the day of battle.
139:9. Give me not up, O Lord, from my desire to the wicked: they
have plotted against me; do not thou forsake me, lest they should
triumph.
139:10. The head of them compassing me about: the labour of their
lips shall overwhelm them.
139:11. Burning coals shall fall upon them; thou wilt cast them
down into the ire: in miseries they shall not be able to stand.
139:12. A man full of tongue shall not be established in the earth:
evil shall catch the unjust man unto destruction.
139:13. I know that the Lord will do justice to the needy, and will
revenge the poor.
139:14. But as for the just, they shall give glory to thy name: and the
upright shall dwell with thy countenance.
Psalms Chapter 140

Domine, clamavi.

 A prayer against sinful words, and deceitful latterers.

A psalm of David.
140:1. I have cried to thee, O Lord, hear me: hearken to my voice,
when I cry to thee.
140:2. Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight; the lifting
up of my hands, as evening sacri ice.
140:3. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: and a door round
about my lips.
140:4. Incline not my heart to evil words; to make excuses in sins.
With men that work iniquity: and I will not communicate with the
choicest of them.
140:5. The just man shall correct me in mercy, and shall reprove me:
but let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head. For my prayer shall still
be against the things with which they are well pleased:
Let not the oil of the sinner, etc.... That is, the lattery, or deceitful praise.—Ibid.
For my prayer, etc.... So far from coveting their praises, who are never well
pleased but with things that are evil; I shall continually pray to be preserved
from such things as they are delighted with.
140:6. Their judges falling upon the rock have been swallowed up.
They shall hear my words, for they have prevailed:
Their judges, etc.... Their rulers, or chiefs, quickly vanish and perish, like ships
dashed against the rocks, and swallowed up by the waves. Let them then hear my
words, for they are powerful and will prevail; or, as it is in the Hebrew, for they
are sweet.
140:7. As when the thickness of the earth is broken up upon the
ground: Our bones are scattered by the side of hell.
140:8. But to thee, O Lord, Lord, are my eyes: in thee have I put my
trust, take not away my soul.
140:9. Keep me from the snare, which they have laid for me, and
from the stumblingblocks of them that work iniquity.
140:10. The wicked shall fall in his net: I am alone until I pass.

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 I am alone, etc.... Singularly protected by the Almighty, until I pass all their nets
and snares.
Psalms Chapter 141

Voce mea.
A prayer of David in extremity of danger.
141:1. Of understanding for David, A prayer when he was in the
cave. [1 Kings 24.]
141:2. I cried to the Lord with my voice: with my voice I made
supplication to the Lord.
141:3. In his sight I pour out my prayer, and before him I declare my
trouble:
141:4. When my spirit failed me, then thou knewest my paths. In this
way wherein I walked, they have hidden a snare for me.
141:5. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, and there was no one
that would know me. Flight hath failed me: and there is no one that
hath regard to my soul.
141:6. I cried to thee, O Lord: I said: Thou art my hope, my portion
in the land of the living.
141:7. Attend to my supplication: for I am brought very low. Deliver
me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.
141:8. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the
just wait for me, until thou reward me.
Psalms Chapter 142

Domine, exaudi.
The psalmist in tribulation calleth upon God for his delivery. The
seventh penitential psalm.

 142:1. A psalm of David, when his son Absalom pursued him. [2

Kings 17.] Hear, O Lord, my prayer: give ear to my supplication in thy
truth: hear me in thy justice.
142:2. And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight
no man living shall be justi ied.
142:3. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul: he hath brought
down my life to the earth. He hath made me to dwell in darkness as
those that have been dead of old:
142:4. And my spirit is in anguish within me: my heart within me is
troubled.
142:5. I remembered the days of old, I meditated on all thy works: I
meditated upon the works of thy hands.
142:6. I stretched forth my hands to thee: my soul is as earth
without water unto thee.
142:7. Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit hath fainted away. Turn
not away thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into
the pit.
142:8. Cause me to hear thy mercy in the morning; for in thee have I
hoped. Make the way known to me, wherein I should walk: for I have
lifted up my soul to thee.
142:9. Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, to thee have I led:
142:10. Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Thy good spirit
shall lead me into the right land:
142:11. for thy name’s sake, O Lord, thou wilt quicken me in thy
justice. Thou wilt bring my soul out of trouble:
142:12. And in thy mercy thou wilt destroy my enemies. And thou
wilt cut off all them that af lict my soul: for I am thy servant.
Psalms Chapter 143

Benedictus Dominus.

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 The prophet praiseth God, and prayeth to be delivered from his

enemies. No worldly happiness is to be compared with that of serving
God.
A psalm of David against Goliath.
143:1. Blessed be the Lord my God, who teacheth my hands to ight,
and my ingers to war.
143:2. My mercy, and my refuge: my support, and my deliverer: My
protector, and I have hoped in him: who subdueth my people under
me.
143:3. Lord, what is man, that thou art made known to him? or the
son of man, that thou makest account of him?
143:4. Man is like to vanity: his days pass away like a shadow.
143:5. Lord, bow down thy heavens and descend: touch the
mountains, and they shall smoke.
143:6. Send forth lightning, and thou shalt scatter them: shoot out
thy arrows, and thou shalt trouble them.
143:7. Put forth thy hand from on high, take me out, and deliver me
from many waters: from the hand of strange children:
143:8. Whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the
right hand of iniquity.
143:9. To thee, O God, I will sing a new canticle: on the psaltery and
an instrument of ten strings I will sing praises to thee.
143:10. Who givest salvation to kings: who hast redeemed thy
servant David from the malicious sword:
143:11. Deliver me, And rescue me out of the hand of strange
children; whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the
right hand of iniquity:
143:12. Whose sons are as new plants in their youth: Their
daughters decked out, adorned round about after the similitude of a
temple:

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 143:13. Their storehouses full, lowing out of this into that. Their
sheep fruitful in young, abounding in their goings forth:
143:14. Their oxen fat. There is no breach of wall, nor passage, nor
crying out in their streets.
143:15. They have called the people happy, that hath these things:
but happy is that people whose God is the Lord.
Psalms Chapter 144

Exaltabo te, Deus.

A psalm of praise, to the in inite majesty of God.
144:1. Praise, for David himself. I will extol thee, O God my king: and
I will bless thy name for ever; yea, for ever and ever.
144:2. Every day will I bless thee: and I will praise thy name for
ever; yea, for ever and ever.
144:3. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: and of his
greatness there is no end.
144:4. Generation and generation shall praise thy works: and they
shall declare thy power.
144:5. They shall speak of the magni icence of the glory of thy
holiness: and shall tell thy wondrous works.
144:6. And they shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and
shall declare thy greatness.
144:7. They shall publish the memory of the abundance of thy
sweetness: and shall rejoice in thy justice.
144:8. The Lord is gracious and merciful: patient and plenteous in
mercy.
144:9. The Lord is sweet to all: and his tender mercies are over all
his works.
144:10. Let all thy works, O lord, praise thee: and let thy saints bless
thee.

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 144:11. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom: and shall tell
of thy power:
144:12. To make thy might known to the sons of men: and the glory
of the magni icence of thy kingdom.
144:13. Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages: and thy dominion
endureth throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his
words: and holy in all his works.
144:14. The Lord lifteth up all that fall: and setteth up all that are
cast down.
144:15. The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord: and thou givest them
meat in due season.
144:16. Thou openest thy hand, and illest with blessing every living
creature.
144:17. The Lord is just in all his ways: and holy in all his works.
144:18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him: to all that
call upon him in truth.
144:19. He will do the will of them that fear him: and he will hear
their prayer, and save them.
144:20. The Lord keepeth all them that love him; but all the wicked
he will destroy.
144:21. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all lesh
bless his holy name forever; yea, for ever and ever.
Psalms Chapter 145

Lauda, anima.
We are not to trust in men, but in God alone.
145:1. Alleluia, of Aggeus and Zacharias.
145:2. Praise the Lord, O my soul, in my life I will praise the Lord: I
will sing to my God as long as I shall be. Put not your trust in princes:
145:3. In the children of men, in whom there is no salvation.

 145:4. His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return into his earth: in
that day all their thoughts shall perish.
145:5. Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his helper, whose
hope is in the Lord his God:
145:6. Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are
in them.
145:7. Who keepeth truth for ever: who executeth judgment for
them that suffer wrong: who giveth food to the hungry. The Lord
looseth them that are fettered:
145:8. The Lord enlighteneth the blind. The Lord lifteth up them
that are cast down: the Lord loveth the just.
145:9. The Lord keepeth the strangers, he will support the fatherless
and the widow: and the ways of sinners he will destroy.
145:10. The Lord shall reign for ever: thy God, O Sion, unto
generation and generation.
Psalms Chapter 146

Laudate Dominum.
An exhortation to praise God for his bene its.
146:1. Alleluia. Praise ye the Lord, because psalm is good: to our God
be joyful and comely praise.
146:2. The Lord buildeth up Jerusalem: he will gather together the
dispersed of Israel.
146:3. Who healeth the broken of heart, and bindeth up their
bruises.
146:4. Who telleth the number of the stars: and calleth them all by
their names.
146:5. Great is our Lord, and great is his power: and of his wisdom
there is no number.

 146:6. The Lord lifteth up the meek, and bringeth the wicked down
even to the ground.
146:7. Sing ye to the Lord with praise: sing to our God upon the
harp.
146:8. Who covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for
the earth. Who maketh grass to grow on the mountains, and herbs for
the service of men.
146:9. Who giveth to beasts their food: and to the young ravens that
call upon him.
146:10. He shall not delight in the strength of the horse: nor take
pleasure in the legs of a man.
146:11. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him: and in them
that hope in his mercy.
Psalms Chapter 147

Lauda, Jerusalem.
The church is called upon to praise God for his peculiar graces and
favours to his people. In the Hebrew, this psalm is joined to the
foregoing.
147:12. Alleluia. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O
Sion.
147:13. Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates, he hath
blessed thy children within thee.
147:14. Who hath placed peace in thy borders: and illeth thee with
the fat of corn.
147:15. Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth: his word runneth
swiftly.
147:16. Who giveth snow like wool: scattereth mists like ashes.
147:17. He sendeth his crystal like morsels: who shall stand before
the face of his cold?

 He sendeth his crystal.... That is, his ice. Some understand it of hail, which is, as it
were, ice, divided into particles or morsels.
147:18. He shall send out his word, and shall melt them: his wind
shall blow, and the waters shall run.
147:19. Who declareth his word to Jacob: his justices and his
judgments to Israel.
147:20. He hath not done in like manner to every nation: and his
judgments he hath not made manifest to them. Alleluia.
Psalms Chapter 148

Laudate Dominum de caelis.

All creatures are invited to praise their Creator.
148:1. Alleluia. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise ye him in
the high places.
148:2. Praise ye him, all his angels, praise ye him, all his hosts.
148:3. Praise ye him, O sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars and
light.
148:4. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens: and let all the waters that
are above the heavens
148:5. Praise the name of the Lord. For he spoke, and they were
made: he commanded, and they were created.
148:6. He hath established them for ever, and for ages of ages: he
hath made a decree, and it shall not pass away.
148:7. Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all ye deeps:
148:8. Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds, which ful il his word:
148:9. Mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars:
148:10. Beasts and all cattle: serpents and feathered fowls:
148:11. Kings of the earth and all people: princes and all judges of
the earth:

 148:12. Young men and maidens: let the old with the younger, praise
the name of the Lord:
148:13. For his name alone is exalted.
148:14. The praise of him is above heaven and earth: and he hath
exalted the horn of his people. A hymn to all his saints to the children
of Israel, a people approaching to him. Alleluia.
Psalms Chapter 149

Cantate Domino.
The church is particularly bound to praise God.
149:1. Alleluia. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: let his praise be in
the church of the saints.
149:2. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: and let the children
of Sion be joyful in their king.
149:3. Let them praise his name in choir: let them sing to him with
the timbrel and the psaltery.
149:4. For the Lord is well pleased with his people: and he will exalt
the meek unto salvation.
149:5. The saints shall rejoice in glory: they shall be joyful in their
beds.
149:6. The high praises of God shall be in their mouth: and two-
edged swords in their hands:
149:7. To execute vengeance upon the nations, chastisements
among the people:
149:8. To bind their kings with fetters, and their nobles with
manacles of iron.
149:9. To execute upon them the judgment that is written: this glory
is to all his saints. Alleluia.
Psalms Chapter 150

Laudate Dominum in sanctis.

 An exhortation to praise God with all sorts of instruments.

150:1. Alleluia. Praise ye the Lord in his holy places: praise ye him in
the irmament of his power.
150:2. Praise ye him for his mighty acts: praise ye him according to
the multitude of his greatness.
150:3. Praise him with the sound of trumpet: praise him with
psaltery and harp.
150:4. Praise him with timbrel and choir: praise him with strings
and organs.
150:5. Praise him on high sounding cymbals: praise him on cymbals
of joy: let every spirit praise the Lord. Alleluia.

THE BOOK OF PROVERBS

This Book is so called, because it consists of wise and weighty

sentences: regulating the morals of men: and directing them to
wisdom and virtue. And these sentences are also called PARABLES,
because great truths are often couched in them under certain igures
and similitudes.
Proverbs Chapter 1

The use and end of the proverbs. An exhortation to lee the company of
the wicked: and to hearken to the voice of wisdom.
1:1. The parables of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel,
1:2. To know wisdom, and instruction:
1:3. To understand the words of prudence: and to receive the
instruction of doctrine, justice, and judgment, and equity:
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 1:4. To give subtilty to little ones, to the young man knowledge and
understanding.
1:5. A wise man shall hear, and shall be wiser: and he that
understandeth shall possess governments.
1:6. He shall understand a parable and the interpretation, the words
of the wise, and their mysterious sayings.
1:7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise
wisdom and instruction.
1:8. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the
law of thy mother:
1:9. That grace may be added to thy head, and a chain of gold to thy
neck.
1:10. My son, if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them.
1:11. If they shall say: Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us
hide snares for the innocent without cause:
1:12. Let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that
goeth down into the pit.
1:13. We shall ind all precious substance, we shall ill our houses
with spoils.
1:14. Cast in thy lot with us, let us all have one purse.
1:15. My son, walk not thou with them, restrain thy foot from their
paths.
1:16. For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
1:17. But a net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have
wings.
1:18. And they themselves lie in wait for their own blood, and
practise deceits against their own souls.
1:19. So the ways of every covetous man destroy the souls of the
possessors.
1:20. Wisdom preacheth abroad, she uttereth her voice in the
streets:

 1:21. At the head of multitudes she crieth out, in the entrance of the
gates of the city she uttereth her words, saying:
1:22. O children, how long will you love childishness, and fools covet
those things which are hurtful to themselves, and the unwise hate
knowledge?
1:23. Turn ye at my reproof: behold I will utter my spirit to you, and
will shew you my words.
1:24. Because I called, and you refused: I stretched out my hand, and
there was none that regarded.
1:25. You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my
reprehensions.
1:26. I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that
shall come to you which you feared.
1:27. When sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction, as a
tempest, shall be at hand: when tribulation and distress shall come
upon you:
1:28. Then shall they call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall
rise in the morning, and shall not ind me:
1:29. Because they have hated instruction, and received not the fear
of the Lord,
1:30. Nor consented to my counsel, but despised all my reproof.
1:31. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and shall be
illed with their own devices.
1:32. The turning away of little ones shall kill them, and the
prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
1:33. But he that shall hear me, shall rest without terror, and shall
enjoy abundance, without fear of evils.
Proverbs Chapter 2

The advantages of wisdom: and the evils from which it delivers.

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 2:1. My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and wilt hide my

commandments with thee,
2:2. That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: incline thy heart to know
prudence.
2:3. For if thou shalt call for wisdom, and incline thy heart to
prudence:
2:4. If thou shalt seek her as money, and shalt dig for her as for a
treasure:
2:5. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and shalt ind
the knowledge of God:
2:6. Because the Lord giveth wisdom: and out of his mouth cometh
prudence and knowledge.
2:7. He wilt keep the salvation of the righteous, and protect them
that walk in simplicity,
2:8. Keeping the paths of justice, and guarding the ways of saints.
2:9. Then shalt thou understand justice, and judgment, and equity,
and every good path.
2:10. If wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge please thy
soul:
2:11. Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee,
2:12. That thou mayst be delivered from the evil way, and from the
man that speaketh perverse things:
2:13. Who leave the right way, and walk by dark ways:
2:14. Who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in the
most wicked things:
2:15. Whose ways are perverse, and their steps infamous.
2:16. That thou mayst be delivered from the strange woman, and
from the stranger, who softeneth her words;
2:17. And forsaketh the guide of her youth,
2:18. And hath forgotten the covenant of her God: for her house
inclineth unto death, and her paths to hell.

 2:19. None that go in unto her, shall return again, neither shall they
take hold of the paths of life.
2:20. That thou mayst walk in a good way: and mayst keep the
paths of the just.
2:21. For they that are upright, shall dwell in the earth; and the
simple shall continue in it.
2:22. But the wicked shall be destroyed from the earth: and they
that do unjustly, shall be taken away from it.
Proverbs Chapter 3

An exhortation to the practice of virtue.

3:1. My son, forget not my law, and let thy heart keep my
commandments.
3:2. For they shall add to thee length of days, and years of life, and
peace.
3:3. Let not mercy and truth leave thee, put them about thy neck,
and write them in the tables of thy heart.
3:4. And thou shalt ind grace, and good understanding before God
and men.
3:5. Have con idence in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not
upon thy own prudence.
3:6. In all thy ways think on him, and he will direct thy steps.
3:7. Be not wise in thy own conceit: fear God, and depart from evil:
3:8. For it shall be health to thy navel, and moistening to thy bones.
3:9. Honour the Lord with thy substance, and give him of the irst of
all thy fruits;
3:10. And thy barns shall be illed with abundance, and thy presses
shall run over with wine.
3:11. My son, reject not the correction of the Lord: and do not faint
when thou art chastised by him:

 3:12. For whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth: and as a father in the
son he pleaseth himself.
3:13. Blessed is the man that indeth wisdom, and is rich in
prudence:
3:14. The purchasing thereof is better than the merchandise of
silver, and her fruit than the chief and purest gold:
3:15. She is more precious than all riches: and all the things that are
desired, are not to be compared to her.
3:16. Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches
and glory.
3:17. Her ways are beautiful ways, and all her paths are peaceable.
3:18. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her: and he that
shall retain her is blessed.
3:19. The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth, hath established
the heavens by prudence.
3:20. By his wisdom the depths have broken out, and the clouds
grow thick with dew.
3:21. My son, let not these things depart from thy eyes: keep the law
and counsel:
3:22. And there shall be life to thy soul, and grace to thy mouth.
3:23. Then shalt thou walk con idently in thy way, and thy foot shall
not stumble:
3:24. If thou sleep, thou shalt not fear: thou shalt rest, and thy sleep
shall be sweet.
3:25. Be not afraid of sudden fear, nor of the power of the wicked
falling upon thee.
3:26. For the Lord will be at thy side, and will keep thy foot that
thou be not taken.
3:27. Do not withhold him from doing good, who is able: if thou art
able, do good thyself also.

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 3:28. Say not to thy friend: Go, and come again: and to morrow I will
give to thee: when thou canst give at present.
3:29. Practise not evil against thy friend, when he hath con idence in
thee.
3:30. Strive not against a man without cause, when he hath done
thee no evil.
3:31. Envy not the unjust man, and do not follow his ways.
3:32. For every mocker is an abomination to the Lord, and his
communication is with the simple.
3:33. Want is from the Lord in the house of the wicked: but the
habitations of the just shall be blessed.
3:34. He shall scorn the scorners, and to the meek he will give grace.
3:35. The wise shall possess glory: the promotion of fools is disgrace.
Proverbs Chapter 4

A further exhortation to seek after wisdom.

4:1. Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend, that
you may know prudence.
4:2. I will give you a good gift, forsake not my law.
4:3. For I also was my father’s son, tender, and as an only son in the
sight of my mother:
4:4. And he taught me, and said: Let thy heart receive my words,
keep my commandments, and thou shalt live.
4:5. Get wisdom, get prudence: forget not, neither decline from the
words of my mouth.
4:6. Forsake her not, and she shall keep thee: love her, and she shall
preserve thee.
4:7. The beginning of wisdom, get wisdom, and with all thy
possession purchase prudence.
4:8. Take hold on her, and she shall exalt thee: thou shalt be glori ied
by her, when thou shalt embrace her.

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 4:9. She shall give to thy head increase of graces, and protect thee
with a noble crown.
4:10. Hear, O my son, and receive my words, that years of life may be
multiplied to thee.
4:11. I will shew thee the way of wisdom, I will lead thee by the
paths of equity:
4:12. Which when thou shalt have entered, thy steps shall not be
straitened, and when thou runnest, thou shalt not meet a
stumblingblock.
4:13. Take hold on instruction, leave it not: keep it, because it is thy
life.
4:14. Be not delighted in the paths of the wicked, neither let the way
of evil men please thee.
4:15. Flee from it, pass not by it: go aside, and forsake it.
4:16. For they sleep not, except they have done evil: and their sleep
is taken away unless they have made some to fall.
4:17. They eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of
iniquity.
4:18. But the path of the just, as a shining light, goeth forwards, and
increaseth even to perfect day.
4:19. The way of the wicked is darksome: they know not where they
fall.
4:20. My son, hearken to my words, and incline thy ear to my
sayings.
4:21. Let them not depart from thy eyes, keep them in the midst of
thy heart:
4:22. For they are life to those that ind them, and health to all lesh.
4:23. With all watchfulness keep thy heart, because life issueth out
from it.
4:24. Remove from thee a froward mouth, and let detracting lips be
far from thee.

 4:25. Let thy eyes look straight on, and let thy eyelids go before thy
steps.
4:26. Make straight the path for thy feet, and all thy ways shall be
established.
4:27. Decline not to the right hand, nor to the left: turn away thy
foot from evil. For the Lord knoweth the ways that are on the right
hand: but those are perverse which are on the left hand. But he will
make thy courses straight, he will bring forward thy ways in peace.
Proverbs Chapter 5

An exhortation to ly unlawful lust, and the occasions of it.

5:1. My son, attend to my wisdom, and incline thy ear to my
prudence,
5:2. That thou mayst keep thoughts, and thy lips may preserve
instruction. Mind not the deceit of a woman.
5:3. For the lips of a harlot are like a honeycomb dropping, and her
throat is smoother than oil.
5:4. But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged
sword.
5:5. Her feet go down into death, and her steps go in as far as hell.
5:6. They walk not by the path of life, her steps are wandering, and
unaccountable.
5:7. Now, therefore, my son, hear me, and depart not from the words
of my mouth.
5:8. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the doors of
her house.
5:9. Give not thy honour to strangers, and thy years to the cruel.
5:10. Lest strangers be illed with thy strength, and thy labours be in
another man’s house,
5:11. And thou mourn at the last, when thou shalt have spent thy
lesh and thy body, and say;
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 5:12. Why have I hated instruction, and my heart consented not to

reproof,
5:13. And have not heard the voice of them that taught me, and
have not inclined my ear to masters?
5:14. I have almost been in all evil, in the midst of the church and of
the congregation.
5:15. Drink water out of thy own cistern, and the streams of thy own
well:
5:16. Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide
thy waters.
5:17. Keep them to thyself alone, neither let strangers be partakers
with thee.
5:18. Let thy vein be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth:
5:19. Let her be thy dearest hind, and most agreeable fawn: let her
breasts inebriate thee at all times: be thou delighted continually with
her love.
5:20. Why art thou seduced, my son, by a strange woman, and art
cherished in the bosom of another?
5:21. The Lord beholdeth the ways of man, and considereth all his
steps.
5:22. His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with
the ropes of his own sins.
5:23. He shall die, because he hath not received instruction, and in
the multitude of his folly he shall be deceived.
Proverbs Chapter 6

Documents on several heads.

6:1. My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, thou hast engaged fast
thy hand to a stranger,
6:2. Thou art ensnared with the words of thy mouth, and caught
with thy own words.

 6:3. Do, therefore, my son, what I say, and deliver thyself: because
thou art fallen into the hand of thy neighbour. Run about, make haste,
stir up thy friend:
6:4. Give not sleep to thy eyes, neither let thy eyelids slumber.
6:5. Deliver thyself as a doe from the hand, and as a bird from the
hand of the fowler.
6:6. Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn
wisdom:
6:7. Which, although she hath no guide, nor master, nor captain,
6:8. Provideth her meat for herself in the summer, and gathereth her
food in the harvest.
6:9. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out
of thy sleep?
6:10. Thou wilt sleep a little, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold
thy hands a little to sleep:
6:11. And want shall come upon thee, as a traveller, and poverty as
a man armed. But if thou be diligent, thy harvest shall come as a
fountain, and want shall lee far from thee.
6:12. A man that is an apostate, an unpro itable man, walketh with
a perverse mouth,
6:13. He winketh with the eyes, presseth with the foot, speaketh with
the inger.
6:14. With a wicked heart he deviseth evil, and at all times he
soweth discord.
6:15. To such a one his destruction shall presently come, and he shall
suddenly be destroyed, and shall no longer have any remedy.
6:16. Six things there are, which the Lord hateth, and the seventh his
soul detesteth:
6:17. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
6:18. A heart that deviseth wicked plots, feet that are swift to run
into mischief,
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 6:19. A deceitful witness that uttereth lies, and him that soweth
discord among brethren.
6:20. My son, keep the commandments of thy father, and forsake not
the law of thy mother.
6:21. Bind them in thy heart continually, and put them about thy
neck.
6:22. When thou walkest, let them go with thee: when thou sleepest,
let them keep thee, and when thou awakest, talk with them.
6:23. Because the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light, and
reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
6:24. That they may keep thee from the evil woman, and from the
lattering tongue of the stranger.
6:25. Let not thy heart covet her beauty, be not caught with her
winks:
6:26. For the price of a harlot is scarce one loaf: but the woman
catcheth the precious soul of a man.
6:27. Can a man hide ire in his bosom, and his garments not burn?
6:28. Or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt?
6:29. So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife, shall not be clean
when he shall touch her.
6:30. The fault is not so great when a man hath stolen: for he
stealeth to ill his hungry soul:
The fault is not so great, etc.... The sin of theft is not so great, as to be compared
with adultery: especially when a person pressed with hunger (which is the case
here spoken of) steals to satisfy nature. Moreover the damage done by theft may
much more easily be repaired, than the wrong done by adultery. But this does
not hinder, but that theft also is a mortal sin, forbidden by one of the ten
commandments.
6:31. And if he be taken, he shall restore sevenfold, and shall give up
all the substance of his house.
6:32. But he that is an adulterer, for the folly of his heart shall
destroy his own soul:
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 6:33. He gathereth to himself shame and dishonour, and his

reproach shall not be blotted out:
6:34. Because the jealousy and rage of the husband will not spare in
the day of revenge,
6:35. Nor will he yield to any man’s prayers, nor will he accept for
satisfaction ever so many gifts.
Proverbs Chapter 7

The love of wisdom is the best preservative from being led astray by
temptation.
7:1. My son, keep my words, and lay up my precepts with thee. Son,
7:2. Keep my commandments, and thou shalt live: and my law as the
apple of thy eye:
7:3. Bind it upon thy ingers, write it upon the tables of thy heart.
7:4. Say to wisdom: Thou art my sister: and call prudence thy friend,
7:5. That she may keep thee from the woman that is not thine, and
from the stranger who sweeteneth her words.
7:6. For I looked out of the window of my house through the lattice,
7:7. And I see little ones, I behold a foolish young man,
7:8. Who passeth through the street by the corner, and goeth nigh
the way of her house,
7:9. In the dark when it grows late, in the darkness and obscurity of
the night.
7:10. And behold a woman meeteth him in harlot’s attire, prepared
to deceive souls: talkative and wandering,
7:11. Not bearing to be quiet, not able to abide still at home,
7:12. Now abroad, now in the streets, now lying in wait near the
corners.
7:13. And catching the young man, she kisseth him, and with an
impudent face, lattereth, saying:

 7:14. I vowed victims for prosperity, this day I have paid my vows.
7:15. Therefore I am come out to meet thee, desirous to see thee,
and I have found thee.
7:16. I have woven my bed with cords, I have covered it with painted
tapestry, brought from Egypt.
7:17. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
7:18. Come, let us be inebriated with the breasts, and let us enjoy the
desired embraces, till the day appear.
7:19. For my husband is not at home, he is gone a very long journey.
7:20. He took with him a bag of money: he will return home the day
of the full moon.
7:21. She entangled him with many words, and drew him away with
the lattery of her lips.
7:22. Immediately he followeth her as an ox led to be a victim, and
as a lamb playing the wanton, and not knowing that he is drawn like a
fool to bonds,
7:23. Till the arrow pierce his liver: as if a bird should make haste to
the snare, and knoweth not that his life is in danger.
7:24. Now, therefore, my son, hear me, and attend to the words of
my mouth.
7:25. Let not thy mind be drawn away in her ways: neither be thou
deceived with her paths.
7:26. For she hath cast down many wounded, and the strongest have
been slain by her.
7:27. Her house is the way to hell, reaching even to the inner
chambers of death.
Proverbs Chapter 8

The preaching of wisdom. Her excellence.

8:1. Doth not wisdom cry aloud, and prudence put forth her voice?
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 8:2. Standing in the top of the highest places by the way, in the midst
of the paths,
8:3. Beside the gates of the city, in the very doors she speaketh,
saying:
8:4. O ye men, to you I call, and my voice is to the sons of men.
8:5. O little ones understand subtlety, and ye unwise, take notice.
8:6. Hear, for I will speak of great things: and my lips shall be
opened to preach right things.
8:7. My mouth shall meditate truth, and my lips shall hate
wickedness.
8:8. All my words are just, there is nothing wicked, nor perverse in
them.
8:9. They are right to them that understand, and just to them that
ind knowledge.
8:10. Receive my instruction, and not money: choose knowledge
rather than gold.
8:11. For wisdom is better than all the most precious things: and
whatsoever may be desired cannot be compared to it.
8:12. I, wisdom, dwell in counsel, and am present in learned
thoughts.
8:13. The fear of the Lord hateth evil; I hate arrogance, and pride,
and every wicked way, and a mouth with a double tongue.
8:14. Counsel and equity is mine, prudence is mine, strength is mine.
8:15. By me kings reign, and lawgivers decree just things.
8:16. By me princes rule, and the mighty decree justice.
8:17. I love them that love me: and they that in the morning early
watch for me, shall ind me.
8:18. With me are riches and glory, glorious riches and justice.
8:19. For my fruit is better than gold and the precious stone, and my
blossoms than choice silver.
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 8:20. I walk in the way of justice, in the midst of the paths of

judgment,
8:21. That I may enrich them that love me, and may ill their
treasures.
8:22. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he
made any thing from the beginning.
8:23. I was set up from eternity, and of old, before the earth was
made.
8:24. The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived,
neither had the fountains of waters as yet sprung out.
8:25. The mountains, with their huge bulk, had not as yet been
established: before the hills, I was brought forth:
8:26. He had not yet made the earth, nor the rivers, nor the poles of
the world.
8:27. When he prepared the heavens, I was present: when with a
certain law, and compass, he enclosed the depths:
8:28. When he established the sky above, and poised the fountains of
waters:
8:29. When he compassed the sea with its bounds, and set a law to
the waters that they should not pass their limits: when he balanced the
foundations of the earth;
8:30. I was with him forming all things: and was delighted every
day, playing before him at all times;
8:31. Playing in the world: and my delights were to be with the
children of men.
8:32. Now, therefore, ye children, hear me: blessed are they that
keep my ways.
8:33. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
8:34. Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at
my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors.

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 8:35. He that shall ind me, shall ind life, and shall have salvation
from the Lord.
8:36. But he that shall sin against me shall hurt his own soul. All
that hate me love death.
Proverbs Chapter 9

Wisdom invites all to her feast. Folly calls another way.

9:1. Wisdom hath built herself a house, she hath hewn her out seven
pillars.
9:2. She hath slain her victims, mingled her wine, and set forth her
table.
9:3. She hath sent her maids to invite to the tower, and to the walls
of the city:
9:4. Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me. And to the unwise
she said:
9:5. Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled
for you.
9:6. Forsake childishness, and live, and walk by the ways of
prudence.
9:7. He that teacheth a scorner, doth an injury to himself; and he
that rebuketh a wicked man, getteth himself a blot.
9:8. Rebuke not a scorner, lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and
he will love thee.
9:9. Give an occasion to a wise man, and wisdom shall be added to
him. Teach a just man, and he shall make haste to receive it.
9:10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the
knowledge of the holy is prudence.
9:11. For by me shall thy days be multiplied, and years of life shall be
added to thee.
9:12. If thou be wise, thou shalt be so to thyself: and if a scorner,
thou alone shalt bear the evil.

 9:13. A foolish woman and clamorous, and full of allurements, and

knowing nothing at all,
9:14. Sat at the door of her house, upon a seat, in a high place of the
city,
9:15. To call them that pass by the way, and go on their journey:
9:16. He that is a little one, let him turn to me. And to the fool she
said:
9:17. Stolen waters are sweeter, and hidden bread is more pleasant.
9:18. And he did not know that giants are there, and that her guests
are in the depths of hell.
THE PARABLES OF SOLOMON
Proverbs Chapter 10

In the twenty following chapters are contained many wise sayings and
axioms, relating to wisdom and folly, virtue and vice.
10:1. A wise son maketh the father glad: but a foolish son is the
sorrow of his mother.
10:2. Treasures of wickedness shall pro it nothing: but justice shall
deliver from death.
10:3. The Lord will not af lict the soul of the just with famine, and he
will disappoint the deceitful practices of the wicked.
10:4. The slothful hand hath wrought poverty: but the hand of the
industrious getteth riches. He that trusteth to lies feedeth the winds:
and the same runneth after birds, that ly away.
10:5. He that gathereth in the harvest, is a wise son: but he that
snorteth in the summer, is the son of confusion.
10:6. The blessing of the Lord is upon the head of the just: but
iniquity covereth the mouth of the wicked.
10:7. The memory of the just is with praises: and the name of the
wicked shall rot.
10:8. The wise of heart receiveth precepts: a fool is beaten with lips.

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 10:9. He that walketh sincerely, walketh con idently: but he that

perverteth his ways, shall be manifest.
10:10. He that winketh with the eye, shall cause sorrow: and the
foolish in lips shall be beaten.
10:11. The mouth of the just is a vein of life: and the mouth of the
wicked covereth iniquity.
10:12. Hatred stirreth up strifes: and charity covereth all sins.
10:13. In the lips of the wise is wisdom found: and a rod on the back
of him that wanteth sense.
10:14. Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the fool is next
to confusion.
10:15. The substance of a rich man is the city of his strength: the
fear of the poor is their poverty.
10:16. The work of the just is unto life: but the fruit of the wicked
unto sin.
10:17. The way of life, to him that observeth correction: but he that
forsaketh reproofs, goeth astray.
10:18. Lying lips hide hatred: he that uttereth reproach, is foolish.
10:19. In the multitude of words there shall not want sin: but he
that refraineth his lips, is most wise.
10:20. The tongue of the just is as choice silver: but the heart of the
wicked is nothing worth.
10:21. The lips of the just teach many: but they that are ignorant,
shall die in the want of understanding.
10:22. The blessing of the Lord maketh men rich: neither shall
af liction be joined to them.
10:23. A fool worketh mischief as it were for sport: but wisdom is
prudence to a man.
10:24. That which the wicked feareth, shall come upon him: to the
just their desire shall be given.
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 10:25. As a tempest that passeth, so the wicked shall be no more:

but the just is as an everlasting foundation.
10:26. As vinegar to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so is the
sluggard to them that sent him.
10:27. The fear of the Lord shall prolong days: and the years of the
wicked shall be shortened.
10:28. The expectation of the just is joy: but the hope of the wicked
shall perish.
10:29. The strength of the upright is the way of the Lord: and fear to
them that work evil.
10:30. The just shall never be moved: but the wicked shall not dwell
on the earth.
10:31. The mouth of the just shall bring forth wisdom: the tongue of
the perverse shall perish.
10:32. The lips of the just consider what is acceptable: and the
mouth of the wicked uttereth perverse things.
Proverbs Chapter 11
11:1. A deceitful balance is an abomination before the Lord: and a
just weight is his will.
11:2. Where pride is, there also shall be reproach: but where
humility is, there also is wisdom.
11:3. The simplicity of the just shall guide them: and the
deceitfulness of the wicked shall destroy them.
11:4. Riches shall not pro it in the day of revenge: but justice shall
deliver from death.
11:5. The justice of the upright shall make his way prosperous: and
the wicked man shall fall by his own wickedness.
11:6. The justice of the righteous shall deliver them: and the unjust
shall be caught in their own snares.
11:7. When the wicked man is dead, there shall be no hope any
more: and the expectation of the solicitous shall perish.

 11:8. The just is delivered out of distress: and the wicked shall be
given up for him.
11:9. The dissembler with his mouth deceiveth his friend: but the
just shall be delivered by knowledge.
11:10. When it goeth well with the just, the city shall rejoice: and
when the wicked perish, there shall be praise.
11:11. By the blessing of the just the city shall be exalted: and by the
mouth of the wicked it shall be overthrown.
11:12. He that despiseth his friend, is mean of heart: but the wise
man will hold his peace.
11:13. He that walketh deceitfully, revealeth secrets: but he that is
faithful, concealeth the thing committed to him by his friend.
11:14. Where there is no governor, the people shall fall: but there is
safety where there is much counsel.
11:15. He shall be af licted with evil, that is surety for a stranger:
but he that is aware of snares, shall be secure.
11:16. A gracious woman shall ind glory: and the strong shall have
riches.
11:17. A merciful man doth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel
casteth off even his own kindred.
11:18. The wicked maketh an unsteady work: but to him that
soweth justice, there is a faithful reward.
11:19. Clemency prepareth life: and the pursuing of evil things,
death.
11:20. A perverse heart is abominable to the Lord: and his will is in
them that walk sincerely.
11:21. Hand in hand the evil man shall not be innocent: but the seed
of the just shall be saved.
11:22. A golden ring in a swine’s snout, a woman fair and foolish.
11:23. The desire of the just is all good, the expectation of the
wicked is indignation.

 11:24. Some distribute their own goods, and grow richer: others
take away what is not their own, and are always in want.
11:25. The soul that blesseth, shall be made fat: and he that
inebriateth, shall be inebriated also himself.
11:26. He that hideth up corn, shall be cursed among the people: but
a blessing upon the head of them that sell.
11:27. Well doth he rise early who seeketh good things; but he that
seeketh after evil things, shall be oppressed by them.
11:28. He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the just shall
spring up as a green leaf.
11:29. He that troubleth his own house, shall inherit the winds: and
the fool shall serve the wise.
11:30. The fruit of the just man is a tree of life: and he that gaineth
souls is wise.
11:31. If the just man receive in the earth, how much more the
wicked and the sinner.
Proverbs Chapter 12
12:1. He that loveth correction, loveth knowledge: but he that
hateth reproof, is foolish.
12:2. He that is good, shall draw grace from the Lord: but he that
trusteth in his own devices, doth wickedly.
12:3. Man shall not be strengthened by wickedness: and the root of
the just shall not be moved.
12:4. A diligent woman is a crown to her husband: and she that doth
things worthy of confusion, is as rottenness in his bones.
12:5. The thoughts of the just are judgments: and the counsels of the
wicked are deceitful.
12:6. The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood: the mouth of the
just shall deliver them.
12:7. Turn the wicked, and they shall not be: but the house of the
just shall stand irm.

 12:8. A man shall be known by his learning: but he that is vain and
foolish, shall be exposed to contempt.
12:9. Better is the poor man that provideth for himself, than he that
is glorious and wanteth bread.
12:10. The just regardeth the lives of his beasts: but the bowels of
the wicked are cruel.
12:11. He that tilleth his land shall be satis ied with bread: but he
that pursueth idleness is very foolish.
12:12. He that is delighted in passing his time over wine, leaveth a
reproach in his strong holds.
12:12. The desire of the wicked is the forti ication of evil men: but
the root of the just shall prosper.
12:13. For the sins of the lips ruin draweth nigh to the evil man: but
the just shall escape out of distress.
12:14. By the fruit of his own mouth shall a man be illed with good
things, and according to the works of his hands it shall be repaid him.
12:15. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that is wise
hearkeneth unto counsels.
12:16. A fool immediately sheweth his anger: but he that
dissembleth injuries is wise.
12:17. He that speaketh that which he knoweth, sheweth forth
justice: but he that lieth, is a deceitful witness.
12:18. There is that promiseth, and is pricked as it were with a
sword of conscience: but the tongue of the wise is health.
12:19. The lip of truth shall be steadfast for ever: but he that is a
hasty witness, frameth a lying tongue.
12:20. Deceit is in the heart of them that think evil things: but joy
followeth them that take counsels of peace.
12:21. Whatsoever shall befall the just man, shall not make him sad:
but the wicked shall be illed with mischief.

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 12:22. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord: but they that deal
faithfully, please him.
12:23. A cautious man concealeth knowledge: and the heart of fools
publisheth folly.
12:24. The hand of the valiant shall bear rule: but that which is
slothful shall be under tribute.
12:25. Grief in the heart of a man shall bring him low, but with a
good word he shall be made glad.
12:26. He that neglecteth a loss for the sake of a friend, is just: but
the way of the wicked shall deceive them.
12:27. The deceitful man shall not ind gain: but the substance of a
just man shall be precious gold.
12:28. In the path of justice is life: but the bye-way leadeth to death.
Proverbs Chapter 13
13:1. A wise son heareth the doctrine of his father: but he that is a
scorner, heareth not when he is reproved.
13:2. Of the fruit of his own mouth shall a man be illed with good
things: but the soul of transgressors is wicked.
13:3. He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his soul: but he that hath
no guard on his speech shall meet with evils.
13:4. The sluggard willeth, and willeth not: but the soul of them that
work, shall be made fat.
13:5. The just shall hate a lying word: but the wicked confoundeth,
and shall be confounded.
13:6. Justice keepeth the way of the innocent: but wickedness
overthroweth the sinner.
13:7. One is as it were rich, when he hath nothing and another is as
it were poor, when he hath great riches.
13:8. The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but he that is poor,
beareth not reprehension.

 13:9. The light of the just giveth joy: but the lamp of the wicked shall
be put out.
13:10. Among the proud there are always contentions: but they that
do all things with counsel, are ruled by wisdom.
13:11. Substance got in haste shall be diminished: but that which by
little and little is gathered with the hand, shall increase.
13:12. Hope that is deferred af licteth the soul: desire when it
cometh, is a tree of life.
13:13. Whosoever speaketh ill of any thing, bindeth himself for the
time to come: but he that feareth the commandment, shall dwell in
peace. Deceitful souls go astray in sins: the just are merciful, and shew
mercy.
13:14. The law of the wise is a fountain of life, that he may decline
from the ruin of death.
13:15. Good instruction shall give grace: in the way of scorners is a
deep pit.
13:16. The prudent man doth all things with counsel: but he that is
a fool, layeth open his folly.
13:17. The messenger of the wicked shall fall into mischief: but a
faithful ambassador is health.
13:18. Poverty and shame to him that refuseth instruction: but he
that yieldeth to reproof shall be glori ied.
13:19. The desire that is accomplished, delighteth the soul: fools
hate them that lee from evil things.
13:20. He that walketh with the wise, shall be wise: a friend of fools
shall become like to them.
13:21. Evil pursueth sinners: and to the just good shall be repaid.
13:22. The good man leaveth heirs, sons, and grandsons: and the
substance of the sinner is kept for the just.
13:23. Much food is in the tillage of fathers: but for others it is
gathered without judgment.

 13:24. He that spareth the rod, hateth his son: but he that loveth
him, correcteth him betimes.
13:25. The just eateth and illeth his soul: but the belly of the wicked
is never to be illed.
Proverbs Chapter 14
14:1. A wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish will pull
down with her hands that also which is built.
14:2. He that walketh in the right way, and feareth God, is despised
by him that goeth by an infamous way.
14:3. In the mouth of a fool is the rod of pride: but the lips of the
wise preserve them.
14:4. Where there are no oxen, the crib is empty: but where there is
much corn, there the strength of the ox is manifest.
14:5. A faithful witness will not lie: but a deceitful witness uttereth a
lie.
14:6. A scorner seeketh wisdom, and indeth it not: the learning of
the wise is easy.
14:7. Go against a foolish man, and he knoweth not the lips of
prudence.
14:8. The wisdom of a discreet man is to understand his way: and
the imprudence of fools erreth.
14:9. A fool will laugh at sin, but among the just grace shall abide.
14:10. The heart that knoweth the bitterness of his own soul, in his
joy the stranger shall not intermeddle.
14:11. The house of the wicked shall be destroyed: but the
tabernacles of the just shall lourish.
14:12. There is a way which seemeth just to a man: but the ends
thereof lead to death.
14:13. Laughter shall be mingled with sorrow, and mourning taketh
hold of the ends of joy.

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 14:14. A fool shall be illed with his own ways, and the good man
shall be above him.
14:15. The innocent believeth every word: the discreet man
considereth his steps. No good shall come to the deceitful son: but the
wise servant shall prosper in his dealings, and his way shall be made
straight.
14:16. A wise man feareth, and declineth from evil: the fool leapeth
over, and is con ident.
14:17. The impatient man shall work folly: and the crafty man is
hateful.
14:18. The childish shall possess folly, and the prudent shall look for
knowledge.
14:19. The evil shall fall down before the good: and the wicked
before the gates of the just.
14:20. The poor man shall be hateful even to his own neighbour: but
the friends of the rich are many.
14:21. He that despiseth his neighbour, sinneth: but he that sheweth
mercy to the poor, shall be blessed. He that believeth in the Lord,
loveth mercy.
14:22. They err that work evil: but mercy and truth prepare good
things.
14:23. In much work there shall be abundance: but where there are
many words, there is oftentimes want.
14:24. The crown of the wise, is their riches: the folly of fools,
imprudence.
14:25. A faithful witness delivereth souls: and the double dealer
uttereth lies.
14:26. In the fear of the Lord is con idence of strength, and there
shall be hope for his children.
14:27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to decline from the
ruin of death.

 14:28. In the multitude of people is the dignity of the king: and in

the small number of the people the dishonour of the prince.
14:29. He that is patient, is governed with much wisdom: but he that
is impatient, exalteth his folly.
14:30. Soundness of heart is the life of the lesh: but envy is the
rottenness of the bones.
14:31. He that oppresseth the poor, upbraideth his maker: but he
that hath pity on the poor, honoureth him.
14:32. The wicked man shall be driven out in his wickedness: but the
just hath hope in his death.
14:33. In the heart of the prudent resteth wisdom, and it shall
instruct all the ignorant.
14:34. Justice exalteth a nation: but sin maketh nations miserable.
14:35. A wise servant is acceptable to the king: he that is good for
nothing shall feel his anger.
Proverbs Chapter 15
15:1. A mild answer breaketh wrath: but a harsh word stirreth up
fury.
15:2. The tongue of the wise adorneth knowledge: but the mouth of
fools bubbleth out folly.
15:3. The eyes of the Lord in every place behold the good and the
evil.
15:4. A peaceable tongue is a tree of life: but that which is
immoderate, shall crush the spirit.
15:5. A fool laugheth at the instruction of his father: but he that
regardeth reproofs shall become prudent. In abundant justice there is
the greatest strength: but the devices of the wicked shall be rooted out.
15:6. The house of the just is very much strength: and in the fruits of
the wicked is trouble.
15:7. The lips of the wise shall disperse knowledge: the heart of fools
shall be unlike.

 15:8. The victims of the wicked are abominable to the Lord: the
vows of the just are acceptable.
15:9. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: he that
followeth justice is beloved by him.
15:10. Instruction is grievous to him that forsaketh the way of life:
he that hateth reproof shall die.
15:11. Hell and destruction are before the Lord: how much more the
hearts of the children of men?
15:12. A corrupt man loveth not one that reproveth him: nor will he
go to the wise.
15:13. A glad heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by grief of
mind the spirit is cast down.
15:14. The heart of the wise seeketh instruction: and the mouth of
fools feedeth on foolishness.
15:15. All the days of the poor are evil: a secure mind is like a
continual feast.
15:16. Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great
treasures without content.
15:17. It is better to be invited to herbs with love, than to a fatted
calf with hatred.
15:18. A passionate man stirreth up strifes: he that is patient
appeaseth those that are stirred up.
15:19. The way of the slothful is as a hedge of thorns: the way of the
just is without offence.
15:20. A wise son maketh a father joyful: but the foolish man
despiseth his mother.
15:21. Folly is joy to the fool: and the wise man maketh straight his
steps.
15:22. Designs are brought to nothing where there is no counsel: but
where there are many counsellors, they are established.

 15:23. A man rejoiceth in the sentence of his mouth: and a word in

due time is best.
15:24. The path of life is above for the wise, that he may decline
from the lowest hell.
15:25. The Lord will destroy the house of the proud: and will
strengthen the borders of the widow.
15:26. Evil thoughts are an abomination to the Lord: and pure
words most beautiful shall be con irmed by him.
15:27. He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house: but he that
hateth bribes shall live. By mercy and faith sins are purged away: and
by the fear of the Lord every one declineth from evil.
15:28. The mind of the just studieth obedience: the mouth of the
wicked over loweth with evils.
15:29. The Lord is far from the wicked: and he will hear the prayers
of the just.
15:30. The light of the eyes rejoiceth the soul: a good name maketh
the bones fat.
15:31. The ear that heareth the reproofs of life, shall abide in the
midst of the wise.
15:32. He that rejecteth instruction, despiseth his own soul: but he
that yieldeth to reproof, possesseth understanding.
15:33. The fear of the Lord is the lesson of wisdom: and humility
goeth before glory.
Proverbs Chapter 16
16:1. It is the part of man to prepare the soul: and of the Lord to
govern the tongue.
It is the part of man, etc.... That is, a man should prepare in his heart and soul
what he is to say: but after all, it must be the Lord that must govern his tongue,
to speak to the purpose. Not that we can think any thing of good without God’s
grace; but that after we have (with God’s grace) thought and prepared within
our souls what we would speak, if God does not govern our tongue, we shall not
succeed in what we speak.

 16:2. All the ways of a man are open to his eyes: the Lord is the
weigher of spirits.
16:3. Lay open thy works to the Lord: and thy thoughts shall be
directed.
16:4. The Lord hath made all things for himself: the wicked also for
the evil day.
16:5. Every proud man is an abomination to the Lord: though hand
should be joined to hand, he is not innocent. The beginning of a good
way is to do justice: and this is more acceptable with God, than to offer
sacri ices.
16:6. By mercy and truth iniquity is redeemed; and by the fear of the
Lord men depart from evil.
16:7. When the ways of man shall please the Lord, he will convert
even his enemies to peace.
16:8. Better is a little with justice, than great revenues with iniquity.
16:9. The heart of man disposeth his way: but the Lord must direct
his steps.
16:10. Divination is in the lips of the king, his mouth shall not err in
judgment.
16:11. Weight and balance are judgments of the Lord: and his work
all the weights of the bag.
16:12. They that act wickedly are abominable to the king: for the
throne is established by justice.
16:13. Just lips are the delight of kings: he that speaketh right things
shall be loved.
16:14. The wrath of a king is as messengers of death: and the wise
man will pacify it.
16:15. In the cheerfulness of the king’s countenance is life: and his
clemency is like the latter rain.
16:16. Get wisdom, because it is better than gold: and purchase
prudence, for it is more precious than silver.
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 16:17. The path of the just departeth from evils: he that keepeth his
soul keepeth his way.
16:18. Pride goeth before destruction: and the spirit is lifted up
before a fall.
16:19. It is better to be humbled with the meek, than to divide spoils
with the proud.
16:20. The learned in word shall ind good things: and he that
trusteth in the Lord is blessed.
16:21. The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and he that is sweet
in words, shall attain to greater things.
16:22. Knowledge is a fountain of life to him that possesseth it: the
instruction of fools is foolishness.
16:23. The heart of the wise shall instruct his mouth: and shall add
grace to his lips.
16:24. Well ordered words are as a honeycomb: sweet to the soul,
and health to the bones.
16:25. There is a way that seemeth to a man right: and the ends
thereof lead to death.
16:26. The soul of him that laboureth, laboureth for himself, because
his mouth hath obliged him to it.
16:27. The wicked man diggeth evil, and in his lips is a burning ire.
16:28. A perverse man stirreth up quarrels: and one full of words
separateth princes.
16:29. An unjust man allureth his friend: and leadeth him into a way
that is not good.
16:30. He that with ixed eyes deviseth wicked things, biting his lips,
bringeth evil to pass.
16:31. Old age is a crown of dignity, when it is found in the ways of
justice.
16:32. The patient man is better than the valiant: and he that ruleth
his spirit, than he that taketh cities.

 16:33. Lots are cast into the lap, but they are disposed of by the
Lord.
Proverbs Chapter 17
17:1. Better is a dry morsel with joy, than a house full of victims with
strife.
17:2. A wise servant shall rule over foolish sons, and shall divide the
inheritance among the brethren.
17:3. As silver is tried by ire, and gold in the furnace: so the Lord
trieth the hearts.
17:4. The evil man obeyeth an unjust tongue: and the deceitful
hearkeneth to lying lips.
17:5. He that despiseth the poor, reproacheth his maker: and he that
rejoiceth at another man’s ruin, shall not be unpunished.
17:6. Children’s children are the crown of old men: and the glory of
children are their fathers.
17:7. Eloquent words do not become a fool, nor lying lips a prince.
17:8. The expectation of him that expecteth is a most acceptable
jewel: whithersoever he turneth himself, he understandeth wisely.
17:9. He that concealeth a transgression, seeketh friendships: he
that repeateth it again, separateth friends.
17:10. A reproof availeth more with a wise man, than a hundred
stripes with a fool.
17:11. An evil man always seeketh quarrels: but a cruel angel shall
be sent against him.
17:12. It is better to meet a bear robbed of her whelps, than a fool
trusting in his own folly.
17:13. He that rendereth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his
house.
17:14. The beginning of quarrels is as when one letteth out water:
and before he suffereth reproach, he forsaketh judgment.

 17:15. He that justi ieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the
just, both are abominable before God.
17:16. What doth it avail a fool to have riches, seeing he cannot buy
wisdom? He that maketh his house high, seeketh a downfall: and he
that refuseth to learn, shall fall into evils.
17:17. He that is a friend loveth at all times: and a brother is proved
in distress.
17:18. A foolish man will clap hands, when he is surety for his friend.
17:19. He that studieth discords, loveth quarrels: and he that
exalteth his door, seeketh ruin.
17:20. He that is of a perverse heart, shall not ind good: and he that
perverteth his tongue, shall fall into evil.
17:21. A fool is born to his own disgrace: and even his father shall
not rejoice in a fool.
17:22. A joyful mind maketh age lourishing: a sorrowful spirit
drieth up the bones.
17:23. The wicked man taketh gifts out of the bosom, that he may
pervert the paths of judgment.
17:24. Wisdom shineth in the face of the wise: the eyes of fools are in
the ends of the earth.
17:25. A foolish son is the anger of the father: and the sorrow of the
mother that bore him.
17:26. It is no good thing to do hurt to the just: nor to strike the
prince, who judgeth right.
17:27. He that setteth bounds to his words, is knowing and wise: and
the man of understanding is of a precious spirit.
17:28. Even a fool, if he will hold his peace, shall be counted wise:
and if he close his lips, a man of understanding.
Proverbs Chapter 18
18:1. He that hath a mind to depart from a friend, seeketh
occasions: he shall ever be subject to reproach.

 18:2. A fool receiveth not the words of prudence: unless thou say
those things which are in his heart.
18:3. The wicked man, when he is come into the depth of sins,
contemneth: but ignominy and reproach follow him.
18:4. Words from the mouth of a man are as deep water: and the
fountain of wisdom is an over lowing stream.
18:5. It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to decline
from the truth of judgment.
18:6. The lips of a fool intermeddle with strife: and his mouth
provoketh quarrels.
18:7. The mouth of a fool is his destruction: and his lips are the ruin
of his soul.
18:8. The words of the double tongued are as if they were harmless:
and they reach even to the inner parts of the bowels. Fear casteth
down the slothful: and the souls of the effeminate shall be hungry.
18:9. He that is loose and slack in his work, is the brother of him
that wasteth his own works.
18:10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the just runneth to it,
and shall be exalted.
18:11. The substance of the rich man is the city of his strength, and
as a strong wall compassing him about.
18:12. Before destruction, the heart of a man is exalted: and before
he be glori ied, it is humbled.
18:13. He that answereth before he heareth, sheweth himself to be a
fool, and worthy of confusion.
18:14. The spirit of a man upholdeth his in irmity: but a spirit that is
easily angered, who can bear?
18:15. A wise heart shall acquire knowledge: and the ear of the wise
seeketh instruction.
18:16. A man’s gift enlargeth his way, and maketh him room before
princes.

 18:17. The just is irst accuser of himself: his friend cometh, and
shall search him.
18:18. The lot suppresseth contentions, and determineth even
between the mighty.
18:19. A brother that is helped by his brother, is like a strong city:
and judgments are like the bars of cities.
18:20. Of the fruit of a man’s mouth shall his belly be satis ied: and
the offspring of his lips shall ill him.
18:21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue: they that love
it, shall eat the fruits thereof.
18:22. He that hath found a good wife, hath found a good thing, and
shall receive a pleasure from the Lord. He that driveth away a good
wife, driveth away a good thing: but he that keepeth an adulteress, is
foolish and wicked.
18:23. The poor will speak with supplications, and the rich will
speak roughly.
18:24. A man amiable in society, shall be more friendly than a
brother.
Proverbs Chapter 19
19:1. Better is the poor man, that walketh in his simplicity, than a
rich man that is perverse in his lips and unwise.
19:2. Where there is no knowledge of the soul, there is no good: and
he that is hasty with his feet shall stumble.
19:3. The folly of a man supplanteth his steps: and he fretteth in his
mind against God.
19:4. Riches make many friends: but from the poor man, even they
whom he had, depart.
19:5. A false witness shall not be unpunished: and he that speaketh
lies, shall not escape.
19:6. Many honour the person of him that is mighty, and are friends
of him that giveth gifts.

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 19:7. The brethren of the poor man hate him: moreover also his
friends have departed far from him. He that followeth after words
only, shall have nothing.
19:8. But he that possesseth a mind, loveth his own soul, and he that
keepeth prudence, shall ind good things.
19:9. A false witness shall not be unpunished: and he that speaketh
lies, shall perish.
19:10. Delicacies are not seemly for a fool: nor for a servant to have
rule over princes.
19:11. The learning of a man is known by patience: and his glory is
to pass over wrongs.
19:12. As the roaring of a lion, so also is the anger of a king: and his
cheerfulness as the dew upon the grass.
19:13. A foolish son is the grief of his father: and a wrangling wife is
like a roof continually dropping through.
19:14. House and riches are given by parents: but a prudent wife is
properly from the Lord.
19:15. Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall
suffer hunger.
19:16. He that keepeth the commandment, keepeth his own soul:
but he that neglecteth his own way, shall die.
19:17. He that hath mercy on the poor, lendeth to the Lord: and he
will repay him.
19:18. Chastise thy son, despair not: but to the killing of him set not
thy soul.
19:19. He that is impatient, shall suffer damage: and when he shall
take away, he shall add another thing.
19:20. Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayst be
wise in thy latter end.
19:21. There are many thoughts in the heart of a man: but the will
of the Lord shall stand irm.

 19:22. A needy man is merciful: and better is the poor than the lying
man.
19:23. The fear of the Lord is unto life: and he shall abide in the
fulness without being visited with evil.
19:24. The slothful hideth his hand under his armpit, and will not so
much as bring it to his mouth.
19:25. The wicked man being scourged, the fool shall be wiser: but if
thou rebuke a wise man, he will understand discipline.
19:26. He that af licteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is
infamous and unhappy.
19:27. Cease not, O my son, to hear instruction, and be not ignorant
of the words of knowledge.
19:28. An unjust witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the
wicked devoureth iniquity.
19:29. Judgments are prepared for scorners: and striking hammers
for the bodies of fools.
Proverbs Chapter 20
20:1. Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness riotous: whosoever
is delighted therewith, shall not be wise.
20:2. As the roaring of a lion, so also is the dread of a king: he that
provoketh him, sinneth against his own soul.
20:3. It is an honour for a man to separate himself from quarrels:
but all fools are meddling with reproaches.
20:4. Because of the cold the sluggard would not plough: he shall
beg therefore in the summer, and it shall not be given him.
20:5. Counsel in the heart of a man is like deep water: but a wise
man will draw it out.
20:6. Many men are called merciful: but who shall ind a faithful
man?
20:7. The just that walketh in his simplicity, shall leave behind him
blessed children.

 20:8. The king, that sitteth on the throne of judgment, scattereth

away all evil with his look.
20:9. Who can say: My heart is clean, I am pure from sin?
20:10. Diverse weights and diverse measures, both are abominable
before God.
20:11. By his inclinations a child is known, if his works be clean and
right.
20:12. The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made
them both.
20:13. Love not sleep, lest poverty oppress thee: open thy eyes, and
be illed with bread.
20:14. It is naught, it is naught, saith every buyer: and when he is
gone away, then he will boast.
20:15. There is gold and a multitude of jewels: but the lips of
knowledge are a precious vessel.
20:16. Take away the garment of him that is surety for a stranger,
and take a pledge from him for strangers.
20:17. The bread of lying is sweet to a man: but afterwards his
mouth shall be illed with gravel.
20:18. Designs are strengthened by counsels: and wars are to be
managed by governments.
20:19. Meddle not with him that revealeth secrets, and walketh
deceitfully, and openeth wide his lips.
20:20. He that curseth his father, and mother, his lamp shall be put
out in the midst of darkness.
20:21. The inheritance gotten hastily in the beginning, in the end
shall be without a blessing.
20:22. Say not: I will return evil: wait for the Lord, and he will
deliver thee.
20:23. Diverse weights are an abomination before the Lord: a
deceitful balance is not good.
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 20:24. The steps of men are guided by the Lord: but who is the man
that can understand his own way?
20:25. It is ruin to a man to devour holy ones, and after vows to
retract.
20:26. A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth over them
the wheel.
20:27. The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, which searcheth
all the hidden things of the bowels.
20:28. Mercy and truth preserve the king, and his throne is
strengthened by clemency.
20:29. The joy of young men is their strength: and the dignity of old
men, their grey hairs.
20:30. The blueness of a wound shall wipe away evils: and stripes in
the more inward parts of the belly.
Proverbs Chapter 21
21:1. As the divisions of waters, so the heart of the king is in the
hand of the Lord: whithersoever he will, he shall turn it.
21:2. Every way of a man seemeth right to himself: but the Lord
weigheth the hearts.
21:3. To do mercy and judgment, pleaseth the Lord more than
victims.
21:4. Haughtiness of the eyes is the enlarging of the heart: the lamp
of the wicked is sin.
21:5. The thoughts of the industrious always bring forth abundance:
but every sluggard is always in want.
21:6. He that gathereth treasures by a lying tongue, is vain and
foolish, and shall stumble upon the snares of death.
21:7. The robberies of the wicked shall be their downfall, because
they would not do judgment.
21:8. The perverse way of a man is strange: but as for him that is
pure, his work is right.

 21:9. It is better to sit in a corner of the housetop, than with a

brawling woman, and in a common house.
21:10. The soul of the wicked desireth evil, he will not have pity on
his neighbour.
21:11. When a pestilent man is punished, the little one will be wiser:
and if he follow the wise, he will receive knowledge.
21:12. The just considereth seriously the house of the wicked, that
he may withdraw the wicked from evil.
21:13. He that stoppeth his ear against the cry of the poor, shall also
cry himself, and shall not be heard.
21:14. A secret present quencheth anger: and a gift in the bosom,
the greatest wrath.
21:15. It is joy to the just to do judgment: and dread to them that
work iniquity.
21:16. A man that shall wander out of the way of doctrine, shall
abide in the company of the giants.
21:17. He that loveth good cheer, shall be in want: he that loveth
wine, and fat things, shall not be rich.
21:18. The wicked is delivered up for the just: and the unjust for the
righteous.
21:19. It is better to dwell in a wilderness, than with a quarrelsome
and passionate woman.
21:20. There is a treasure to be desired, and oil in the dwelling of the
just: and the foolish man shall spend it.
21:21. He that followeth justice and mercy, shall ind life, justice,
and glory.
21:22. The wise man hath scaled the city of the strong, and hath
cast down the strength of the con idence thereof.
21:23. He that keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul
from distress.

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 21:24. The proud and the arrogant is called ignorant, who in anger
worketh pride.
21:25. Desires kill the slothful: for his hands have refused to work at
all.
21:26. He longeth and desireth all the day: but he that is just, will
give, and will not cease.
21:27. The sacri ices of the wicked are abominable, because they are
offered of wickedness.
21:28. A lying witness shall perish: an obedient man shall speak of
victory.
21:29. The wicked man impudently hardeneth his face: but he that
is righteous, correcteth his way.
21:30. There is no wisdom, there is no prudence, there is no counsel
against the Lord.
21:31. The horse is prepared for the day of battle: but the Lord
giveth safety.
Proverbs Chapter 22
22:1. A good name is better than great riches: and good favour is
above silver and gold.
22:2. The rich and poor have met one another: the Lord is the maker
of them both.
22:3. The prudent man saw the evil, and hid himself: the simple
passed on, and suffered loss.
22:4. The fruit of humility is the fear of the Lord, riches and glory
and life.
22:5. Arms and swords are in the way of the perverse: but he that
keepeth his own soul, departeth far from them.
22:6. It is a proverb: A young man according to his way, even when
he is old, he will not depart from it.
22:7. The rich ruleth over the poor: and the borrower is servant to
him that lendeth.

 22:8. He that soweth iniquity, shall reap evils, and with the rod of his
anger he shall be consumed.
22:9. He that is inclined to mercy, shall be blessed: for of his bread
he hath given to the poor. He that maketh presents, shall purchase
victory and honour: but he carrieth away the souls of the receivers.
22:10. Cast out the scoffer, and contention shall go out with him,
and quarrels and reproaches shall cease.
22:11. He that loveth cleanness of heart, for the grace of his lips
shall have the king for his friend.
22:12. The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge: and the words of
the unjust are overthrown.
22:13. The slothful man saith: There is a lion without, I shall be slain
in the midst of the streets.
22:14. The mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit: he whom the
Lord is angry with, shall fall into it.
22:15. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, and the rod of
correction shall drive it away.
22:16. He that oppresseth the poor, to increase his own riches, shall
himself give to one that is richer, and shall be in need.
22:17. Incline thy ear, and hear the words of the wise: and apply thy
heart to my doctrine:
22:18. Which shall be beautiful for thee, if thou keep it in thy bowels,
and it shall low in thy lips:
22:19. That thy trust may be in the Lord, wherefore I have also
shewn it to thee this day.
22:20. Behold I have described it to thee three manner of ways, in
thoughts and knowledge:
22:21. That I might shew thee the certainty, and the words of truth,
to answer out of these to them that sent thee.
22:22. Do no violence to the poor, because he is poor: and do not
oppress the needy in the gate:
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 22:23. Because the Lord will judge his cause: and will af lict them
that have af licted his soul.
22:24. Be not a friend to an angry man, and do not walk with a
furious man:
22:25. Lest perhaps thou learn his ways, and take scandal to thy
soul.
22:26. Be not with them that fasten down their hands, and that offer
themselves sureties for debts:
22:27. For if thou have not wherewith to restore, what cause is there
that he should take the covering from thy bed?
22:28. Pass not beyond the ancient bounds which thy fathers have
set.
22:29. Hast thou seen a man swift in his work? he shall stand before
kings, and shall not be before those that are obscure.
Proverbs Chapter 23
23:1. When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently
what is set before thy face:
23:2. And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul
in thy own power.
23:3. Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.
23:4. Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
23:5. Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have:
because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and
shall ly towards heaven.
23:6. Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
23:7. Because, like a soothsayer, and diviner, he thinketh that which
he knoweth not. Eat and drink, will he say to thee: and his mind is not
with thee.
23:8. The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and
shalt loose thy beautiful words.

 23:9. Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the
instruction of thy speech.
23:10. Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the
ield of the fatherless:
23:11. For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their
cause against thee.
23:12. Let thy heart apply itself to instruction and thy ears to words
of knowledge.
23:13. Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him
with the rod, he shall not die.
23:14. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from
hell.
23:15. My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
23:16. And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is
right.
23:17. Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the
Lord all the day long:
23:18. Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy
expectation shall not be taken away.
23:19. Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the
way.
23:20. Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings,
who contribute lesh to eat:
23:21. Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club
together, shall be consumed: and drowsiness shall be clothed with
rags.
23:22. Hearken to thy father, that begot thee: and despise not thy
mother when she is old.
23:23. Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and
understanding.
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 23:24. The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten
a wise son, shall have joy in him.
23:25. Let thy father and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice
that bore thee.
23:26. My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
23:27. For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a
narrow pit.
23:28. She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she
shall see unwary, she will kill.
23:29. Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath
contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who
hath redness of eyes?
23:30. Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink off
their cups.
23:31. Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour
thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,
23:32. But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad
poison like a basilisk.
23:33. Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall
utter perverse things.
23:34. And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and
as a pilot fast asleep when the stern is lost.
23:35. And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not
sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake and
ind wine again?
Proverbs Chapter 24
24:1. Seek not to be like evil men, neither desire to be with them:
24:2. Because their mind studieth robberies, and their lips speak
deceits.
24:3. By wisdom the house shall be built, and by prudence it shall be
strengthened.
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 24:4. By instruction the storerooms shall be illed with all precious

and most beautiful wealth.
24:5. A wise man is strong: and a knowing man, stout and valiant.
24:6. Because war is managed by due ordering: and there shall be
safety where there are many counsels.
24:7. Wisdom is too high for a fool; in the gate he shall not open his
mouth.
24:8. He that deviseth to do evils, shall be called a fool.
24:9. The thought of a fool is sin: and the detractor is the
abomination of men.
24:10. If thou lose hope, being weary in the day of distress, thy
strength shall be diminished.
24:11. Deliver them that are led to death: and those that are drawn
to death, forbear not to deliver.
24:12. If thou say: I have not strength enough: he that seeth into the
heart, he understandeth, and nothing deceiveth the keeper of thy soul,
and he shall render to a man according to his works.
24:13. Eat honey, my son, because it is good, and the honeycomb
most sweet to thy throat.
24:14. So also is the doctrine of wisdom to thy soul: which when
thou hast found, thou shalt have hope in the end, and thy hope shall
not perish.
24:15. Lie not in wait, nor seek after wickedness in the house of the
just, nor spoil his rest.
24:16. For a just man shall fall seven times, and shall rise again: but
the wicked shall fall down into evil.
24:17. When thy enemy shall fall, be not glad, and in his ruin let not
thy heart rejoice:
24:18. Lest the Lord see, and it displease him, and he turn away his
wrath from him.
24:19. Contend not with the wicked, nor seek to be like the ungodly.

 24:20. For evil men have no hope of things to come, and the lamp of
the wicked shall be put out.
24:21. My son, fear the Lord, and the king: and have nothing to do
with detractors.
24:22. For their destruction shall rise suddenly: and who knoweth
the ruin of both?
24:23. These things also to the wise: It is not good to have respect to
persons in judgment.
24:24. They that say to the wicked man: Thou art just: shall be
cursed by the people, and the tribes shall abhor them.
24:25. They that rebuke him shall be praised: and a blessing shall
come upon them.
24:26. He shall kiss the lips, who answereth right words.
24:27. Prepare thy work without, and diligently till thy ground: that
afterward thou mayst build thy house.
24:28. Be not witness without cause against thy neighbour: and
deceive not any man with thy lips.
24:29. Say not: I will do to him as he hath done to me: I will render
to every one according to his work.
24:30. I passed by the ield of the slothful man, and by the vineyard
of the foolish man:
24:31. And behold it was all illed with nettles, and thorns had
covered the face thereof, and the stone wall was broken down.
24:32. Which when I had seen, I laid it up in my heart, and by the
example I received instruction.
24:33. Thou wilt sleep a little, said I, thou wilt slumber a little, thou
wilt fold thy hands a little to rest.
24:34. And poverty shall come to thee as a runner, and beggary as
an armed man.

 Proverbs Chapter 25
25:1. These are also parables of Solomon, which the men of
Ezechias, king of Juda, copied out.
25:2. It is the glory of God to conceal the word, and the glory of
kings to search out the speech.
25:3. The heaven above and the earth beneath, and the heart of
kings is unsearchable.
25:4. Take away the rust from silver, and there shall come forth a
most pure vessel:
25:5. Take away wickedness from the face of the king, and his
throne shall be established with justice.
25:6. Appear not glorious before the king, and stand not in the place
of great men.
25:7. For it is better that it should be said to thee: Come up hither;
than that thou shouldst be humbled before the prince.
25:8. The things which thy eyes have seen, utter not hastily in a
quarrel: lest afterward thou mayst not be able to make amends, when
thou hast dishonoured thy friend.
25:9. Treat thy cause with thy friend, and discover not the secret to
a stranger:
25:10. Lest he insult over thee, when he hath heard it, and cease not
to upbraid thee. Grace and friendship deliver a man: keep these for
thyself, lest thou fall under reproach.
25:11. To speak a word in due time, is like apples of gold on beds of
silver.
25:12. As an earring of gold and a bright pearl, so is he that
reproveth the wise, and the obedient ear.
25:13. As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful
messenger to him that sent him, for he refresheth his soul.
25:14. As clouds, and wind, when no rain followeth, so is the man
that boasteth, and doth not ful il his promises.

 25:15. By patience a prince shall be appeased, and a soft tongue

shall break hardness.
25:16. Thou hast found honey, eat what is suf icient for thee, lest
being glutted therewith thou vomit it up.
25:17. Withdraw thy foot from the house of thy neighbour, lest
having his ill he hate thee.
25:18. A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour, is
like a dart and a sword and a sharp arrow.
25:19. To trust in an unfaithful man in the time of trouble, is like a
rotten tooth, and weary foot,
25:20. And one that looseth his garment in cold weather. As vinegar
upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a very evil heart. As a moth
doth by a garment, and a worm by the wood: so the sadness of a man
consumeth the heart.
25:21. If thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat: if he thirst, give him
water to drink:
25:22. For thou shalt heap hot coals upon his head, and the Lord
will reward thee.
25:23. The north wind driveth away rain, as doth a sad countenance
a backbiting tongue.
25:24. It is better to sit in a corner of the housetop: than with a
brawling woman, and in a common house.
25:25. As cold water to a thirsty soul, so are good tidings from a far
country.
25:26. A just man falling down before the wicked, is as a fountain
troubled with the foot and a corrupted spring.
25:27. As it is not good for a man to eat much honey, so he that is a
searcher of majesty shall be overwhelmed by glory.
Majesty.... Viz., of God. For to search into that incomprehensible Majesty, and to
pretend to sound the depths of the wisdom of God, is exposing our weak
understanding to be blinded with an excess of light and glory, which it cannot
comprehend.

 25:28. As a city that lieth open and is not compassed with walls, so
is a man that cannot refrain his own spirit in speaking.
Proverbs Chapter 26
26:1. As snow in summer, and rain in harvest, so glory is not seemly
for a fool.
26:2. As a bird lying to other places, and a sparrow going here or
there: so a curse uttered without cause shall come upon a man.
As a bird, etc.... The meaning is, that a curse uttered without cause shall do no
harm to the person that is cursed, but will return upon him that curseth, as
whithersoever a bird lies, it returns to its own nest.
26:3. A whip for a horse, and a snaf le for an ass, and a rod for the
back of fools.
26:4. Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou be made like
him.
Answer not a fool, etc.... Viz., so as to imitate him but only so as to reprove his
folly.
26:5. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he imagine himself to
be wise.
26:6. He that sendeth words by a foolish messenger, is lame of feet
and drinketh iniquity.
26:7. As a lame man hath fair legs in vain: so a parable is unseemly
in the mouth of fools.
26:8. As he that casteth a stone into the heap of Mercury: so is he
that giveth honour to a fool.
26:9. As if a thorn should grow in the hand of a drunkard: so is a
parable in the mouth of fools.
26:10. Judgment determineth causes: and he that putteth a fool to
silence, appeaseth anger.
26:11. As a dog that returneth to his vomit, so is the fool that
repeateth his folly.

 26:12. Hast thou seen a man wise in his own conceit? there shall be
more hope of a fool than of him.
26:13. The slothful man saith: There is a lion in the way, and a
lioness in the roads.
26:14. As the door turneth upon its hinges, so doth the slothful upon
his bed.
26:15. The slothful hideth his hand under his armpit, and it grieveth
him to turn it to his mouth.
26:16. The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit, than seven men that
speak sentences.
26:17. As he that taketh a dog by the ears, so is he that passeth by in
anger, and meddleth with another man’s quarrel.
26:18. As he is guilty that shooteth arrows, and lances unto death.
26:19. So is the man that hurteth his friend deceitfully: and when he
is taken, saith: I did it in jest.
26:20. When the wood faileth, the ire shall go out: and when the
talebearer is taken away, contentions shall cease.
26:21. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to ire, so an angry
man stirreth up strife.
26:22. The words of a talebearer are as it were simple, but they
reach to the innermost parts of the belly.
26:23. Swelling lips joined with a corrupt heart, are like an earthen
vessel adorned with silver dross.
26:24. An enemy is known by his lips, when in his heart he
entertaineth deceit.
26:25. When he shall speak low, trust him not: because there are
seven mischiefs in his heart.
26:26. He that covereth hatred deceitfully, his malice shall be laid
open in the public assembly.
26:27. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that rolleth a
stone, it shall return to him.

 26:28. A deceitful tongue loveth not truth: and a slippery mouth

worketh ruin.
Proverbs Chapter 27
27:1. Boast not for to morrow, for thou knowest not what the day to
come may bring forth.
27:2. Let another praise thee, and not thy own mouth: a stranger,
and not thy own lips.
27:3. A stone is heavy, and sand weighty: but the anger of a fool is
heavier than them both.
27:4. Anger hath no mercy: nor fury, when it breaketh forth: and
who can bear the violence of one provoked?
27:5. Open rebuke is better than hidden love.
27:6. Better are the wounds of a friend, than the deceitful kisses of
an enemy.
27:7. A soul that is full shall tread upon the honeycomb: and a soul
that is hungry shall take even bitter for sweet.
27:8. As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that
leaveth his place.
27:9. Ointment and perfumes rejoice the heart: and the good
counsels of a friend are sweet to the soul.
27:10. Thy own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not: and go
not into thy brother’s house in the day of thy af liction. Better is a
neighbour that is near than a brother afar off.
27:11. Study wisdom, my son, and make my heart joyful, that thou
mayst give an answer to him that reproacheth.
27:12. The prudent man seeing evil hideth himself: little ones
passing on have suffered losses.
27:13. Take away his garment that hath been surety for a stranger:
and take from him a pledge for strangers.
27:14. He that blesseth his neighbour with a loud voice, rising in the
night, shall be like to him that curseth.

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 27:15. Roofs dropping through in a cold day, and a contentious
woman are alike.
27:16. He that retaineth her, is as he that would hold the wind, and
shall call the oil of his right hand.
27:17. Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance
of his friend.
27:18. He that keepeth the ig tree, shall eat the fruit thereof: and he
that is the keeper of his master, shall be glori ied.
27:19. As the faces of them that look therein, shine in the water, so
the hearts of men are laid open to the wise.
27:20. Hell and destruction are never illed: so the eyes of men are
never satis ied.
27:21. As silver is tried in the ining-pot, and gold in the furnace: so
a man is tried by the mouth of him that praiseth. The heart of the
wicked seeketh after evils, but the righteous heart seeketh after
knowledge.
27:22. Though thou shouldst bray a fool in the mortar, as when a
pestle striketh upon sodden barley, his folly would not be taken from
him.
27:23. Be diligent to know the countenance of thy cattle, and
consider thy own locks:
27:24. For thou shalt not always have power: but a crown shall be
given to generation and generation.
27:25. The meadows are open, and the green herbs have appeared,
and the hay is gathered out of the mountains.
27:26. Lambs are for thy clothing: and kids for the price of the ield.
27:27. Let the milk of the goats be enough for thy food, and for the
necessities of thy house, and for maintenance for thy handmaids.
Proverbs Chapter 28
28:1. The wicked man leeth, when no man pursueth: but the just,
bold as a lion, shall be without dread.

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 28:2. For the sins of the land many are the princes thereof: and for
the wisdom of a man, and the knowledge of those things that are said,
the life of the prince shall be prolonged.
28:3. A poor man that oppresseth the poor, is like a violent shower,
which bringeth a famine.
28:4. They that forsake the law, praise the wicked man: they that
keep it, are incensed against him.
28:5. Evil men think not on judgment: but they that seek after the
Lord, take notice of all things.
28:6. Better is the poor man walking in his simplicity, than the rich
in crooked ways.
28:7. He that keepeth the law, is a wise son: but he that feedeth
gluttons, shameth his father.
28:8. He that heapeth together riches by usury and loan, gathereth
them for him that will be bountiful to the poor.
28:9. He that turneth away his ears from hearing the law, his prayer
shall be an abomination.
28:10. He that deceiveth the just in a wicked way, shall fall in his
own destruction: and the upright shall possess his goods.
28:11. The rich man seemeth to himself wise: but the poor man that
is prudent shall search him out.
28:12. In the joy of the just there is great glory: when the wicked
reign, men are ruined.
28:13. He that hideth his sins, shall not prosper: but he that shall
confess, and forsake them, shall obtain mercy.
28:14. Blessed is the man that is always fearful: but he that is
hardened in mind shall fall into evil.
28:15. As a roaring lion, and a hungry bear, so is a wicked prince
over the poor people.
28:16. A prince void of prudence shall oppress many by calumny: but
he that hateth covetousness, shall prolong his days.

 28:17. A man that doth violence to the blood of a person, if he lee

even to the pit, no man will stay him.
28:18. He that walketh uprightly, shall be saved: he that is perverse
in his ways, shall fall at once.
28:19. He that tilleth his ground, shall be illed with bread: but he
that followeth idleness, shall be illed with poverty.
28:20. A faithful man shall be much praised: but he that maketh
haste to be rich, shall not be innocent.
28:21. He that hath respect to a person in judgment, doth not well:
such a man even for a morsel of bread forsaketh the truth.
28:22. A man that maketh haste to be rich, and envieth others, is
ignorant that poverty shall come upon him.
28:23. He that rebuketh a man, shall afterward ind favour with
him, more than he that by a lattering tongue deceiveth him.
28:24. He that stealeth any thing from his father, or from his
mother: and saith, This is no sin, is the partner of a murderer.
28:25. He that boasteth and puffeth up himself, stirreth up quarrels:
but he that trusteth in the Lord, shall be healed.
28:26. He that trusteth in his own heart, is a fool: but he that
walketh wisely, he shall be saved.
28:27. He that giveth to the poor shall not want: he that despiseth
his entreaty, shall suffer indigence.
28:28. When the wicked rise up, men shall hide themselves: when
they perish, the just shall be multiplied.
Proverbs Chapter 29
29:1. The man that with a stiff neck despiseth him that reproveth
him, shall suddenly be destroyed: and health shall not follow him.
29:2. When just men increase, the people shall rejoice: when the
wicked shall bear rule, the people shall mourn.
29:3. A man that loveth wisdom, rejoiceth his father: but he that
maintaineth harlots, shall squander away his substance.

 29:4. A just king setteth up the land: a covetous man shall destroy it.
29:5. A man that speaketh to his friend with lattering and
dissembling words, spreadeth a net for his feet.
29:6. A snare shall entangle the wicked man when he sinneth: and
the just shall praise and rejoice.
29:7. The just taketh notice of the cause of the poor: the wicked is
void of knowledge.
29:8. Corrupt men bring a city to ruin: but wise men turn away
wrath.
29:9. If a wise man contend with a fool, whether he be angry, or
laugh, he shall ind no rest.
29:10. Bloodthirsty men hate the upright: but just men seek his soul.
29:11. A fool uttereth all his mind: a wise man deferreth, and
keepeth it till afterwards.
29:12. A prince that gladly heareth lying words, hath all his servants
wicked.
29:13. The poor man and the creditor have met one another: the
Lord is the enlightener of them both.
29:14. The king that judgeth the poor in truth, his throne shall be
established for ever.
29:15. The rod and reproof give wisdom: but the child that is left to
his own will, bringeth his mother to shame.
29:16. When the wicked are multiplied, crimes shall be multiplied:
but the just shall see their downfall.
29:17. Instruct thy son and he shall refresh thee, and shall give
delight to thy soul.
29:18. When prophecy shall fail, the people shall be scattered
abroad: but he that keepeth the law, is blessed.
29:19. A slave will not be corrected by words: because he
understandeth what thou sayest, and will not answer.

 29:20. Hast thou seen a man hasty to speak? folly is rather to be

looked for, than his amendment.
29:21. He that nourisheth his servant delicately from his childhood,
afterwards shall ind him stubborn.
29:22. A passionate man provoketh quarrels: and he that is easily
stirred up to wrath, shall be more prone to sin.
29:23. Humiliation followeth the proud: and glory shall uphold the
humble of spirit.
29:24. He that is partaker with a thief, hateth his own soul: he
heareth one putting him to his oath, and discovereth not.
29:25. He that feareth man shall quickly fall: he that trusteth in the
Lord, shall be set on high.
29:26. Many seek the face of the prince: but the judgment of every
one cometh forth from the Lord.
29:27. The just abhor a wicked man: and the wicked loathe them
that are in the right way. The son that keepeth the word, shall be free
from destruction.
Proverbs Chapter 30

The wise man thinketh humbly of himself. His prayer and sentiments
upon certain virtues and vices.
30:1. The words of Gatherer the son of Vomiter. The vision which the
man spoke, with whom God is, and who being strengthened by God,
abiding with him, said:
Gatherer, etc.... Or, as it is in the Latin, Congregans the son of Vomens. The Latin
interpreter has given us in this place the signi ication of the Hebrew names,
instead of the names themselves, which are in the Hebrew, Agur the son of Jakeh.
But whether this Agur be the same person as Solomon, as many think, or a
different person, whose doctrine was adopted by Solomon, and inserted among
his parables or proverbs, is uncertain.
30:2. I am the most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not
with me.

 30:3. I have not learned wisdom, and have not known the science of
saints.
30:4. Who hath ascended up into heaven, and descended? who hath
held the wind in his hands? who hath bound up the waters together as
in a garment? who hath raised up all the borders of the earth? what is
his name, and what is the name of his son, if thou knowest?
30:5. Every word of God is ire tried: he is a buckler to them that
hope in him.
Is ire tried.... That is, most pure, like gold puri ied by ire.
30:6. Add not any thing to his words, lest thou be reproved and
found a liar:
30:7. Two things I have asked of thee, deny them not to me before I
die.
30:8. Remove far from me vanity, and lying words. Give me neither
beggary, nor riches: give me only the necessaries of life:
30:9. Lest perhaps being illed, I should be tempted to deny, and say:
Who is the Lord? or being compelled by poverty, I should steal, and
forswear the name of my God.
30:10. Accuse not a servant to his master, lest he curse thee, and
thou fall.
30:11. There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not
bless their mother.
30:12. A generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not
washed from their ilthiness.
30:13. A generation, whose eyes are lofty, and their eyelids lifted up
on high.
30:14. A generation that for teeth hath swords, and grindeth with
their jaw teeth, to devour the needy from off the earth, and the poor
from among men.
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 30:15. The horseleech hath two daughters that say: Bring, bring.
There are three things that never are satis ied, and the fourth never
saith: It is enough.
The horseleech.... Concupiscence, which hath two daughters that are never
satis ied, viz., lust and avarice.
30:16. Hell and the mouth of the womb, and the earth which is not
satis ied with water: and the ire never saith: It is enough.
30:17. The eye that mocketh at his father, and that despiseth the
labour of his mother in bearing him, let the ravens of the brooks pick it
out, and the young eagles eat it.
30:18. Three things are hard to me, and the fourth I am utterly
ignorant of.
30:19. The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a
rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man in
youth.
30:20. Such also is the way of an adulterous woman, who eateth and
wipeth her mouth, and saith: I have done no evil.
30:21. By three things the earth is disturbed, and the fourth it
cannot bear.
30:22. By a slave when he reigneth: by a fool when he is illed with
meat:
30:23. By an odious woman when she is married: and by a
bondwoman when she is heir to her mistress.
30:24. There are four very little things of the earth, and they are
wiser than the wise.
30:25. The ants, a feeble people, which provide themselves food in
the harvest:
30:26. The rabbit, a weak people, which maketh its bed in the rock:
30:27. The locust hath no king, yet they all go out by their bands:
30:28. The stellio supporteth itself on hands, and dwelleth in kings’
houses.
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 The stellio.... A kind of house lizard marked with spots like stars, from whence it
has its name.
30:29. There are three things, which go well, and the fourth that
walketh happily:
30:30. A lion, the strongest of beasts, who hath no fear of any thing
he meeteth:
30:31. A cock girded about the loins: and a ram: and a king, whom
none can resist.
30:32. There is that hath appeared a fool after he was lifted up on
high: for if he had understood, he would have laid his hand upon his
mouth.
30:33. And he that strongly squeezeth the paps to bring out milk,
straineth out butter: and he that violently bloweth his nose, bringeth
out blood: and he that provoketh wrath, bringeth forth strife.
Proverbs Chapter 31

An exhortation to chastity, temperance, and works of mercy; with the

praise of a wise woman.
31:1. The words of king Lamuel. The vision wherewith his mother
instructed him.
Lamuel.... This name signi ies God with him, and is supposed to have been one of
the names of Solomon.
31:2. What, O my beloved, what, O the beloved of my womb, what, O
the beloved of my vows?
31:3. Give not thy substance to women, and thy riches to destroy
kings.
31:4. Give not to kings, O Lamuel, give not wine to kings: because
there is no secret where drunkenness reigneth:
31:5. And lest they drink and forget judgments, and pervert the
cause of the children of the poor.

 31:6. Give strong drink to them that are sad; and wine to them that
are grieved in mind:
31:7. Let them drink, and forget their want, and remember their
sorrow no more.
31:8. Open thy mouth for the dumb, and for the causes of all the
children that pass.
31:9. Open thy mouth, decree that which is just, and do justice to the
needy and poor.
31:10. Who shall ind a valiant woman? far, and from the uttermost
coasts is the price of her.
31:11. The heart of her husband trusteth in her, and he shall have no
need of spoils.
31:12. She will render him good, and not evil all the days of her life.
31:13. She hath sought wool and lax, and hath wrought by the
counsel of her hands.
31:14. She is like the merchant’s ship, she bringeth her bread from
afar.
31:15. And she hath risen in the night, and given a prey to her
household, and victuals to her maidens.
31:16. She hath considered a ield, and bought it: with the fruit of
her hands she hath planted a vineyard.
31:17. She hath girded her loins with strength, and hath
strengthened her arm.
31:18. She hath tasted, and seen that her traf ic is good: her lamp
shall not be put out in the night.
31:19. She hath put out her hand to strong things, and her ingers
have taken hold of the spindle.
31:20. She hath opened her hand to the needy, and stretched out her
hands to the poor.
31:21. She shall not fear for her house in the cold of snow: for all her
domestics are clothed with double garments.

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 31:22. She hath made for herself clothing of tapestry: ine linen, and
purple, is her covering.
31:23. Her husband is honourable in the gates, when he sitteth
among the senators of the land.
31:24. She made ine linen, and sold it, and delivered a girdle to the
Chanaanite.
The Chanaanite.... The merchant, for Chanaanite, in Hebrew, signi ies a
merchant.
31:25. Strength and beauty are her clothing, and she shall laugh in
the latter day.
31:26. She hath opened her mouth to wisdom, and the law of
clemency is on her tongue.
31:27. She hath looked well on the paths of her house, and hath not
eaten her bread idle.
31:28. Her children rose up, and called her blessed: her husband,
and he praised her.
31:29. Many daughters have gathered together riches: thou hast
surpassed them all.
31:30. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: the woman that
feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
31:31. Give her of the fruit of her hands: and let her works praise
her in the gates.

ECCLESIASTES

This Book is called Ecclesiastes, or The Preacher, (in Hebrew,

Coheleth,) because in it, Solomon, as an excellent preacher, setteth
forth the vanity of the things of this world: to withdraw the hearts and
affections of men from such empty toys.

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 Ecclesiastes Chapter 1

The vanity of all temporal things.

1:1. The words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king of Jerusalem.
1:2. Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes: vanity of vanities, and all is
vanity.
1:3. What hath a man more of all his labour, that he taketh under
the sun?
1:4. One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh:
but the earth standeth for ever.
1:5. The sun riseth, and goeth down, and returneth to his place: and
there rising again,
1:6. Maketh his round by the south, and turneth again to the north:
the spirit goeth forward surveying all places round about, and
returneth to his circuits.
1:7. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea doth not over low:
unto the place from whence the rivers come, they return, to low again.
1:8. All things are hard: man cannot explain them by word. The eye
is not illed with seeing, neither is the ear illed with hearing.
1:9. What is it that hath been? the same thing that shall be. What is
it that hath been done? the same that shall be done.
1:10. Nothing under the sun is new, neither is any man able to say:
Behold this is new: for it hath already gone before in the ages that
were before us.
1:11. There is no remembrance of former things: nor indeed of those
things which hereafter are to come, shall there be any remembrance
with them that shall be in the latter end.
1:12. I Ecclesiastes was king over Israel in Jerusalem,
1:13. And I proposed in my mind to seek and search out wisely
concerning all things that are done under the sun. This painful
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 occupation hath God given to the children of men, to be exercised

therein.
1:14. I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold
all is vanity, and vexation of spirit.
1:15. The perverse are hard to be corrected, and the number of fools
is in inite.
1:16. I have spoken in my heart, saying: Behold I am become great,
and have gone beyond all in wisdom, that were before me in
Jerusalem: and my mind hath contemplated many things wisely, and I
have learned.
1:17. And I have given my heart to know prudence, and learning,
and errors, and folly: and I have perceived that in these also there was
labour, and vexation of spirit,
1:18. Because in much wisdom there is much indignation: and he
that addeth knowledge, addeth also labour.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 2

The vanity of pleasures, riches, and worldly labours.

2:1. I said in my heart: I will go, and abound with delights, and enjoy
good things. And I saw that this also was vanity.
2:2. Laughter I counted error: and to mirth I said: Why art thou
vainly deceived?
2:3. I thought in my heart, to withdraw my lesh from wine, that I
might turn my mind to wisdom, and might avoid folly, till I might see
what was pro itable for the children of men: and what they ought to
do under the sun, all the days of their life.
2:4. I made me great works, I built me houses, and planted
vineyards,
2:5. I made gardens, and orchards, and set them with trees of all
kinds,
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 2:6. And I made me ponds of water, to water therewith the wood of

the young trees,
2:7. I got me menservants, and maidservants, and had a great
family: and herds of oxen, and great locks of sheep, above all that
were before me in Jerusalem:
2:8. I heaped together for myself silver and gold, and the wealth of
kings, and provinces: I made me singing men, and singing women, and
the delights of the sons of men, cups and vessels to serve to pour out
wine:
2:9. And I surpassed in riches all that were before me in Jerusalem:
my wisdom also remained with me.
2:10. And whatsoever my eyes desired, I refused them not: and I
withheld not my heart from enjoying every pleasure, and delighting
itself in the things which I had prepared: and esteemed this my
portion, to make use of my own labour.
2:11. And when I turned myself to all the works which my hands had
wrought, and to the labours wherein I had laboured in vain, I saw in
all things vanity, and vexation of mind, and that nothing was lasting
under the sun.
2:12. I passed further to behold wisdom, and errors and folly, (What
is man, said I that he can follow the King his maker?)
2:13. And I saw that wisdom excelled folly, as much as light differeth
from darkness.
2:14. The eyes of a wise man are in his head: the fool walketh in
darkness: and I learned that they were to die both alike.
2:15. And I said in my heart: If the death of the fool and mine shall
be one, what doth it avail me, that I have applied myself more to the
study of wisdom? And speaking with my own mind, I perceived that
this also was vanity.
2:16. For there shall be no remembrance of the wise no more than of
the fool forever, and the times to come shall cover all things together
with oblivion: the learned dieth in like manner as the unlearned.

 2:17. And therefore I was weary of my life, when I saw that all
things under the sun are evil, and all vanity and vexation of spirit.
2:18. Again I hated all my application wherewith I had earnestly
laboured under the sun, being like to have an heir after me,
2:19. Whom I know not whether he will be a wise man or a fool, and
he shall have rule over all my labours with which I have laboured and
been solicitous: and is there anything so vain?
2:20. Wherefore I left off and my heart renounced labouring
anymore under the sun.
2:21. For when a man laboureth in wisdom, and knowledge, and
carefulness, he leaveth what he hath gotten to an idle man: so this also
is vanity, and a great evil.
2:22. For what pro it shall a man have of all his labour, and vexation
of spirit, with which he hath been tormented under the sun?
2:23. All his days are full of sorrows and miseries, even in the night
he doth not rest in mind: and is not this vanity?
2:24. Is it not better to eat and drink, and to shew his soul good
things of his labours? and this is from the hand of God.
2:25. Who shall so feast and abound with delights as I?
2:26. God hath given to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom, and
knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he hath given vexation, and
super luous care, to heap up and to gather together, and to give it to
him that hath pleased God: but this also is vanity, and a fruitless
solicitude of the mind.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 3

All human things are liable to perpetual changes. We are to rest on

God’s providence, and cast away fruitless cares.
3:1. All things have their season, and in their times all things pass
under heaven.
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 3:2. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time
to pluck up that which is planted.
3:3. A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to destroy, and a time to
build.
3:4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a
time to dance.
3:5. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to
embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
3:6. A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to
cast away.
3:7. A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to keep silence, and a
time to speak.
3:8. A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of
peace.
3:9. What hath man more of his labour?
3:10. I have seen the trouble, which God hath given the sons of men
to be exercised in it.
3:11. He hath made all things good in their time, and hath delivered
the world to their consideration, so that man cannot ind out the work
which God hath made from the beginning to the end.
3:12. And I have known that there was no better thing than to
rejoice, and to do well in this life.
3:13. For every man that eateth and drinketh, and seeth good of his
labour, this is the gift of God.
3:14. I have learned that all the works which God hath made,
continue for ever: we cannot add any thing, nor take away from those
things which God hath made that he may be feared.
3:15. That which hath been made, the same continueth: the things
that shall be, have already been: and God restoreth that which is past.
3:16. I saw under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness, and
in the place of justice iniquity.

 3:17. And I said in my heart: God shall judge both the just and the
wicked, and then shall be the time of every thing.
3:18. I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God would
prove them, and shew them to be like beasts.
3:19. Therefore the death of man, and of beasts is one, and the
condition of them both is equal: as man dieth, so they also die: all
things breathe alike, and man hath nothing more than beast: all
things are subject to vanity.
Man hath nothing more, etc.... Viz., as to the life of the body.
3:20. And all things go to one place: of earth they were made, and
into earth they return together.
3:21. Who knoweth if the spirit of the children of Adam ascend
upward, and if the spirit of the beasts descend downward?
Who knoweth, etc.... Viz., experimentally: since no one in this life can see a spirit.
But as to the spirit of the beasts, which is merely animal, and become extinct by
the death of the beast, who can tell the manner it acts so as to give life and
motion, and by death to descend downward, that is, to be no more?
3:22. And I have found that nothing is better than for a man to
rejoice in his work, and that this is his portion. For who shall bring him
to know the things that shall be after him?
Ecclesiastes Chapter 4

Other instances of human miseries.

4:1. I turned myself to other things, and I saw the oppressions that
are done under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and they had no
comforter; and they were not able to resist their violence, being
destitute of help from any.
4:2. And I praised the dead rather than the living:
4:3. And I judged him happier than them both, that is not yet born,
nor hath seen the evils that are done under the sun.

 4:4. Again I considered all the labours of men, and I remarked that
their industries are exposed to the envy of their neighbour: so in this
also there is vanity, and fruitless care.
4:5. The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own lesh,
saying:
4:6. Better is a handful with rest, than both hands full with labour,
and vexation of mind.
4:7. Considering I found also another vanity under the sun:
4:8. There is but one, and he hath not a second, no child, no brother,
and yet he ceaseth not to labour, neither are his eyes satis ied with
riches, neither doth he re lect, saying: For whom do I labour, and
defraud my soul of good things? in this also is vanity, and a grievous
vexation.
4:9. It is better therefore that two should be together, than one: for
they have the advantage of their society:
4:10. If one fall he shall be supported by the other: woe to him that
is alone, for when he falleth, he hath none to lift him up.
4:11. And if two lie together, they shall warm one another: how shall
one alone be warmed?
4:12. And if a man prevail against one, two shall withstand him: a
threefold cord is not easily broken.
4:13. Better is a child that is poor and wise, than a king that is old
and foolish, who knoweth not to foresee for hereafter.
4:14. Because out of prison and chains sometimes a man cometh
forth to a kingdom: and another born king is consumed with poverty.
4:15. I saw all men living, that walk under the sun with the second
young man, who shall rise up in his place.
4:16. The number of the people, of all that were before him is
in inite: and they that shall come afterwards, shall not rejoice in him:
but this also is vanity, and vexation of spirit.
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 4:17. Keep thy foot, when thou goest into the house of God, and draw
nigh to hear. For much better is obedience, than the victims of fools,
who know not what evil they do.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 5

Caution in words. Vows are to be paid. Riches are often pernicious: the
moderate use of them is the gift of God.
5:1. Speak not any thing rashly, and let not thy heart be hasty to
utter a word before God. For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth:
therefore let thy words be few.
5:2. Dreams follow many cares: and in many words shall be found
folly.
5:3. If thou hast vowed any thing to God, defer not to pay it: for an
unfaithful and foolish promise displeaseth him: but whatsoever thou
hast vowed, pay it.
5:4. And it is much better not to vow, than after a vow not to
perform the things promised.
5:5. Give not thy mouth to cause thy lesh to sin: and say not before
the angel: There is no providence: lest God be angry at thy words, and
destroy all the works of thy hands.
5:6. Where there are many dreams, there are many vanities, and
words without number: but do thou fear God.
5:7. If thou shalt see the oppressions of the poor, and violent
judgments, and justice perverted in the province, wonder not at this
matter: for he that is high hath another higher, and there are others
still higher than these:
5:8. Moreover there is the king that reigneth over all the land
subject to him.
5:9. A covetous man shall not be satis ied with money: and he that
loveth riches shall reap no fruit from them: so this also is vanity.

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 5:10. Where there are great riches, there are also many to eat them.
And what doth it pro it the owner, but that he seeth the riches with his
eyes?
5:11. Sleep is sweet to a labouring man, whether he eat little or
much: but the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
5:12. There is also another grievous evil, which I have seen under
the sun: riches kept to the hurt of the owner.
5:13. For they are lost with very great af liction: he hath begotten a
son, who shall be in extremity of want.
5:14. As he came forth naked from his mother’s womb, so shall he
return, and shall take nothing away with him of his labour.
5:15. A most deplorable evil: as he came, so shall he return. What
then doth it pro it him that he hath laboured for the wind?
5:16. All the days of his life he eateth in darkness, and in many cares,
and in misery, and sorrow.
5:17. This therefore hath seemed good to me, that a man should eat
and drink, and enjoy the fruit of his labour, wherewith he hath
laboured under the sun, all the days of his life, which God hath given
him: and this is his portion.
5:18. And every man to whom God hath given riches, and substance,
and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to enjoy his portion, and
to rejoice of his labour: this is the gift of God.
5:19. For he shall not much remember the days of his life, because
God entertaineth his heart with delight.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 6

The misery of the covetous man.

6:1. There is also another evil, which I have seen under the sun, and
that frequent among men:
6:2. A man to whom God hath given riches, and substance, and
honour, and his soul wanteth nothing of all that he desireth: yet God

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 doth not give him power to eat thereof, but a stranger shall eat it up.
This is vanity and a great misery.
6:3. If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, and
attain to a great age, and his soul make no use of the goods of his
substance, and he be without burial: of this man I pronounce, that the
untimely born is better than he.
6:4. For he came in vain, and goeth to darkness, and his name shall
be wholly forgotten.
6:5. He hath not seen the sun, nor known the distance of good and
evil:
6:6. Although he lived two thousand years, and hath not enjoyed
good things: do not all make haste to one place?
6:7. All the labour of man is for his mouth, but his soul shall not be
illed.
6:8. What hath the wise man more than the fool? and what the poor
man, but to go thither, where there is life?
6:9. Better it is to see what thou mayst desire, than to desire that
which thou canst not know. But this also is vanity, and presumption of
spirit.
6:10. He that shall be, his name is already called: and it is known,
that he is a man, and cannot contend in judgment with him that is
stronger than himself.
6:11. There are many words that have much vanity in disputing.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 7

Prescriptions against worldly vanities: morti ication, patience, and

seeking wisdom.
7:1. What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas
he knoweth not what is pro itable for him in his life, in all the days of
his pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can
tell him what shall be after him under the sun?
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 7:2. A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of
death than the day of one’s birth.
7:3. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of
feasting: for in that we are put in mind of the end of all, and the living
thinketh what is to come.
7:4. Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the
countenance the mind of the offender is corrected.
Anger.... That is, correction, or just wrath and zeal against evil.
7:5. The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart
of fools where there is mirth.
7:6. It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by
the lattery of fools.
7:7. For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the
laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.
7:8. Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of
his heart.
7:9. Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the
patient man than the presumptuous.
7:10. Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.
7:11. Say not: What thinkest thou is the cause that former times
were better than they are now? for this manner of question is foolish.
7:12. Wisdom with riches is more pro itable, and bringeth more
advantage to them that see the sun.
7:13. For as wisdom is a defence, so money is a defence: but learning
and wisdom excel in this, that they give life to him that possesseth
them.
7:14. Consider the works of God, that no man can correct whom he
hath despised.
7:15. In the good day enjoy good things, and beware beforehand of
the evil day: for God hath made both the one and the other, that man
may not ind against him any just complaint.
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 7:16. These things also I saw in the days of my vanity: A just man
perisheth in his justice, and a wicked man liveth a long time in his
wickedness.
7:17. Be not over just: and be not more wise than is necessary, lest
thou become stupid.
Over just.... Viz., By an excessive rigour in censuring the ways of God in bearing
with the wicked.
7:18. Be not overmuch wicked: and be not foolish, lest thou die
before thy time.
Be not overmuch wicked.... That is, lest by the greatness of your sin you leave no
room for mercy.
7:19. It is good that thou shouldst hold up the just, yea and from him
withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God, neglecteth nothing.
7:20. Wisdom hath strengthened the wise more than ten princes of
the city.
7:21. For there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and
sinneth not.
7:22. But do not apply thy heart to all words that are spoken: lest
perhaps thou hear thy servant reviling thee.
7:23. For thy conscience knoweth that thou also hast often spoken
evil of others.
7:24. I have tried all things in wisdom. I have said: I will be wise:
and it departed farther from me,
7:25. Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall ind it
out?
7:26. I have surveyed all things with my mind, to know, and
consider, and seek out wisdom and reason: and to know the
wickedness of the fool, and the error of the imprudent:
7:27. And I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the
hunter’s snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He

 that pleaseth God shall escape from her: but he that is a sinner, shall
be caught by her.
7:28. Lo this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing after
another, that I might ind out the account,
7:29. Which yet my soul seeketh, and I have not found it. One man
among a thousand I have found, a woman among them all I have not
found.
7:30. Only this I have found, that God made man right, and he hath
entangled himself with an in inity of questions. Who is as the wise
man? and who hath known the resolution of the word?
Of the word.... That is, of this obscure and dif icult matter.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 8

True wisdom is to observe God’s commandments. The ways of God are

unsearchable.
8:1. The wisdom of a man shineth in his countenance, and the most
mighty will change his face.
8:2. I observe the mouth of the king, and the commandments of the
oath of God.
8:3. Be not hasty to depart from his face, and do not continue in an
evil work: for he will do all that pleaseth him:
8:4. And his word is full of power: neither can any man say to him:
Why dost thou so?
8:5. He that keepeth the commandment, shall ind no evil. The heart
of a wise man understandeth time and answer.
8:6. There is a time and opportunity for every business, and great
af liction for man:
8:7. Because he is ignorant of things past, and things to come he
cannot know by any messenger.
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 8:8. It is not in man’s power to stop the spirit, neither hath he power
in the day of death, neither is he suffered to rest when war is at hand,
neither shall wickedness save the wicked.
8:9. All these things I have considered, and applied my heart to all
the works that are done under the sun. Sometimes one man ruleth
over another to his own hurt.
8:10. I saw the wicked buried: who also when they were yet living
were in the holy place, and were praised in the city as men of just
works: but this also is vanity.
8:11. For because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the
evil, the children of men commit evils without any fear.
8:12. But though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and by patience
be borne withal, I know from thence that it shall be well with them
that fear God, who dread his face.
8:13. But let it not be well with the wicked, neither let his days be
prolonged, but as a shadow let them pass away that fear not the face
of the Lord.
8:14. There is also another vanity, which is done upon the earth.
There are just men to whom evils happen, as though they had done the
works of the wicked: and there are wicked men, who are as secure as
though they had the deeds of the just: but this also I judge most vain.
8:15. Therefore I commended mirth, because there was no good for
a man under the sun, but to eat, and drink, and be merry, and that he
should take nothing else with him of his labour in the days of his life,
which God hath given him under the sun.
No good for a man, etc.... Some commentators think the wise man here speaks in
the person of the libertine: representing the objections of these men against
divine providence, and the inferences they draw from thence, which he takes care
afterwards to refute. But it may also be said, that his meaning is to commend the
moderate use of the goods of this world, preferably to the cares and solicitudes of
worldlings, their attachment to vanity and curiosity, and presumptuously diving
into the unsearchable ways of divine providence.

 8:16. And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to understand

the distraction that is upon earth: for there are some that day and
night take no sleep with their eyes.
8:17. And I understood that man can ind no reason of all those
works of God that are done under the sun: and the more he shall
labour to seek, so much the less shall he ind: yea, though the wise man
shall say, that he knoweth it, he shall not be able to ind it.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 9

Man knows not certainty that he is in God’s grace. After death no more
work or merit.
9:1. All these things have I considered in my heart, that I might
carefully understand them: there are just men and wise men, and their
works are in the hand of God: and yet man knoweth not whether he be
worthy of love, or hatred:
9:2. But all things are kept uncertain for the time to come, because
all things equally happen to the just and to the wicked, to the good and
to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him that offereth victims,
and to him that despiseth sacri ices. As the good is, so also is the
sinner: as the perjured, so he also that sweareth truth.
9:3. This is a very great evil among all things that are done under
the sun, that the same things happen to all men: whereby also the
hearts of the children of men are illed with evil, and with contempt
while they live, and afterwards they shall be brought down to hell.
9:4. There is no man that liveth always, or that hopeth for this: a
living dog is better than a dead lion.
9:5. For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know
nothing more, neither have they a reward any more: for the memory
of them is forgotten.
Know nothing more.... Viz., as to the transactions of this world, in which they
have now no part, unless it be revealed to them; neither have they any
knowledge or power now of doing any thing to secure their eternal state, (if they

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have not taken care of it in their lifetime:) nor can they now procure themselves
any good, as the living always may do, by the grace of God.
9:6. Their love also, and their hatred, and their envy are all perished,
neither have they any part in this world, and in the work that is done
under the sun.
9:7. Go then, and eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with
gladness: because thy works please God.
9:8. At all times let thy garments be white, and let not oil depart
from thy head.
9:9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest, all the days of thy
unsteady life, which are given to thee under the sun, all the time of thy
vanity: for this is thy portion in life, and in thy labour wherewith thou
labourest under the sun.
9:10. Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither
work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither
thou art hastening.
9:11. I turned me to another thing, and I saw that under the sun, the
race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the
wise, nor riches to the learned, nor favour to the skilful: but time and
chance in all.
9:12. Man knoweth not his own end: but as ishes are taken with the
hook, and as birds are caught with the snare, so men are taken in the
evil time, when it shall suddenly come upon them.
9:13. This wisdom also I have seen under the sun, and it seemed to
me to be very great:
9:14. A little city, and few men in it: there came against it a great
king, and invested it, and built bulwarks round about it, and the siege
was perfect.
9:15. Now there was found in it a man poor and wise, and he
delivered the city by his wisdom, and no man afterward remembered
that poor man.

 9:16. And I said that wisdom is better than strength: how then is the
wisdom of the poor man slighted, and his words not heard?
9:17. The words of the wise are heard in silence, more than the cry
of a prince among fools.
9:18. Better is wisdom, than weapons of war: and he that shall
offend in one, shall lose many good things.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 10

Observations on wisdom and folly, ambition and detraction.

10:1. Dying lies spoil the sweetness of the ointment. Wisdom and
glory is more precious than a small and shortlived folly.
10:2. The heart of a wise man is in his right hand, and the heart of a
fool is in his left hand.
10:3. Yea, and the fool when he walketh in the way, whereas he
himself is a fool, esteemeth all men fools.
10:4. If the spirit of him that hath power, ascend upon thee, leave
not thy place: because care will make the greatest sins to cease.
10:5. There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were by an
error proceeding from the face of the prince:
10:6. A fool set in high dignity, and the rich sitting beneath.
10:7. I have seen servants upon horses: and princes walking on the
ground as servants.
10:8. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that breaketh a
hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
10:9. He that removeth stones, shall be hurt by them: and he that
cutteth trees, shall be wounded by them.
10:10. If the iron be blunt, and be not as before, but be made blunt,
with much labour it shall be sharpened: and after industry shall follow
wisdom.
10:11. If a serpent bite in silence, he is nothing better that
backbiteth secretly.

 10:12. The words of the mouth of a wise man are grace: but the lips
of a fool shall throw him down headlong.
10:13. The beginning of his words is folly, and the end of his talk is a
mischievous error.
10:14. A fool multiplieth words. A man cannot tell what hath been
before him: and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
10:15. The labour of fools shall af lict them that know not how to go
to the city.
10:16. Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and when the
princes eat in the morning.
10:17. Blessed is the land, whose king is noble, and whose princes
eat in due season for refreshment, and not for riotousness.
10:18. By slothfulness a building shall be brought down, and
through the weakness of hands, the house shall drop through.
10:19. For laughter they make bread, and wine that the living may
feast: and all things obey money.
10:20. Detract not the king, no not in thy thought; and speak not
evil of the rich man in thy private chamber: because even the birds of
the air will carry thy voice, and he that hath wings will tell what thou
hast said.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 11

Exhortation to works of mercy, while we have time, to diligence in

good, and to the remembrance of death and judgment.
11:1. Cast thy bread upon the running waters: for after a long time
thou shalt ind it again.
11:2. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight: for thou knowest not
what evil shall be upon the earth.
11:3. If the clouds be full, they will pour out rain upon the earth. If
the tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it shall
fall, there shall it be.

 If the tree fall, etc.... The state of the soul is unchangeable when once she comes
to heaven or hell: and a soul that departs this life in the state of grace, shall
never fall from grace: as on the other side, a soul that dies out of the state of
grace, shall never come to it. But this does not exclude a place of temporal
punishments for such souls as die in the state of grace: yet not so as to be entirely
pure: and therefore they shall be saved, indeed, yet so as by ire. 1 Cor. 3.13, 14,
15.
11:4. He that observeth the wind, shall not sow: and he that
considereth the clouds, shall never reap.
11:5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the
bones are joined together in the womb of her that is with child: so thou
knowest not the works of God, who is the maker of all.
11:6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening let not thy
hand cease: for thou knowest not which may rather spring up, this or
that: and if both together, it shall be the better.
11:7. The light is sweet, and it is delightful for the eyes to see the
sun.
11:8. If a man live many years, and have rejoiced in them all, he
must remember the darksome time, and the many days: which when
they shall come, the things past shall be accused of vanity.
11:9. Rejoice therefore, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart
be in that which is good in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways
of thy heart, and in the sight of thy eyes: and know that for all these
God will bring thee into judgment.
11:10. Remove anger from thy heart, and put away evil from thy
lesh. For youth and pleasure are vain.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 12

The Creator is to be remembered in the days of our youth: all worldly

things are vain: we should fear God and keep his commandments.
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 12:1. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the time
of af liction come, and the years draw nigh of which thou shalt say:
They please me not:
12:2. Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars be
darkened, and the clouds return after the rain:
Before the sun, etc.... That is, before old age: the effects of which upon all the
senses and faculties are described in the following verses, under a variety of
igures.
12:3. When the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong
men shall stagger, and the grinders shall be idle in a small number,
and they that look through the holes shall be darkened:
12:4. And they shall shut the doors in the street, when the grinder’s
voice shall be low, and they shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all
the daughters of music shall grow deaf.
12:5. And they shall fear high things, and they shall be afraid in the
way, the almond tree shall lourish, the locust shall be made fat, and
the caper tree shall be destroyed: because man shall go into the house
of his eternity, and the mourners shall go round about in the street.
12:6. Before the silver cord be broken, and the golden illet shrink
back, and the pitcher be crushed at the fountain, and the wheel be
broken upon the cistern,
12:7. And the dust return into its earth, from whence it was, and the
spirit return to God, who gave it.
12:8. Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, and all things are vanity.
12:9. And whereas Ecclesiastes was very wise, he taught the people,
and declared the things that he had done: and seeking out, he set forth
many parables.
12:10. He sought pro itable words, and wrote words most right, and
full of truth.
12:11. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails deeply
fastened in, which by the counsel of masters are given from one
shepherd.
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 12:12. More than these, my son, require not. Of making many books
there is no end: and much study is an af liction of the lesh.
12:13. Let us all hear together the conclusion of the discourse. Fear
God, and keep his commandments: for this is all man:
All man.... The whole business and duty of man.
12:14. And all things that are done, God will bring into judgment for
every error, whether it be good or evil.
Error.... Or, hidden and secret thing.

SOLOMON’S CANTICLE OF CANTICLES

This Book is called the Canticle of Canticles, that is to say, the most
excellent of all canticles: because it is full of high mysteries, relating to
the happy union of Christ and his spouse: which is here begun by love;
and is to be eternal in heaven. The spouse of Christ is the church: more
especially as to the happiest part of it, viz., perfect souls, every one of
which is his beloved, but, above all others, the immaculate and ever
blessed virgin mother.
Can cle of Can cles Chapter 1

The spouse aspires to an union with Christ, their mutual love for one
another.
1:1. Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth: for thy breasts are
better than wine,
Let him kiss me.... The church, the spouse of Christ, prays that he may love and
have peace with her, which the spouse prefers to every thing delicious: and
therefore expresses (ver. 2) that young maidens, that is the souls of the faithful,
have loved thee.
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 1:2. Smelling sweet of the best ointments. Thy name is as oil poured
out: therefore young maidens have loved thee.
1:3. Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments.
The king hath brought me into his storerooms: we will be glad and
rejoice in thee, remembering thy breasts more than wine: the
righteous love thee.
Draw me.... That is, with thy grace: otherwise I should not be able to come to
thee. This metaphor shews that we cannot of ourselves come to Christ our Lord,
unless he draws us by his grace, which is laid up in his storerooms: that is, in the
mysteries of Faith, which God in his goodness and love for mankind hath
revealed, irst by his servant Moses in the Old Law in igure only, and afterwards
in reality by his only begotten Son Jesus Christ.
1:4. I am black but beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the
tents of Cedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
I am black but beautiful.... That is, the church of Christ founded in humility
appearing outwardly af licted, and as it were black and contemptible; but
inwardly, that is, in its doctrine and morality, fair and beautiful.
1:5. Do not consider me that I am brown, because the sun hath
altered my colour: the sons of my mother have fought against me, they
have made me the keeper in the vineyards: my vineyard I have not
kept.
1:6. Shew me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest,
where thou liest in the midday, lest I begin to wander after the locks
of thy companions.
1:7. If thou know not thyself, O fairest among women, go forth, and
follow after the steps of the locks, and feed thy kids beside the tents of
the shepherds.
If thou know not thyself, etc.... Christ encourages his spouse to follow and watch
her lock: and though she know not entirely the power at hand to assist her, he
tells her, ver. 8, my company of horsemen, that is, his angels, are always watching
and protecting her. And in the following verses he reminds her of the virtues and
gifts with which he has endowed her.
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 1:8. To my company of horsemen, in Pharao’s chariots, have I
likened thee, O my love.
1:9. Thy cheeks are beautiful as the turtledove’s, thy neck as jewels.
1:10. We will make thee chains of gold, inlaid with silver.
1:11. While the king was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the
odour thereof.
1:12. A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall abide between
my breasts.
1:13. A cluster of cypress my love is to me, in the vineyards of
Engaddi.
1:14. Behold thou art fair, O my love, behold thou art fair, thy eyes
are as those of doves.
1:15. Behold thou art fair, my beloved, and comely. Our bed is
lourishing.
1:16. The beams of our houses are of cedar, our rafters of cypress
trees.
Can cle of Can cles Chapter 2

Christ caresses his spouse: he invites her to him.

2:1. I am the lower of the ield, and the lily of the valleys.
I am the lower of the ield.... Christ professes himself the lower of mankind, yea,
the Lord of all creatures: and, ver. 2, declares the excellence of his spouse, the
true church above all other societies, which are to be considered as thorns.
2:2. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
2:3. As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved
among the sons. I sat down under his shadow, whom I desired: and his
fruit was sweet to my palate.
2:4. He brought me into the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in
me.
2:5. Stay me up with lowers, compass me about with apples:
because I languish with love.
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 2:6. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall
embrace me.
2:7. I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and the
harts of the ields, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake,
till she please.
2:8. The voice of my beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon the
mountains, skipping over the hills.
The voice of my beloved: that is, the preaching of the gospel surmounting
dif iculties iguratively here expressed by mountains and little hills.
2:9. My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart. Behold he standeth
behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the
lattices.
2:10. Behold my beloved speaketh to me: Arise, make haste, my love,
my dove, my beautiful one, and come.
2:11. For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone.
2:12. The lowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is
come: the voice of the turtle is heard in our land:
2:13. The ig tree hath put forth her green igs: the vines in lower
yield their sweet smell. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come:
2:14. My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the
wall, shew me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears: for thy voice is
sweet, and thy face comely.
2:15. Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines: for our vineyard
hath lourished.
Catch us the little foxes.... Christ commands his pastors to catch false teachers, by
holding forth their fallacy and erroneous doctrine, which like foxes would bite
and destroy the vines.
2:16. My beloved to me, and I to him who feedeth among the lilies,
2:17. Till the day break, and the shadows retire. Return: be like, my
beloved, to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
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 Can cle of Can cles Chapter 3

The spouse seeks Christ. The glory of his humanity.

3:1. In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought
him, and found him not.
In my bed by night, etc.... The Gentiles as in the dark, and seeking in heathen
delusion what they could not ind, the true God, until Christ revealed his doctrine
to them by his watchmen, (ver. 3,) that is, by the apostles, and teachers by whom
they were converted to the true faith; and holding that faith irmly, the spouse
(the Catholic Church) declares, ver. 4, That she will not let him go, till she bring
him into her mother’s house, etc., that is, till at last, the Jews also shall ind him.
3:2. I will rise, and will go about the city: in the streets and the
broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and I
found him not.
3:3. The watchmen who keep the city, found me: Have you seen him,
whom my soul loveth?
3:4. When I had a little passed by them, I found him whom my soul
loveth: I held him: and I will not let him go, till I bring him into my
mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that bore me.
3:5. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and the harts
of the ields, that you stir not up, nor awake my beloved, till she please.
3:6. Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of
aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders
of the perfumer?
3:7. Behold threescore valiant ones of the most valiant of Israel,
surrounded the bed of Solomon?
3:8. All holding swords, and most expert in war: every man’s sword
upon his thigh, because of fears in the night.
3:9. King Solomon hath made him a litter of the wood of Libanus:
3:10. The pillars thereof he made of silver, the seat of gold, the going
up of purple: the midst he covered with charity for the daughters of
Jerusalem.
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 3:11. Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the

diadem, wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his
espousals, and in the day of the joy of his heart.
Can cle of Can cles Chapter 4

Christ sets forth the graces of his spouse: and declares his love for her.
4:1. How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou! thy
eyes are doves’ eyes, besides what is hid within. Thy hair is as locks of
goats, which come up from mount Galaad.
How beautiful art thou.... Christ again praises the beauties of his church, which
through the whole of this chapter are exempli ied by a variety of metaphors,
setting forth her purity, her simplicity, and her stability.
4:2. Thy teeth as locks of sheep, that are shorn, which come up from
the washing, all with twins, and there is none barren among them.
4:3. Thy lips are as a scarlet lace: and thy speech sweet. Thy cheeks
are as a piece of a pomegranate, besides that which lieth hid within.
4:4. Thy neck, is as the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks:
a thousand bucklers hang upon it, all the armour of valiant men.
4:5. Thy two breasts like two young roes that are twins, which feed
among the lilies.
Thy two breasts, etc.... Mystically to be understood: the love of God and the love
of our neighbour, which are so united as twins which feed among the lilies: that
is, the love of God and our neighbour, feeds on the divine mysteries and the holy
sacraments, left by Christ to his spouse to feed and nourish her children.
4:6. Till the day break, and the shadows retire, I will go to the
mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
4:7. Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee.
4:8. Come from Libanus, my spouse, come from Libanus, come: thou
shalt be crowned from the top of Amana, from the top of Sanir and
Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the
leopards.
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 4:9. Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse, thou hast

wounded my heart with one of thy eyes, and with one hair of thy neck.
4:10. How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse! thy
breasts are more beautiful than wine, and the sweet smell of thy
ointments above all aromatical spices.
4:11. Thy lips, my spouse, are as a dropping honeycomb, honey and
milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments, as the smell
of frankincense.
4:12. My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a
fountain sealed up.
My sister, etc., a garden enclosed.... Figuratively the church is enclosed,
containing only the faithful. A fountain sealed up.... That none can drink of its
waters, that is, the graces and spiritual bene its of the holy sacraments, but those
who are within its walls.
4:13. Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of
the orchard. Cypress with spikenard.
4:14. Spikenard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon, with all the
trees of Libanus, myrrh and aloes with all the chief perfumes.
4:15. The fountain of gardens: the well of living waters, which run
with a strong stream from Libanus.
4:16. Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, blow through my
garden, and let the aromatical spices thereof low.
Can cle of Can cles Chapter 5

Christ calls his spouse: she languishes with love: and describes him by
his graces.
5:1. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his
apple trees. I am come into my garden, O my sister, my spouse, I have
gathered my myrrh, with my aromatical spices: I have eaten the
honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O
friends, and drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved.
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Let my beloved come into his garden, etc.... Garden, mystically the church of
Christ, abounding with fruit, that is, the good works of the elect.
5:2. I sleep, and my heart watcheth: the voice of my beloved
knocking: Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my unde iled: for
my head is full of dew, and my locks of the drops of the nights.
5:3. I have put off my garment, how shall I put it on? I have washed
my feet, how shall I de ile them?
5:4. My beloved put his hand through the key hole, and my bowels
were moved at his touch.
My beloved put his hand through the key hole, etc.... The spouse of Christ, his
church, at times as it were penned up by its persecutors, and in fears, expecting
the divine assistance, here signi ied by his hand: and ver. 6, but he had turned
aside and was gone, that is, Christ permitting a further trial of suffering: and
again, ver. 7, the keepers, etc., signifying the violent and cruel persecutors of the
church taking her veil, despoiling the church of its places of worship and
ornaments for the divine service.
5:5. I arose up to open to my beloved: my hands dropped with
myrrh, and my ingers were full of the choicest myrrh.
5:6. I opened the bolt of my door to my beloved: but he had turned
aside, and was gone. My soul melted when he spoke: I sought him, and
found him not: I called, and he did not answer me.
5:7. The keepers that go about the city found me: they struck me:
and wounded me: the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
5:8. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you ind my beloved,
that you tell him that I languish with love.
5:9. What manner of one is thy beloved of the beloved, O thou most
beautiful among women? what manner of one is thy beloved of the
beloved, that thou hast so adjured us?
5:10. My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands.
My beloved, etc.... In this and the following verses, the church mystically describes
Christ to those who know him not, that is, to in idels in order to convert them to
the true faith.

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 5:11. His head is as the inest gold: his locks as branches of palm
trees, black as a raven.
5:12. His eyes as doves upon brooks of waters, which are washed
with milk, and sit beside the plentiful streams.
5:13. His cheeks are as beds of aromatical spices set by the
perfumers. His lips are as lilies dropping choice myrrh.
5:14. His hands are turned and as of gold, full of hyacinths. His belly
as of ivory, set with sapphires.
5:15. His legs as pillars of marble, that are set upon bases of gold.
His form as of Libanus, excellent as the cedars.
5:16. His throat most sweet, and he is all lovely: such is my beloved,
and he is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem.
5:17. Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou most beautiful among
women? whither is thy beloved turned aside, and we will seek him with
thee?
Can cle of Can cles Chapter 6

The spouse of Christ is but one: she is fair and terrible.

6:1. My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the bed of
aromatical spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
My beloved is gone down into his garden.... Christ, pleased with the good works
of his holy and devout servants labouring in his garden, is always present with
them: but the words is gone down, are to be understood, that after trying his
Church by permitting persecution, he comes to her assistance and she rejoices at
his coming.
6:2. I to my beloved, and my beloved to me, who feedeth among the
lilies.
6:3. Thou art beautiful, O my love, sweet and comely as Jerusalem
terrible as an army set in array.
6:4. Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have made me lee away.
Thy hair is as a lock of goats, that appear from Galaad.
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 6:5. Thy teeth as a lock of sheep, which come up from the washing,
all with twins, and there is none barren among them.
6:6. Thy cheeks are as the bark of a pomegranate, beside what is
hidden within thee.
6:7. There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and
young maidens without number.
6:8. One is my dove, my perfect one is but one, she is the only one of
her mother, the chosen of her that bore her. The daughters saw her,
and declared her most blessed: the queens and concubines, and they
praised her.
One is my dove, etc.... That is, my church is one, and she only is perfect and
blessed.
6:9. Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the
moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?
Who is she, etc.... Here is a beautiful metaphor describing the church from the
beginning. As, the morning rising, signifying the church before the written law;
fair as the moon, shewing her under the light of the gospel: and terrible as an
army, the power of Christ’s church against its enemies.
6:10. I went down into the garden of nuts, to see the fruits of the
valleys, and to look if the vineyard had lourished, and the
pomegranates budded.
6:11. I knew not: my soul troubled me for the chariots of Aminadab.
6:12. Return, return, O Sulamitess: return, return that we may
behold thee.
Can cle of Can cles Chapter 7

A further description of the graces of the church the spouse of Christ.

7:1. What shalt thou see in the Sulamitess but the companies of
camps? How beautiful are thy steps in shoes, O prince’s daughter! The
joints of thy thighs are like jewels, that are made by the hand of a
skilful workman.
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 How beautiful are thy steps, etc.... By these metaphors are signi ied the power
and mission of the church in propagating the true faith.
7:2. Thy navel is like a round bowl never wanting cups. Thy belly is
like a heap of wheat, set about with lilies.
7:3. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.
7:4. Thy neck as a tower of ivory. Thy eyes like the ishpools in
Hesebon, which are in the gate of the daughter of the multitude. Thy
nose is as the tower of Libanus, that looketh toward Damascus.
7:5. Thy head is like Carmel: and the hairs of thy head as the purple
of the king bound in the channels.
Thy head is like Carmel.... Christ, the invisible head of his church, is here signi ied.
7:6. How beautiful art thou, and how comely, my dearest, in
delights!
7:7. Thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of
grapes.
7:8. I said: I will go up into the palm tree, and will take hold of the
fruit thereof: and thy breasts shall be as the clusters of the vine: and
the odour of thy mouth like apples.
7:9. Thy throat like the best wine, worthy for my beloved to drink,
and for his lips and his teeth to ruminate.
7:10. I to my beloved, and his turning is towards me.
7:11. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the ield, let us abide in
the villages.
7:12. Let us get up early to the vineyards, let us see if the vineyard
lourish, if the lowers be ready to bring forth fruits, if the
pomegranates lourish: there will I give thee my breasts.
7:13. The mandrakes give a smell. In our gates are all fruits: the new
and the old, my beloved, I have kept for thee.
Can cle of Can cles Chapter 8

The love of the church to Christ: his love to her.

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 8:1. Who shall give thee to me for my brother, sucking the breasts of
my mother, that I may ind thee without, and kiss thee, and now no
man may despise me?
8:2. I will take hold of thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house:
there thou shalt teach me, and I will give thee a cup of spiced wine and
new wine of my pomegranates.
8:3. His left hand under my head, and his right hand shall embrace
me.
His left hand, etc.... Words of the church to Christ. His left hand, signifying the Old
Testament, and his right hand, the New.
8:4. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not up, nor
awake my love till she please.
8:5. Who is this that cometh up from the desert, lowing with
delights, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I raised thee
up: there thy mother was corrupted, there she was de loured that bore
thee.
Who is this, etc.... The angels with admiration behold the Gentiles converted to
the faith: coming up from the desert, that is, coming from heathenism and false
worship: lowing with delights, that is, abounding with good works which are
pleasing to God: leaning on her beloved, on the promise of Christ to his Church,
that the gates of hell should not prevail against it; and supported by his grace
conferred by the sacraments. Under the apple tree I raised thee up; that is, that
Christ redeemed the Gentiles at the foot of the cross, where the synagogue of the
Jews (the mother church) was corrupted by their denying him, and crucifying
him.
8:6. Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm, for love
is strong as death, jealousy as hard as hell, the lamps thereof are ire
and lames.
8:7. Many waters cannot quench charity, neither can the loods
drown it: if a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he
shall despise it as nothing.
8:8. Our sister is little, and hath no breasts. What shall we do to our
sister in the day when she is to be spoken to?

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Our sister is little, etc.... Mystically signi ies the Jews, who are to be spoken to:
that is, converted towards the end of the world: and then shall become a wall,
that is, a part of the building, the church of Christ.
8:9. If she be a wall: let us build upon it bulwarks of silver: if she be a
door, let us join it together with boards of cedar.
8:10. I am a wall: and my breasts are as a tower since I am become
in his presence as one inding peace.
8:11. The peaceable had a vineyard, in that which hath people: he
let out the same to keepers, every man bringeth for the fruit thereof a
thousand pieces of silver.
8:12. My vineyard is before me. A thousand are for thee, the
peaceable, and two hundred for them that keep the fruit thereof.
8:13. Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the friends hearken: make
me hear thy voice.
8:14. Flee away, O my beloved, and be like to the roe, and to the
young hart upon the mountains of aromatical spices.

THE BOOK OF WISDOM

This Book is so called, because it treats of the excellence of WISDOM,

the means to obtain it, and the happy fruits it produces. It is written in
the person of Solomon, and contains his sentiments. But it is uncertain
who was the writer. It abounds with instructions and exhortations to
kings and all magistrates to minister justice in the commonwealth,
teaching all kinds of virtues under the general names of justice and
wisdom. It contains also many prophecies of Christ’s coming, passion,
resurrection, and other Christian mysteries. The whole may be divided
into three parts. In the irst six chapters, the author admonishes all
superiors to love and exercise justice and wisdom. In the next three, he
teacheth that wisdom proceedeth only from God, and is procured by

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excellent effects and utility of wisdom and justice.
Wisdom Chapter 1

An exhortation to seek God sincerely, who cannot be deceived, and

desireth not our death.
1:1. Love justice, you that are the judges of the earth. Think of the
Lord in goodness, and seek him in simplicity of heart:
1:2. For he is found by them that tempt him not: and he sheweth
himself to them that have faith in him.
1:3. For perverse thoughts separate from God: and his power, when
it is tried, reproveth the unwise:
1:4. For wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a
body subject to sins.
1:5. For the Holy Spirit of discipline will lee from the deceitful, and
will withdraw himself from thoughts that are without understanding,
and he shall not abide when iniquity cometh in.
1:6. For the spirit of wisdom is benevolent, and will not acquit the
evil speaker from his lips: for God is witness of his reins, and he is a
true searcher of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue.
1:7. For the Spirit of the Lord hath illed the whole world: and that
which containeth all things, hath knowledge of the voice.
1:8. Therefore he that speaketh unjust things, cannot be hid, neither
shall the chastising judgment pass him by.
1:9. For inquisition shall be made into the thoughts of the ungodly,
and the hearing of his words shall come to God, to the chastising of his
iniquities.
1:10. For the ear of jealousy heareth all things, and the tumult of
murmuring shall not be hid.
1:11. Keep yourselves, therefore, from murmuring, which pro iteth
nothing, and refrain your tongue from detraction, for an obscure

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 speech shall not go for nought: and the mouth that belieth, killeth the
soul.
1:12. Seek not death in the error of your life, neither procure ye
destruction by the works of your hands.
1:13. For God made not death, neither hath he pleasure in the
destruction of the living.
1:14. For he created all things that they might be: and he made the
nations of the earth for health: and there is no poison of destruction in
them, nor kingdom of hell upon the earth.
1:15. For justice is perpetual and immortal.
1:16. But the wicked with works and words have called it to them:
and esteeming it a friend, have fallen away and have made a covenant
with it: because they are worthy to be of the part thereof.
Wisdom Chapter 2

The vain reasonings of the wicked: their persecuting the just,

especially the Son of God.
2:1. For they have said, reasoning with themselves, but not right:
The time of our life is short and tedious, and in the end of a man there
is no remedy, and no man hath been known to have returned from hell:
2:2. For we are born of nothing, and after this we shall be as if we
had not been: for the breath in our nostrils is smoke: and speech a
spark to move our heart,
2:3. Which being put out, our body shall be ashes, and our spirit
shall be poured abroad as soft air, and our life shall pass away as the
trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist, which is driven away
by the beams of the sun, and overpowered with the heat thereof:
2:4. And our name in time shall be forgotten, and no man shall have
any remembrance of our works.
2:5. For our time is as the passing of a shadow, and there is no going
back of our end: for it is fast sealed, and no man returneth:

 2:6. Come, therefore, and let us enjoy the good things that are
present, and let us speedily use the creatures as in youth.
2:7. Let us ill ourselves with costly wine, and ointments: and let not
the lower of the time pass by us.
2:8. Let us crown ourselves with roses, before they be withered: let
no meadow escape our riot.
2:9. Let none of us go without his part in luxury: let us every where
leave tokens of joy: for this is our portion, and this our lot.
2:10. Let us oppress the poor just man, and not spare the widow, nor
honour the ancient grey hairs of the aged.
2:11. But let our strength be the law of justice: for that which is
feeble is found to be nothing worth.
2:12. Let us, therefore, lie in wait for the just, because he is not for
our turn, and he is contrary to our doings, and upbraideth us with
transgressions of the law, and divulgeth against us the sins of our way
of life.
2:13. He boasteth that he hath the knowledge of God, and calleth
himself the son of God.
2:14. He is become a censurer of our thoughts.
2:15. He is grievous unto us, even to behold: for his life is not like
other men’s, and his ways are very different.
2:16. We are esteemed by him as tri lers, and he abstaineth from our
ways as from ilthiness, and he preferreth the latter end of the just,
and glorieth that he hath God for his father.
2:17. Let us see then if his words be true, and let us prove what shall
happen to him, and we shall know what his end shall be.
2:18. For if he be the true son of God, he will defend him, and will
deliver him from the hands of his enemies.
2:19. Let us examine him by outrages and tortures, that we may
know his meekness, and try his patience.
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 2:20. Let us condemn him to a most shameful death: for there shall
be respect had unto him by his words.
2:21. These things they thought, and were deceived: for their own
malice blinded them.
2:22. And they knew not the secrets of God, nor hoped for the wages
of justice, nor esteemed the honour of holy souls.
2:23. For God created man incorruptible, and to the image of his
own likeness he made him.
2:24. But by the envy of the devil, death came into the world:
2:25. And they follow him that are of his side.
Wisdom Chapter 3

The happiness of the just: and the unhappiness of the wicked.

3:1. But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment
of death shall not touch them.
3:2. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their
departure was taken for misery:
3:3. And their going away from us, for utter destruction: but they
are in peace.
3:4. And though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their
hope is full of immortality.
3:5. Af licted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded:
because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself.
3:6. As gold in the furnace, he hath proved them, and as a victim of a
holocaust, he hath received them, and in time there shall be respect
had to them.
3:7. The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among
the reeds.
3:8. They shall judge nations, and rule over people, and their Lord
shall reign for ever.
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 3:9. They that trust in him shall understand the truth: and they that
are faithful in love, shall rest in him: for grace and peace are to his
elect.
3:10. But the wicked shall be punished according to their own
devices: who have neglected the just, and have revolted from the Lord.
3:11. For he that rejecteth wisdom, and discipline, is unhappy: and
their hope is vain, and their labours without fruit, and their works
unpro itable.
3:12. Their wives are foolish, and their children wicked.
3:13. Their offspring is cursed, for happy is the barren: and the
unde iled, that hath not known bed in sin, she shall have fruit in the
visitation of holy souls.
3:14. And the eunuch, that hath not wrought iniquity with his
hands, nor thought wicked things against God for the precious gift of
faith shall be given to him, and a most acceptable lot in the temple of
God.
3:15. For the fruit of good labours is glorious, and the root of
wisdom never faileth.
3:16. But the children of adulterers shall not come to perfection, and
the seed of the unlawful bed shall be rooted out.
3:17. And if they live long, they shall be nothing regarded, and their
last old age shall be without honour.
3:18. And if they die quickly, they shall have no hope, nor speech of
comfort in the day of trial.
3:19. For dreadful are the ends of a wicked race.
Wisdom Chapter 4

The difference between the chaste and the adulterous generations:

and between the death of the just and the wicked.

 4:1. How beautiful is the chaste generation with glory: for the
memory thereof is immortal: because it is known both with God and
with men.
4:2. When it is present, they imitate it: and they desire it, when it
hath withdrawn itself, and it triumpheth crowned for ever, winning
the reward of unde iled con licts.
4:3. But the multiplied brood of the wicked shall not thrive, and
bastard slips shall not take deep root, nor any fast foundation.
4:4. And if they lourish in branches for a time, yet standing not fast,
they shall be shaken with the wind, and through the force of winds
they shall be rooted out.
4:5. For the branches not being perfect, shall be broken, and their
fruits shall be unpro itable, and sour to eat, and it for nothing.
4:6. For the children that are born of unlawful beds, are witnesses of
wickedness against their parents in their trial.
4:7. But the just man, if he be prevented with death, shall be in rest.
4:8. For venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by
the number of years: but the understanding of a man is grey hairs.
4:9. And a spotless life is old age.
4:10. He pleased God, and was beloved, and living among sinners, he
was translated.
4:11. He was taken away, lest wickedness should alter his
understanding, or deceit beguile his soul.
4:12. For the bewitching of vanity obscureth good things, and the
wandering of concupiscence overturneth the innocent mind.
4:13. Being made perfect in a short space, he ful illed a long time.
4:14. For his soul pleased God: therefore he hastened to bring him
out of the midst of iniquities: but the people see this, and understand
not, nor lay up such things in their hearts:
4:15. That the grace of God, and his mercy is with his saints, and
that he hath respect to his chosen.

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 4:16. But the just that is dead, condemneth the wicked that are
living, and youth soon ended, the long life of the unjust.
4:17. For they shall see the end of the wise man, and it shall not
understand what God hath designed for him, and why the Lord hath
set him in safety.
4:18. They shall see him, and shall despise him: but the Lord shall
laugh them to scorn.
4:19. And they shall fall after this without honour, and be a
reproach among the dead for ever: for he shall burst them puffed up
and speechless, and shall shake them from the foundations, and they
shall be utterly laid waste: they shall be in sorrow, and their memory
shall perish.
4:20. They shall come with fear at the thought of their sins, and
their iniquities shall stand against them to convict them.
Wisdom Chapter 5

The fruitless repentance of the wicked in another world: the reward of

the just.
5:1. Then shall the just stand with great constancy against those
that have af licted them, and taken away their labours.
5:2. These seeing it, shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be
amazed at the suddenness of their unexpected salvation,
5:3. Saying within themselves, repenting, and groaning for anguish
of spirit: These are they, whom we had sometime in derision, and for a
parable of reproach.
5:4. We fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without
honour.
5:5. Behold, how they are numbered among the children of God, and
their lot is among the saints.

 5:6. Therefore we have erred from the way of truth, and the light of
justice hath not shined unto us, and the sun of understanding hath not
risen upon us.
5:7. We wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity and destruction,
and have walked through hard ways, but the way of the Lord we have
not known.
5:8. What hath pride pro ited us? or what advantage hath the
boasting of riches brought us?
5:9. All those things are passed away like a shadow, and like a post
that runneth on,
5:10. And as a ship that passeth through the waves: whereof when it
is gone by, the trace cannot be found, nor the path of its keel in the
waters:
5:11. Or as when a bird lieth through the air, of the passage of
which no mark can be found, but only the sound of the wings beating
the light air, and parting it by the force of her light: she moved her
wings, and hath lown through, and there is no mark found afterwards
of her way:
5:12. Or as when an arrow is shot at a mark, the divided air quickly
cometh together again, so that the passage thereof is not known:
5:13. So we also being born, forthwith ceased to be: and have been
able to shew no mark of virtue: but are consumed in our wickedness.
5:14. Such things as these the sinners said in hell:
5:15. For the hope of the wicked is as dust, which is blown away
with the wind, and as a thin froth which is dispersed by the storm: and
a smoke that is scattered abroad by the wind: and as the
remembrance of a guest of one day that passeth by.
5:16. But the just shall live for evermore: and their reward is with
the Lord, and the care of them with the most High.
5:17. Therefore shall they receive a kingdom of glory, and a crown of
beauty at the hand of the Lord: for with his right hand he will cover
them, and with his holy arm he will defend them.

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 5:18. And his zeal will take armour, and he will arm the creature for
the revenge of his enemies.
5:19. He will put on justice as a breastplate, and will take true
judgment instead of a helmet:
5:20. He will take equity for an invincible shield:
5:21. And he will sharpen his severe wrath for a spear, and the
whole world shall ight with him against the unwise.
5:22. Then shafts of lightning shall go directly from the clouds, as
from a bow well bent, they shall be shot out, and shall ly to the mark.
5:23. And thick hail shall be cast upon them from the stone casting
wrath: the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the rivers
shall run together in a terrible manner.
5:24. A mighty wind shall stand up against them, and as a
whirlwind shall divide them: and their iniquity shall bring all the earth
to a desert, and wickedness shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty.
Wisdom Chapter 6

An address to princes to seek after wisdom: she is easily found by those

that seek her.
6:1. Wisdom is better than strength: and a wise man is better than a
strong man.
6:2. Hear, therefore, ye kings, and understand, learn ye that are
judges of the ends of the earth.
6:3. Give ear, you that rule the people, and that please yourselves in
multitudes of nations:
6:4. For power is given you by the Lord, and strength by the most
High, who will examine your works: and search out your thoughts:
6:5. Because being ministers of his kingdom, you have not judged
rightly, nor kept the law of justice, nor walked according to the will of
God.

 6:6. Horribly and speedily will he appear to you: for a most severe
judgment shall be for them that bear rule.
6:7. For to him that is little, mercy is granted: but the mighty shall
be mightily tormented.
6:8. For God will not except any man’s person, neither will he stand
in awe of any man’s greatness: for he made the little and the great,
and he hath equally care of all.
6:9. But a greater punishment is ready for the more mighty.
6:10. To you, therefore, O kings, are these my words, that you may
learn wisdom, and not fall from it.
6:11. For they that have kept just things justly, shall be justi ied: and
they that have learned these things, shall ind what to answer.
6:12. Covet ye, therefore, my words, and love them, and you shall
have instruction.
6:13. Wisdom is glorious, and never fadeth away, and is easily seen
by them that love her, and is found by them that seek her.
6:14. She preventeth them that covet her, so that she irst sheweth
herself unto them.
6:15. He that awaketh early to seek her, shall not labour: for he shall
ind her sitting at his door.
6:16. To think, therefore, upon her, is perfect understanding: and he
that watcheth for her, shall quickly be secure.
6:17. For she goeth about seeking such as are worthy of her, and she
sheweth herself to them cheerfully in the ways, and meeteth them with
all providence.
6:18. For the beginning of her is the most true desire of discipline.
6:19. And the care of discipline is love: and love is the keeping of her
laws: and the keeping of her laws is the irm foundation of
incorruption:
6:20. And incorruption bringeth near to God.
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 6:21. Therefore the desire of wisdom bringeth to the everlasting

kingdom.
6:22. If then your delight be in thrones, and sceptres, O ye kings of
the people, love wisdom, that you may reign for ever.
6:23. Love the light of wisdom, all ye that bear rule over peoples.
6:24. Now what wisdom is, and what was her origin, I will declare:
and I will not hide from you the mysteries of God, but will seek her out
from the beginning of her birth, and bring the knowledge of her to
light, and will not pass over the truth:
6:25. Neither will I go with consuming envy: for such a man shall
not be partaker of wisdom.
6:26. Now the multitude of the wise is the welfare of the whole
world: and a wise king is the upholding of the people.
6:27. Receive, therefore, instruction by my words, and it shall be
pro itable to you.
Wisdom Chapter 7

The excellence of wisdom: how she is to be found.

7:1. I myself also am a mortal man, like all others, and of the race of
him, that was irst made of the earth, and in the womb of my mother I
was fashioned to be lesh.
7:2. In the time of ten months I was compacted in blood, of the seed
of man, and the pleasure of sleep concurring.
7:3. And being born, I drew in the common air, and fell upon the
earth, that is made alike, and the irst voice which I uttered was
crying, as all others do.
7:4. I was nursed in swaddling clothes, and with great cares.
7:5. For none of the kings had any other beginning of birth.
7:6. For all men have one entrance into life, and the like going out.
7:7. Wherefore I wished, and understanding was given me: and I
called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me:
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 7:8. And I preferred her before kingdoms and thrones, and esteemed
riches nothing in comparison of her.
7:9. Neither did I compare unto her any precious stone: for all gold,
in comparison of her, is as a little sand; and silver, in respect to her,
shall be counted as clay.
7:10. I loved her above health and beauty, and chose to have her
instead of light: for her light cannot be put out.
7:11. Now all good things came to me together with her, and
innumerable riches through her hands,
7:12. And I rejoiced in all these: for this wisdom went before me, and
I knew not that she was the mother of them all.
7:13. Which I have learned without guile, and communicate without
envy, and her riches I hide not.
7:14. For she is an in inite treasure to men: which they that use,
become the friends of God, being commended for the gifts of discipline.
7:15. And God hath given to me to speak as I would, and to conceive
thoughts worthy of those things that are given me: because he is the
guide of wisdom, and the director of the wise:
7:16. For in his hand are both we, and our words, and all wisdom,
and the knowledge and skill of works.
7:17. For he hath given me the true knowledge of the things that
are: to know the disposition of the whole world, and the virtues of the
elements,
7:18. The beginning, and ending, and midst of the times, the
alterations of their courses, and the changes of seasons,
7:19. The revolutions of the year, and the dispositions of the stars,
7:20. The natures of living creatures, and rage of wild beasts, the
force of winds, and reasonings of men, the diversities of plants, and the
virtues of roots,
7:21. And all such things as are hid, and not foreseen, I have learned:
for wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me.

 7:22. For in her is the spirit of understanding; holy, one, manifold,

subtile, eloquent, active, unde iled, sure, sweet, loving that which is
good, quick, which nothing hindereth, bene icent,
7:23. Gentle, kind, steadfast, assured, secure, having all power,
overseeing all things, and containing all spirits: intelligible, pure,
subtile:
7:24. For wisdom is more active than all active things; and reacheth
everywhere, by reason of her purity.
7:25. For she is a vapour of the power of God, and a certain pure
emmanation of the glory of the Almighty God: and therefore no de iled
thing cometh into her.
7:26. For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted
mirror of God’s majesty, and the image of his goodness.
7:27. And being but one, she can do all things: and remaining in
herself the same, she reneweth all things, and through nations
conveyeth herself into holy souls, she maketh the friends of God and
prophets.
7:28. For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with wisdom.
7:29. For she is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order
of the stars: being compared with the light, she is found before it.
7:30. For after this cometh night, but no evil can overcome wisdom.
Wisdom Chapter 8

Further praises of wisdom: and her fruits.

8:1. She reacheth, therefore, from end to end mightily, and ordereth
all things sweetly.
8:2. Her have I loved, and have sought her out from my youth, and
have desired to take for my spouse, and I became a lover of her beauty.
8:3. She glori ieth her nobility by being conversant with God: yea,
and the Lord of all things hath loved her.

 8:4. For it is she that teacheth the knowledge of God and is the
chooser of his works.
8:5. And if riches be desired in life, what is richer than wisdom,
which maketh all things?
8:6. And if sense do work: who is a more artful worker than she of
those things that are?
8:7. And if a man love justice: her labours have great virtues: for she
teacheth temperance, and prudence, and justice, and fortitude, which
are such things as men can have nothing more pro itable in life.
8:8. And if a man desire much knowledge: she knoweth things past,
and judgeth of things to come: she knoweth the subtilties of speeches,
and the solutions of arguments: she knoweth signs and wonders before
they be done, and the events of times and ages.
8:9. I purposed, therefore, to take her to me to live with me: knowing
that she will communicate to me of her good things, and will be a
comfort in my cares and grief.
8:10. For her sake I shall have glory among the multitude, and
honour with the ancients, though I be young:
8:11. And I shall be found of a quick conceit in judgment, and shall
be admired in the sight of the mighty, and the faces of princes shall
wonder at me.
8:12. They shall wait for me when I hold my peace, and they shall
look upon me when I speak; and if I talk much, they shall lay their
hands on their mouth.
8:13. Moreover, by the means of her I shall have immortality: and
shall leave behind me an everlasting memory to them that come after
me.
8:14. I shall set the people in order: and nations shall be subject to
me.
8:15. Terrible kings hearing, shall be afraid of me: among the
multitude I shall be found good, and valiant in war.

 8:16. When I go into my house, I shall repose myself with her: for her
conversation hath no bitterness, nor her company any tediousness, but
joy and gladness.
8:17. Thinking these things with myself, and pondering them in my
heart, that to be allied to wisdom is immortality,
8:18. And that there is great delight in her friendship, and
inexhaustible riches in the works of her hands, and in the exercise of
conference with her, wisdom, and glory in the communication of her
words: I went about seeking, that I might take her to myself.
8:19. And I was a witty child, and had received a good soul.
8:20. And whereas I was more good, I came to a body unde iled.
8:21. And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, except
God gave it, and this also was a point of wisdom, to know whose gift it
was, I went to the Lord, and besought him, and said with my whole
heart:
Wisdom Chapter 9

Solomon’s prayer for wisdom.

9:1. God of my fathers, and Lord of mercy, who hast made all things
with thy word,
9:2. And by thy wisdom hast appointed man, that he should have
dominion over the creature that was made by thee,
9:3. That he should order the world according to equity and justice,
and execute justice with an upright heart:
9:4. Give me wisdom, that sitteth by thy throne, and cast me not off
from among thy children:
9:5. For I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid, a weak man,
and of short time, and falling short of the understanding of judgment
and laws.
9:6. For if one be perfect among the children of men, yet if thy
wisdom be not with him, he shall be nothing regarded.

 9:7. Thou hast chosen me to be king of thy people, and a judge of thy
sons and daughters:
9:8. And hast commanded me to build a temple on thy holy mount,
and an altar in the city of thy dwelling place, a resemblance of thy holy
tabernacle, which thou hast prepared from the beginning:
9:9. And thy wisdom with thee, which knoweth thy works, which
then also was present when thou madest the world, and knew what
was agreeable to thy eyes, and what was right in thy commandments.
9:10. Send her out of thy holy heaven, and from the throne of thy
majesty, that she may be with me, and may labour with me, that I may
know what is acceptable with thee:
9:11. For she knoweth and understandeth all things, and shall lead
me soberly in my works, and shall preserve me by her power.
9:12. So shall my works be acceptable, and I shall govern thy people
justly, and shall be worthy of the throne of my father.
9:13. For who among men is he that can know the counsel of God?
or who can think what the will of God is?
9:14. For the thoughts of mortal men are fearful, and our counsels
uncertain.
9:15. For the corruptible body is a load upon the soul, and the
earthly habitation presseth down the mind that museth upon many
things.
9:16. And hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth:
and with labour do we ind the things that are before us. But the
things that are in heaven, who shall search out?
9:17. And who shall know thy thought, except thou give wisdom, and
send thy holy Spirit from above:
9:18. And so the ways of them that are upon earth may be corrected,
and men may learn the things that please thee?
9:19. For by wisdom they were healed, whosoever have pleased thee,
O Lord, from the beginning.

 Wisdom Chapter 10

What wisdom did for Adam, Noe, Abraham, Lot, Jacob, Joseph, and the
people of Israel.
10:1. She preserved him, that was irst formed by God, the father of
the world, when he was created alone,
10:2. And she brought him out of his sin, and gave him power to
govern all things.
10:3. But when the unjust went away from her in his anger, he
perished by the fury wherewith he murdered his brother.
The unjust.... Cain.
10:4. For whose cause, when water destroyed the earth, wisdom
healed it again, directing the course of the just by contemptible wood.
For whose cause.... Viz., for the wickedness of the race of Cain.—Ibid. The just....
Noe.
10:5. Moreover, when the nations had conspired together to consent
to wickedness, she knew the just, and preserved him without blame to
God, and kept him strong against the compassion for his son.
She knew the just.... She found out and approved Abraham. Ibid. And kept him
strong, etc.... Gave him strength to stand irm against the efforts of his natural
tenderness, when he was ordered to sacri ice his son.
10:6. She delivered the just man, who led from the wicked that were
perishing, when the ire came down upon Pentapolis:
The just man.... Lot.—Ibid. Pentapolis.... The land of the ive cities, Sodom,
Gomorrha, etc.
10:7. Whose land, for a testimony of their wickedness, is desolate,
and smoketh to this day, and the trees bear fruits that ripen not, and a
standing pillar of salt is a monument of an incredulous soul.
10:8. For regarding not wisdom, they did not only slip in this, that
they were ignorant of good things; but they left also unto men a
memorial of their folly, so that in the things in which they sinned, they
could not so much as lie hid.

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 10:9. But wisdom hath delivered from sorrow them that attend
upon her.
10:10. She conducted the just, when he led from his brother’s
wrath, through the right ways, and shewed him the kingdom of God,
and gave him the knowledge of the holy things, made him honourable
in his labours, and accomplished his labours.
The just.... Jacob.
10:11. In the deceit of them that overreached him, she stood by him,
and made him honourable.
10:12. She kept him safe from his enemies, and she defended him
from seducers, and gave him a strong con lict, that he might overcome,
and know that wisdom is mightier than all.
Con lict.... Viz., with the angel.
10:13. She forsook not the just when he was sold, but delivered him
from sinners: she went down with him into the pit.
The just when he was sold.... Viz., Joseph.
10:14. And in bands she left him not, till she brought him the sceptre
of the kingdom, and power against those that oppressed him: and
shewed them to be liars that had accused him, and gave him
everlasting glory.
10:15. She delivered the just people, and blameless seed, from the
nations that oppressed them.
10:16. She entered into the soul of the servant of God and stood
against dreadful kings in wonders and signs.
The servant of God.... Viz., Moses.
10:17. And she rendered to the just the wages of their labours, and
conducted them in a wonderful way: and she was to them for a covert
by day, and for the light of stars by night:
10:18. And she brought them through the Red Sea, and carried them
over through a great water.
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 10:19. But their enemies she drowned in the sea, and from the depth
of hell she brought them out. Therefore the just took the spoils of the
wicked.
10:20. And they sung to thy holy name, O Lord, and they praised
with one accord thy victorious hand.
10:21. For wisdom opened the mouth of the dumb, and made the
tongues of infants eloquent.
Wisdom Chapter 11

Other bene its of wisdom to the people of God.

11:1. She prospered their works in the hands of the holy prophet.
The holy prophet.... Moses.
11:2. They went through wildernesses that were not inhabited, and
in desert places they pitched their tents.
11:3. They stood against their enemies, and revenged themselves of
their adversaries.
Their enemies.... The Amalecites.
11:4. They were thirsty, and they called upon thee, and water was
given them out of the high rock, and a refreshment of their thirst out
of the hard stone.
11:5. For by what things their enemies were punished, when their
drink failed them, while the children of Israel abounded therewith, and
rejoiced:
By what things, etc.... The meaning is, that God, who wrought a miracle to punish
the Egyptians by thirst, when he turned all their waters into blood, (at which
time the Israelites, who were exempt from those plagues, had plenty of water,)
wrought another miracle in favour of his own people in their thirst, by giving
them water out of the rock.
11:6. By the same things they in their need were bene ited.
11:7. For instead of a fountain of an ever running river, thou gavest
human blood to the unjust.

 11:8. And whilst they were diminished for a manifest reproof of their
murdering the infants, thou gavest to thine abundant water unlooked
for:
11:9. Shewing by the thirst that was then, how thou didst exalt
thine, and didst kill their adversaries.
11:10. For when they were tried, and chastised with mercy, they
knew how the wicked were judged with wrath, and tormented.
11:11. For thou didst admonish and try them as a father: but the
others, as a severe king, thou didst examine and condemn.
11:12. For whether absent or present, they were tormented alike.
11:13. For a double af liction came upon them, and a groaning for
the remembrance of things past.
11:14. For when they heard that by their punishments the others
were bene ited, they remembered the Lord, wondering at the end of
what was come to pass.
By their punishments, etc.... That is, that the Israelites had been bene ited and
miraculously favoured in the same kind, in which they had been punished.
11:15. For whom they scorned before, when he was thrown out at
the time of his being wickedly exposed to perish, him they admired in
the end, when they saw the event: their thirsting being unlike to that
of the just.
11:16. But for the foolish devices of their iniquity, because some
being deceived worshipped dumb serpents and worthless beasts, thou
didst send upon them a multitude of dumb beasts for vengeance:
Dumb beasts.... Viz., frogs, sciniphs, lies, and locusts.
11:17. That they might know that by what things a man sinneth, by
the same also he is tormented.
11:18. For thy almighty hand, which made the world of matter
without form, was not unable to send upon them a multitude of bears,
or ierce lions,
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 11:19. Or unknown beasts of a new kind, full of rage; either

breathing out a iery vapour, or sending forth a stinking smoke, or
shooting horrible sparks out of their eyes:
11:20. Whereof not only the hurt might be able to destroy them, but
also the very sight might kill them through fear.
11:21. Yea, and without these, they might have been slain with one
blast, persecuted by their own deeds, and scattered by the breath of
thy power: but thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number,
and weight.
11:22. For great power always belonged to thee alone: and who
shall resist the strength of thy arm?
11:23. For the whole world before thee is as the least grain of the
balance, and as a drop of the morning dew, that falleth down upon the
earth.
11:24. But thou hast mercy upon all, because thou canst do all
things, and overlookest the sins of men for the sake of repentance.
11:25. For thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the
things which thou hast made: for thou didst not appoint, or make any
thing hating it.
11:26. And how could any thing endure, if thou wouldst not? or be
preserved, if not called by thee?
11:27. But thou sparest all: because they are thine, O Lord, who
lovest souls.
Wisdom Chapter 12

God’s wisdom and mercy in his proceedings with the Chanaanites.

12:1. O how good and sweet is thy Spirit, O Lord, in all things!
12:2. And therefore thou chastisest them that err, by little and little:
and admonishest them, and speakest to them, concerning the things
wherein they offend: that leaving their wickedness, they may believe in
thee, O Lord.

 12:3. For those ancient inhabitants of thy holy land, whom thou
didst abhor,
12:4. Because they did works hateful to thee by their sorceries, and
wicked sacri ices,
12:5. And those merciless murderers of their own children, and
eaters of men’s bowels, and devourers of blood from the midst of thy
consecration,
From the midst of thy consecration.... Literally, sacrament. That is, the land
sacred to thee, in which thy temple was to be established, and man’s redemption
to be wrought.
12:6. And those parents sacri icing with their own hands helpless
souls, it was thy will to destroy by the hands of our parents,
12:7. That the land which of all is most dear to thee, might receive a
worthy colony of the children of God.
12:8. Yet even those thou sparedst as men, and didst send wasps
forerunners of thy host, to destroy them by little and little.
12:9. Not that thou wast unable to bring the wicked under the just
by war, or by cruel beasts, or with one rough word to destroy them at
once:
12:10. But executing thy judgments by degrees, thou gavest them
place of repentance, not being ignorant that they were a wicked
generation, and their malice natural, and that their thought could
never be changed.
12:11. For it was a cursed seed from the beginning: neither didst
thou for fear of any one give pardon to their sins.
12:12. For who shall say to thee: What hast thou done? or who shall
withstand thy judgment? or who shall come before thee to be a
revenger of wicked men? or who shall accuse thee, if the nations
perish, which thou hast made?
12:13. For there is no other God but thou, who hast care of all, that
thou shouldst shew that thou dost not give judgment unjustly.

 12:14. Neither shall king, nor tyrant, in thy sight inquire about them
whom thou hast destroyed.
12:15. For so much then, as thou art just, thou orderest all things
justly: thinking it not agreeable to the power, to condemn him who
deserveth not to be punished.
12:16. For thy power is the beginning of justice: and because thou
art Lord of all, thou makest thyself gracious to all.
12:17. For thou shewest thy power, when men will not believe thee
to be absolute in power, and thou convincest the boldness of them that
know thee not.
12:18. But thou being master of power, judgest with tranquillity,
and with great favour disposest of us: for thy power is at hand when
thou wilt.
12:19. But thou hast taught thy people by such works, that they
must be just and humane, and hast made thy children to be of a good
hope: because in judging, thou givest place for repentance for sins.
12:20. For if thou didst punish the enemies of thy servants, and that
deserved to die, with so great deliberation, giving them time and place
whereby they might be changed from their wickedness:
12:21. With what circumspection hast thou judged thy own
children, to whose parents thou hast sworn, and made covenants of
good promises?
12:22. Therefore whereas thou chastisest us, thou scourgest our
enemies very many ways, to the end that when we judge we may think
on thy goodness: and when we are judged, we may hope for thy mercy.
12:23. Wherefore thou hast also greatly tormented them, who, in
their life, have lived foolishly and unjustly, by the same things which
they worshipped.
12:24. For they went astray for a long time in the ways of error,
holding those things for gods which are the most worthless among
beasts, living after the manner of children without understanding.

 12:25. Therefore thou hast sent a judgment upon them, as senseless

children, to mock them.
12:26. But they that were not amended by mockeries and
reprehensions, experienced the worthy judgment of God.
12:27. For seeing, with indignation, that they suffered by those very
things which they took for gods, when they were destroyed by the
same, they acknowledged him the true God, whom in time past they
denied that they knew: for which cause the end also of their
condemnation came upon them.
Wisdom Chapter 13

Idolaters are inexcusable: and those most of all that worship for gods
the works of the hands of men.
13:1. But all men are vain, in whom there is not the knowledge of
God: and who by these good things that are seen, could not understand
him that is, neither by attending to the works have acknowledged who
was the workman:
13:2. But have imagined either the ire, or the wind, or the swift air,
or the circle of the stars, or the great water, or the sun and moon, to be
the gods that rule the world.
13:3. With whose beauty, if they, being delighted, took them to be
gods: let them know how much the Lord of them is more beautiful
than they: for the irst author of beauty made all those things.
13:4. Or if they admired their power, and their effects, let them
understand by them, that he that made them, is mightier than they:
13:5. For by the greatness of the beauty, and of the creature, the
creator of them may be seen, so as to be known thereby.
13:6. But yet as to these they are less to be blamed. For they perhaps
err, seeking God, and desirous to ind him.
13:7. For being conversant among his works, they search: and they
are persuaded that the things are good which are seen.
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 13:8. But then again they are not to be pardoned.

13:9. For if they were able to know so much as to make a judgment
of the world: how did they not more easily ind out the Lord thereof?
13:10. But unhappy are they, and their hope is among the dead, who
have called gods the works of the hand of men, gold and silver, the
inventions of art, and the resemblances of beasts, or an unpro itable
stone the work of an ancient hand.
13:11. Or if an artist, a carpenter, hath cut down a tree proper for
his use in the wood, and skilfully taken off all the bark thereof, and
with his art, diligently formeth a vessel pro itable for the common uses
of life,
13:12. And useth the chips of his work to dress his meat:
13:13. And taking what was left thereof, which is good for nothing,
being a crooked piece of wood, and full of knots, carveth it diligently
when he hath nothing else to do, and by the skill of his art fashioneth
it, and maketh it like the image of a man:
13:14. Or the resemblance of some beast, laying it over with
vermilion, and painting it red, and covering every spot that is in it:
13:15. And maketh a convenient dwelling place for it, and setting it
in a wall, and fastening it with iron,
13:16. Providing for it, lest it should fall, knowing that it is unable to
help itself: for it is an image, and hath need of help.
13:17. And then maketh prayer to it, enquiring concerning his
substance, and his children, or his marriage. And he is not ashamed to
speak to that which hath no life:
13:18. And for health he maketh supplication to the weak, and for
life prayeth to that which is dead, and for help calleth upon that which
is unpro itable:
13:19. And for a good journey he petitioneth him that cannot walk:
and for getting, and for working, and for the event of all things he
asketh him that is unable to do any thing.

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 Wisdom Chapter 14

The beginning of worshipping idols: and the effects thereof.

14:1. Again, another designing to sail, and beginning to make his
voyage through the raging waves, calleth upon a piece of wood more
frail than the wood that carrieth him.
14:2. For this the desire of gain devised, and the workman built it by
his skill.
14:3. But thy providence, O Father, governeth it: for thou hast made
a way even in the sea, and a most sure path among the waves,
14:4. Shewing that thou art able to save out of all things, yea,
though a man went to sea without art.
14:5. But that the works of thy wisdom might not be idle: therefore
men also trust their lives even to a little wood, and passing over the
sea by ship, are saved.
14:6. And from the beginning also, when the proud giants perished,
the hope of the world leeing to a vessel, which was governed by thy
hand, left to the world seed of generation.
14:7. For blessed is the wood, by which justice cometh
14:8. But the idol that is made by hands, is cursed, as well it, as he
that made it: he because he made it; and it because being frail it is
called a god.
14:9. But to God the wicked and his wickedness are hateful alike.
14:10. For that which is made, together with him that made it, shall
suffer torments.
14:11. Therefore there shall be no respect had even to the idols of
the Gentiles: because the creatures of God are turned to an
abomination, and a temptation to the souls of men, and a snare to the
feet of the unwise.
14:12. For the beginning of fornication is the devising of idols: and
the invention of them is the corruption of life.

 14:13. For neither were they from the beginning, neither shall they
be for ever.
14:14. For by the vanity of men they came into the world: and
therefore they shall be found to come shortly to an end.
14:15. For a father being af licted with bitter grief, made to himself
the image of his son, who was quickly taken away: and him who then
had died as a man, he began now to worship as a god, and appointed
him rites and sacri ices among his servants.
14:16. Then, in process of time, wicked custom prevailing, this error
was kept as a law, and statues were worshipped by the commandment
of tyrants.
14:17. And those whom men could not honour in presence, because
they dwelt far off, they brought their resemblance from afar, and made
an express image of the king, whom they had a mind to honour: that
by this their diligence, they might honour as present, him that was
absent.
14:18. And to the worshipping of these, the singular diligence also of
the arti icer helped to set forward the ignorant.
14:19. For he being willing to please him that employed him,
laboured with all his art to make the resemblance in the best manner.
14:20. And the multitude of men, carried away by the beauty of the
work, took him now for a god, that little before was but honoured as a
man.
14:21. And this was the occasion of deceiving human life: for men
serving either their affection, or their kings, gave the incommunicable
name to stones and wood.
14:22. And it was not enough for them to err about the knowledge
of God, but whereas they lived in a great war of ignorance, they call so
many and so great evils peace.
14:23. For either they sacri ice their own children, or use hidden
sacri ices, or keep watches full of madness,
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 14:24. So that now they neither keep life, nor marriage unde iled,
but one killeth another through envy, or grieveth him by adultery:
14:25. And all things are mingled together, blood, murder, theft, and
dissimulation, corruption and unfaithfulness, tumults and perjury,
disquieting of the good,
14:26. Forgetfulness of God, de iling of souls, changing of nature,
disorder in marriage, and the irregularity of adultery and
uncleanness.
14:27. For the worship of abominable idols is the cause, and the
beginning and end of all evil.
14:28. For either they are mad when they are merry: or they
prophesy lies, or they live unjustly, or easily forswear themselves.
14:29. For whilst they trust in idols, which are without life, though
they swear amiss, they look not to be hurt.
14:30. But for both these things they shall be justly punished,
because they have thought not well of God, giving heed to idols, and
have sworn unjustly, in guile despising justice.
14:31. For it is not the power of them, by whom they swear, but the
just vengeance of sinners always punisheth the transgression of the
unjust.
Wisdom Chapter 15

The servants of God praise him who hath delivered them from
idolatry; condemning both the makers and the worshippers of idols.
15:1. But thou, our God, art gracious and true, patient, and ordering
all things in mercy.
15:2. For if we sin, we are thine, knowing thy greatness: and if we sin
not, we know that we are counted with thee.
15:3. For to know thee is perfect justice: and to know thy justice, and
thy power, is the root of immortality.

 15:4. For the invention of mischievous men hath not deceived us, nor
the shadow of a picture, a fruitless labour, a graven igure with divers
colours,
15:5. The sight whereof enticeth the fool to lust after it, and he
loveth the lifeless igure of a dead image.
15:6. The lovers of evil things deserve to have no better things to
trust in, both they that make them, and they that love them, and they
that worship them.
15:7. The potter also tempering soft earth, with labour fashioneth
every vessel for our service, and of the same clay he maketh both
vessels that are for clean uses, and likewise such as serve to the
contrary: but what is the use of these vessels, the potter is the judge.
15:8. And of the same clay by a vain labour he maketh a god: he who
a little before was made of earth himself, and a little after returneth to
the same out of which he was taken, when his life, which was lent him,
shall be called for again.
15:9. But his care is, not that he shall labour, nor that his life is
short, but he striveth with the goldsmiths and silversmiths: and he
endeavoureth to do like the workers in brass, and counteth it a glory
to make vain things.
15:10. For his heart is ashes, and his hope vain earth and his life
more base than clay:
15:11. Forasmuch as he knew not his maker, and him that inspired
into him the soul that worketh, and that breathed into him a living
spirit.
15:12. Yea, and they have counted our life a pastime and the
business of life to be gain, and that we must be getting every way, even
out of evil.
15:13. For that man knoweth that he offendeth above all others,
who of earthly matter maketh brittle vessels, and graven gods.
15:14. But all the enemies of thy people that hold them in
subjection, are foolish, and unhappy, and proud beyond measure:

 15:15. For they have esteemed all the idols of the heathens for gods,
which neither have the use of eyes to see, nor noses to draw breath,
nor ears to hear, nor ingers of hands to handle, and as for their feet,
they are slow to walk.
15:16. For man made them: and he that borroweth his own breath,
fashioned them. For no man can make a god like to himself.
15:17. For being mortal himself, he formeth a dead thing with his
wicked hands. For he is better than they whom he worshippeth,
because he indeed hath lived, though he were mortal, but they never.
15:18. Moreover, they worship also the vilest creatures: but things
without sense, compared to these, are worse than they.
15:19. Yea, neither by sight can any man see good of these beasts.
But they have led from the praise of God, and from his blessing.
Wisdom Chapter 16

God’s different dealings with the Egyptians and with his own people.
16:1. For these things, and by the like things to these, they were
worthily punished, and were destroyed by a multitude of beasts.
16:2. Instead of which punishment, dealing well with thy people,
thou gavest them their desire of delicious food, of a new taste,
preparing for them quails for their meat:
16:3. To the end, that they indeed desiring food, by means of those
things that were shewn and sent among them, might loath even that
which was necessary to satisfy their desire. But these, after suffering
want for a short time, tasted a new meat.
They indeed desiring food, etc.... He means the Egyptians; who were restrained
even from that food which was necessary, by the frogs and the lies that were
sent amongst them, and spoiled all their meats.—Ibid. But these.... Viz., the
Israelites.
16:4. For it was requisite that inevitable destruction should come
upon them that exercised tyranny: but to these it should only be shewn
how their enemies were destroyed.

 16:5. For when the ierce rage of beasts came upon these, they were
destroyed by the bitings of crooked serpents.
16:6. But thy wrath endured not for ever, but they were troubled for
a short time for their correction, having a sign of salvation, to put
them in remembrance of the commandment of thy law.
Sign of salvation.... The brazen serpent, an emblem of Christ our Saviour.
16:7. For he that turned to it, was not healed by that which he saw,
but by thee, the Saviour of all.
16:8. And in this thou didst shew to our enemies, that thou art he
who deliverest from all evil.
16:9. For the bitings of locusts, and of lies, killed them, and there
was found no remedy for their life: because they were worthy to be
destroyed by such things.
16:10. But not even the teeth of venomous serpents overcame thy
children: for thy mercy came and healed them.
16:11. For they were examined for the remembrance of thy words,
and were quickly healed, lest falling into deep forgetfulness, they
might not be able to use thy help.
16:12. For it was neither herb, nor mollifying plaster, that healed
them, but thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things.
16:13. For it is thou, O Lord, that hast power of life and death, and
leadest down to the gates of death, and bringest back again:
16:14. A man indeed killeth through malice, and when the spirit is
gone forth, it shall not return, neither shall he call back the soul that is
received:
16:15. But it is impossible to escape thy hand:
16:16. For the wicked that denied to know thee, were scourged by
the strength of thy arm, being persecuted by strange waters, and hail,
and rain, and consumed by ire.
16:17. And which was wonderful, in water, which extinguisheth all
things, the ire had more force: for the world ighteth for the just.

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 The ire had more force.... Viz., when the ire and hail mingled together laid
waste the land of Egypt. Ex. 9.
16:18. For at one time the ire was mitigated, that the beasts which
were sent against the wicked might not be burnt, but that they might
see, and perceive that they were persecuted by the judgment of God.
16:19. And at another time the ire, above its own power, burnt in
the midst of water, to destroy the fruits of a wicked land.
16:20. Instead of which things, thou didst feed thy people with the
food of angels, and gavest them bread from heaven, prepared without
labour; having in it all that is delicious, and the sweetness of every
taste.
16:21. For thy sustenance shewed thy sweetness to thy children, and
serving every man’s will, it was turned to what every man liked.
16:22. But snow and ice endured the force of ire, and melted not:
that they might know that the ire, burning in the hail, and lashing in
the rain, destroyed the fruits of the enemies.
16:23. But this same again, that the just might be nourished, did
even forget its own strength.
16:24. For the creature serving thee, the Creator, is made ierce
against the unjust for their punishment: and abateth its strength for
the bene it of them that trust in thee.
16:25. Therefore even then it was transformed into all things, and
was obedient to thy grace, that nourisheth all, according to the will of
them that desired it of thee:
16:26. That thy children, O Lord, whom thou lovedst, might know
that it is not the growing of fruits that nourisheth men, but thy word
preserveth them that believe in thee.
16:27. For that which could not be destroyed by ire, being warmed
with a little sunbeam, presently melted away:
16:28. That it might be known to all, that we ought to prevent the
sun to bless thee, and adore thee at the dawning of the light.
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 16:29. For the hope of the unthankful shall melt away as the
winter’s ice, and shall run off as unpro itable water.
Wisdom Chapter 17

The Egyptian darkness.

17:1. For thy judgments, O Lord, are great, and thy words cannot be
expressed: therefore undisciplined souls have erred.
17:2. For while the wicked thought to be able to have dominion over
the holy nation, they themselves being fettered with the bonds of
darkness, and a long night, shut up in their houses, lay there exiled
from the eternal providence.
17:3. And while they thought to lie hid in their obscure sins, they
were scattered under a dark veil of forgetfullness, being horribly
afraid, and troubled with exceeding great astonishment.
17:4. For neither did the den that held them, keep them from fear:
for noises coming down troubled them, and sad visions appearing to
them, affrighted them.
17:5. And no power of ire could give them light, neither could the
bright lames of the stars enlighten that horrible night.
17:6. But there appeared to them a sudden ire, very dreadful: and
being struck with the fear of that face, which was not seen, they
thought the things which they saw to be worse:
17:7. And the delusions of their magic art were put down, and their
boasting of wisdom was reproachfully rebuked.
17:8. For they who promised to drive away fears and troubles from
a sick soul, were sick themselves of a fear worthy to be laughed at.
17:9. For though no terrible thing disturbed them: yet being scared
with the passing by of beasts, and hissing of serpents, they died for fear
and denying that they saw the air, which could by no means be
avoided.
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 17:10. For whereas wickedness is fearful, it beareth witness of its

condemnation: for a troubled conscience always forecasteth grievous
things.
17:11. For fear is nothing else but a yielding up of the succours from
thought.
17:12. And while there is less expectation from within, the greater
doth it count the ignorance of that cause which bringeth the torment.
17:13. But they that during that night, in which nothing could be
done, and which came upon them from the lowest and deepest hell,
slept the same sleep,
17:14. Were sometimes molested with the fear of monsters,
sometimes fainted away, their soul failing them: for a sudden and
unlooked for fear was come upon them.
17:15. Moreover, if any of them had fallen down, he was kept shut up
in prison without irons.
17:16. For if any one were a husbandman, or a shepherd, or a
labourer in the ield, and was suddenly overtaken, he endured a
necessity from which he could not ly.
17:17. For they were all bound together with one chain of darkness.
Whether it were a whistling wind, or the melodious voice of birds,
among the spreading branches of trees, or a fall of water running
down with violence,
17:18. Or the mighty noise of stones tumbling down, or the running
that could not be seen of beasts playing together, or the roaring voice
of wild beasts, or a rebounding echo from the highest mountains: these
things made them to swoon for fear.
17:19. For the whole world was enlightened, with a clear light, and
none were hindered in their labours.
17:20. But over them only was spread a heavy night, an image of
that darkness which was to come upon them. But they were to
themselves more grievous than the darkness.

 Wisdom Chapter 18

The slaughter of the irstborn in Egypt: the ef icacy of Aaron’s

intercession, in the sedition on occasion of Core.
18:1. But thy saints had a very great light, and they heard their
voice indeed, but did not see their shape. And because they also did not
suffer the same things, they glori ied thee:
18:2. And they that before had been wronged, gave thanks, because
they were not hurt now: and asked this gift, that there might be a
difference.
18:3. Therefore they received a burning pillar of ire for a guide of
the way which they knew not, and thou gavest them a harmless sun of
a good entertainment.
A harmless sun.... A light that should not hurt or molest them; but that should be
an agreeable guest to them.
18:4. The others indeed were worthy to be deprived of light, and
imprisoned in darkness, who kept thy children shut up, by whom the
pure light of the law was to be given to the world.
18:5. And whereas they thought to kill the babes of the just: one
child being cast forth, and saved to reprove them, thou tookest away a
multitude of their children, and destroyedst them altogether in a
mighty water.
One child.... Viz., Moses.
18:6. For that night was known before by our fathers, that assuredly
knowing what oaths they had trusted to, they might be of better
courage.
18:7. So thy people received the salvation of the just, and
destruction of the unjust.
18:8. For as thou didst punish the adversaries so thou didst also
encourage and glorify us.

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 18:9. For the just children of good men were offering sacri ice
secretly, and they unanimously ordered a law of justice: that the just
should receive both good and evil alike, singing now the praises of the
fathers.
Of good men.... Viz., of the patriarchs. Their children, the Israelites, offered in
private the sacri ice of the paschal lamb; and were regulating what they were to
do in their journey, when that last and most dreadful plague was coming upon
their enemies.
18:10. But on the other side there sounded an ill according cry of
the enemies, and a lamentable mourning was heard for the children
that were bewailed.
18:11. And the servant suffered the same punishment as the master,
and a common man suffered in like manner as the king.
18:12. So all alike had innumerable dead, with one kind of death.
Neither were the living suf icient to bury them: for in one moment the
noblest offspring of them was destroyed.
The noblest offspring.... That is, the irstborn.
18:13. For whereas they would not believe any thing before by
reason of the enchantments, then irst upon the destruction of the
irstborn, they acknowledged the people to be of God.
18:14. For while all things were in quiet silence, and the night was
in the midst of her course,
18:15. Thy Almighty word leaped down from heaven from thy royal
throne, as a ierce conqueror into the midst of the land of destruction,
18:16. With a sharp sword carrying thy unfeigned commandment,
and he stood and illed all things with death, and standing on the
earth, reached even to heaven.
18:17. Then suddenly visions of evil dreams troubled them, and fears
unlooked for came upon them.
18:18. And one thrown here, another there, half dead, shewed the
cause of his death.
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 18:19. For the visions that troubled them foreshewed these things,
lest they should perish, and not know why they suffered these evils.
18:20. But the just also were afterwards touched by an assault of
death, and there was a disturbance of the multitude in the wilderness:
but thy wrath did not long continue;
18:21. For a blameless man made haste to pry for the people,
bringing forth the shield of his ministry, prayer, and by incense making
supplication, withstood the wrath, and put an end to the calamity,
shewing that he was thy servant.
18:22. And he overcame the disturbance, not by strength of body nor
with force of arms, but with a word he subdued him that punished
them, alleging the oath and covenant made with the fathers.
18:23. For when they were now fallen down dead by heaps one upon
another, he stood between and stayed the assault, and cut off the way
to the living.
18:24. For in the priestly robe which he wore, was the whole world:
and in the four rows of the stones, the glory of the fathers was graven,
and thy majesty was written upon the diadem of his head.
18:25. And to these the destroyer gave place, and was afraid of
them: for the proof only of wrath was enough.
Wisdom Chapter 19

Why God shewed no mercy to the Egyptians. His favour to the

Israelites. All creatures obey God’s orders for the service of the good,
and the punishment of the wicked.
19:1. But as to the wicked, even to the end there came upon them
wrath without mercy. For he knew before also what they would do:
19:2. For when they had given them leave to depart and had sent
them away with great care, they repented and pursued after them.
19:3. For whilst they were yet mourning, and lamenting at the
graves of the dead, they took up another foolish device: and pursued
them as fugitives whom they had pressed to be gone:

 19:4. For a necessity, of which they were worthy, brought them to

this end: and they lost the remembrance of those things which had
happened, that their punishment might ill up what was wanting to
their torments:
19:5. And that thy people might wonderfully pass through, but they
might ind a new death.
19:6. For every creature, according to its kind was fashioned again
as from the beginning, obeying thy commandments, that thy children
might be kept without hurt.
19:7. For a cloud overshadowed their camps and where water was
before, dry land appeared, and in the Red Sea a way without
hindrance, and out of the great deep a springing ield:
19:8. Through which all the nation passed which was protected with
thy hand, seeing thy miracles and wonders.
19:9. For they fed on their food like horses, and they skipped like
lambs, praising thee, O Lord, who hadst delivered them.
19:10. For they were yet mindful of those things which had been
done in the time of their sojourning, how the ground brought forth
lies instead of cattle, and how the river cast up a multitude of frogs
instead of ishes.
19:11. And at length they saw a new generation of birds, when being
led by their appetite, they asked for delicate meats.
19:12. For to satisfy their desire, the quail came up to them from the
sea: and punishments came upon the sinners, not without foregoing
signs by the force of thunders: for they suffered justly according to
their own wickedness.
19:13. For they exercised a more detestable inhospitality than any:
others indeed received not strangers unknown to them, but these
brought their guests into bondage that had deserved well of them.
19:14. And not only so, but in another respect also they were worse:
for the others against their will received the strangers.
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 19:15. But these grievously af licted them whom they had received
with joy, and who lived under the same laws.
19:16. But they were struck with blindness: as those others were at
the doors of the just man, when they were covered with sudden
darkness, and every one sought the passage of his own door.
19:17. For while the elements are changed in themselves, as in an
instrument the sound of the quality is changed, yet all keep their
sound: which may clearly be perceived by the very sight.
Elements are changed, etc.... The meaning is, that whatever changes God
wrought in the elements by miracles in favour of his people, they still kept their
harmony by obeying his will.
19:18. For the things of the land were turned into things of the
water: and the things that before swam in the water passed upon the
land.
19:19. The ire had power in water above its own virtue, and the
water forgot its quenching nature.
19:20. On the other side, the lames wasted not the lesh of
corruptible animals walking therein, neither did they melt that good
food, which was apt to melt as ice. For in all things thou didst magnify
thy people, O Lord, and didst honour them, and didst not despise them,
but didst assist them at all times, and in every place.
That good food.... The manna.

ECCLESIASTICUS

This Book is so called from a Greek word that signi ies a preacher:
because, like an excellent preacher, it gives admirable lessons of all
virtues. The author was Jesus the son of Sirach of Jerusalem, who
lourished about two hundred years before Christ. As it was written
after the time of Esdras, it is not in the Jewish canon; but is received as
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 canonical and divine by the Catholic Church, instructed by apostolical
tradition, and directed by the spirit of God. It was irst written in the
Hebrew, but afterwards translated into Greek, by another Jesus, the
grandson of the author, whose prologue to this book is the following:
THE PROLOGUE.
The knowledge of many and great things hath been shewn us by the law, and the
prophets, and others that have followed them: for which things Israel is to be
commended for doctrine and wisdom, because not only they that speak must
needs be skilful, but strangers also, both speaking and writing, may by their
means become most learned. My grandfather Jesus, after he had much given
himself to a diligent reading of the law, and the prophets, and other books, that
were delivered to us from our fathers, had a mind also to write something
himself, pertaining to doctrine and wisdom; that such as are desirous to learn,
and are made knowing in these things, may be more and more attentive in mind,
and be strengthened to live according to the law. I entreat you therefore to come
with benevolence, and to read with attention, and to pardon us for those things
wherein we may seem, while we follow the image of wisdom, to come short in the
composition of words; for the Hebrew words have not the same force in them
when translated into another tongue. And not only these, but the law also itself,
and the prophets, and the rest of the books, have no small difference, when they
are spoken in their own language. For in the eight and thirtieth year coming into
Egypt, when Ptolemy Evergetes was king, and continuing there a long time, I
found there books left, of no small nor contemptible learning. Therefore I
thought it good, and necessary for me to bestow some diligence and labour to
interpret this book; and with much watching and study in some space of time, I
brought the book to an end, and set it forth for the service of them that are
willing to apply their mind, and to learn how they ought to conduct themselves,
who purpose to lead their life according to the law of the Lord.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 1

All wisdom is from God, and is given to them that fear and love God.
1:1. All wisdom is from the Lord God, and hath been always with
him, and is before all time.
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 1:2. Who hath numbered the sand of the sea, and the drops of rain,
and the days of the world? Who hath measured the height of heaven,
and the breadth of the earth, and the depth of the abyss?
1:3. Who hath searched out the wisdom of God that goeth before all
things?
1:4. Wisdom hath been created before all things, and the
understanding of prudence from everlasting.
1:5. The word of God on high is the fountain of wisdom, and her
ways are everlasting commandments.
1:6. To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed, and who hath
known her wise counsels?
1:7. To whom hath the discipline of wisdom been revealed and made
manifest? and who hath understood the multiplicity of her steps?
1:8. There is one most high Creator Almighty, and a powerful king,
and greatly to be feared, who sitteth upon his throne, and is the God of
dominion.
1:9. He created her in the Holy Ghost, and saw her, and numbered
her, and measured her.
1:10. And he poured her out upon all his works, and upon all lesh
according to his gift, and hath given her to them that love him.
1:11. The fear of the Lord is honour, and glory, and gladness, and a
crown of joy.
1:12. The fear of the Lord shall delight the heart, and shall give joy,
and gladness, and length of days.
1:13. With him that feareth the Lord, it shall go well in the latter
end, and in the day of his death he shall be blessed.
1:14. The love of God is honourable wisdom.
1:15. And they to whom she shall shew herself love her by the sight,
and by the knowledge of her great works.

 1:16. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and was
created with the faithful in the womb, it walketh with chosen women,
and is known with the just and faithful.
1:17. The fear of the Lord is the religiousness of knowledge.
1:18. Religiousness shall keep and justify the heart, it shall give joy
and gladness.
1:19. It shall go well with him that feareth the Lord, and in the days
of his end he shall be blessed.
1:20. To fear God is the fulness of wisdom, and fulness is from the
fruits thereof.
1:21. She shall ill all her house with her increase, and the
storehouses with her treasures.
1:22. The fear of the Lord is a crown of wisdom, illing up peace and
the fruit of salvation:
1:23. And it hath seen, and numbered her: but both are the gifts of
God.
1:24. Wisdom shall distribute knowledge, and understanding of
prudence: and exalteth the glory of them that hold her.
1:25. The root of wisdom is to fear the Lord: and the branches
thereof are long-lived.
1:26. In the treasures of wisdom is understanding, and religiousness
of knowledge: but to sinners wisdom is an abomination.
1:27. The fear of the Lord driveth out sin:
1:28. For he that is without fear, cannot be justi ied: for the wrath of
his high spirits is his ruin.
1:29. A patient man shall bear for a time, and afterwards joy shall
be restored to him.
1:30. A good understanding will hide his words for a time, and the
lips of many shall declare his wisdom.
1:31. In the treasures of wisdom is the signi ication of discipline:
1:32. But the worship of God is an abomination to a sinner.

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 1:33. Son, if thou desire wisdom, keep justice, and God will give her
to thee.
1:34. For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and discipline: and that
which is agreeable to him,
1:35. Is faith, and meekness: and he will ill up his treasures.
1:36. Be not incredulous to the fear of the Lord: and come not to him
with a double heart.
1:37. Be not a hypocrite in the sight of men, and let not thy lips be a
stumblingblock to thee.
1:38. Watch over them, lest thou fall, and bring dishonour upon thy
soul,
1:39. And God discover thy secrets, and cast thee down in the midst
of the congregation.
1:40. Because thou camest to the Lord wickedly, and thy heart is full
of guile and deceit.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 2

God’s servants must look for temptations: and must arm themselves
with patience and con idence in God.
2:1. Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and
in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation.
2:2. Humble thy heart, and endure: incline thy ear, and receive the
words of understanding: and make not haste in the time of clouds.
2:3. Wait on God with patience: join thyself to God, and endure, that
thy life may be increased in the latter end.
2:4. Take all that shall be brought upon thee: and in thy sorrow
endure, and in thy humiliation keep patience.
2:5. For gold and silver are tried in the ire, but acceptable men in
the furnace of humiliation.
2:6. Believe God, and he will recover thee: and direct thy way, and
trust in him. Keep his fear, and grow old therein.

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 2:7. Ye that fear the Lord, wait for his mercy: and go not aside from
him lest ye fall.
2:8. Ye that fear the Lord, believe him: and your reward shall not be
made void.
2:9. Ye that fear the Lord hope in him, and mercy shall come to you
for your delight.
2:10. Ye that fear the Lord, love him, and your hearts shall be
enlightened.
2:11. My children behold the generations of men: and know ye that
no one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded.
2:12. For who hath continued in his commandment, and hath been
forsaken? or who hath called upon him, and he despised him?
2:13. For God is compassionate and merciful, and will forgive sins in
the day of tribulation: and he is a protector to all that seek him in
truth.
2:14. Woe to them that are of a double heart and to wicked lips, and
to the hands that do evil, and to the sinner that goeth on the earth two
ways.
2:15. Woe to them that are fainthearted, who believe not God: and
therefore they shall not be protected by him.
2:16. Woe to them that have lost patience, and that have forsaken
the right ways, and have gone aside into crooked ways.
2:17. And what will they do, when the Lord shall begin to examine?
2:18. They that fear the Lord, will not be incredulous to his word:
and they that love him, will keep his way.
2:19. They that fear the Lord, will seek after the things that are well
pleasing to him: and they that love him, shall be illed with his law.
2:20. They that fear the Lord, will prepare their hearts, and in his
sight will sanctify their souls,
2:21. They that fear the Lord, keep his commandments, and will
have patience even until his visitation,

 2:22. Saying: If we do not penance, we shall fall into the hands of the
Lord, and not into the hands of men.
2:23. For according to his greatness, so also is his mercy with him.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 3

Lessons concerning the honour of parents, and humility, and avoiding

curiosity.
3:1. The sons of wisdom are the church of the just: and their
generation, obedience and love.
3:2. Children, hear the judgment of your father, and so do that you
may be saved.
3:3. For God hath made the father honourable to the children: and
seeking the judgment of the mothers, hath con irmed it upon the
children.
3:4. He that loveth God, shall obtain pardon for his sins by prayer,
and shall refrain himself from them, and shall be heard in the prayer
of days.
3:5. And he that honoureth his mother is as one that layeth up a
treasure.
3:6. He that honoureth his father shall have joy in his own children,
and in the day of his prayer he shall be heard.
3:7. He that honoureth his father shall enjoy a long life: and he that
obeyeth the father, shall be a comfort to his mother.
3:8. He that feareth the Lord, honoureth his parents, and will serve
them as his masters that brought him into the world.
3:9. Honour thy father, in work and word, and all patience,
3:10. That a blessing may come upon thee from him, and his
blessing may remain in the latter end.
3:11. The father’s blessing establisheth the houses of the children:
but the mother’s curse rooteth up the foundation.

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 3:12. Glory not in the dishonour of thy father: for his shame is no
glory to thee.
3:13. For the glory of a man is from the honour of his father, and a
father without honour is the disgrace of the son.
3:14. Son, support the old age of thy father, and grieve him not in his
life;
3:15. And if his understanding fail, have patience with him, and
despise him not when thou art in thy strength: for the relieving of the
father shall not be forgotten.
3:16. For good shall be repaid to thee for the sin of thy mother.
3:17. And in justice thou shalt be built up, and in the day of af liction
thou shalt be remembered: and thy sins shall melt away as the ice in
the fair warm weather.
3:18. Of what an evil fame is he that forsaketh his father: and he is
cursed of God that angereth his mother.
3:19. My son, do thy works in meekness, and thou shalt be beloved
above the glory of men.
3:20. The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things,
and thou shalt ind grace before God:
3:21. For great is the power of God alone, and he is honoured by the
humble.
3:22. Seek not the things that are too high for thee, and search not
into things above thy ability: but the things that God hath commanded
thee, think on them always, and in many of his works be not curious.
3:23. For it is not necessary for thee to see with thy eyes those things
that are hid.
3:24. In unnecessary matters be not over curious, and in many of his
works thou shalt not be inquisitive.
3:25. For many things are shewn to thee above the understanding of
men.

 3:26. And the suspicion of them hath deceived many, and hath
detained their minds in vanity.
3:27. A hard heart shall fear evil at the last: and he that loveth
danger shall perish in it.
3:28. A heart that goeth two ways shall not have success, and the
perverse of heart shall be scandalized therein.
3:29. A wicked heart shall be laden with sorrows, and the sinner will
add sin to sin.
3:30. The congregation of the proud shall not be healed: for the
plant of wickedness shall take root in them, and it shall not be
perceived.
3:31. The heart of the wise is understood in wisdom, and a good ear
will hear wisdom with all desire.
3:32. A wise heart, and which hath understanding, will abstain from
sins, and in the works of justice shall have success.
3:33. Water quencheth a laming ire, and alms resisteth sins:
3:34. And God provideth for him that sheweth favour: he
remembereth him afterwards, and in the time of his fall he shall ind a
sure stay.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 4

An exhortation to works of mercy, and to the love of wisdom.

4:1. Son, defraud not the poor of alms, and turn not away thy eyes
from the poor.
4:2. Despise not the hungry soul: and provoke not the poor in his
want.
4:3. Af lict not the heart of the needy, and defer not to give to him
that is in distress.
4:4. Reject not the petition of the af licted: and turn not away thy
face from the needy.

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 4:5. Turn not away thy eyes from the poor for fear of anger: and
leave not to them that ask of thee to curse thee behind thy back.
4:6. For the prayer of him that curseth thee in the bitterness of his
soul, shall be heard, for he that made him will hear him.
4:7. Make thyself affable to the congregation of the poor, and
humble thy soul to the ancient, and bow thy head to a great man.
4:8. Bow down thy ear cheerfully to the poor, and pay what thou
owest, and answer him peaceable words with mildness.
4:9. Deliver him that suffereth wrong out of the hand of the proud:
and be not fainthearted in thy soul.
4:10. In judging be merciful to the fatherless as a father, and as a
husband to their mother.
4:11. And thou shalt be as the obedient son of the most High, and he
will have mercy on thee more than a mother.
4:12. Wisdom inspireth life into her children, and protecteth them
that seek after her, and will go before them in the way of justice.
4:13. And he that loveth her, loveth life: and they that watch for her,
shall embrace her sweetness.
4:14. They that hold her fast, shall inherit life: and whithersoever
she entereth, God will give a blessing.
4:15. They that serve her, shall be servants to the holy one: and God
loveth them that love her.
4:16. He that hearkeneth to her, shall judge nations: and he that
looketh upon her, shall remain secure.
4:17. If he trust to her, he shall inherit her, and his generation shall
be in assurance.
4:18. For she walketh with him in temptation, and at the irst she
chooseth him.
In temptation, etc.... The meaning is, that before wisdom will choose any for her
favourite, she will try them by leading them through contradictions, af lictions,
and temptations, the usual noviceship of the children of God.

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 4:19. She will bring upon him fear and dread and trial: and she will
scourge him with the af liction of her discipline, till she try him by her
laws, and trust his soul.
4:20. Then she will strengthen him, and make a straight way to him,
and give him joy,
4:21. And will disclose her secrets to him, and will heap upon him
treasures of knowledge and understanding of justice.
4:22. But if he go astray, she will forsake him, and deliver him into
the hands of his enemy.
4:23. Son, observe the time, and ly from evil.
4:24. For thy soul be not ashamed to say the truth.
4:25. For there is a shame that bringeth sin, and there is a shame
that bringeth glory and grace.
4:26. Accept no person against thy own person, nor against thy soul
a lie.
4:27. Reverence not thy neighbour in his fall:
4:28. And refrain not to speak in the time of salvation. Hide not thy
wisdom in her beauty.
4:29. For by the tongue wisdom is discerned: and understanding,
and knowledge, and learning by the word of the wise, and
steadfastness in the works of justice.
4:30. In nowise speak against the truth, but be ashamed of the lie of
thy ignorance.
4:31. Be not ashamed to confess thy sins, but submit not thyself to
every man for sin.
4:32. Resist not against the face of the mighty, and do not strive
against the stream of the river.
4:33. Strive for justice for thy soul, and even unto death ight for
justice, and God will overthrow thy enemies for thee.
4:34. Be not hasty in thy tongue: and slack and remiss in thy works.

 4:35. Be not as a lion in thy house, terrifying them of thy household,

and oppressing them that are under thee.
4:36. Let not thy hand be stretched out to receive, and shut when
thou shouldst give.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 5

We must not presume of our wealth or strength: nor of the mercy of

God, to go on in sin: we must be steadfast in virtue and truth.
5:1. Set not thy heart upon unjust possessions, and say not: I have
enough to live on: for it shall be of no service in the time of vengeance
and darkness.
5:2. Follow not in thy strength the desires of thy heart:
5:3. And say not: How mighty am I? and who shall bring me under
for my deeds? for God will surely take revenge.
5:4. Say not: I have sinned, and what harm hath befallen me? for the
most High is a patient rewarder.
5:5. Be not without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin upon
sin:
5:6. And say not: The mercy of the Lord is great, he will have mercy
on the multitude of my sins.
5:7. For mercy and wrath quickly come from him, and his wrath
looketh upon sinners.
5:8. Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day
to day.
5:9. For his wrath shall come on a sudden, and in the time of
vengeance he will destroy thee.
5:10. Be not anxious for goods unjustly gotten: for they shall not
pro it thee in the day of calamity and revenge.
5:11. Winnow not with every wind, and go not into every way: for so
is every sinner proved by a double tongue.
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 5:12. Be steadfast in the way of the Lord, and in the truth of thy
judgment, and in knowledge, and let the word of peace and justice
keep with thee.
5:13. Be meek to hear the word, that thou mayst understand: and
return a true answer with wisdom.
5:14. If thou have understanding, answer thy neighbour: but if not,
let thy hand be upon thy mouth, lest thou be surprised in an unskilful
word, and be confounded.
5:15. Honour and glory is in the word of the wise, but the tongue of
the fool is his ruin.
5:16. Be not called a whisperer, and be not taken in thy tongue, and
confounded.
5:17. For confusion and repentance is upon a thief, and an evil mark
of disgrace upon the double tongued, but to the whisperer hatred, and
enmity, and reproach.
5:18. Justify alike the small and the great.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 6

Of true and false friends: and of the of the fruits of wisdom.

6:1. Instead of a friend become not an enemy to thy neighbour: for
an evil man shall inherit reproach and shame, so shall every sinner
that is envious and double tongued.
6:2. Extol not thyself in the thoughts of thy soul like a bull: lest thy
strength be quashed by folly,
6:3. And it eat up thy leaves, and destroy thy fruit, and thou be left
as a dry tree in the wilderness.
6:4. For a wicked soul shall destroy him that hath it, and maketh
him to be a joy to his enemies, and shall lead him into the lot of the
wicked.
6:5. A sweet word multiplieth friends, and appeaseth enemies, and a
gracious tongue in a good man aboundeth.

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 6:6. Be in peace with many, but let one of a thousand be thy

counsellor.
6:7. If thou wouldst get a friend, try him before thou takest him, and
do not credit him easily.
6:8. For there is a friend for his own occasion, and he will not abide
in the day of thy trouble.
6:9. And there is a friend that turneth to enmity; and there is a
friend that will disclose hatred and strife and reproaches.
6:10. And there is a friend a companion at the table, and he will not
abide in the day of distress.
6:11. A friend if he continue steadfast, shall be to thee as thyself, and
shall act with con idence among them of thy household.
6:12. If he humble himself before thee, and hide himself from thy
face, thou shalt have unanimous friendship for good.
6:13. Separate thyself from thy enemies, and take heed of thy
friends.
6:14. A faithful friend is a strong defence: and he that hath found
him, hath found a treasure.
6:15. Nothing can be compared to a faithful friend, and no weight of
gold and silver is able to countervail the goodness of his idelity.
6:16. A faithful friend is the medicine of life and immortality: and
they that fear the Lord, shall ind him.
6:17. He that feareth God, shall likewise have good friendship:
because according to him shall his friend be.
6:18. My son, from thy youth up receive instruction, and even to thy
grey hairs thou shalt ind wisdom.
6:19. Come to her as one that plougheth, and soweth, and wait for
her good fruits:
6:20. For in working about her thou shalt labour a little, and shalt
quickly eat of her fruits.

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 6:21. How very unpleasant is wisdom to the unlearned, and the

unwise will not continue with her.
6:22. She shall be to them as a mighty stone of trial, and they will
cast her from them before it be long.
6:23. For the wisdom of doctrine is according to her name, and she
is not manifest unto many, but with them to whom she is known, she
continueth even to the sight of God.
6:24. Give ear, my son, and take wise counsel, and cast not away my
advice.
6:25. Put thy feet into her fetters, and thy neck into her chains:
6:26. Bow down thy shoulder, and bear her, and be not grieved with
her bands.
6:27. Come to her with all thy mind, and keep her ways with all thy
power.
6:28. Search for her, and she shall be made known to thee, and when
thou hast gotten her, let her not go:
6:29. For in the latter end thou shalt ind rest in her, and she shall be
turned to thy joy.
6:30. Then shall her fetters be a strong defence for thee, and a irm
foundation, and her chain a robe of glory:
6:31. For in her is the beauty of life, and her bands are a healthful
binding.
6:32. Thou shalt put her on as a robe of glory, and thou shalt set her
upon thee as a crown of joy.
6:33. My son, if thou wilt attend to me, thou shalt learn: and if thou
wilt apply thy mind, thou shalt be wise.
6:34. If thou wilt incline thy ear, thou shalt receive instruction: and
if thou love to hear, thou shalt be wise.
6:35. Stand in the multitude of ancients that are wise, and join
thyself from thy heart to their wisdom, that thou mayst hear every
discourse of God, and the sayings of praise may not escape thee.

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 6:36. And if thou see a man of understanding, go to him early in the
morning, and let thy foot wear the steps of his doors.
6:37. Let thy thoughts be upon the precepts of God, and meditate
continually on his commandments: and he will give thee a heart, and
the desire of wisdom shall be given to thee.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 7

Religious and moral duties.

7:1. Do no evils, and no evils shall lay hold of thee.
7:2. Depart from the unjust, and evils shall depart from thee.
7:3. My son, sow not evils in the furrows of injustice, and thou shalt
not reap them sevenfold.
7:4. Seek not of the Lord a preeminence, nor of the king the seat of
honour.
7:5. Justify not thyself before God, for he knoweth the heart: and
desire not to appear wise before the king.
7:6. Seek not to be made a judge, unless thou have strength enough
to extirpate iniquities: lest thou fear the person of the powerful, and
lay a stumblingblock for thy integrity.
7:7. Offend not against the multitude of a city, neither cast thyself in
upon the people,
7:8. Nor bind sin to sin: for even in one thou shalt not be
unpunished.
7:9. Be not fainthearted in thy mind:
7:10. Neglect not to pray, and to give alms.
7:11. Say not: God will have respect to the multitude of my gifts, and
when I offer to the most high God, he will accept my offerings.
7:12. Laugh no man to scorn in the bitterness of his soul: for there is
one that humbleth and exalteth, God who seeth all.
7:13. Devise not a lie against thy brother: neither do the like against
thy friend.

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 7:14. Be not willing to make any manner of lie: for the custom
thereof is not good.
7:15. Be not full of words in a multitude of ancients, and repeat not
the word in thy prayer.
Repeat not, etc.... Make not much babbling by repetition of words: but aim more
at fervour of heart.
7:16. Hate not laborious works, nor husbandry ordained by the most
High.
7:17. Number not thyself among the multitude of the disorderly.
7:18. Remember wrath, for it will not tarry long.
7:19. Humble thy spirit very much: for the vengeance on the lesh of
the ungodly is ire and worms.
7:20. Do not transgress against thy friend deferring money, nor
despise thy dear brother for the sake of gold.
7:21. Depart not from a wise and good wife, whom thou hast gotten
in the fear of the Lord: for the grace of her modesty is above gold.
7:22. Hurt not the servant that worketh faithfully, nor the hired man
that giveth thee his life.
7:23. Let a wise servant be dear to thee as thy own soul, defraud him
not of liberty, nor leave him needy.
7:24. Hast thou cattle? have an eye to them: and if they be for thy
pro it, keep them with thee.
7:25. Hast thou children? instruct them, and bow down their neck
from their childhood.
7:26. Hast thou daughters? have a care of their body, and shew not
thy countenance gay towards them.
7:27. Marry thy daughter well, and thou shalt do a great work, and
give her to a wise man.
7:28. If thou hast a wife according to thy soul, cast her not off: and
to her that is hateful, trust not thyself. With thy whole heart,
7:29. Honour thy father, and forget not the groanings of thy mother:
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 7:30. Remember that thou hadst not been born but through them:
and make a return to them as they have done for thee.
7:31. With all thy soul fear the Lord, and reverence his priests.
7:32. With all thy strength love him that made thee: and forsake not
his ministers.
7:33. Honour God with all thy soul and give honour to the priests,
and purify thyself with thy arms.
Thy arms.... That is, with all thy power: or else by arms (brachiis) are here
signi ied the right shoulders of the victims, which by the law fell to the priests.
See ver. 35.
7:34. Give them their portion, as it is commanded thee, of the
irstfruits and of puri ications: and for thy negligences purify thyself
with a few.
7:35. Offer to the Lord the gift of thy shoulders, and the sacri ice of
sancti ication, and the irstfruits of the holy things:
7:36. And stretch out thy hand to the poor, that thy expiation and
thy blessing may be perfected.
7:37. A gift hath grace in the sight of all the living, and restrain not
grace from the dead.
And restrain not grace from the dead.... That is, withhold not from them the
bene it of alms, prayers, and sacri ices. Such was the doctrine and practice of the
church of God even in the time of the Old Testament. And the same has always
been continued from the days of the apostles in the church of the New
Testament.
7:38. Be not wanting in comforting them that weep, and walk with
them that mourn.
7:39. Be not slow to visit the sick: for by these things thou shalt be
con irmed in love.
7:40. In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never
sin.
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 Ecclesias cus Chapter 8

Other lessons of wisdom and virtue.

8:1. Strive not with a powerful man, lest thou fall into his hands.
8:2. Contend not with a rich man, lest he bring an action against
thee.
8:3. For gold and silver hath destroyed many, and hath reached even
to the heart of kings, and perverted them.
8:4. Strive not with a man that is full of tongue, and heap not wood
upon his ire.
8:5. Communicate not with an ignorant man, lest he speak ill of thy
family.
8:6. Despise not a man that turneth away from sin, nor reproach
him therewith: remember that we are all worthy of reproof.
8:7. Despise not a man in his old age; for we also shall become old.
8:8. Rejoice not at the death of thy enemy; knowing that we all die,
and are not willing that others should rejoice at our death.
8:9. Despise not the discourse of them that are ancient and wise, but
acquaint thyself with their proverbs.
8:10. For of them thou shalt learn wisdom, and instruction of
understanding, and to serve great men without blame.
8:11. Let not the discourse of the ancients escape thee, for they have
learned of their fathers:
8:12. For of them thou shalt learn understanding, and to give an
answer in time of need.
8:13. Kindle not the coals of sinners by rebuking them, lest thou be
burnt with the lame of the ire of their sins.
8:14. Stand not against the face of an injurious person, lest he sit as
a spy to entrap thee in thy words.
8:15. Lend not to a man that is mightier than thyself: and if thou
lendest, count it as lost.

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 8:16. Be not surety above thy power: and if thou be surety, think as if
thou wert to pay it.
8:17. Judge not against a judge: for he judgeth according to that
which is just.
8:18. Go not on the way with a bold man, lest he burden thee with
his evils: for he goeth according to his own will, and thou shalt perish
together with his folly.
8:19. Quarrel not with a passionate man, and go not into the desert
with a bold man: for blood is as nothing in his sight, and where there is
no help he will overthrow thee.
8:20. Advise not with fools, for they cannot love but such things as
please them.
8:21. Before a stranger do no matter of counsel: for thou knowest
not what he will bring forth.
8:22. Open not thy heart to every man: lest he repay thee with an
evil turn, and speak reproachfully to thee.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 9

Cautions with regard to women, and dangerous conversations.

9:1. Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom, lest she shew in thy
regard the malice of a wicked lesson.
9:2. Give not the power of thy soul to a woman, lest she enter upon
thy strength, and thou be confounded.
9:3. Look not upon a woman that hath a mind for many: lest thou
fall into her snares.
9:4. Use not much the company of her that is a dancer, and hearken
not to her, lest thou perish by the force of her charms.
9:5. Gaze not upon a maiden, lest her beauty be a stumblingblock to
thee.
9:6. Give not thy soul to harlots in any point: lest thou destroy thyself
and thy inheritance.

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 9:7. Look not round about thee in the ways of the city, nor wander
up and down in the streets thereof.
9:8. Turn away thy face from a woman dressed up, and gaze not
about upon another’s beauty.
9:9. For many have perished by the beauty of a woman, and hereby
lust is enkindled as a ire.
9:10. Every woman that is a harlot, shall be trodden upon as dung in
the way.
9:11. Many by admiring the beauty of another man’s wife, have
become reprobate, for her conversation burneth as ire.
9:12. Sit not at all with another man’s wife, nor repose upon the bed
with her:
9:13. And strive not with her over wine, lest thy heart decline
towards her and by thy blood thou fall into destruction.
9:14. Forsake not an old friend, for the new will not be like to him.
9:15. A new friend is as new wine: it shall grow old, and thou shalt
drink it with pleasure.
9:16. Envy not the glory and riches of a sinner: for thou knowest not
what his ruin shall be.
9:17. Be not pleased with the wrong done by the unjust, knowing
that even to hell the wicked shall not please.
9:18. Keep thee far from the man that hath power to kill, so thou
shalt not suspect the fear of death.
9:19. And if thou come to him, commit no fault, lest he take away thy
life.
9:20. Know it to be a communication with death: for thou art going
in the midst of snares, and walking upon the arms of them that are
grieved.
9:21. According to thy power beware of thy neighbour, and treat
with the wise and prudent.

 9:22. Let just men be thy guests, and let thy glory be in the fear of
God.
9:23. And let the thought of God be in thy mind, and all thy discourse
on the commandments of the Highest.
9:24. Works shall be praised for the hand of the arti icers, and the
prince of the people for the wisdom of his speech, but the word of the
ancients for the sense.
9:25. A man full of tongue is terrible in his city, and he that is rash in
his word shall be hateful.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 10

The virtues and vices of men in power: the great evil of pride.
10:1. A wise judge shall judge his people, and the government of a
prudent man shall be steady.
Judge his people.... In the Greek it is, instruct his people.
10:2. As the judge of the people is himself, so also are his ministers:
and what manner of man the ruler of a city is, such also are they that
dwell therein.
10:3. An unwise king shall be the ruin of his people: and cities shall
be inhabited through the prudence of the rulers.
10:4. The power of the earth is in the hand of God, and in his time he
will raise up a pro itable ruler over it.
10:5. The prosperity of man is in the hand of God, and upon the
person of the scribe he shall lay his honour.
The scribe.... That is, the man that is wise and learned in the law.
10:6. Remember not any injury done thee by thy neighbour, and do
thou nothing by deeds of injury.
10:7. Pride is hateful before God and men: and all iniquity of nations
is execrable.
10:8. A kingdom is translated from one people to another, because
of injustices, and wrongs, and injuries, and divers deceits.

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 10:9. But nothing is more wicked than the covetous man. Why is
earth, and ashes proud?
10:10. There is not a more wicked thing than to love money: for such
a one setteth even his own soul to sale: because while he liveth he hath
cast away his bowels.
10:11. All power is of short life. A long sickness is troublesome to the
physician.
10:12. The physician cutteth off a short sickness: so also a king is to
day, and to morrow he shall die.
10:13. For when a man shall die, he shall inherit serpents, and
beasts, and worms.
10:14. The beginning of the pride of man, is to fall off from God:
10:15. Because his heart is departed from him that made him: for
pride is the beginning of all sin: he that holdeth it, shall be illed with
maledictions, and it shall ruin him in the end.
10:16. Therefore hath the Lord disgraced the assemblies of the
wicked, and hath utterly destroyed them.
10:17. God hath overturned the thrones of proud princes, and hath
set up the meek in their stead.
10:18. God hath made the roots of proud nations to wither, and hath
planted the humble of these nations.
10:19. The Lord hath overthrown the lands of the Gentiles, and hath
destroyed them even to the foundation.
10:20. He hath made some of them to wither away, and hath
destroyed them, and hath made the memory of them to cease from the
earth.
10:21. God hath abolished the memory of the proud, and hath
preserved the memory of them that are humble in mind.
10:22. Pride was not made for men: nor wrath for the race of
women.

 10:23. That seed of men shall be honoured, which feareth God: but
that seed shall be dishonoured, which transgresseth the
commandments of the Lord.
10:24. In the midst of brethren their chief is honourable: so shall
they that fear the Lord, be in his eyes.
10:25. The fear of God is the glory of the rich, and of the honourable,
and of the poor.
10:26. Despise not a just man that is poor, and do not magnify a
sinful man that is rich.
10:27. The great man, and the judge, and the mighty is in honour:
and there is none greater than he that feareth God.
10:28. They that are free shall serve a servant that is wise: and a
man that is prudent and well instructed will not murmur when he is
reproved; and he that is ignorant, shall not be honoured.
10:29. Extol not thyself in doing thy work, and linger not in the time
of distress;
10:30. Better is he that laboureth, and aboundeth in all things, than
he that boasteth himself and wanteth bread.
10:31. My son, keep thy soul in meekness, and give it honour
according to its desert.
10:32. Who will justify him that sinneth against his own soul? and
who will honour him that dishonoureth his own soul?
10:33. The poor man is glori ied by his discipline and fear, and there
is a man that is honoured for his wealth.
10:34. But he that is glori ied in poverty, how much more in wealth?
and he that is glori ied in wealth, let him fear poverty.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 11

Lessons of humility and moderation in all things.

11:1. The wisdom of the humble shall exalt his head, and shall make
him sit in the midst of great men.
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 11:2. Praise not a man for his beauty, neither despise a man for his
look.
11:3. The bee is small among lying things but her fruit hath the
chiefest sweetness.
11:4. Glory not in apparel at any time, and be not exalted in the day
of thy honour: for the works of the Highest only are wonderful, and his
works are glorious, and secret, and hidden.
11:5. Many tyrants have sat on the throne, and he whom no man
would think on, hath worn the crown.
11:6. Many mighty men have been greatly brought down, and the
glorious have been delivered into the hand of others.
11:7. Before thou inquire, blame no man: and when thou hast
inquired, reprove justly.
11:8. Before thou hear, answer not a word: and interrupt not others
in the midst of their discourse.
11:9. Strive not in a matter which doth not concern thee, and sit not
in judgment with sinners.
11:10. My son, meddle not with many matters: and if thou be rich,
thou shalt not be free from sin: for if thou pursue after thou shalt not
overtake; and if thou run before thou shalt not escape.
11:11. There is an ungodly man that laboureth, and maketh haste,
and is in sorrow, and is so much the more in want.
11:12. Again, there is an inactive man that wanteth help, is very
weak in ability, and full of poverty:
11:13. Yet the eye of God hath looked upon him for good, and hath
lifted him up from his low estate, and hath exalted his head: and many
have wondered at him, and have glori ied God.
11:14. Good things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are
from God.
11:15. Wisdom and discipline, and the knowledge of the law are
with God. Love and the ways of good things are with him.

 11:16. Error and darkness are created with sinners: and they that
glory in evil things, grow old in evil.
11:17. The gift of God abideth with the just, and his advancement
shall have success for ever.
11:18. There is one that is enriched by living sparingly, and this is
the portion of his reward.
11:19. In that he saith: I have found me rest, and now I will eat of
my goods alone:
11:20. And he knoweth not what time shall pass, and that death
approacheth, and that he must leave all to others, and shall die.
11:21. Be steadfast in thy covenant, and be conversant therein, and
grow old in the work of thy commandments.
11:22. Abide not in the works of sinners. But trust in God, and stay in
thy place,
11:23. For it is easy in the eyes of God on a sudden to make the poor
man rich.
11:24. The blessing of God maketh haste to reward the just, and in a
swift hour his blessing beareth fruit.
11:25. Say not: What need I, and what good shall I have by this?
11:26. Say not: I am suf icient for myself: and what shall I be made
worse by this?
11:27. In the day of good things be not unmindful of evils: and in the
day of evils be not unmindful of good things:
11:28. For it is easy before God in the day of death to reward every
one according to his ways.
11:29. The af liction of an hour maketh one forget great delights,
and in the end of a man is the disclosing of his works.
11:30. Praise not any man before death, for a man is known by his
children.
11:31. Bring not every man into thy house: for many are the snares
of the deceitful.

 11:32. For as corrupted bowels send forth stinking breath, and as

the partridge is brought into the cage, and as the roe into the snare: so
also is the heart of the proud, and as a spy that looketh on the fall of
his neighbour.
11:33. For he lieth in wait and turneth good into evil, and on the
elect he will lay a blot.
11:34. Of one spark cometh a great ire, and of one deceitful man
much blood: and a sinful man lieth in wait for blood.
11:35. Take heed to thyself of a mischievous man, for he worketh
evils: lest he bring upon thee reproach for ever.
11:36. Receive a stranger in, and he shall overthrow thee with a
whirlwind, and shall turn thee out of thy own.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 12

We are to be liberal to the just: and not to trust the wicked.

12:1. If thou do good, know to whom thou dost it, and there shall be
much thanks for thy good deeds.
12:2. Do good to the just, and thou shalt ind great recompense: and
if not of him, assuredly of the Lord.
12:3. For there is no good for him that is always occupied in evil,
and that giveth no alms: for the Highest hateth sinners, and hath
mercy on the penitent.
12:4. Give to the merciful and uphold not the sinner: God will repay
vengeance to the ungodly and to sinners, and keep them against the
day of vengeance.
12:5. Give to the good, and receive not a sinner.
12:6. Do good to the humble, and give not to the ungodly: hold back
thy bread, and give it not to him, lest thereby he overmaster thee.
12:7. For thou shalt receive twice as much evil for all the good thou
shalt have done to him: for the Highest also hateth sinners, and will
repay vengeance to the ungodly.
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 12:8. A friend shall not be known in prosperity, and an enemy shall

not be hidden in adversity.
12:9. In the prosperity of a man, his enemies are grieved: and a
friend is known in his adversity.
12:10. Never trust thy enemy for as a brass pot his wickedness
rusteth:
12:11. Though he humble himself and go crouching, yet take good
heed and beware of him.
12:12. Set him not by thee, neither let him sit on thy right hand, lest
he turn into thy place, and seek to take thy seat and at the last thou
acknowledge my words, and be pricked with my sayings.
12:13. Who will pity an enchanter struck by a serpent, or any that
come near wild beasts? so is it with him that keepeth company with a
wicked man, and is involved in his sins.
12:14. For an hour he will abide with thee: but if thou begin to
decline, he will not endure it.
12:15. An enemy speaketh sweetly with his lips, but in his heart he
lieth in wait, to throw thee into a pit.
12:16. An enemy weepeth with his eyes: but if he ind an opportunity
he will not be satis ied with blood:
12:17. And if evils come upon thee, thou shalt ind him there irst.
12:18. An enemy hath tears in his eyes, and while he pretendeth to
help thee, will undermine thy feet.
12:19. He will shake his head, and clap his hands, and whisper
much, and change his countenance.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 13

Cautions in the choice of company.

13:1. He that toucheth pitch, shall be de iled with it: and he that
hath fellowship with the proud, shall put on pride.

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 13:2. He shall take a burden upon him that hath fellowship with one
more honourable than himself. And have no fellowship with one that is
richer than thyself.
13:3. What agreement shall the earthen pot have with the kettle?
for if they knock one against the other, it shall be broken.
13:4. The rich man hath done wrong, and yet he will fume: but the
poor is wronged and must hold his peace.
13:5. If thou give, he will make use of thee: and if thou have nothing,
he will forsake thee.
13:6. If thou have any thing, he will live with thee, and will make
thee bare, and he will not be sorry for thee.
13:7. If he have need of thee he will deceive thee, and smiling upon
thee will put thee in hope; he will speak thee fair, and will say: What
wantest thou?
13:8. And he will shame thee by his meats, till he have drawn thee
dry twice or thrice, and at last he will laugh at thee: and afterward
when he seeth thee, he will forsake thee, and shake his head at thee.
13:9. Humble thyself to God, and wait for his hands.
13:10. Beware that thou be not deceived into folly, and be humbled.
13:11. Be not lowly in thy wisdom, lest being humbled thou be
deceived into folly.
13:12. If thou be invited by one that is mightier, withdraw thyself:
for so he will invite thee the more.
13:13. Be not troublesome to him, lest thou be put back: and keep
not far from him, lest thou be forgotten.
13:14. Affect not to speak with him as an equal, and believe not his
many words: for by much talk he will sift thee, and smiling will
examine thee concerning thy secrets.
13:15. His cruel mind will lay up thy words: and he will not spare to
do thee hurt, and to cast thee into prison.

 13:16. Take heed to thyself, and attend diligently to what thou

hearest: for thou walkest in danger of thy ruin.
13:17. When thou hearest those things, see as it were in sleep, and
thou shalt awake.
13:18. Love God all thy life, and call upon him for thy salvation.
13:19. Every beast loveth its like: so also every man him that is
nearest to himself.
13:20. All lesh shall consort with the like to itself, and every man
shall associate himself to his like.
13:21. If the wolf shall at any time have fellowship with the lamb, so
the sinner with the just.
13:22. What fellowship hath a holy man with a dog, or what part
hath the rich with the poor?
13:23. The wild ass is the lion’s prey in the desert: so also the poor
are devoured by the rich.
13:24. And as humility is an abomination to the proud: so also the
rich man abhorreth the poor.
13:25. When a rich man is shaken, he is kept up by his friends: but
when a poor man is fallen down, he is thrust away even by his
acquaintance.
13:26. When a rich man hath been deceived, he hath many helpers:
he hath spoken proud things, and they have justi ied him.
13:27. The poor man was deceived, and he is rebuked also: he hath
spoken wisely, and could have no place.
13:28. The rich man spoke, and all held their peace, and what he
said they extol even to the clouds.
13:29. The poor man spoke, and they say: Who is this? and if he
stumble, they will overthrow him.
13:30. Riches are good to him that hath no sin in his conscience: and
poverty is very wicked in the mouth of the ungodly.
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 13:31. The heart of a man changeth his countenance, either for

good, or for evil.
13:32. The token of a good heart, and a good countenance thou
shalt hardly ind, and with labour.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 14

The evil of avarice: works of mercy are recommended, and the love of
wisdom.
14:1. Blessed is the man that hath not slipped by a word out of his
mouth, and is not pricked with the remorse of sin.
14:2. Happy is he that hath had no sadness of his mind, and who is
not fallen from his hope.
14:3. Riches are not comely for a covetous man and a niggard, and
what should an envious man do with gold?
14:4. He that gathereth together by wronging his own soul,
gathereth for others, and another will squander away his goods in
rioting.
14:5. He that is evil to himself, to whom will he be good? and he
shall not take pleasure in his goods.
14:6. There is none worse than he that envieth himself, and this is
the reward of his wickedness:
14:7. And if he do good, he doth it ignorantly, and unwillingly: and
at the last he discovereth his wickedness.
14:8. The eye of the envious is wicked: and he turneth away his face,
and despiseth his own soul.
14:9. The eye of the covetous man is insatiable in his portion of
iniquity: he will not be satis ied till he consume his own soul, drying it
up.
14:10. An evil eye is towards evil things: and he shall not have his ill
of bread, but shall be needy and pensive at his own table.

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 14:11. My son, if thou have any thing, do good to thyself, and offer to
God worthy offerings.
14:12. Remember that death is not slow, and that the covenant of
hell hath been shewn to thee: for the covenant of this world shall
surely die.
Covenant of hell.... The decree by which all are to go down to the regions of
death.
14:13. Do good to thy friend before thou die, and according to thy
ability, stretching out thy hand give to the poor.
14:14. Defraud not thyself of the good day, and let not the part of a
good gift overpass thee.
14:15. Shalt thou not leave to others to divide by lot thy sorrows and
labours?
14:16. Give and take, and justify thy soul.
14:17. Before thy death work justice: for in hell there is no inding
food.
14:18. All lesh shall fade as grass, and as the leaf that springeth out
on a green tree.
14:19. Some grow, and some fall off: so is the generation of lesh and
blood, one cometh to an end, and another is born.
14:20. Every work that is corruptible shall fail in the end: and the
worker thereof shall go with it.
14:21. And every excellent work shall be justi ied: and the worker
thereof shall be honoured therein.
14:22. Blessed is the man that shall continue in wisdom, and that
shall meditate in his justice, and in his mind shall think of the all
seeing eye of God.
14:23. He that considereth her ways in his heart, and hath
understanding in her secrets, who goeth after her as one that traceth,
and stayeth in her ways.

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 14:24. He who looketh in at her windows, and hearkeneth at her
door.
14:25. He that lodgeth near her house, and fastening a pin in her
walls shall set up his tent high unto her, where good things shall rest in
his lodging for ever.
14:26. He shall set his children under her shelter, and shall lodge
under her branches:
14:27. He shall be protected under her covering from the heat, and
shall rest in her glory.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 15

Wisdom embraceth them that fear God. God is not the author of sin.
15:1. He that feareth God, will do good: and he that possesseth
justice, shall lay hold on her,
15:2. And she will meet him as an honourable mother, and will
receive him as a wife married of a virgin.
15:3. With the bread of life and understanding, she shall feed him,
and give him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink: and she shall
be made strong in him, and he shall not be moved.
15:4. And she shall hold him fast, and he shall not be confounded:
and she shall exalt him among his neighbours.
15:5. And in the midst of the church she shall open his mouth, and
shall ill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and shall
clothe him with a robe of glory.
15:6. She shall heap upon him a treasure of joy and gladness, and
shall cause him to inherit an everlasting name.
15:7. But foolish men shall not obtain her, and wise men shall meet
her, foolish men shall not see her: for she is far from pride and deceit.
15:8. Lying men shall be mindful of her: but men that speak truth
shall be found with her, and shall advance, even till they come to the
sight of God.

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 15:9. Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner:

15:10. For wisdom came forth from God: for praise shall be with the
wisdom of God, and shall abound in a faithful mouth, and the
sovereign Lord will give praise unto it.
15:11. Say not: It is through God, that she is not with me: for do not
thou the things that he hateth.
15:12. Say not: He hath caused me to err: for he hath no need of
wicked men.
15:13. The Lord hateth all abomination of error, and they that fear
him shall not love it.
15:14. God made man from the beginning, and left him in the hand
of his own counsel.
15:15. He added his commandments and precepts.
15:16. If thou wilt keep the commandments and perform acceptable
idelity for ever, they shall preserve thee.
15:17. He hath set water and ire before thee: stretch forth thy hand
to which thou wilt.
15:18. Before man is life and death, good and evil, that which he
shall choose shall be given him:
15:19. For the wisdom of God is great, and he is strong in power,
seeing all men without ceasing.
15:20. The eyes of the Lord are towards them that fear him, and he
knoweth al the work of man.
15:21. He hath commanded no man to do wickedly, and he hath
given no man license to sin;
15:22. For he desireth not a multitude of faithless and unpro itable
children.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 16

It is better to have none than many wicked children. Of the justice and
mercy of God. His ways are unsearchable.
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 16:1. Rejoice not in ungodly children, if they be multiplied: neither
be delighted in them, if the fear of God be not with them.
16:2. Trust not to their life, and respect not their labours.
16:3. For better is one that feareth God, than a thousand ungodly
children.
16:4. And it is better to die without children, than to leave ungodly
children.
16:5. By one that is wise a country shall be inhabited, the tribe of
the ungodly shall become desolate.
16:6. Many such things hath my eyes seen, and greater things than
these my ear hath heard.
16:7. In the congregation of sinners a ire shall be kindled, and in an
unbelieving nation wrath shall lame out.
16:8. The ancient giants did not obtain pardon for their sins, who
were destroyed trusting to their own strength:
16:9. And he spared not the place where Lot sojourned, but
abhorred them for the pride of their word.
16:10. He had not pity on them, destroying the whole nation that
extolled themselves in their sins.
16:11. So did he with the six hundred thousand footmen, who were
gathered together in the hardness of their heart: and if one had been
stiffnecked, it is a wonder if he had escaped unpunished:
Six hundred thousand footmen, etc.... Viz., the children of Israel, whom he
sentenced to die in the wilderness. Num. 14.
16:12. For mercy and wrath are with him. He is mighty to forgive,
and to pour out indignation:
16:13. According as his mercy is, so his correction judgeth a man
according to his works.
16:14. The sinner shall not escape in his rapines, and the patience of
him that sheweth mercy shall not be put off.

 16:15. All mercy shall make a place for every man according to the
merit of his works, and according to the wisdom of his sojournment.
16:16. Say not: I shall be hidden from God, and who shall remember
me from on high?
16:17. In such a multitude I shall not be known: for what is my soul
in such an immense creation?
16:18. Behold the heaven, and the heavens of heavens, the deep, and
all the earth, and the things that are in them, shall be moved in his
sight,
16:19. The mountains also, and the hills, and the foundations of the
earth: when God shall look upon them, they shall be shaken with
trembling.
16:20. And in all these things the heart is senseless: and every heart
is understood by him.
16:21. And his ways who shall understand, and the storm, which no
eye of man shall see?
16:22. For many of his works are hidden, but the works of his justice
who shall declare? or who shall endure? for the testament is far from
some, and the examination of all is in the end.
16:23. He that wanteth understanding thinketh vain things, and the
foolish, and erring man, thinketh foolish things.
16:24. Hearken to me, my son, and learn the discipline of
understanding, and attend to my words in thy heart.
16:25. And I will shew forth good doctrine in equity, and will seek to
declare wisdom: and attend to my words in thy heart, whilst with
equity of spirit I tell thee the virtues that God hath put upon his works
from the beginning, and I shew forth in truth his knowledge.
16:26. The works of God are done in judgment from the beginning,
and from the making of them he distinguished their parts, and their
beginnings in their generations.

 16:27. He beauti ied their works for ever, they have neither
hungered, nor laboured, and they have not ceased from their works.
16:28. Nor shall any of them straiten his neighbour at any time.
16:29. Be not thou incredulous to his word.
16:30. After this God looked upon the earth, and illed it with his
goods.
16:31. The soul of every living thing hath shewn forth before the
face thereof, and into it they return again.
Shewn forth.... Viz., the glory and power of God upon the earth.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 17

The creation and favour of God to man. An exhortation to turn to God.

17:1. God created man of the earth, and made him after his own
image.
17:2. And he turned him into it again, and clothed him with strength
according to himself.
17:3. He gave him the number of his days and time, and gave him
power over all things that are upon the earth.
17:4. He put the fear of him upon all lesh, and he had dominion
over beasts and fowls.
17:5. He created of him a helpmate like to himself, he gave them
counsel, and a tongue, and eyes, and ears, and a heart to devise: and
he illed them with the knowledge of understanding.
17:6. He created in them the science of the spirit, he illed their
heart with wisdom, and shewed them both good and evil.
17:7. He set his eye upon their hearts to shew them the greatness of
his works:
17:8. That they might praise the name which he hath sancti ied: and
glory in his wondrous acts that they might declare the glorious things
of his works.
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 17:9. Moreover he gave them instructions, and the law of life for an
inheritance.
17:10. He made an everlasting covenant with them, and he shewed
them his justice and judgments.
17:11. And their eye saw the majesty of his glory, and their ears
heard his glorious voice, and he said to them: Beware of all iniquity.
Their eye saw, etc.... Viz., when he gave the law on mount Sinai.
17:12. And he gave to every one of them commandment concerning
his neighbour.
17:13. Their ways are always before him, they are not hidden from
his eyes.
17:14. Over every nation he set a ruler.
17:15. And Israel was made the manifest portion of God.
17:16. And all their works are as the sun in the sight of God: and his
eyes are continually upon their ways.
17:17. Their covenants were not hid by their iniquity, and all their
iniquities are in the sight of God.
17:18. The alms of a man is as a signet with him, and shall preserve
the grace of a man as the apple of the eye:
17:19. And afterward he shall rise up, and shall render them their
reward, to every one upon their own head, and shall turn them down
into the bowels of the earth.
17:20. But to the penitent he hath given the way of justice, and he
hath strengthened them that were fainting in patience, and hath
appointed to them the lot of truth.
17:21. Turn to the Lord, and forsake thy sins:
17:22. Make thy prayer before the face of the Lord, and offend less.
Offend less.... Minue offendicula. That is, remove sins and the occasions of sins.
17:23. Return to the Lord, and turn away from thy injustice, and
greatly hate abomination.

 17:24. And know the justices and judgments of God, and stand irm
in the lot set before thee, and in prayer to the most high God.
17:25. Go to the side of the holy age, with them that live and give
praise to God.
Go to the side, etc.... Fly from the side of Satan and sin, and join with the holy
ones, that follow God and godliness.
17:26. Tarry not in the error of the ungodly, give glory before death.
Praise perisheth from the dead as nothing.
17:27. Give thanks whilst thou art living, whilst thou art alive and in
health thou shalt give thanks, and shalt praise God, and shalt glory in
his mercies.
17:28. How great is the mercy of the Lord, and his forgiveness to
them that turn to him!
17:29. For all things cannot be in men, because the son of man is not
immortal, and they are delighted with the vanity of evil.
17:30. What is brighter than the sun; yet it shall be eclipsed. Or
what is more wicked than that which lesh and blood hath invented?
and this shall be reproved.
17:31. He beholdeth the power of the height of heaven: and all men
are earth and ashes.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 18

God’s works are wonderful: we must serve him, and not our lusts.
18:1. He that liveth for ever created all things together. God only
shall be justi ied, and he remaineth an invincible king for ever.
18:2. Who is able to declare his works?
18:3. For who shall search out his glorious acts?
18:4. And who shall show forth the power of his majesty? or who
shall be able to declare his mercy?
18:5. Nothing may be taken away, nor added, neither is it possible to
ind out the glorious works of God.
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 18:6. When a man hath done, then shall he begin: and when he
leaveth off, he shall be at a loss.
Then shall he begin.... God is so great and incomprehensible, that when man has
done all that he can to ind out his greatness and boundless perfections, he is still
to begin: for what he has found out, is but a mere nothing in comparison with his
in inity.
18:7. What is man, and what is his grace? and what is his good, or
what is his evil?
18:8. The number of the days of men at the most are a hundred
years, as a drop of water of the sea are they esteemed: and as a pebble
of the sand, so are a few years compared to eternity.
18:9. Therefore God is patient in them, and poureth forth his mercy
upon them.
18:10. He hath seen the presumption of their heart that it is wicked,
and hath known their end that it is evil.
18:11. Therefore hath he illed up his mercy in their favour, and
hath shewn them the way of justice.
18:12. The compassion of man is toward his neighbour: but the
mercy of God is upon all lesh.
18:13. He hath mercy, and teacheth, and correcteth, as a shepherd
doth his lock.
18:14. He hath mercy on him that receiveth the discipline of mercy,
and that maketh haste in his judgments.
18:15. My son, in thy good deeds, make no complaint, and when
thou givest any thing, add not grief by an evil word.
18:16. Shall not the dew assuage the heat? so also the good word is
better than the gift.
18:17. Lo, is not a word better than a gift? but both are with a
justi ied man.
18:18. A fool will upbraid bitterly: and a gift of one ill taught
consumeth the eyes.
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 18:19. Before judgment prepare thee justice, and learn before thou
speak.
18:20. Before sickness take a medicine, and before judgment
examine thyself, and thou shalt ind mercy in the sight of God.
18:21. Humble thyself before thou art sick, and in the time of
sickness shew thy conversation.
18:22. Let nothing hinder thee from praying always, and be not
afraid to be justi ied even to death: for the reward of God continueth
for ever.
18:23. Before prayer prepare thy soul: and be not as a man that
tempteth God.
18:24. Remember the wrath that shall be at the last day, and the
time of repaying when he shall turn away his face.
18:25. Remember poverty in the time of abundance, and the
necessities of poverty in the day of riches.
18:26. From the morning until the evening the time shall be
changed, and all these are swift in the eyes of God.
18:27. A wise man will fear in every thing, and in the days of sins
will beware of sloth.
18:28. Every man of understanding knoweth wisdom, and will give
praise to him that indeth her.
18:29. They that were of good understanding in words, have also
done wisely themselves: and have understood truth and justice, and
have poured forth proverbs and judgments.
18:30. Go not after thy lusts, but turn away from thy own will.
18:31. If thou give to thy soul her desires, she will make thee a joy to
thy enemies.
18:32. Take no pleasure in riotous assemblies, be they ever so small:
for their concertation is continual.

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 18:33. Make not thyself poor by borrowing to contribute to feasts

when thou hast nothing in thy purse: for thou shalt be an enemy to thy
own life.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 19

Admonition against sundry vices.

19:1. A workman that is a drunkard shall not be rich: and he that
contemneth small things, shall fall by little and little.
19:2. Wine and women make wise men fall off, and shall rebuke the
prudent:
19:3. And he that joineth himself to harlots, will be wicked.
Rottenness and worms shall inherit him, and he shall be lifted up for a
greater example, and his soul shall be taken away out of the number.
19:4. He that is hasty to give credit, is light of heart, and shall be
lessened: and he that sinneth against his own soul, shall be despised.
19:5. He that rejoiceth in iniquity, shall be censured, and he that
hateth chastisement, shall have less life: and he that hateth babbling,
extinguisheth evil.
19:6. He that sinneth against his own soul, shall repent: and he that
is delighted with wickedness, shall be condemned.
19:7. Rehearse not again a wicked and harsh word, and thou shalt
not fare the worse.
19:8. Tell not thy mind to friend or foe: and if there be a sin with
thee, disclose it not.
19:9. For he will hearken to thee, and will watch thee, and as it were
defending thy sin he will hate thee, and so will he be with thee always.
19:10. Hast thou heard a word against thy neighbour? let it die
within thee, trusting that it will not burst thee.
19:11. At the hearing of a word the fool is in travail, as a woman
groaning in the bringing forth a child.

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 19:12. As an arrow that sticketh in a man’s thigh: so is a word in the

heart of a fool.
19:13. Reprove a friend, lest he may not have understood, and say: I
did it not: or if he did it, that he may do it no more.
19:14. Reprove thy neighbour, for it may be he hath not said it: and
if he hath said it, that he may not say it again.
19:15. Admonish thy friend: for there is often a fault committed.
19:16. And believe not every word. There is one, that slippeth with
the tongue, but not from his heart.
19:17. For who is there that hath not offended with his tongue?
Admonish thy neighbour before thou threaten him.
19:18. And give place to the fear of the most High: for the fear of
God is all wisdom, and therein is to fear God, and the disposition of the
law is in all wisdom.
19:19. But the learning of wickedness is not wisdom: and the device
of sinners is not prudence.
19:20. There is a subtle wickedness, and the same is detestable: and
there is a man that is foolish, wanting in wisdom.
19:21. Better is a man that hath less wisdom, and wanteth
understanding, with the fear of God, than he that aboundeth in
understanding, and transgresseth the law of the most High.
19:22. There is an exquisite subtilty, and the same is unjust.
19:23. And there is one that uttereth an exact word telling the truth.
There is one that humbleth himself wickedly, and his interior is full of
deceit:
19:24. And there is one that submitteth himself exceedingly with a
great lowliness: and there is one that casteth down his countenance,
and maketh as if he did not see that which is unknown:
19:25. And if he be hindered from sinning for want of power, if he
shall ind opportunity to do evil, he will do it.
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 19:26. A man is known by his look, and a wise man, when thou
meetest him, is known by his countenance.
19:27. The attire of the body, and the laughter of the teeth, and the
gait of the man, shew what he is.
19:28. There is a lying rebuke in the anger of an injurious man: and
there is a judgment that is not allowed to be good: and there is one
that holdeth his peace, he is wise.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 20

Rules with regard to correction, discretion, and avoiding lies.

20:1. How much better is it to reprove, than to be angry, and not to
hinder him that confesseth in prayer.
20:2. The lust of an eunuch shall de lour a young maiden:
20:3. So is he that by violence executeth of the unwise.
20:4. How good is it, when thou art reproved, to shew repentance!
for so thou shalt escape wilful sin.
20:5. There is one that holdeth his peace, that is found wise: and
there is another that is hateful, that is bold in speech.
20:6. There is one that holdeth his peace, because he knoweth not
what to say: and there is another that holdeth his peace, knowing the
proper time.
20:7. A wise man will hold his peace till he see opportunity: but a
babbler, and a fool, will regard no time.
20:8. He that useth many words shall hurt his own soul: and he that
taketh authority to himself unjustly shall be hated.
20:9. There is success in evil things to a man without discipline, and
there is a inding that turneth to loss.
20:10. There is a gift that is not pro itable: and there is a gift, the
recompense of which is double.
20:11. There is an abasement because of glory: and there is one that
shall lift up his head from a low estate.
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 20:12. There is that buyeth much for a small price, and restoreth the
same sevenfold.
20:13. A man wise in words shall make himself beloved: but the
graces of fools shall be poured out.
20:14. The gift of the fool shall do thee no good: for his eyes are
sevenfold.
20:15. He will give a few things, and upbraid much: and the opening
of his mouth is the kindling of a ire.
20:16. To day a man lendeth, and to morrow he asketh it again:
such a man as this is hateful.
20:17. A fool shall have no friend, and there shall be no thanks for
his good deeds.
20:18. For they that eat his bread, are of a false tongue. How often,
and how many will laugh him to scorn!
20:19. For he doth not distribute with right understanding that
which was to be had: in like manner also that which was not to be had.
20:20. The slipping of a false tongue is as one that falleth on the
pavement: so the fall of the wicked shall come speedily.
20:21. A man without grace is as a vain fable, it shall be continually
in the mouth of the unwise.
20:22. A parable coming out of a fool’s mouth shall be rejected: for
he doth not speak it in due season.
20:23. There is that is hindered from sinning through want, and in
his rest he shall be pricked.
20:24. There is that will destroy his own soul through
shamefacedness, and by occasion of an unwise person he will destroy
it: and by respect of person he will destroy himself.
20:25. There is that for bashfulness promiseth to his friend, and
maketh him his enemy for nothing.
20:26. A lie is a foul blot in a man, and yet it will be continually in
the mouth of men without discipline.

 20:27. A thief is better than a man that is always lying: but both of
them shall inherit destruction.
20:28. The manners of lying men are without honour: and their
confusion is with them without ceasing.
20:29. A wise man shall advance himself with his words, and a
prudent man shall please the great ones.
20:30. He that tilleth his land shall make a high heap of corn: and he
that worketh justice shall be exalted: and he that pleaseth great men
shall escape iniquity.
20:31. Presents and gifts blind the eyes of judges, and make them
dumb in the mouth, so that they cannot correct.
20:32. O Wisdom that is hid, and treasure that is not seen: what
pro it is there in them both?
20:33. Better is he that hideth his folly, than the man that hideth his
wisdom.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 21

Cautions against sin in general, and some sins in particular.

21:1. My son, hast thou sinned? do so no more: but for thy former
sins also pray that they may be forgiven thee.
21:2. Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent: for if thou comest
near them, they will take hold of thee.
21:3. The teeth thereof are the teeth of a lion, killing the souls of
men.
21:4. All iniquity is like a two-edged sword, there is no remedy for
the wound thereof.
21:5. Injuries and wrongs will waste riches: and the house that is
very rich shall be brought to nothing by pride: so the substance of the
proud shall be rooted out.
21:6. The prayer out of the mouth of the poor shall reach the ears of
God, and judgment shall come for him speedily.
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 21:7. He that hateth to be reproved walketh in the trace of a sinner:

and he that feareth God will turn to his own heart.
21:8. He that is mighty by a bold tongue is known afar off, but a
wise man knoweth to slip by him.
21:9. He that buildeth his house at other men’s charges, is as he that
gathereth himself stones to build in the winter.
21:10. The congregation of sinners is like tow heaped together, and
the end of them is a lame of ire.
21:11. The way of sinners is made plain with stones, and in their end
is hell, and darkness, and pains.
21:12. He that keepeth justice shall get the understanding thereof.
21:13. The perfection of the fear of God is wisdom and
understanding.
21:14. He that is not wise in good, will not be taught.
21:15. But there is a wisdom that aboundeth in evil: and there is no
understanding where there is bitterness.
21:16. The knowledge of a wise man shall abound like a lood, and
his counsel continueth like a fountain of life.
21:17. The heart of a fool is like a broken vessel, and no wisdom at
all shall it hold.
21:18. A man of sense will praise every wise word he shall hear, and
will apply it to himself: the luxurious man hath heard it, and it shall
displease him, and he will cast it behind his back.
21:19. The talking of a fool is like a burden in the way: but in the lips
of the wise, grace shall be found.
21:20. The mouth of the prudent is sought after in the church, and
they will think upon his words in their hearts.
21:21. As a house that is destroyed, so is wisdom to a fool: and the
knowledge of the unwise is as words without sense.
21:22. Doctrine to a fool is as fetters on the feet, and like manacles
on the right hand.

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 21:23. A fool lifteth up his voice in laughter: but a wise man will
scarce laugh low to himself.
21:24. Learning to the prudent is as an ornament of gold, and like a
bracelet upon his right arm.
21:25. The foot of a fool is soon in his neighbour’s house: but a man
of experience will be abashed at the person of the mighty.
21:26. A fool will peep through the window into the house: but he
that is well taught will stand without.
21:27. It is the folly of a man to hearken at the door: and a wise man
will be grieved with the disgrace.
21:28. The lips of the unwise will be telling foolish things: but the
words of the wise shall be weighed in a balance.
21:29. The heart of fools is in their mouth: and the mouth of wise
men is in their heart.
21:30. While the ungodly curseth the devil, he curseth his own soul.
While the ungodly, etc.... He condemneth and curseth himself: inasmuch as by sin
he takes part with the devil, and is, as it were, his member and subject.
21:31. The talebearer shall de ile his own soul, and shall be hated by
all: and he that shall abide with him shall be hateful: the silent and
wise man shall be honoured.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 22

Wise sayings on divers subjects.

22:1. The sluggard is pelted with a dirty stone, and all men will
speak of his disgrace.
22:2. The sluggard is pelted with the dung of oxen: and every one
that toucheth him will shake his hands.
22:3. A son ill taught is the confusion of the father: and a foolish
daughter shall be to his loss.
22:4. A wise daughter shall bring an inheritance to her husband: but
she that confoundeth, becometh a disgrace to her father.
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 22:5. She that is bold shameth both her father and husband, and
will not be inferior to the ungodly: and shall be disgraced by them
both.
22:6. A tale out of time is like music in mourning: but the stripes and
instruction of wisdom are never out of time.
22:7. He that teacheth a fool, is like one that glueth a potsherd
together.
22:8. He that telleth a word to him that heareth not, is like one that
waketh a man out of a deep sleep.
22:9. He speaketh with one that is asleep, who uttereth wisdom to a
fool: and in the end of the discourse he saith: Who is this?
22:10. Weep for the dead, for his light hath failed: and weep for the
fool, for his understanding faileth.
For the fool.... In the language of the Holy Ghost, he is styled a fool, that turns
away from God to follow vanity and sin. And what is said by the wise man
against fools is meant of such fools as these.
22:11. Weep but a little for the dead, for he is at rest.
22:12. For the wicked life of a wicked fool is worse than death.
22:13. The mourning for the dead is seven days: but for a fool and
an ungodly man all the days of their life.
22:14. Talk not much with a fool and go not with him that hath no
sense.
22:15. Keep thyself from him, that thou mayst not have trouble, and
thou shalt not be de iled with his sin.
22:16. Turn away from him, and thou shalt ind rest, and shalt not
be wearied out with his folly.
22:17. What is heavier than lead? and what other name hath he but
fool?
22:18. Sand and salt, and a mass of iron is easier to bear, than a
man without sense, that is both foolish and wicked.

 22:19. A frame of wood bound together in the foundation of a

building, shall not be loosed: so neither shall the heart that is
established by advised counsel.
22:20. The thought of him that is wise at all times, shall not be
depraved by fear.
22:21. As pales set in high places, and plasterings made without
cost, will not stand against the face of the wind:
22:22. So also a fearful heart in the imagination of a fool shall not
resist against the violence of fear.
22:23. As a fearful heart in the thought of a fool at all times will not
fear, so neither shall he that continueth always in the commandments
of God.
22:24. He that pricketh the eye, bringeth out tears: and he that
pricketh the heart, bringeth forth resentment.
22:25. He that lingeth a stone at birds, shall drive them away: so he
that upbraideth his friend, breaketh friendship.
22:26. Although thou hast drawn a sword at a friend, despair not:
for there may be a returning. To a friend,
22:27. If thou hast opened a sad mouth, fear not, for there may be a
reconciliation: except upbraiding, and reproach, and pride, and
disclosing of secrets, or a treacherous wound: for in all these cases a
friend will lee away.
22:28. Keep idelity with a friend in his poverty, that in his
prosperity also thou mayst rejoice.
22:29. In the time of his trouble continue faithful to him, that thou
mayst also be heir with him in his inheritance.
22:30. As the vapour of a chimney, and the smoke of the ire goeth
up before the ire: so also injurious words, and reproaches, and
threats, before blood.
22:31. I will not be ashamed to salute a friend, neither will I hide
myself from his face: and if any evil happen to me by him, I will bear it.

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 22:32. But every one that shall hear it, will beware of him.
22:33. Who will set a guard before my mouth, and a sure seal upon
my lips, that I fall not by them, and that my tongue destroy me not?
Ecclesias cus Chapter 23

A prayer for grace to lee sin: cautions against profane swearing and
other vices.
23:1. O Lord, father, and sovereign ruler of my life, leave me not to
their counsel: nor suffer me to fall by them.
By them.... Viz., the tongue and the lips, mentioned in the last verse of the
foregoing chapter.
23:2. Who will set scourges over my thoughts, and the discipline of
wisdom over my heart, that they spare me not in their ignorances, and
that their sins may not appear:
That they spare me not in their ignorances, etc.... That is, that the scourges and
discipline of wisdom may restrain the ignorances, that is, the slips and offences
which are usually committed by the tongue and the lips.
23:3. Lest my ignorances increase, and my offences be multiplied,
and my sins abound, and I fall before my adversaries, and my enemy
rejoice over me?
23:4. O Lord, father, and God of my life, leave me not to their devices.
23:5. Give me not haughtiness of my eyes, and turn away from me
all coveting.
23:6. Take from me the greediness of the belly, and let not the lusts
of the lesh take hold of me, and give me not over to a shameless and
foolish mind.
23:7. Hear, O ye children, the discipline of the mouth, and he that
will keep it shall not perish by his lips, nor be brought to fall into most
wicked works.
23:8. A sinner is caught in his own vanity, and the proud and the evil
speakers shall fall thereby.
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 23:9. Let not thy mouth be accustomed to swearing: for in it there

are many falls.
23:10. And let not the naming of God be usual in thy mouth, and
meddle not with the names of saints, for thou shalt not escape free
from them.
23:11. For as a slave daily put to the question, is never without a
blue mark: so every one that sweareth, and nameth, shall not be
wholly pure from sin.
23:12. A man that sweareth much, shall be illed with iniquity, and a
scourge shall not depart from his house.
23:13. And if he make it void, his sin shall be upon him, and if he
dissemble it, he offendeth double:
23:14. And if he swear in vain, he shall not be justi ied: for his house
shall be illed with his punishment.
23:15. There is also another speech opposite to death, let it not be
found in the inheritance of Jacob.
23:16. For from the merciful all these things shall be taken away,
and they shall not wallow in sins.
23:17. Let not thy mouth be accustomed to indiscreet speech: for
therein is the word of sin.
23:18. Remember thy father and thy mother, for thou sittest in the
midst of great men:
23:19. Lest God forget thee in their sight, and thou, by thy daily
custom be infatuated and suffer reproach: and wish that thou hadst
not been born, and curse the day of thy nativity.
23:20. The man that is accustomed to opprobrious words, will never
be corrected all the days of his life.
23:21. Two sorts of men multiply sins, and the third bringeth wrath
and destruction.
23:22. A hot soul is a burning ire, it will never be quenched, till it
devour some thing.
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 23:23. And a man that is wicked in the mouth of his lesh, will not
leave off till he hath kindled a ire.
23:24. To a man that is a fornicator all bread is sweet, he will not be
weary of sinning unto the end.
23:25. Every man that passeth beyond his own bed, despising his
own soul, and saying: Who seeth me?
23:26. Darkness compasseth me about, and the walls cover me, and
no man seeth me: whom do I fear? the most High will not remember
my sins.
23:27. And he understandeth not that his eye seeth all things, for
such a man’s fear driveth him from the fear of God, and the eyes of
men fearing him:
23:28. And he knoweth not that the eyes of the Lord are far brighter
than the sun, beholding round about all the ways of men, and the
bottom of the deep, and looking into the hearts of men, into the most
hidden parts.
23:29. For all things were known to the Lord God, before they were
created: so also after they were perfected he beholdeth all things.
23:30. This man shall be punished in the streets of the city, and he
shall be chased as a colt: and where he suspected not, he shall be
taken.
23:31. And he shall be in disgrace with all men, because he
understood not the fear of the Lord.
23:32. So every woman also that leaveth her husband, and bringeth
in an heir by another:
23:33. For irst she hath been unfaithful to the law of the most High:
and secondly, she hath offended against her husband: thirdly, she hath
fornicated in adultery, and hath gotten her children of another man.
23:34. This woman shall be brought into the assembly, and
inquisition shall be made of her children.

 23:35. Her children shall not take root, and her branches shall bring
forth no fruit.
23:36. She shall leave her memory to be cursed, and her infamy shall
not be blotted out.
23:37. And they that remain shall know, that there is nothing better
than the fear of God: and that there is nothing sweeter than to have
regard to the commandments of the Lord.
23:38. It is great glory to follow the Lord: for length of days shall be
received from him.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 24

Wisdom praiseth herself: her origin, her dwelling, her dignity, and her
fruits.
24:1. Wisdom shall praise her own self, and shall be honoured in
God, and shall glory in the midst of her people,
24:2. And shall open her mouth in the churches of the most High,
and shall glorify herself in the sight of his power,
24:3. And in the midst of her own people she shall be exalted, and
shall be admired in the holy assembly.
24:4. And in the multitude of the elect she shall have praise, and
among the blessed she shall be blessed, saying:
24:5. I came out of the mouth of the most High, the irstborn before
all creatures:
24:6. I made that in the heavens there should rise light that never
faileth, and as a cloud I covered all the earth:
24:7. I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a
cloud.
24:8. I alone have compassed the circuit of heaven, and have
penetrated into the bottom of the deep, and have walked in the waves
of the sea,
24:9. And have stood in all the earth: and in every people,

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 24:10. And in every nation I have had the chief rule:

24:11. And by my power I have trodden under my feet the hearts of
all the high and low: and in all these I sought rest, and I shall abide in
the inheritance of the Lord.
24:12. Then the creator of all things commanded, and said to me:
and he that made me, rested in my tabernacle,
24:13. And he said to me: Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy
inheritance in Israel, and take root in my elect.
24:14. From the beginning, and before the world, was I created, and
unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in the holy dwelling
place I have ministered before him.
24:15. And so was I established in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I
rested, and my power was in Jerusalem.
24:16. And I took root in an honourable people, and in the portion of
my God his inheritance, and my abode is in the full assembly of saints.
24:17. I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree on
mount Sion.
24:18. I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose plant in
Jericho:
24:19. As a fair olive tree in the plains, and as a plane tree by the
water in the streets, was I exalted.
24:20. I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon, and aromatical balm: I
yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh:
24:21. And I perfumed my dwelling as storax, and galbanum, and
onyx, and aloes, and as the frankincense not cut, and my odour is as
the purest balm.
24:22. I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine tree, and
my branches are of honour and grace.
24:23. As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour: and my
lowers are the fruit of honour and riches.
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 24:24. I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge,

and of holy hope.
24:25. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope
of life and of virtue.
24:26. Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be illed with my
fruits.
24:27. For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above
honey and the honeycomb.
24:28. My memory is unto everlasting generations.
24:29. They that eat me, shall yet hunger: and they that drink me,
shall yet thirst.
24:30. He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they
that work by me, shall not sin.
24:31. They that explain me shall have life everlasting.
24:32. All these things are the book of life, and the covenant of the
most High, and the knowledge of truth.
24:33. Moses commanded a law in the precepts of justices, and an
inheritance to the house of Jacob, and the promises to Israel.
24:34. He appointed to David his servant to raise up of him a most
mighty king, and sitting on the throne of glory for ever.
A most mighty king.... Viz., Christ, who by his gospel, like an over lowing river,
has enriched the earth with heavenly wisdom.
24:35. Who illeth up wisdom as the Phison, and as the Tigris in the
days of the new fruits.
24:36. Who maketh understanding to abound as the Euphrates, who
multiplieth it as the Jordan in the time of harvest.
24:37. Who sendeth knowledge as the light, and riseth up as Gehon
in the time of the vintage.
24:38. Who irst hath perfect knowledge of her, and a weaker shall
not search her out.

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 Who irst hath perfect knowledge of her.... Christ was the irst that had perfect
knowledge of heavenly wisdom.
24:39. For her thoughts are more vast than the sea, and her
counsels more deep than the great ocean.
24:40. I, wisdom, have poured out rivers.
24:41. I, like a brook out of a river of a mighty water; I, like a
channel of a river, and like an aqueduct, came out of paradise.
24:42. I said: I will water my garden of plants, and I will water
abundantly the fruits of my meadow.
24:43. And behold my brook became a great river, and my river
came near to a sea:
24:44. For I make doctrine to shine forth to all as the morning light,
and I will declare it afar off.
24:45. I will penetrate to all the lower parts of the earth, and will
behold all that sleep, and will enlighten all that hope in the Lord.
24:46. I will yet pour out doctrine as prophecy, and will leave it to
them that seek wisdom, and will not cease to instruct their offspring
even to the holy age.
24:47. See ye that I have not laboured myself only, but for all that
seek out the truth.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 25

Documents of wisdom on several subjects.

25:1. With three things my spirit is pleased, which are approved
before God and men:
25:2. The concord of brethren, and the love of neighbours, and man
and wife that agree well together.
25:3. Three sorts my soul hateth, and I am greatly grieved at their
life:
25:4. A poor man that is proud: a rich man that is a liar: an old man
that is a fool, and doting.

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 25:5. The things that thou hast not gathered in thy youth, how shalt
thou ind them in thy old age?
25:6. O how comely is judgment for a grey head, and for ancients to
know counsel!
25:7. O how comely is wisdom for the aged, and understanding and
counsel to men of honour!
25:8. Much experience is the crown of old men, and the fear of God is
their glory.
25:9. Nine things that are not to be imagined by the heart have I
magni ied, and the tenth I will utter to men with my tongue.
25:10. A man that hath joy of his children: and he that liveth and
seeth the fall of his enemies.
25:11. Blessed is he that dwelleth with a wise woman, and that hath
not slipped with his tongue, and that hath not served such as are
unworthy of him.
25:12. Blessed is he that indeth a true friend, and that declareth
justice to an ear that heareth.
25:13. How great is he that indeth wisdom and knowledge! but
there is none above him that feareth the Lord.
25:14. The fear of God hath set itself above all things:
25:15. Blessed is the man, to whom it is given to have the fear of
God: he that holdeth it, to whom shall he be likened?
25:16. The fear of God is the beginning of his love: and the
beginning of faith is to be fast joined unto it.
25:17. The sadness of the heart is every plague: and the wickedness
of a woman is all evil.
25:18. And a man will choose any plague, but the plague of the
heart:
25:19. And any wickedness, but the wickedness of a woman:
25:20. And any af liction, but the af liction from them that hate him:
25:21. And any revenge, but the revenge of enemies.
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 25:22. There is no head worse than the head of a serpent:

25:23. And there is no anger above the anger of a woman. It will be
more agreeable to abide with a lion and a dragon, than to dwell with a
wicked woman.
25:24. The wickedness of a woman changeth her face: and she
darkeneth her countenance as a bear: and sheweth it like sackcloth. In
the midst of her neighbours,
25:25. Her husband groaned, and hearing he sighed a little.
25:26. All malice is short to the malice of a woman, let the lot of
sinners fall upon her.
25:27. As the climbing of a sandy way is to the feet of the aged, so is
a wife full of tongue to a quiet man.
25:28. Look not upon a woman’s beauty, and desire not a woman for
beauty.
25:29. A woman’s anger, and impudence, and confusion is great.
25:30. A woman, if she have superiority, is contrary to her husband.
25:31. A wicked woman abateth the courage, and maketh a heavy
countenance, and a wounded heart.
25:32. Feeble hands, and disjointed knees, a woman that doth not
make her husband happy.
25:33. From the woman came the beginning of sin, and by her we all
die.
25:34. Give no issue to thy water, no, not a little: nor to a wicked
woman liberty to gad abroad.
25:35. If she walk not at thy hand, she will confound thee in the
sight of thy enemies.
25:36. Cut her off from thy lesh, lest she always abuse thee.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 26

Of good and bad women.

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 26:1. Happy is the husband of a good wife: for the number of his
years is double.
26:2. A virtuous woman rejoiceth her husband, and shall ful il the
years of his life in peace.
26:3. A good wife is a good portion, she shall be given in the portion
of them that fear God, to a man for his good deeds.
26:4. Rich or poor, if his heart is good, his countenance shall be
cheerful at all times.
26:5. Of three things my heart hath been afraid, and at the fourth
my face hath trembled:
26:6. The accusation of a city, and the gathering together of the
people:
26:7. And a false calumny, all are more grievous than death.
26:8. A jealous woman is the grief and mourning of the heart.
26:9. With a jealous woman is a scourge of the tongue which
communicateth with all.
26:10. As a yoke of oxen that is moved to and fro, so also is a wicked
woman: he that hath hold of her, is as he that taketh hold of a
scorpion.
26:11. A drunken woman is a great wrath: and her reproach and
shame shall not be hid.
26:12. The fornication of a woman shall be known by the
haughtiness of her eyes and by her eyelids.
26:13. On a daughter that turneth not away herself, set a strict
watch: lest inding an opportunity she abuse herself.
26:14. Take heed of the impudence of her eyes, and wonder not if she
slight thee.
26:15. She will open her mouth as a thirsty traveller to the fountain,
and will drink of every water near her, and will sit down by every
hedge, and open her quiver against every arrow, until she fail.

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 26:16. The grace of a diligent woman shall delight her husband, and
shall fat his bones.
26:17. Her discipline is the gift of God.
26:18. Such is a wise and silent woman, and there is nothing so
much worth as a well instructed soul.
26:19. A holy and shamefaced woman is grace upon grace.
26:20. And no price is worthy of a continent soul.
26:21. As the sun when it riseth to the world in the high places of
God, so is the beauty of a good wife for the ornament of her house.
26:22. As the lamp shining upon the holy candlestick, so is the
beauty of the face in a ripe age,
26:23. As golden pillars upon bases of silver, so are the irm feet
upon the soles of a steady woman.
26:24. As everlasting foundations upon a solid rock, so the
commandments of God in the heart of a holy woman.
26:25. At two things my heart is grieved, and the third bringeth
anger upon me.
26:26. A man of war fainting through poverty, and a man of sense
despised:
26:27. And he that passeth over from justice to sin, God hath
prepared such an one for the sword.
26:28. Two sorts of callings have appeared to me hard and
dangerous: a merchant is hardly free from negligence: and a huckster
shall not be justi ied from the sins of the lips.
From negligence.... That is, from the neglect of the service of God: because the
eager pursuit of the mammon of this world, is apt to make men of that calling
forget the great duties of loving God above all things, and their neighbours as
themselves.—Ibid. A huckster.... Or, a retailer of wine. Men of that profession are
both greatly exposed to danger of sin themselves, and are too often accessary to
the sins of others.

 Ecclesias cus Chapter 27

Dangers of sin from several heads: the fear of God is the best
preservative. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it.
27:1. Through poverty many have sinned: and he that seeketh to be
enriched, turneth away his eye.
27:2. As a stake sticketh fast in the midst of the joining of stones, so
also in the midst of selling and buying, sin shall stick fast.
27:3. Sin shall be destroyed with the sinner.
27:4. Unless thou hold thyself diligently in the fear of the Lord, thy
house shall quickly be overthrown.
27:5. As when one sifteth with a sieve, the dust will remain: so will
the perplexity of a man in his thoughts.
27:6. The furnace trieth the potter’s vessels, and the trial of
af liction just men.
27:7. As the dressing of a tree sheweth the fruit thereof, so a word
out of the thought of the heart of man.
27:8. Praise not a man before he speaketh, for this is the trial of
men.
27:9. If thou followest justice, thou shalt obtain her: and shalt put
her on as a long robe of honour, and thou shalt dwell with her: and she
shall protect thee for ever, and in the day of acknowledgment thou
shalt ind a strong foundation.
27:10. Birds resort unto their like: so truth will return to them that
practise her.
27:11. The lion always lieth in wait for prey: so do sins for them that
work iniquities.
27:12. A holy man continueth in wisdom as the sun: but a fool is
changed as the moon.
27:13. In the midst of the unwise keep in the word till its time: but
be continually among men that think.
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 27:14. The discourse of sinners is hateful, and their laughter is at

the pleasures of sin.
27:15. The speech that sweareth much shall make the hair of the
head stand upright: and its irreverence shall make one stop his ears.
27:16. In the quarrels of the proud is the shedding of blood: and
their cursing is a grievous hearing.
27:17. He that discloseth the secret of a friend loseth his credit, and
shall never ind a friend to his mind.
27:18. Love thy neighbour, and be joined to him with idelity.
27:19. But if thou discover his secrets, follow no more after him.
27:20. For as a man that destroyeth his friend, so is he that
destroyeth the friendship of his neighbour.
27:21. And as one that letteth a bird go out of his hand, so hast thou
let thy neighbour go, and thou shalt not get him again.
27:22. Follow after him no more, for he is gone afar off, he is led, as
a roe escaped out of the snare because his soul is wounded.
27:23. Thou canst no more bind him up. And of a curse there is
reconciliation:
And of a curse there is reconciliation.... That is, it is easier to obtain a
reconciliation after a curse, than after disclosing a secret.
27:24. But to disclose the secrets of a friend, leaveth no hope to an
unhappy soul.
27:25. He that winketh with the eye forgeth wicked things, and no
man will cast him off:
27:26. In the sight of thy eyes he will sweeten his mouth, and will
admire thy words: but at the last he will writhe his mouth, and on thy
words he will lay a stumblingblock.
27:27. I have hated many things but not like him, and the Lord will
hate him.
27:28. If one cast a stone on high, it will fall upon his own head: and
the deceitful stroke will wound the deceitful.

 27:29. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that setteth a
stone for his neighbour, shall stumble upon it: and he that layeth a
snare for another, shall perish in it.
27:30. A mischievous counsel shall be rolled back upon the author,
and he shall not know from whence it cometh to him.
27:31. Mockery and reproach are of the proud, and vengeance as a
lion shall lie in wait for him.
27:32. They shall perish in a snare that are delighted with the fall of
the just: and sorrow shall consume them before they die.
27:33. Anger and fury are both of them abominable, and the sinful
man shall be subject to them.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 28

Lessons against revenge and quarrels. The evils of the tongue.

28:1. He that seeketh to revenge himself, shall ind vengeance from
the Lord, and he will surely keep his sins in remembrance.
28:2. Forgive thy neighbour if he hath hurt thee: and then shall thy
sins be forgiven to thee when thou prayest.
28:3. Man to man reserveth anger, and doth he seek remedy of God?
28:4. He hath no mercy on a man like himself, and doth he entreat
for his own sins?
28:5. He that is but lesh, nourisheth anger, and doth he ask
forgiveness of God? who shall obtain pardon for his sins?
28:6. Remember thy last things, and let enmity cease:
28:7. For corruption and death hang over in his commandments.
In his commandments.... Supply the sentence out of the Greek thus: Remember
corruption and death, and abide in the commandments.
28:8. Remember the fear of God, and be not angry with thy
neighbour.
28:9. Remember the covenant of the most High, and overlook the
ignorance of thy neighbour.
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 28:10. Refrain from strife, and thou shalt diminish thy sins.
28:11. For a passionate man kindleth strife, and a sinful man will
trouble his friends, and bring in debate in the midst of them that are at
peace.
28:12. For as the wood of the forest is, so the ire burneth, and as a
man’s strength is, so shall his anger be, and according to his riches he
shall increase his anger.
28:13. A hasty contention kindleth a ire and a hasty quarrel
sheddeth blood and a tongue that beareth witness bringeth death.
28:14. If thou blow the spark, it shall burn as a ire: and if thou spit
upon it, it shall be quenched: both come out of the mouth.
28:15. The whisperer and the double tongue is accursed: for he hath
troubled many that were at peace.
28:16. The tongue of a third person hath disquieted many, and
scattered them from nation to nation.
28:17. It hath destroyed the strong cities of the rich, and hath
overthrown the houses of great men.
28:18. It hath cut in pieces the forces of people, and undone strong
nations.
28:19. The tongue of a third person hath cast out valiant women,
and deprived them of their labours.
28:20. He that hearkeneth to it, shall never have rest, neither shall
he have a friend in whom he may repose.
28:21. The stroke of a whip maketh a blue mark: but the stroke of
the tongue will break the bones.
28:22. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not so many
as have perished by their own tongue.
28:23. Blessed is he that is defended from a wicked tongue, that
hath not passed into the wrath thereof, and that hath not drawn the
yoke thereof, and hath not been bound in its bands.
28:24. For its yoke is a yoke of iron: and its bands are bands of brass.

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 28:25. The death thereof is a most evil death: and hell is preferable
to it.
28:26. Its continuance shall not be for a long time, but it shall
possess the ways of the unjust: and the just shall not be burnt with its
lame.
28:27. They that forsake God shall fall into it, and it shall burn in
them, and shall not be quenched, and it shall be sent upon them as a
lion, and as a leopard it shall tear them.
28:28. Hedge in thy ears with thorns, hear not a wicked tongue, and
make doors and bars to thy mouth.
28:29. Melt down thy gold and silver, and make a balance for thy
words, and a just bridle for thy mouth:
28:30. And take heed lest thou slip with thy tongue, and fall in the
sight of thy enemies who lie in wait for thee, and thy fall be incurable
unto death.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 29

Of charity in lending money, and justice in repaying. Of alms, and of

being surety.
29:1. He that sheweth mercy, lendeth to his neighbour: and he that
is stronger in hand, keepeth the commandments.
And he that is stronger in hand.... That is, he that is hearty and bountiful in
lending to his neighbour in his necessity.
29:2. Lend to thy neighbour in the time of his need, and pay thou thy
neighbour again in due time.
29:3. Keep thy word, and deal faithfully with him: and thou shalt
always ind that which is necessary for thee.
29:4. Many have looked upon a thing lent as a thing found, and have
given trouble to them that helped them.
29:5. Till they receive, they kiss the hands of the lender, and in
promises they humble their voice:
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 29:6. But when they should repay, they will ask time, and will return
tedious and murmuring words, and will complain of the time:
29:7. And if he be able to pay, he will stand off, he will scarce pay
one half, and will count it as if he had found it:
29:8. But if not, he will defraud him of his money, and he shall get
him for an enemy without cause.
29:9. And he will pay him with reproaches and curses, and instead of
honour and good turn will repay him injuries.
29:10. Many have refused to lend, not out of wickedness, but they
were afraid to be defrauded without cause.
29:11. But yet towards the poor be thou more hearty, and delay not
to shew him mercy.
29:12. Help the poor because of the commandment: and send him
not away empty handed because of his poverty.
29:13. Lose thy money for thy brother and thy friend: and hide it not
under a stone to be lost.
29:14. Place thy treasure in the commandments of the most High,
and it shall bring thee more pro it than gold.
29:15. Shut up alms in the heart of the poor, and it shall obtain help
for thee against all evil.
29:16. Better than the shield of the mighty, and better than the
spear:
29:17. It shall ight for thee against thy enemy.
29:18. A good man is surety for his neighbour: and he that hath lost
shame, will leave him to himself.
29:19. Forget not the kindness of thy surety: for he hath given his
life for thee.
29:20. The sinner and the unclean leeth from his surety.
29:21. A sinner attributeth to himself the goods of his surety: and he
that is of an unthankful mind will leave him that delivered him.

 29:22. A man is surety for his neighbour: and when he hath lost all
shame, he shall forsake him.
29:23. Evil suretyship hath undone many of good estate, and hath
tossed them as a wave of the sea.
29:24. It hath made powerful men to go from place to place round
about, and they have wandered in strange countries.
29:25. A sinner that transgresseth the commandment of the Lord,
shall fall into an evil suretyship: and he that undertaketh many things,
shall fall into judgment.
29:26. Recover thy neighbour according to thy power, and take heed
to thyself that thou fall not.
29:27. The chief thing for man’s life is water and bread, and
clothing, and a house to cover shame.
29:28. Better is the poor man’s fare under a roof of boards, than
sumptuous cheer abroad in another man’s house.
29:29. Be contented with little instead of much, and thou shalt not
hear the reproach of going abroad.
29:30. It is a miserable life to go as a guest from house to house: for
where a man is a stranger, he shall not deal con idently, nor open his
mouth.
29:31. He shall entertain and feed, and give drink to the unthankful,
and moreover he shall hear bitter words.
29:32. Go, stranger, and furnish the table, and give others to eat
what thou hast in thy hand.
29:33. Give place to the honourable presence of my friends: for I
want my house, my brother being to be lodged with me.
29:34. These things are grievous to a man of understanding: the
upbraiding of houseroom, and the reproaching of the lender.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 30

Of correction of children. Health is better than wealth. Excessive grief

is hurtful.

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 30:1. He that loveth his son, frequently chastiseth him, that he may
rejoice in his latter end, and not grope after the doors of his
neighbours.
30:2. He that instructeth his son shall be praised in him, and shall
glory in him in the midst of them of his household.
30:3. He that teacheth his son, maketh his enemy jealous, and in the
midst of his friends he shall glory in him.
30:4. His father is dead, and he is as if he were not dead: for he hath
left one behind him that is like himself.
30:5. While he lived he saw and rejoiced in him: and when he died he
was not sorrowful, neither was he confounded before his enemies.
30:6. For he left behind him a defender of his house against his
enemies, and one that will requite kindness to his friends.
30:7. For the souls of his sons he shall bind up his wounds, and at
every cry his bowels shall be troubled.
30:8. A horse not broken becometh stubborn, and a child left to
himself will become headstrong.
30:9. Give thy son his way, and he shall make thee afraid: play with
him, and he shall make thee sorrowful.
30:10. Laugh not with him, lest thou have sorrow, and at the last thy
teeth be set on edge.
30:11. Give him not liberty in his youth, and wink not at his devices.
30:12. Bow down his neck while he is young, and beat his sides while
he is a child, lest he grow stubborn, and regard thee not, and so be a
sorrow of heart to thee.
30:13. Instruct thy son, and labour about him, lest his lewd
behaviour be an offence to thee.
30:14. Better is a poor man who is sound, and strong of constitution,
than a rich man who is weak and af licted with evils.
30:15. Health of the soul in holiness of justice, is better than all gold
and silver: and a sound body, than immense revenues.

 30:16. There is no riches above the riches of the health of the body:
and there is no pleasure above the joy of the heart.
30:17. Better is death than a bitter life, and everlasting rest, than
continual sickness.
30:18. Good things that are hidden in a mouth that is shut, are as
messes of meat set about a grave.
30:19. What good shall an offering do to an idol? for it can neither
eat, nor smell:
30:20. So is he that is persecuted by the Lord, bearing the reward of
his iniquity:
30:21. He seeth with his eyes, and groaneth, as an eunuch
embracing a virgin, and sighing.
30:22. Give not up thy soul to sadness, and af lict not thyself in thy
own counsel.
30:23. The joyfulness of the heart, is the life of a man, and a never
failing treasure of holiness: and the joy of a man is length of life.
30:24. Have pity on thy own soul, pleasing God, and contain thyself:
gather up thy heart in his holiness: and drive away sadness far from
thee.
30:25. For sadness hath killed many, and there is no pro it in it.
30:26. Envy and anger shorten a man’s days, and pensiveness will
bring old age before the time.
30:27. A cheerful and good heart is always feasting: for his banquets
are prepared with diligence.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 31

Of the desire of riches, and of moderation in eating and drinking.

31:1. Watching for riches consumeth the lesh, and the thought
thereof driveth away sleep.
31:2. The thinking beforehand turneth away the understanding, and
a grievous sickness maketh the soul sober.

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 31:3. The rich man hath laboured in gathering riches together, and
when he resteth he shall be illed with his goods.
31:4. The poor man hath laboured in his low way of life, and in the
end he is still poor.
31:5. He that loveth gold, shall not be justi ied: and he that
followeth after corruption, shall be illed with it.
31:6. Many have been brought to fall for gold, and the beauty
thereof hath been their ruin.
31:7. Gold is a stumblingblock to them that sacri ice to it: woe to
them that eagerly follow after it, and every fool shall perish by it.
31:8. Blessed is the rich man that is found without blemish: and that
hath not gone after gold, nor put his trust in money nor in treasures.
31:9. Who is he, and we will praise him? for he hath done wonderful
things in his life.
31:10. Who hath been tried thereby, and made perfect, he shall have
glory everlasting. He that could have transgressed, and hath not
transgressed: and could do evil things, and hath not done them:
31:11. Therefore are his goods established in the Lord, and all the
church of the saints shall declare his alms.
31:12. Art thou set at a great table? be not the irst to open thy
mouth upon it.
31:13. Say not: There are many things which are upon it.
31:14. Remember that a wicked eye is evil.
31:15. What is created more wicked than an eye? therefore shall it
weep over all the face when it shall see.
31:16. Stretch not out thy hand irst, lest being disgraced with envy
thou be put to confusion.
31:17. Be not hasty in a feast.
31:18. Judge of the disposition of thy neighbour by thyself.
31:19. Use as a frugal man the things that are set before thee: lest if
thou eatest much, thou be hated.

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 31:20. Leave off irst, for manners’ sake: and exceed not, lest thou
offend.
31:21. And if thou sittest among many, reach not thy hand out irst
of all, and be not the irst to ask for drink.
31:22. How suf icient is a little wine for a man well taught, and in
sleeping thou shalt not be uneasy with it, and thou shalt feel no pain.
31:23. Watching, and choler, and gripes, are with an intemperate
man:
31:24. Sound and wholesome sleep with a moderate man: he shall
sleep till morning, and his soul shall be delighted with him.
31:25. And if thou hast been forced to eat much, arise, go out, and
vomit: and it shall refresh thee, and thou shalt not bring sickness upon
thy body.
31:26. Hear me, my son, and despise me not: and in the end thou
shalt ind my words.
31:27. In all thy works be quick, and no in irmity shall come to thee.
31:28. The lips of many shall bless him that is liberal of his bread,
and the testimony of his truth is faithful.
31:29. Against him that is niggardly of his bread, the city will
murmur, and the testimony of his niggardliness is true.
31:30. Challenge not them that love wine: for wine hath destroyed
very many.
31:31. Fire trieth hard iron: so wine drunk to excess shall rebuke the
hearts of the proud.
31:32. Wine taken with sobriety is equal life to men: if thou drink it
moderately, thou shalt be sober.
31:33. What is his life, who is diminished with wine?
31:34. What taketh away life? death.
31:35. Wine was created from the beginning to make men joyful,
and not to make them drunk.

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 31:36. Wine drunken with moderation is the joy of the soul and the
heart.
31:37. Sober drinking is health to soul and body.
31:38. Wine drunken with excess raiseth quarrels, and wrath, and
many ruins.
31:39. Wine drunken with excess is bitterness of the soul.
31:40. The heat of drunkenness is the stumblingblock of the fool,
lessening strength and causing wounds.
31:41. Rebuke not thy neighbour in a banquet of wine: and despise
him not in his mirth.
31:42. Speak not to him words of reproach: and press him not in
demanding again.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 32

Lessons for superiors and inferiors. Advantages of fearing God, and

doing nothing without counsel.
32:1. Have they made thee ruler? be not lifted up: be among them as
one of them.
32:2. Have care of them, and so sit down, and when thou hast
acquitted thyself of all thy charge, take thy place:
32:3. That thou mayst rejoice for them, and receive a crown as an
ornament of grace, and get the honour of the contribution.
32:4. Speak, thou that art elder: for it becometh thee,
32:5. To speak the irst word with careful knowledge, and hinder not
music.
32:6. Where there is no hearing, pour not out words, and be not
lifted up out of season with thy wisdom.
32:7. A concert of music in a banquet of wine is as a carbuncle set in
gold.
32:8. As a signet of an emerald in a work of gold: so is the melody of
music with pleasant and moderate wine.

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 32:9. Hear in silence, and for thy reverence good grace shall come to
thee.
32:10. Young man, scarcely speak in thy own cause.
32:11. If thou be asked twice, let thy answer be short.
32:12. In many things be as if thou wert ignorant, and hear in
silence and withal seeking.
32:13. In the company of great men take not upon thee: and when
the ancients are present, speak not much.
32:14. Before a storm goeth lightning: and before shamefacedness
goeth favour: and for thy reverence good grace shall come to thee.
32:15. And at the time of rising be not slack: but be irst to run home
to thy house, and there withdraw thyself, and there take thy pastime.
32:16. And do what thou hast a mind, but not in sin or proud speech.
32:17. And for all these things bless the Lord, that made thee, and
that replenisheth thee with all his good things.
32:18. He that feareth the Lord, will receive his discipline: and they
that will seek him early, shall ind a blessing.
32:19. He that seeketh the law, shall be illed with it: and he that
dealeth deceitfully, shall meet with a stumblingblock therein.
32:20. They that fear the Lord, shall ind just judgment, and shall
kindle justice as a light.
32:21. A sinful man will lee reproof, and will ind an excuse
according to his will.
32:22. A man of counsel will not neglect understanding, a strange
and proud man will not dread fear:
32:23. Even after he hath done with fear without counsel, he shall be
controlled by the things of his own seeking.
32:24. My son, do thou nothing without counsel, and thou shalt not
repent when thou hast done.

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 32:25. Go not in the way of ruin, and thou shalt not stumble against
the stones: trust not thyself to a rugged way, lest thou set a
stumblingblock to thy soul.
32:26. And beware of thy own children, and take heed of them of thy
household.
32:27. In every work of thine regard thy soul in faith: for this is the
keeping of the commandments.
In faith.... That is, follow sincerely thy soul in her faith and conscience.
32:28. He that believeth God, taketh heed to the commandments:
and he that trusteth in him, shall fare never the worse.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 33

The fear of God is the best security. Times and men are in the hands of
God. Take care of thyself as long as thou livest, and look to thy
servants.
33:1. No evils shall happen to him that feareth the Lord, but in
temptation God will keep him and deliver him from evils.
33:2. A wise man hateth not the commandments and justices, and
he shall not be dashed in pieces as a ship in a storm.
33:3. A man of understanding is faithful to the law of God, and the
law is faithful to him.
33:4. He that cleareth up a question, shall prepare what to say, and
so having prayed he shall be heard, and shall keep discipline, and then
he shall answer.
33:5. The heart of a fool is as a wheel of a cart: and his thoughts are
like a rolling axletree.
33:6. A friend that is a mocker, is like a stallion horse: he neigheth
under every one that sitteth upon him.
33:7. Why doth one day excel another, and one light another, and
one year another year, when all come of the sun?
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 33:8. By the knowledge of the Lord they were distinguished, the sun
being made, and keeping his commandment.
33:9. And he ordered the seasons, and holidays of them, and in them
they celebrated festivals at an hour.
33:10. Some of them God made high and great days, and some of
them he put in the number of ordinary days. And all men are from the
ground, and out of the earth, from whence Adam was created.
33:11. With much knowledge the Lord hath divided them and
diversi ied their ways.
33:12. Some of them hath he blessed, and exalted: and some of them
hath he sancti ied, and set near himself: and some of them hath he
cursed and brought low, and turned them from their station.
33:13. As the potter’s clay is in his hand, to fashion and order it:
33:14. All his ways are according to his ordering: so man is in the
hand of him that made him, and he will render to him according to his
judgment.
33:15. Good is set against evil, and life against death: so also is the
sinner against a just man. And so look upon all the works of the most
High. Two and two, and one against another.
33:16. And I awaked last of all, and as one that gathereth after the
grapegatherers.
33:17. In the blessing of God I also have hoped: and as one that
gathereth grapes, have I illed the winepress.
33:18. See that I have not laboured for myself only, but for all that
seek discipline.
33:19. Hear me, ye great men, and all ye people, and hearken with
your ears, ye rulers of the church.
33:20. Give not to son or wife, brother or friend, power over thee
while thou livest; and give not thy estate to another, lest thou repent,
and thou entreat for the same.
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 33:21. As long as thou livest, and hast breath in thee, let no man
change thee.
Change thee.... That is, so as to have this power over thee.
33:22. For it is better that thy children should ask of thee, than that
thou look toward the hands of thy children.
33:23. In all thy works keep the pre-eminence.
The pre-eminence.... That is, be master in thy own house, and part not with thy
authority.
33:24. Let no stain sully thy glory. In the time when thou shalt end
the days of thy life, and in the time of thy decease, distribute thy
inheritance.
33:25. Fodder, and a wand, and a burden are for an ass: bread, and
correction, and work for a slave.
33:26. He worketh under correction, and seeketh to rest: let his
hands be idle, and he seeketh liberty.
33:27. The yoke and the thong bend a stiff neck, and continual
labours bow a slave.
33:28. Torture and fetters are for a malicious slave: send him to
work, that he be not idle:
33:29. For idleness hath taught much evil.
33:30. Set him to work: for so it is it for him. And if he be not
obedient, bring him down with fetters, but be not excessive towards
any one, and do no grievous thing without judgment.
33:31. If thou have a faithful servant, let him be to thee as thy own
soul: treat him as a brother: because in the blood of thy soul thou hast
gotten him.
33:32. If thou hurt him unjustly, he will run away:
33:33. And if he rise up and depart, thou knowest not whom to ask,
and in what way to seek him.

 Ecclesias cus Chapter 34

The vanity of dreams. The advantage of experience, and of the fear of

God.
34:1. The hopes of a man that is void of understanding are vain and
deceitful: and dreams lift up fools.
34:2. The man that giveth heed to lying visions, is like to him that
catcheth at a shadow, and followeth after the wind.
34:3. The vision of dreams is the resemblance of one thing to
another: as when a man’s likeness is before the face of a man.
34:4. What can be made clean by the unclean? and what truth can
come from that which is false?
34:5. Deceitful divinations and lying omens and the dreams of
evildoers, are vanity:
34:6. And the heart fancieth as that of a woman in travail: except it
be a vision sent forth from the most High, set not thy heart upon them.
34:7. For dreams have deceived many, and they have failed that put
their trust in them.
34:8. The word of the law shall be ful illed without a lie, and wisdom
shall be made plain in the mouth of the faithful.
34:9. What doth he know, that hath not been tried? A man that hath
much experience, shall think of many things: and he that hath learned
many things, shall shew forth understanding.
34:10. He that hath no experience, knoweth little: and he that hath
been experienced in many things, multiplieth prudence.
34:11. He that hath not been tried, what manner of things doth he
know? he that hath been surprised, shall abound with subtlety.
34:12. I have seen many things by travelling, and many customs of
things.
34:13. Sometimes I have been in danger of death for these things,
and I have been delivered by the grace of God.

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 34:14. The spirit of those that fear God, is sought after, and by his
regard shall be blessed.
34:15. For their hope is on him that saveth them, and the eyes of God
are upon them that love him.
34:16. He that feareth the Lord shall tremble at nothing, and shall
not be afraid: for he is his hope.
34:17. The soul of him that feareth the Lord is blessed.
34:18. To whom doth he look, and who is his strength?
34:19. The eyes of the Lord are upon them that fear him, he is their
powerful protector, and strong stay, a defence from the heat, and a
cover from the sun at noon,
34:20. A preservation from stumbling, and a help from falling: he
raiseth up the soul, and enlighteneth the eyes, and giveth health, and
life, and blessing.
34:21. The offering of him that sacri iceth of a thing wrongfully
gotten, is stained, and the mockeries of the unjust are not acceptable.
34:22. The Lord is only for them that wait upon him in the way of
truth and justice.
34:23. The most High approveth not the gifts of the wicked: neither
hath he respect to the oblations of the unjust, nor will he be paci ied
for sins by the multitude of their sacri ices.
34:24. He that offereth sacri ice of the goods of the poor, is as one
that sacri iceth the son in the presence of his father.
34:25. The bread of the needy, is the life of the poor: he that
defraudeth them thereof, is a man of blood.
34:26. He that taketh away the bread gotten by sweat, is like him
that killeth his neighbour.
34:27. He that sheddeth blood, and he that defraudeth the laborer
of his hire, are brothers.
34:28. When one buildeth up, and another pulleth down: what pro it
have they but the labour?
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 34:29. When one prayeth, and another curseth: whose voice will God
hear?
34:30. He that washeth himself after touching the dead, if he
toucheth him again, what doth his washing avail?
34:31. So a man that fasteth for his sins, and doth the same again,
what doth his humbling himself pro it him? who will hear his prayer?
Ecclesias cus Chapter 35

What sacri ices are pleasing to God.

35:1. He that keepeth the law, multiplieth offerings.
35:2. It is a wholesome sacri ice to take heed to the commandments,
and to depart from all iniquity.
35:3. And to depart from injustice, is to offer a propitiatory sacri ice
for injustices, and a begging of pardon for sins.
35:4. He shall return thanks, that offereth ine lour: and he that
doth mercy, offereth sacri ice.
35:5. To depart from iniquity is that which pleaseth the Lord, and to
depart from injustice, is an entreaty for sins.
35:6. Thou shalt not appear empty in the sight of the Lord.
35:7. For all these things are to be done because of the
commandment of God.
35:8. The oblation of the just maketh the altar fat, and is an odour
of sweetness in the sight of the most High.
35:9. The sacri ice of the just is acceptable, and the Lord will not
forget the memorial thereof.
35:10. Give glory to God with a good heart: and diminish not the
irstfruits of thy hands.
35:11. In every gift shew a cheerful countenance, and sanctify thy
tithes with joy.
35:12. Give to the most High according to what he hath given to
thee, and with a good eye do according to the ability of thy hands:
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 35:13. For the Lord maketh recompense, and will give thee seven
times as much.
35:14. Do not offer wicked gifts, for such he will not receive.
35:15. And look not upon an unjust sacri ice, for the Lord is judge,
and there is not with him respect of person.
35:16. The Lord will not accept any person against a poor man, and
he will hear the prayer of him that is wronged.
35:17. He will not despise the prayers of the fatherless: nor the
widow, when she poureth out her complaint.
35:18. Do not the widow’s tears run down the cheek, and her cry
against him that causeth them to fall?
35:19. For from the cheek they go up even to heaven, and the Lord
that heareth will not be delighted with them.
35:20. He that adoreth God with joy, shall be accepted, and his
prayer shall approach even to the clouds.
35:21. The prayer of him that humbleth himself, shall pierce the
clouds: and till it come nigh he will not be comforted: and he will not
depart till the most High behold.
35:22. And the Lord will not be slack, but will judge for the just, and
will do judgment: and the Almighty will not have patience with them,
that he may crush their back:
35:23. And he will repay vengeance to the Gentiles, till he have taken
away the multitude of the proud, and broken the sceptres of the unjust,
35:24. Till he have rendered to men according to their deeds: and
according to the works of Adam, and according to his presumption,
35:25. Till he have judged the cause of his people, and he shall
delight the just with his mercy.
35:26. The mercy of God is beautiful in the time of af liction, as a
cloud of rain in the time of drought.

 Ecclesias cus Chapter 36

A prayer for the church of God. Of a good heart, and a good wife.
36:1. Have mercy upon us, O God of all, and behold us, and shew us
the light of thy mercies:
36:2. And send thy fear upon the nations, that have not sought after
thee: that they may know that there is no God beside thee, and that
they may shew forth thy wonders.
36:3. Lift up thy hand over the strange nations, that they may see
thy power.
36:4. For as thou hast been sancti ied in us in their sight, so thou
shalt be magni ied among them in our presence,
36:5. That they may know thee, as we also have known thee, that
there is no God beside thee, O Lord.
36:6. Renew thy signs, and work new miracles.
36:7. Glorify thy hand, and thy right arm.
36:8. Raise up indignation, and pour out wrath.
36:9. Take away the adversary, and crush the enemy.
36:10. Hasten the time, and remember the end, that they may
declare thy wonderful works.
36:11. Let him that escapeth be consumed by the rage of the ire:
and let them perish that oppress thy people.
36:12. Crush the head of the princes of the enemies that say: There is
no other beside us.
36:13. Gather together all the tribes of Jacob: that they may know
that there no God besides thee, and may declare thy great works: and
thou shalt inherit them as from the beginning.
36:14. Have mercy on thy people, upon whom thy name is invoked:
and upon Israel, whom thou hast raised up to be thy irstborn.
36:15. Have mercy on Jerusalem, the city which thou hast sancti ied,
the city of thy rest.
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 36:16. Fill Sion with thy unspeakable words, and thy people with thy
glory.
36:17. Give testimony to them that are thy creatures from the
beginning, and raise up the prophecies which the former prophets
spoke in thy name.
36:18. Reward them that patiently wait for thee, that thy prophets
may be found faithful: and hear the prayers of thy servants,
36:19. According to the blessing of Aaron over thy people, and direct
us into the way of justice, and let all know that dwell upon the earth,
that thou art God the beholder of all ages.
36:20. The belly will devour all meat, yet one is better than another.
36:21. The palate tasteth venison and the wise heart false speeches.
36:22. A perverse heart will cause grief, and a man of experience
will resist it.
36:23. A woman will receive every man: yet one daughter is better
than another.
A woman will receive every man.... That is, any man that her parents propose to
her to marry, though she does not like him, but marries in obedience to her
parents, who make the choice for her.
36:24. The beauty of a woman cheereth the countenance of her
husband, and a man desireth nothing more.
36:25. If she have a tongue that can cure, and likewise mitigate and
shew mercy: her husband is not like other men.
36:26. He that possesseth a good wife, beginneth a possession: she is
a help like to himself, and a pillar of rest.
36:27. Where there is no hedge, the possession shall be spoiled: and
where there is no wife, he mourneth that is in want.
36:28. Who will trust him that hath no rest, and that lodgeth
wheresoever the night taketh him, as a robber well appointed, that
skippeth from city to city.

 Ecclesias cus Chapter 37

Of the choice of friends and counsellors.

37:1. Every friend will say: I also am his friend: but there is a friend,
that is only a friend in name. Is not this a grief even to death?
37:2. But a companion and a friend shall be turned to an enemy.
37:3. O wicked presumption, whence camest thou to cover the earth
with thy malice, and deceitfulness?
37:4. There is a companion who rejoiceth with his friend in his joys,
but in the time of trouble, he will be against him.
37:5. There is a companion who condoleth with his friend for his
belly’s sake, and he will take up a shield against the enemy.
37:6. Forget not thy friend in thy mind, and be not unmindful of him
in thy riches.
37:7. Consult not with him that layeth a snare for thee, and hide thy
counsel from them that envy thee.
37:8. Every counsellor giveth out counsel, but there is one that is a
counsellor for himself.
37:9. Beware of a counsellor. And know before what need he hath:
for he will devise to his own mind:
37:10. Lest he thrust a stake into the ground, and say to thee:
37:11. Thy way is good; and then stand on the other side to see what
shall befall thee.
37:12. Treat not with a man without religion concerning holiness,
nor with an unjust man concerning justice, nor with a woman
touching her of whom she is jealous, nor with a coward concerning
war, nor with a merchant about traf ic, nor with a buyer of selling, nor
with an envious man of giving thanks,
37:13. Nor with the ungodly of piety, nor with the dishonest of
honesty, nor with the ield laborer of every work,
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 37:14. Nor with him that worketh by the year of the inishing of the
year, nor with an idle servant of much business: give no heed to these
in any matter of counsel.
37:15. But be continually with a holy man, whomsoever thou shalt
know to observe the fear of God,
37:16. Whose soul is according to thy own soul: and who, when thou
shalt stumble in the dark, will be sorry for thee.
37:17. And establish within thyself a heart of good counsel: for there
is no other thing of more worth to thee than it.
37:18. The soul of a holy man discovereth sometimes true things,
more than seven watchmen that sit in a high place to watch.
37:19. But above all these things pray to the most High, that he may
direct thy way in truth.
37:20. In all thy works let the true word go before thee, and steady
counsel before every action.
37:21. A wicked word shall change the heart: out of which four
manner of things arise, good and evil, life and death: and the tongue is
continually the ruler of them. There is a man that is subtle and a
teacher of many, and yet is unpro itable to his own soul.
37:22. A skilful man hath taught many, and is sweet to his own soul.
37:23. He that speaketh sophistically, is hateful: he shall be destitute
of every thing.
37:24. Grace is not given him from the Lord: for he is deprived of all
wisdom.
37:25. There is a wise man that is wise to his own soul: and the fruit
of his understanding is commendable.
37:26. A wise man instructeth his own people, and the fruits of his
understanding are faithful.
37:27. A wise man shall be illed with blessings, and they that see
shall praise him.

 37:28. The life of a man is in the number of his days: but the days of
Israel are innumerable.
37:29. A wise man shall inherit honour among his people, and his
name shall live for ever.
37:30. My son, prove thy soul in thy life: and if it be wicked, give it no
power:
37:31. For all things are not expedient for all, and every kind
pleaseth not every soul.
37:32. Be not greedy in any feasting, and pour not out thyself upon
any meat:
37:33. For in many meats there will be sickness, and greediness will
turn to choler.
37:34. By surfeiting many have perished, but he that is temperate,
shall prolong life.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 38

Of physicians and medicines: what is to be done in sickness, and how

we are to mourn for the dead. Of the employments of labourers and
arti icers.
38:1. Honour the physician for the need thou hast of him: for the
most High hath created him.
38:2. For all healing is from God, and he shall receive gifts of the
king.
38:3. The skill of the physician shall lift up his head, and in the sight
of great men he shall be praised.
38:4. The most High hath created medicines out of the earth, and a
wise man will not abhor them.
38:5. Was not bitter water made sweet with wood?
38:6. The virtue of these things is come to the knowledge of men,
and the most High hath given knowledge to men, that he may be
honoured in his wonders.
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 38:7. By these he shall cure and shall allay their pains, and of these
the apothecary shall make sweet confections, and shall make up
ointments of health, and of his works there shall be no end.
38:8. For the peace of God is over all the face of the earth.
38:9. My son, in thy sickness neglect not thyself, but pray to the Lord,
and he shall heal thee.
38:10. Turn away from sin and order thy hands aright, and cleanse
thy heart from all offence.
38:11. Give a sweet savour, and a memorial of ine lour, and make a
fat offering, and then give place to the physician.
38:12. For the Lord created him: and let him not depart from thee,
for his works are necessary.
38:13. For there is a time when thou must fall into their hands:
38:14. And they shall beseech the Lord, that he would prosper what
they give for ease and remedy, for their conversation.
38:15. He that sinneth in the sight of his Maker, shall fall into the
hands of the physician.
38:16. My son, shed tears over the dead, and begin to lament as if
thou hadst suffered some great harm, and according to judgment
cover his body, and neglect not his burial.
38:17. And for fear of being ill spoken of weep bitterly for a day, and
then comfort thyself in thy sadness.
38:18. And make mourning for him according to his merit for a day,
or two, for fear of detraction.
38:19. For of sadness cometh death, and it overwhelmeth the
strength, and the sorrow of the heart boweth down the neck.
38:20. In withdrawing aside sorrow remaineth: and the substance
of the poor is according to his heart.
38:21. Give not up thy heart to sadness, but drive it from thee: and
remember the latter end.

 38:22. Forget it not: for there is no returning, and thou shalt do him
no good, and shalt hurt thyself.
38:23. Remember my judgment: for thine also shall be so: yesterday
for me, and to day for thee.
38:24. When the dead is at rest, let his remembrance rest, and
comfort him in the departing of his spirit.
38:25. The wisdom of a scribe cometh by his time of leisure: and he
that is less in action, shall receive wisdom.
A scribe.... That is, a doctor of the law, or, a learned man.
38:26. With what wisdom shall he be furnished that holdeth the
plough, and that glorieth in the goad, that driveth the oxen therewith,
and is occupied in their labours, and his whole talk is about the
offspring of bulls?
38:27. He shall give his mind to turn up furrows, and his care is to
give the kine fodder.
38:28. So every craftsman and workmaster that laboureth night
and day, he who maketh graven seals, and by his continual diligence
varieth the igure: he shall give his mind to the resemblance of the
picture, and by his watching shall inish the work.
38:29. So doth the smith sitting by the anvil and considering the
iron work. The vapour of the ire wasteth his lesh, and he ighteth
with the heat of the furnace.
38:30. The noise of the hammer is always in his ears, and his eye is
upon the pattern of the vessel he maketh.
38:31. He setteth his mind to inish his work, and his watching to
polish them to perfection.
38:32. So doth the potter sitting at his work, turning the wheel
about with his feet, who is always carefully set to his work, and
maketh all his work by number:
38:33. He fashioneth the clay with his arm, and boweth down his
strength before his feet:
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 38:34. He shall give his mind to inish the glazing, and his watching
to make clean the furnace.
38:35. All these trust to their hands, and every one is wise in his own
art.
38:36. Without these a city is not built.
38:37. And they shall not dwell, nor walk about therein, and they
shall not go up into the assembly.
38:38. Upon the judges’ seat they shall not sit, and the ordinance of
judgment they shall not understand, neither shall they declare
discipline and judgment, and they shall not be found where parables
are spoken:
38:39. But they shall strengthen the state of the world, and their
prayer shall be in the work of their craft, applying their soul, and
searching in the law of the most High.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 39

The exercises of the wise man. The Lord is to be glori ied for his works.
39:1. The wise man will seek out the wisdom of all the ancients, and
will be occupied in the prophets.
39:2. He will keep the sayings of renowned men, and will enter
withal into the subtilties of parables.
39:3. He will search out the hidden meanings of proverbs, and will
be conversant in the secrets of parables.
39:4. He shall serve among great men, and appear before the
governor.
39:5. He shall pass into strange countries: for he shall try good and
evil among men.
39:6. He will give his heart to resort early to the Lord that made
him, and he will pray in the sight of the most High.
39:7. He will open his mouth in prayer, and will make supplication
for his sins.

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 39:8. For if it shall please the great Lord, he will ill him with the
spirit of understanding:
39:9. And he will pour forth the words of his wisdom as showers, and
in his prayer he will confess to the Lord.
39:10. And he shall direct his counsel, and his knowledge, and in his
secrets shall he meditate.
39:11. He shall shew forth the discipline he hath learned, and shall
glory in the law of the covenant of the Lord.
39:12. Many shall praise his wisdom, and it shall never be forgotten.
39:13. The memory of him shall not depart away, and his name shall
be in request from generation to generation.
39:14. Nations shall declare his wisdom, and the church shall shew
forth his praise.
39:15. If he continue, he shall leave a name above a thousand: and if
he rest, it shall be to his advantage.
39:16. I will yet meditate that I may declare: for I am illed as with a
holy transport.
39:17. By a voice he saith: Hear me, ye divine offspring, and bud
forth as the rose planted by the brooks of waters.
Ye divine offspring.... He speaks to the children of Israel, the people of God: whom
he exhorts to bud forth and lourish with virtue.
39:18. Give ye a sweet odour as frankincense.
39:19. Send forth lowers, as the lily, and yield a smell, and bring
forth leaves in grace, and praise with canticles, and bless the Lord in
his works.
39:20. Magnify his name, and give glory to him with the voice of
your lips, and with the canticles of your mouths, and with harps, and
in praising him, you shall say in this manner:
39:21. All the works of the Lord are exceeding good.
39:22. At his word the waters stood as a heap: and at the words of
his mouth the receptacles of waters:

 39:23. For at his commandment favour is shewn, and there is no

diminishing of his salvation.
39:24. The works of all lesh are before him, and there is nothing hid
from his eyes.
39:25. He seeth from eternity to eternity, and there is nothing
wonderful before him.
39:26. There is no saying: What is this, or what is that? for all things
shall be sought in their time.
39:27. His blessing hath over lowed like a river.
39:28. And as a lood hath watered the earth; so shall his wrath
inherit the nations, that have not sought after him.
39:29. Even as he turned the waters into a dry land, and the earth
was made dry: and his ways were made plain for their journey: so to
sinners they are stumblingblocks in his wrath.
39:30. Good things were created for the good from the beginning, so
for the wicked, good and evil things.
39:31. The principal things necessary for the life of men, are water,
ire, and iron, salt, milk, and bread of lour, and honey, and the cluster
of the grape, and oil, and clothing.
39:32. All these things shall be for good to the holy, so to the sinners
and the ungodly they shall be turned into evil.
39:33. There are spirits that are created for vengeance, and in their
fury they lay on grievous torments.
39:34. In the time of destruction they shall pour out their force: and
they shall appease the wrath of him that made them.
39:35. Fire, hail, famine, and death, all these were created for
vengeance.
39:36. The teeth of beasts, and scorpions, and serpents, and the
sword taking vengeance upon the ungodly unto destruction.
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 39:37. In his commandments they shall feast, and they shall be

ready upon earth when need is, and when their time is come they shall
not transgress his word.
39:38. Therefore from the beginning I was resolved, and I have
meditated, and thought on these things and left them in writing,
39:39. All the works of the Lord are good, and he will furnish every
work in due time.
39:40. It is not to be said: This is worse than that: for all shall be
well approved in their time.
39:41. Now therefore with the whole heart and mouth praise ye
him, and bless the name of the Lord.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 40

The miseries of the life of man are relieved by the grace of God and his
fear.
40:1. Great labour is created for all men, and a heavy yoke is upon
the children of Adam from the day of their coming out of their
mother’s womb, until the day of their burial into the mother of all.
40:2. Their thoughts, and fears of the heart, their imagination of
things to come, and the day of their end:
40:3. From him that sitteth on a glorious throne, unto him that is
humbled in earth and ashes:
40:4. From him that weareth purple, and beareth the crown, even to
him that is covered with rough linen: wrath, envy, trouble,
unquietness, and the fear of death, continual anger, and strife,
40:5. And in the time of rest upon his bed, the sleep of the night
changeth his knowledge.
40:6. A little and as nothing is his rest, and afterward in sleep, as in
the day of keeping watch.

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 40:7. He is troubled in the vision of his heart, as if he had escaped in

the day of battle. In the time of his safety he rose up, and wondereth
that there is no fear.
40:8. Such things happen to all lesh, from man even to beast, and
upon sinners are sevenfold more.
40:9. Moreover, death, and bloodshed, strife, and sword, oppressions,
famine, and af liction, and scourges:
40:10. All these things are created for the wicked, and for their
sakes came the lood.
40:11. All things that are of the earth, shall return to the earth
again, and all waters shall return to the sea.
40:12. All bribery, and injustice shall be blotted out, and idelity
shall stand for ever.
40:13. The riches of the unjust shall be dried up like a river, and
shall pass away with a noise like a great thunder in rain.
40:14. While he openeth his hands he shall rejoice: but transgressors
shall pine away in the end.
40:15. The offspring of the ungodly shall not bring forth many
branches, and make a noise as unclean roots upon the top of a rock.
40:16. The weed growing over every water, and at the bank of the
river, shall be pulled up before all grass.
40:17. Grace is like a paradise in blessings, and mercy remaineth for
ever.
40:18. The life of a laborer that is content with what he hath, shall
be sweet, and in it thou shalt ind a treasure.
40:19. Children, and the building of a city shall establish a name, but
a blameless wife shall be counted above them both.
40:20. Wine and music rejoice the heart, but the love of wisdom is
above them both.
40:21. The lute and the psaltery make a sweet melody, but a
pleasant tongue is above them both.

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 40:22. Thy eye desireth favour and beauty, but more than these
green sown ields.
40:23. A friend and companion meeting together in season, but
above them both is a wife with her husband.
40:24. Brethren are a help in the time of trouble, but mercy shall
deliver more than they.
40:25. Gold and silver make the feet stand sure: but wise counsel is
above them both.
40:26. Riches and strength lift up the heart: but above these is the
fear of the Lord.
40:27. There is no want in the fear of the Lord, and it needeth not to
seek for help.
40:28. The fear of the Lord is like a paradise of blessing, and they
have covered it above all glory.
40:29. My son, in thy lifetime be not indigent: for it is better to die
than to want.
40:30. The life of him that looketh toward another man’s table is not
to be counted a life: for he feedeth his soul with another man’s meat.
40:31. But a man, well instructed and taught, will look to himself.
40:32. Begging will be sweet in the mouth of the unwise, but in his
belly there shall burn a ire.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 41

Of the remembrance of death: of an evil and of a good name: of what

things we ought to be ashamed.
41:1. O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that
hath peace in his possessions!
41:2. To a man that is at rest, and whose ways are prosperous in all
things, and that is yet able to take meat!
41:3. O death thy sentence is welcome to the man that is in need,
and to him whose strength faileth:
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 41:4. Who is in a decrepit age, and that is in care about all things,
and to the distrustful that loseth patience!
41:5. Fear not the sentence of death. Remember what things have
been before thee, and what shall come after thee: this sentence is from
the Lord upon all lesh.
41:6. And what shall come upon thee by the good pleasure of the
most High? whether ten, or a hundred, or a thousand years.
41:7. For among the dead there is no accusing of life.
41:8. The children of sinners become children of abominations, and
they that converse near the houses of the ungodly.
41:9. The inheritance of the children of sinners shall perish, and
with their posterity shall be a perpetual reproach.
41:10. The children will complain of an ungodly father, because for
his sake they are in reproach.
41:11. Woe to you, ungodly men, who have forsaken the law of the
most high Lord.
41:12. And if you be born, you shall be born in malediction: and if
you die, in malediction shall be your portion.
41:13. All things that are of the earth, shall return into the earth: so
the ungodly shall from malediction to destruction.
41:14. The mourning of men is about their body, but the name of the
ungodly shall be blotted out.
41:15. Take care of a good name: for this shall continue with thee,
more than a thousand treasures precious and great.
41:16. A good life hath its number of days: but a good name shall
continue for ever.
41:17. My children, keep discipline in peace: for wisdom that is hid,
and a treasure that is not seen, what pro it is there in them both?
41:18. Better is the man that hideth his folly, than the man that
hideth his wisdom.

 41:19. Wherefore have a shame of these things I am now going to

speak of.
Have a shame, etc.... That is to say, be ashamed of doing any of these things,
which I am now going to mention; for though sometimes shamefacedness is not
to be indulged: yet it is often good and necessary: as in the following cases.
41:20. For it is not good to keep all shamefacedness: and all things
do not please all men in opinion.
41:21. Be ashamed of fornication before father and mother: and of a
lie before a governor and a man in power:
41:22. Of an offence before a prince, and a judge: of iniquity before a
congregation and a people:
41:23. Of injustice before a companion and friend: and in regard to
the place where thou dwellest,
41:24. Of theft, and of the truth of God, and the covenant: of leaning
with thy elbow over meat, and of deceit in giving and taking:
41:25. Of silence before them that salute thee: of looking upon a
harlot: and of turning away thy face from thy kinsman.
41:26. Turn not away thy face from thy neighbour, and of taking
away a portion and not restoring.
41:27. Gaze not upon another man’s wife, and be not inquisitive
after his handmaid, and approach not her bed.
41:28. Be ashamed of upbraiding speeches before friends: and after
thou hast given, upbraid not.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 42

Of what things we ought not to be ashamed. Cautions with regard to

women. The works and greatness of God.
42:1. Repeat not the word which thou hast heard, and disclose not
the thing that is secret; so shalt thou be truly without confusion, and
shalt ind favour before all men: be not ashamed of any of these things,
and accept no person to sin thereby:
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 42:2. Of the law of the most High, and of his covenant, and of
judgment to justify the ungodly:
42:3. Of the affair of companions and travellers, and of the gift of
the inheritance of friends:
42:4. Of exactness of balance and weights, of getting much or little:
42:5. Of the corruption of buying, and of merchants, and of much
correction of children, and to make the side of a wicked slave to bleed.
42:6. Sure keeping is good over a wicked wife.
42:7. Where there are many hands, shut up, and deliver all things in
number, and weight: and put all in writing that thou givest out or
receivest in.
42:8. Be not ashamed to inform the unwise and foolish, and the
aged, that are judged by young men: and thou shalt be well instructed
in all things, and well approved in the sight of all men living.
42:9. The father waketh for the daughter when no man knoweth,
and the care for her taketh away his sleep, when she is young, lest she
pass away the lower of her age, and when she is married, lest she
should be hateful:
42:10. In her virginity, lest she should be corrupted, and be found
with child in her father’s house: and having a husband, lest she should
misbehave herself, or at the least become barren.
42:11. Keep a sure watch over a shameless daughter: lest at anytime
she make thee become a laughingstock to thy enemies, and a byword
in the city, and a reproach among the people, and she make thee
ashamed before all the multitude.
42:12. Behold not everybody’s beauty: and tarry not among women.
42:13. For from garments cometh a moth, and from a woman the
iniquity of a man.
42:14. For better is the iniquity of a man, than a woman doing a
good turn, and a woman bringing shame and reproach.

 Better is the iniquity, etc.... That is, there is, commonly speaking, less danger to be
apprehended to the soul from the churlishness, or injuries we receive from men,
than from the lattering favours and familiarity of women.
42:15. I will now remember the works of the Lord, and I will declare
the things I have seen. By the words of the Lord are his works.
42:16. The sun giving light hath looked upon all things, and full of
the glory of the Lord is his work.
42:17. Hath not the Lord made the saints to declare all his
wonderful works, which the Lord Almighty hath irmly settled to be
established for his glory?
42:18. He hath searched out the deep, and the heart of men: and
considered their crafty devices.
42:19. For the Lord knoweth all knowledge, and hath beheld the
signs of the world, he declareth the things that are past, and the things
that are to come, and revealeth the traces of hidden things.
42:20. No thought escapeth him, and no word can hide itself from
him.
42:21. He hath beauti ied the glorious works of his wisdom: and he
is from eternity to eternity, and to him nothing may be added,
42:22. Nor can he be diminished, and he hath no need of any
counsellor.
42:23. O how desirable are all his works, and what we can know is
but as a spark!
42:24. All these things live, and remain for ever, and for every use all
things obey him.
42:25. All things are double, one against another, and he hath made
nothing defective.
42:26. He hath established the good things of every one. And who
shall be illed with beholding his glory?

 Ecclesias cus Chapter 43

The works of God are exceedingly glorious and wonderful: no man is

able suf iciently to praise him.
43:1. The irmament on high is his beauty, the beauty of heaven with
its glorious shew.
43:2. The sun when he appeareth shewing forth at his rising, an
admirable instrument, the work of the most High.
43:3. At noon he burneth the earth, and who can abide his burning
heat? As one keeping a furnace in the works of heat:
43:4. The sun three times as much, burneth the mountains,
breathing out iery vapours, and shining with his beams, he blindeth
the eyes.
43:5. Great is the Lord that made him, and at his words he hath
hastened his course.
43:6. And the moon in all in her season, is for a declaration of times
and a sign of the world.
43:7. From the moon is the sign of the festival day, a light that
decreaseth in her perfection.
43:8. The month is called after her name, increasing wonderfully in
her perfection.
43:9. Being an instrument of the armies on high, shining gloriously
in the irmament of heaven.
43:10. The glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven; the Lord
enlighteneth the world on high.
43:11. By the words of the holy one they stand in judgment, and
shall never fall in their watches.
43:12. Look upon the rainbow, and bless him that made it: it is very
beautiful in its brightness.
43:13. It encompasseth the heaven about with the circle of its glory,
the hands of the most High have displayed it.
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 43:14. By his commandment he maketh the snow to fall apace, and

sendeth forth swiftly the lightnings of his judgment.
43:15. Through this are the treasures opened, and the clouds ly out
like birds.
43:16. By his greatness he hath ixed the clouds, and the hailstones
are broken.
43:17. At his sight shall the mountains be shaken, and at his will the
south wind shall blow.
43:18. The noise of his thunder shall strike the earth, so doth the
northern storm, and the whirlwind:
43:19. And as the birds lighting upon the earth, he scattereth snow,
and the falling thereof, is as the coming down of locusts.
43:20. The eye admireth at the beauty of the whiteness thereof, and
the heart is astonished at the shower thereof.
43:21. He shall pour frost as salt upon the earth: and when it
freezeth, it shall become like the tops of thistles.
43:22. The cold north wind bloweth, and the water is congealed into
crystal; upon every gathering together of waters it shall rest, and shall
clothe the waters as a breastplate.
43:23. And it shall devour the mountains, and burn the wilderness,
and consume all that is green as with ire.
43:24. A present remedy of all is the speedy coming of a cloud, and a
dew that meeteth it, by the heat that cometh, shall overpower it.
43:25. At his word the wind is still, and with his thought he
appeaseth the deep, and the Lord hath planted islands therein.
43:26. Let them that sail on the sea, tell the dangers thereof: and
when we hear with our ears, we shall admire.
43:27. There are great and wonderful works: a variety of beasts,
and of all living things, and the monstrous creatures of whales.
43:28. Through him is established the end of their journey, and by
his word all things are regulated.

 43:29. We shall say much, and yet shall want words: but the sum of
our words is, He is all.
43:30. What shall we be able to do to glorify him? for the Almighty
himself is above all his works.
43:31. The Lord is terrible, and exceeding great, and his power is
admirable.
43:32. Glorify the Lord as much as ever you can, for he will yet far
exceed, and his magni icence is wonderful.
43:33. Blessing the Lord, exalt him as much as you can; for he is
above all praise.
43:34. When you exalt him put forth all your strength, and be not
weary: for you can never go far enough.
43:35. Who shall see him, and declare him? and who shall magnify
him as he is from the beginning?
43:36. There are many things hidden from us that are greater than
these: for we have seen but a few of his works.
43:37. But the Lord hath made all things, and to the godly he hath
given wisdom.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 44

The praises of the holy fathers, in particular of Enoch, Noe, Abraham,

Isaac, and Jacob.
44:1. Let us now praise men of renown and our fathers in their
generation.
44:2. The Lord hath wrought great glory through his magni icence
from the beginning.
44:3. Such as have borne rule in their dominions, men of great
power, and endued with their wisdom, shewing forth in the prophets
the dignity of prophets,
44:4. And ruling over the present people, and by the strength of
wisdom instructing the people in most holy words.
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 44:5. Such as by their skill sought out musical tunes, and published
canticles of the scriptures.
44:6. Rich men in virtue, studying beautifulness: living at peace in
their houses.
44:7. All these have gained glory in their generations, and were
praised in their days.
44:8. They that were born of them have left a name behind them,
that their praises might be related:
44:9. And there are some, of whom there is no memorial: who are
perished, as if they had never been: and are become as if they had
never been born, and their children with them.
44:10. But these were men of mercy, whose godly deeds have not
failed:
44:11. Good things continue with their seed,
44:12. Their posterity are a holy inheritance, and their seed hath
stood in the covenants.
44:13. And their children for their sakes remain for ever: their seed
and their glory shall not be forsaken.
44:14. Their bodies are buried in peace, and their name liveth unto
generation and generation.
44:15. Let the people shew forth their wisdom, and the church
declare their praise.
44:16. Henoch pleased God, and was translated into paradise, that
he may give repentance to the nations.
44:17. Noe was found perfect, just, and in the time of wrath he was
made a reconciliation.
44:18. Therefore was there a remnant left to the earth, when the
lood came.
44:19. The covenants of the world were made with him, that all lesh
should no more be destroyed with the lood.
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 44:20. Abraham was the great father of a multitude of nations, and
there was not found the like to him in glory, who kept the law of the
most High, and was in covenant with him.
44:21. In his lesh he established the covenant, and in temptation he
was found faithful.
44:22. Therefore by an oath he gave him glory in his posterity, that
he should increase as the dust of the earth,
44:23. And that he would exalt his seed as the stars, and they should
inherit from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.
44:24. And he did in like manner with Isaac for the sake of Abraham
his father.
44:25. The Lord gave him the blessing of all nations, and con irmed
his covenant upon the head of Jacob.
44:26. He acknowledged him in his blessings, and gave him an
inheritance, and divided him his portion in twelve tribes.
44:27. And he preserved for him men of mercy, that found grace in
the eyes of all lesh.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 45

The praises of Moses, of Aaron, and of Phinees.

45:1. Moses was beloved of God, and men: whose memory is in
benediction.
45:2. He made him like the saints in glory, and magni ied him in the
fear of his enemies, and with his words he made prodigies to cease.
45:3. He glori ied him in the sight of kings, and gave him
commandments in the sight of his people, and shewed him his glory.
45:4. He sancti ied him in his faith, and meekness, and chose him out
of all lesh.
45:5. For he heard him, and his voice, and brought him into a cloud.
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 45:6. And he gave him commandments before his face, and a law of
life and instruction, that he might teach Jacob his covenant, and Israel
his judgments.
45:7. He exalted Aaron his brother, and like to himself of the tribe of
Levi:
45:8. He made an everlasting covenant with him, and gave him the
priesthood of the nation, and made him blessed in glory,
45:9. And he girded him about with a glorious girdle, and clothed
him with a robe of glory, and crowned him with majestic attire.
45:10. He put upon him a garment to the feet, and breeches, and an
ephod, and he compassed him with many little bells of gold all round
about,
45:11. That as he went there might be a sound, and a noise made
that might be heard in the temple, for a memorial to the children of his
people.
45:12. He gave him a holy robe of gold, and blue, and purple, a
woven work of a wise man, endued with judgment and truth:
45:13. Of twisted scarlet the work of an artist, with precious stones
cut and set in gold, and graven by the work of a lapidary for a
memorial, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
45:14. And a crown of gold upon his mitre wherein was engraved
Holiness, an ornament of honour: a work of power, and delightful to
the eyes for its beauty.
45:15. Before him there were none so beautiful, even from the
beginning.
45:16. No stranger was ever clothed with them, but only his children
alone, and his grandchildren for ever.
45:17. His sacri ices were consumed with ire every day.
45:18. Moses illed his hands and anointed him with holy oil.

 45:19. This was made to him for an everlasting testament, and to his
seed as the days of heaven, to execute the of ice of the priesthood, and
to have praise, and to glorify his people in his name.
45:20. He chose him out of all men living, to offer sacri ice to God,
incense, and a good savour, for a memorial to make reconciliation for
his people:
45:21. And he gave him power in his commandments, in the
covenants of his judgments, that he should teach Jacob his testimonies,
and give light to Israel in his law.
45:22. And strangers stood up against him, and through envy the
men that were with Dathan and Abiron, compassed him about in the
wilderness, and the congregation of Core in their wrath.
45:23. The Lord God saw and it pleased him not, and they were
consumed in his wrathful indignation.
45:24. He wrought wonders upon them, and consumed them with a
lame of ire.
45:25. And he added glory to Aaron, and gave him an inheritance,
and divided unto him the irstfruits of the increase of the earth.
45:26. He prepared them bread in the irst place unto fulness: for
the sacri ices also of the Lord they shall eat, which he gave to him, and
to his seed.
45:27. But he shall not inherit among the people in the land, and he
hath no portion among the people: for he himself is his portion and
inheritance.
45:28. Phinees the son of Eleazar is the third in glory, by imitating
him in the fear of the Lord:
45:29. And he stood up in the shameful fall of the people: in the
goodness and readiness of his soul he appeased God for Israel.
45:30. Therefore he made to him a covenant of peace, to be the
prince of the sanctuary, and of his people, that the dignity of
priesthood should be to him and to his seed for ever.
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 45:31. And a covenant to David the king, the son of Jesse of the tribe
of Juda, an inheritance to him and to his seed, that he might give
wisdom into our heart to judge his people in justice, that their good
things might not be abolished, and he made their glory in their nation
everlasting.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 46

The praise of Josue, of Caleb, and of Samuel.

46:1. Valiant in war was Jesus the son of Nave, who was successor of
Moses among the prophets, who was great according to his name,
Jesus the son of Nave.... So Josue is named in the Greek Bibles. For Josue and Jesus
signify the same thing, viz., a saviour.
46:2. Very great for the saving the elect of God, to overthrow the
enemies that rose up against them, that he might get the inheritance
for Israel.
46:3. How great glory did he gain when he lifted up his hands, and
stretched out swords against the cities?
46:4. Who before him hath so resisted? for the Lord himself brought
the enemies.
46:5. Was not the sun stopped in his anger, and one day made as
two?
46:6. He called upon the most high Sovereign when the enemies
assaulted him on every side, and the great and holy God heard him by
hailstones of exceeding great force.
46:7. He made a violent assault against the nation of his enemies,
and in the descent he destroyed the adversaries.
And in the descent.... Of Beth-horon (Jos. 10.).
46:8. That the nations might know his power, that it is not easy to
ight against God. And he followed the mighty one:
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 46:9. And in the days of Moses he did a work of mercy, he and Caleb
the son of Jephone, in standing against the enemy, and withholding the
people from sins, and appeasing the wicked murmuring.
46:10. And they two being appointed, were delivered out of the
danger from among the number of six hundred thousand men on foot,
to bring them into their inheritance, into the land that loweth with
milk and honey.
46:11. And the Lord gave strength also to Caleb, and his strength
continued even to his old age, so that he went up to the high places of
the land, and his seed obtained it for an inheritance:
46:12. That all the children of Israel might see, that it is good to
obey the holy God.
46:13. Then all the judges, every one by name, whose heart was not
corrupted: who turned not away from the Lord,
46:14. That their memory might be blessed, and their bones spring
up out of their place,
46:15. And their name continue for ever, the glory of the holy men
remaining unto their children.
46:16. Samuel the prophet of the Lord, the beloved of the Lord his
God, established a new government, and anointed princes over his
people.
46:17. By the law of the Lord he judged the congregation, and the
God of Jacob beheld, and by his idelity he was proved a prophet.
46:18. And he was known to be faithful in his words, because he saw
the God of light:
46:19. And called upon the name of the Lord Almighty, in ighting
against the enemies who beset him on every side, when he offered a
lamb without blemish.
46:20. And the Lord thundered from heaven, and with a great noise
made his voice to be heard.

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 46:21. And he crushed the princes of the Tyrians, and all the lords of
the Philistines:
46:22. And before the time of the end of his life in the world, he
protested before the Lord, and his anointed: money, or any thing else,
even to a shoe, he had not taken of any man, and no man did accuse
him.
46:23. And after this he slept, and he made known to the king, and
shewed him the end of his life, and he lifted up his voice from the earth
in prophecy to blot out the wickedness of the nation.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 47

The praise of Nathan, of David, and of Solomon: Of his fall and

punishment.
47:1. Then Nathan the prophet arose in the days of David.
47:2. And as the fat taken away from the lesh, so was David chosen
from among the children of Israel.
47:3. He played with lions as with lambs: and with bears he did in
like manner as with the lambs of the lock, in his youth.
47:4. Did not he kill the giant, and take away reproach from his
people?
47:5. In lifting up his hand, with the stone in the sling he beat down
the boasting of Goliath:
47:6. For he called upon the Lord the Almighty, and he gave
strength in his right hand, to take away the mighty warrior, and to set
up the horn of his nation.
47:7. So in ten thousand did he glorify him, and praised him in the
blessings of the Lord, in offering to him a crown of glory:
47:8. For he destroyed the enemies on every side, and extirpated the
Philistines the adversaries unto this day: he broke their horn for ever.
47:9. In all his works he gave thanks to the holy one, and to the most
High, with words of glory.

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 47:10. With his whole heart he praised the Lord, and loved God that
made him: and he gave him power against his enemies:
47:11. And he set singers before the altar, and by their voices he
made sweet melody.
47:12. And to the festivals he added beauty, and set in order the
solemn times even to the end of his life, that they should praise the
holy name of the Lord, and magnify the holiness of God in the morning.
47:13. The Lord took away his sins, and exalted his horn for ever:
and he gave him a covenant of the kingdom, and a throne of glory in
Israel.
47:14. After him arose up a wise son, and for his sake he cast down
all the power of the enemies.
47:15. Solomon reigned in days of peace, and God brought all his
enemies under him, that he might build a house in his name, and
prepare a sanctuary for ever: O how wise wast thou in thy youth!
47:16. And thou wast illed as a river with wisdom, and thy soul
covered the earth.
47:17. And thou didst multiply riddles in parables: thy name went
abroad to the islands far off, and thou wast beloved in thy peace.
47:18. The countries wondered at thee for thy canticles, and
proverbs, and parables, and interpretations,
47:19. And at the name of the Lord God, whose surname is, God of
Israel.
47:20. Thou didst gather gold as copper, and didst multiply silver as
lead,
47:21. And thou didst bow thyself to women: and by thy body thou
wast brought under subjection.
47:22. Thou hast stained thy glory, and de iled thy seed so as to
bring wrath upon thy children, and to have thy folly kindled,
47:23. That thou shouldst make the kingdom to be divided, and out
of Ephraim a rebellious kingdom to rule.

 47:24. But God will not leave off his mercy, and he will not destroy,
nor abolish his own works, neither will he cut up by the roots the
offspring of his elect: and he will not utterly take away the seed of him
that loveth the Lord.
47:25. Wherefore he gave a remnant to Jacob, and to David of the
same stock.
47:26. And Solomon had an end with his fathers.
47:27. And he left behind him of his seed, the folly of the nation,
47:28. Even Roboam that had little wisdom, who turned away the
people through his counsel:
47:29. And Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who caused Israel to sin, and
shewed Ephraim the way of sin, and their sins were multiplied
exceedingly.
47:30. They removed them far away from their land.
47:31. And they sought out all iniquities, till vengeance came upon
them, and put an end to all their sins.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 48

The praise of Elias, of Eliseus, of Ezechias, and of Isaias.

48:1. And Elias the prophet stood up, as a ire, and his word burnt
like a torch.
48:2. He brought a famine upon them, and they that provoked him
in their envy, were reduced to a small number, for they could not
endure the commandments of the Lord.
48:3. By the word of the Lord he shut up the heaven, and he brought
down ire from heaven thrice.
48:4. Thus was Elias magni ied in his wondrous works. And who can
glory like to thee?
48:5. Who raisedst up a dead man from below, from the lot of death,
by the word of the Lord God.
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 48:6. Who broughtest down kings to destruction, and brokest easily

their power in pieces, and the glorious from their bed.
48:7. Who heardest judgment in Sina, and in Horeb the judgments of
vengeance.
48:8. Who anointedst kings to penance, and madest prophets
successors after thee.
48:9. Who wast taken up in a whirlwind of ire, in a chariot of iery
horses.
48:10. Who art registered in the judgments of times to appease the
wrath of the Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to
restore the tribes of Jacob.
48:11. Blessed are they that saw thee, and were honoured with thy
friendship.
48:12. For we live only in our life, but after death our name shall not
be such.
48:13. Elias was indeed covered with the whirlwind, and his spirit
was illed up in Eliseus: in his days he feared not the prince, and no
man was more powerful than he.
48:14. No word could overcome him, and after death his body
prophesied.
48:15. In his life he did great wonders, and in death he wrought
miracles.
48:16. For all this the people repented not, neither did they depart
from their sins till they were cast out of their land, and were scattered
through all the earth.
48:17. And there was left but a small people, and a prince in the
house of David.
48:18. Some of these did that which pleased God: but others
committed many sins.
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 48:19. Ezechias forti ied his city, and brought in water into the
midst thereof, and he digged a rock with iron, and made a well for
water.
48:20. In his days Sennacherib came up, and sent Rabsaces, and
lifted up his hand against them, and he stretched out his hand against
Sion, and became proud through his power.
48:21. Then their hearts and hands trembled, and they were in pain
as women in travail.
48:22. And they called upon the Lord who is merciful, and spreading
their hands, they lifted them up to heaven: and the holy Lord God
quickly heard their voice.
48:23. He was not mindful of their sins, neither did he deliver them
up to their enemies, but he puri ied them by the hand of Isaias, the
holy prophet.
48:24. He overthrew the army of the Assyrians, and the angel of the
Lord destroyed them.
48:25. For Ezechias did that which pleased God, and walked
valiantly in the way of David his father, which Isaias, the great
prophet, and faithful in the sight of God, had commanded him.
48:26. In his days the sun went backward, and he lengthened the
king’s life.
48:27. With a great spirit he saw the things that are to come to pass
at last, and comforted the mourners in Sion.
48:28. He showed what should come to pass for ever, and secret
things before they came.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 49

The praise of Josias, of Jeremias, Ezechiel, and the twelve prophets.

Also of Zorobabel, Jesus the son of Josedech, Nehemias, Enoch, Joseph,
Seth, Sem, and Adam.

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 49:1. The memory of Josias is like the composition of a sweet smell

made by the art of a perfumer:
49:2. His remembrance shall be sweet as honey in every mouth, and
as music at a banquet of wine.
49:3. He was directed by God unto the repentance of the nation, and
he took away the abominations of wickedness.
49:4. And he directed his heart towards the Lord, and in the days of
sinners he strengthened godliness.
49:5. Except David, and Ezechias and Josias, all committed sin.
49:6. For the kings of Juda forsook the law of the most High, and
despised the fear of God.
49:7. So they gave their kingdom to others, and their glory to a
strange nation,
49:8. They burnt the chosen city of holiness, and made the streets
thereof desolate according to the prediction of Jeremias.
49:9. For they treated him evil, who was consecrated a prophet from
his mother’s womb, to overthrow, and pluck up, and destroy, and to
build again, and renew.
49:10. It was Ezechiel that saw the glorious vision, which was shewn
him upon the chariot of cherubims.
49:11. For he made mention of the enemies under the igure of rain,
and of doing good to them that shewed right ways.
49:12. And may the bones of the twelve prophets spring up out of
their place: for they strengthened Jacob, and redeemed themselves by
strong faith.
49:13. How shall we magnify Zorobabel? for he was as a signet on
the right hand;
49:14. In like manner Jesus the son of Josedec who in their days built
the house, and set up a holy temple to the Lord, prepared for
everlasting glory.

 49:15. And let Nehemias be a long time remembered, who raised up

for us our walls that were cast down, and set up the gates and the
bars, who rebuilt our houses.
49:16. No man was born upon earth like Henoch: for he also was
taken up from the earth.
49:17. Nor as Joseph, who was a man born prince of his brethren,
the support of his family, the ruler of his brethren, the stay of the
people:
49:18. And his bones were visited, and after death they prophesied.
They prophesied.... That is, by their being carried out of Egypt they veri ied the
prophetic prediction of Joseph. Gen. 50.
49:19. Seth and Sem obtained glory among men: and above every
soul Adam in the beginning.
Ecclesias cus Chapter 50

The praises of Simon the high priest. The conclusion.

50:1. Simon the high priest, the son of Onias, who in his life propped
up the house, and in his days forti ied the temple.
50:2. By him also the height of the temple was founded, the double
building and the high walls of the temple.
50:3. In his days the wells of water lowed out, and they were illed
as the sea above measure.
50:4. He took care of his nation, and delivered it from destruction.
50:5. He prevailed to enlarge the city, and obtained glory in his
conversation with the people: and enlarged the entrance of the house
and the court.
50:6. He shone in his days as the morning star in the midst of a
cloud, and as the moon at the full.
50:7. And as the sun when it shineth, so did he shine in the temple of
God.

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 50:8. And as the rainbow giving light in bright clouds, and as the
lower of roses in the days of the spring, and as the lilies that are on
the brink of the water, and as the sweet smelling frankincense in the
time of summer.
50:9. As a bright ire, and frankincense burning in the ire.
50:10. As a massy vessel of gold, adorned with every precious stone.
50:11. As an olive tree budding forth, and a cypress tree rearing
itself on high, when he put on the robe of glory, and was clothed with
the perfection of power.
Clothed with the perfection of power.... That is, with all the vestments denoting
his dignity and authority.
50:12. When he went up to the holy altar, he honoured the vesture of
holiness.
50:13. And when he took the portions out of the hands of the priests,
he himself stood by the altar. And about him was the ring of his
brethren: and as the cedar planted in mount Libanus,
50:14. And as branches of palm trees, they stood round about him,
and all the sons of Aaron in their glory.
50:15. And the oblation of the Lord was in their hands, before all the
congregation of Israel: and inishing his service, on the altar, to
honour the offering of the most high King,
50:16. He stretched forth his hand to make a libation, and offered of
the blood of the grape.
50:17. He poured out at the foot of the altar a divine odour to the
most high Prince.
50:18. Then the sons of Aaron shouted, they sounded with beaten
trumpets, and made a great noise to be heard for a remembrance
before God.
50:19. Then all the people together made haste, and fell down to the
earth upon their faces, to adore the Lord their God, and to pray to the
Almighty God the most High.
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 50:20. And the singers lifted up their voices, and in the great house
the sound of sweet melody was increased.
50:21. And the people in prayer besought the Lord the most High,
until the worship of the Lord was perfected, and they had inished
their of ice.
50:22. Then coming down, he lifted up his hands over all the
congregation of the children of Israel, to give glory to God with his lips,
and to glory in his name:
50:23. And he repeated his prayer, willing to shew the power of God.
50:24. And now pray ye to the God of all, who hath done great
things in all the earth, who hath increased our days from our mother’s
womb, and hath done with us according to his mercy.
50:25. May he grant us joyfulness of heart, and that there be peace
in our days in Israel for ever:
50:26. That Israel may believe that the mercy of God is with us, to
deliver us in his days.
50:27. There are two nations which my soul abhorreth: and the
third is no nation: which I hate:
Abhorreth.... Viz., with a holy indignation, as enemies of God and persecutors of
his people. Such were then the Edomites who abode in mount Seir, the Philistines,
and the Samaritans who dwelt in Sichem, and had their schismatical temple in
that neighbourhood.
50:28. They that sit on mount Seir, and the Philistines, and the
foolish people that dwell in Sichem.
50:29. Jesus the son of Sirach, of Jerusalem, hath written in this book
the doctrine of wisdom and instruction, who renewed wisdom from his
heart.
50:30. Blessed is he that is conversant in these good things and he
that layeth them up in his heart, shall be wise always.
50:31. For if he do them, he shall be strong to do all things: because
the light of God guideth his steps.

 Ecclesias cus Chapter 51

A prayer of praise and thanksgiving.

51:1. A prayer of Jesus the son of Sirach. I will give glory to thee, O
Lord, O King, and I will praise thee, O God my Saviour.
51:2. I will give glory to thy name: for thou hast been a helper and
protector to me.
51:3. And hast preserved my body from destruction, from the snare
of an unjust tongue, and from the lips of them that forge lies, and in
the sight of them that stood by, thou hast been my helper.
51:4. And thou hast delivered me, according to the multitude of the
mercy of thy name, from them that did roar, prepared to devour.
51:5. Out of the hands of them that sought my life, and from the
gates of af lictions, which compassed me about:
51:6. From the oppression of the lame which surrounded me, and in
the midst of the ire I was not burnt.
51:7. From the depth of the belly of hell, and from an unclean
tongue, and from lying words, from an unjust king, and from a
slanderous tongue:
51:8. My soul shall praise the Lord even to death.
51:9. And my life was drawing near to hell beneath.
51:10. They compassed me on every side, and there was no one that
would help me. I looked for the succour of men, and there was none.
51:11. I remembered thy mercy, O Lord, and thy works, which are
from the beginning of the world.
51:12. How thou deliverest them that wait for thee, O Lord, and
savest them out of the hands of the nations.
51:13. Thou hast exalted my dwelling place upon the earth and I
have prayed for death to pass away.
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 51:14. I called upon the Lord, the father of my Lord, that he would
not leave me in the day of my trouble, and in the time of the proud
without help.
51:15. I will praise thy name continually, and will praise it with
thanksgiving, and my prayer was heard.
51:16. And thou hast saved me from destruction, and hast delivered
me from the evil time.
51:17. Therefore I will give thanks, and praise thee, and bless the
name of the Lord.
51:18. When I was yet young, before I wandered about, I sought for
wisdom openly in my prayer.
51:19. I prayed for her before the temple, and unto the very end I
will seek after her, and she lourished as a grape soon ripe.
51:20. My heart delighted in her, my foot walked in the right way,
from my youth up I sought after her.
51:21. I bowed down my ear a little, and received her.
51:22. I found much wisdom in myself, and pro ited much therein.
51:23. To him that giveth me wisdom, will I give glory.
51:24. For I have determined to follow her: I have had a zeal for
good, and shall not be confounded.
51:25. My soul hath wrestled for her, and in doing it I have been
con irmed.
51:26. I stretched forth my hands on high, and I bewailed my
ignorance of her.
51:27. I directed my soul to her, and in knowledge I found her.
51:28. I possessed my heart with her from the beginning: therefore I
shall not be forsaken.
51:29. My entrails were troubled in seeking her: therefore shall I
possess a good possession.
51:30. The Lord hath given me a tongue for my reward: and with it I
will praise him.
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 51:31. Draw near to me, ye unlearned, and gather yourselves

together into the house of discipline.
51:32. Why are ye slow and what do you say of these things? your
souls are exceeding thirsty.
51:33. I have opened my mouth, and have spoken: buy her for
yourselves without silver,
51:34. And submit your neck to the yoke, and let your soul receive
discipline: for she is near at hand to be found.
51:35. Behold with your eyes how I have laboured a little, and have
found much rest to myself.
51:36. Receive ye discipline as a great sum of money, and possess
abundance of gold by her.
51:37. Let your soul rejoice in his mercy and you shall not be
confounded in his praise.
51:38. Work your work before the time, and he will give you your
reward in his time.

THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAS

This inspired writer is called by the Holy Ghost, the great prophet,
(Ecclesiasticus 48.25,) from the greatness of his prophetic spirit, by
which he hath foretold so long before, and in so clear a manner, the
coming of Christ, the mysteries of our redemption, the calling of the
Gentiles, and the glorious establishment, and perpetual lourishing of
the church of Christ: insomuch that he may seem to have been rather
an evangelist than a prophet. His very name is not without mystery;
for Isaias in Hebrew signi ies the salvation of the Lord, or Jesus is the
Lord. He was, according to the tradition of the Hebrews, of the blood
royal of the kings of Juda: and after a most holy life, ended his days by

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 a glorious martyrdom; being sawed in two, at the command of his
wicked son in law, King Manasses, for reproving his evil ways.
Isaias Chapter 1

The prophet complains of the sins of Juda and Jerusalem, and exhorts
them to a sincere conversion.
1:1. The vision of Isaias the son of Amos, which he saw concerning
Juda and Jerusalem in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias,
kings of Juda.
1:2. Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath
spoken. I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have
despised me.
1:3. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but
Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood.
1:4. Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked
seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have
blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards.
1:5. For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase
transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad.
1:6. From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no
soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are
not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil.
1:7. Your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with ire: your
country strangers devour before your face, and it shall be desolate as
when wasted by enemies.
1:8. And the daughter of Sion shall be left as a covert in a vineyard,
and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a city that is laid
waste.
1:9. Except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we had been as Sodom,
and we should have been like to Gomorrha.

 1:10. Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear to the
law of our God, ye people of Gomorrha.
1:11. To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims,
saith the Lord? I am full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of
fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and buck goats.
1:12. When you came to appear before me, who required these
things at your hands, that you should walk in my courts?
1:13. Offer sacri ice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to
me. The new moons, and the sabbaths and other festivals I will not
abide, your assemblies are wicked.
1:14. My soul hateth your new moons, and your solemnities: they
are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them.
1:15. And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my
eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear: for your
hands are full of blood.
1:16. Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices
from my eyes, cease to do perversely,
1:17. Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge
for the fatherless, defend the widow.
1:18. And then come, and accuse me, saith the Lord: if your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as
crimson, they shall be white as wool.
1:19. If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the
good things of the land.
1:20. But if you will not, and will provoke me to wrath: the sword
shall devour you because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
1:21. How is the faithful city, that was full of judgment, become a
harlot? justice dwelt in it, but now murderers.
1:22. Thy silver is turned into dross: thy wine is mingled with water.
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 1:23. Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love
bribes, they run after rewards. They judge not for the fatherless: and
the widow’s cause cometh not in to them.
1:24. Therefore saith the Lord the God of hosts, the mighty one of
Israel: Ah! I will comfort myself over my adversaries: and I will be
revenged of my enemies.
1:25. And I will turn my hand to thee, and I will clean purge away
thy dross, and I will take away all thy tin.
1:26. And I will restore thy judges as they were before, and thy
counsellors as of old. After this thou shalt be called the city of the just,
a faithful city.
1:27. Sion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they shall bring her
back in justice.
1:28. And he shall destroy the wicked, and the sinners together: and
they that have forsaken the Lord, shall be consumed.
1:29. For they shall be confounded for the idols, to which they have
sacri iced: and you shall be ashamed of the gardens which you have
chosen.
1:30. When you shall be as an oak with the leaves falling off, and as
a garden without water.
1:31. And your strength shall be as the ashes of tow, and your work
as a spark: and both shall burn together, and there shall be none to
quench it.
Isaias Chapter 2

All nations shall low to the church of Christ. The Jews shall be rejected
for their sins. Idolatry shall be destroyed.
2:1. The word that Isaias the son of Amos saw, concerning Juda and
Jerusalem.
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 2:2. And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall
be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the
hills, and all nations shall low unto it.
The last days.... The whole time of the new law, from the coming of Christ till the
end of the world, is called in the scripture the last days; because no other age or
time shall come after it, but only eternity.—Ibid. On the top of mountains, etc....
This shews the perpetual visibility of the church of Christ: for a mountain upon
the top of mountains cannot be hid.
2:3. And many people shall go, and say: Come and let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will
teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall come
forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
2:4. And he shall judge the Gentiles, and rebuke many people: and
they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into
sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they
be exercised any more to war.
2:5. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the
Lord.
2:6. For thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob: because
they are illed as in times past, and have had soothsayers as the
Philistines, and have adhered to strange children.
2:7. Their land is illed with silver and gold: and there is no end of
their treasures.
2:8. And their land is illed with horses: and their chariots are
innumerable. Their land also is full of idols: they have adored the work
of their own hands, which their own ingers have made.
2:9. And man hath bowed himself down, and man hath been
debased: therefore forgive them not.
2:10. Enter thou into the rock, and hide thee in the pit from the face
of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty.

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 2:11. The lofty eyes of man are humbled, and the haughtiness of
men shall be made to stoop: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that
day.
2:12. Because the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one
that is proud and highminded, and upon every one that is arrogant,
and he shall be humbled.
2:13. And upon all the tall and lofty cedars of Libanus, and upon all
the oaks of Basan.
2:14. And upon all the high mountains and upon all the elevated
hills.
2:15. And upon every high tower, and every fenced wall.
2:16. And upon all the ships of Tharsis, and upon all that is fair to
behold.
2:17. And the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the
haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be
exalted in that day.
2:18. And idols shall be utterly destroyed.
Idols shall be utterly destroyed.... or utterly pass away. This was veri ied by the
establishment of Christianity. And by this and other texts of the like nature, the
wild system of some modern sectaries is abundantly confuted, who charge the
whole Christian church with worshipping idols, for many ages.
2:19. And they shall go into the holes of rocks, and into the caves of
the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of
his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth.
2:20. In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his
idols of gold, which he had made for himself to adore, moles and bats.
2:21. And he shall go into the clefts of rocks, and into the holes of
stones from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his
majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth.
2:22. Cease ye therefore from the man, whose breath is in his
nostrils, for he is reputed high.

 Isaias Chapter 3

The confusion and other evils that shall come upon the Jews for their
sins. The pride of their women shall be punished.
3:1. For behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall take away from
Jerusalem, and from Juda the valiant and the strong, the whole
strength of bread, and the whole strength of water.
3:2. The strong man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet
and the cunning man, and the ancient.
3:3. The captain over ifty, and the honourable in countenance, and
the counsellor, and the architect, and the skilful in eloquent speech.
3:4. And I will give children to be their princes, and the effeminate
shall rule over them.
3:5. And the people shall rush one upon another, and every man
against his neighbour: the child shall make a tumult against the
ancient, and the base against the honourable.
3:6. For a man shall take hold of his brother, one of the house of his
father, saying: Thou hast a garment, be thou our ruler, and let this
ruin be under thy hand.
3:7. In that day he shall answer, saying: I am no healer, and in my
house there is no bread, nor clothing: make me not ruler of the people.
3:8. For Jerusalem is ruined, and Juda is fallen: because their tongue,
and their devices are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his
majesty.
3:9. The shew of their countenance hath answered them: and they
have proclaimed abroad their sin as Sodom, and they have not hid it:
woe to their souls, for evils are rendered to them.
3:10. Say to the just man that it is well, for he shall eat the fruit of
his doings.
3:11. Woe to the wicked unto evil: for the reward of his hands shall
be given him.

 3:12. As for my people, their oppressors have stripped them, and

women have ruled over them. O my people, they that call thee blessed,
the same deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy steps.
3:13. The Lord standeth up to judge, and he standeth to judge the
people.
3:14. The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his
people, and its princes: for you have devoured the vineyard, and the
spoil of the poor is in your house.
3:15. Why do you consume my people, and grind the faces of the
poor? saith the Lord the God of hosts.
3:16. And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Sion are haughty,
and have walked with stretched out necks, and wanton glances of their
eyes, and made a noise as they walked with their feet and moved in a
set pace:
3:17. The Lord will make bald the crown of the head of the
daughters of Sion, and the Lord will discover their hair.
3:18. In that day the Lord will take away the ornaments of shoes,
and little moons,
3:19. And chains and necklaces, and bracelets, and bonnets,
3:20. And bodkins, and ornaments of the legs, and tablets, and sweet
balls, and earrings,
3:21. And rings, and jewels hanging on the forehead,
3:22. And changes of apparel, and short cloaks, and ine linen, and
crisping pins,
3:23. And lookingglasses, and lawns, and headbands, and ine veils.
3:24. And instead of a sweet smell there shall be stench, and instead
of a girdle, a cord, and instead of curled hair, baldness, and instead of
a stomacher, haircloth.
3:25. Thy fairest men also shall fall by the sword, and thy valiant
ones in battle.

 3:26. And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she shall sit
desolate on the ground.
Isaias Chapter 4

After an extremity of evils that shall fall upon the Jews, a remnant
shall be comforted by Christ.
4:1. And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man,
saying: We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let
us be called by thy name, take away our reproach.
4:2. In that day the bud of the Lord shall be in magni icence and
glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be high, and a great joy to them
that shall have escaped of Israel.
The bud of the Lord.... That is, Christ.
4:3. And it shall come to pass, that every one that shall be left in
Sion, and that shall remain in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, every one
that is written in life in Jerusalem.
4:4. If the Lord shall wash away the ilth of the daughters of Sion,
and shall wash away the blood of Jerusalem out of the midst thereof,
by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
4:5. And the Lord will create upon every place of mount Sion, and
where he is called upon, a cloud by day, and a smoke and the
brightness of a laming ire in the night: for over all the glory shall be
a protection.
4:6. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from
the heat, and for a security and covert from the whirlwind, and from
rain.
Isaias Chapter 5

The reprobation of the Jews is foreshewn under the parable of a

vineyard. A woe is pronounced against sinners: the army of God shall
send against them.

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 5:1. I will sing to my beloved the canticle of my cousin concerning
his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a hill in a fruitful place.
My cousin.... So the prophet calls Christ, as being of his family and kindred, by
descending from the house of David. Ibid. On a hill, etc.... Literally, in the horn,
the son of oil.
5:2. And he fenced it in, and picked the stones out of it, and planted
it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in the midst thereof, and
set up a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth
grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
5:3. And now, O ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and ye men of Juda,
judge between me and my vineyard.
5:4. What is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I
have not done to it? was it that I looked that it should bring forth
grapes, and it hath brought forth wild grapes?
5:5. And now I will shew you what I will do to my vineyard. I will
take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted: I will break down
the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down.
5:6. And I will make it desolate: it shall not be pruned, and it shall
not be digged: but briers and thorns shall come up: and I will
command the clouds to rain no rain upon it.
5:7. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel: and
the man of Juda, his pleasant plant: and I looked that he should do
judgment, and behold iniquity: and do justice, and behold a cry.
5:8. Woe to you that join house to house and lay ield to ield, even to
the end of the place: shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth?
5:9. These things are in my ears, saith the Lord of hosts: Unless
many great and fair houses shall become desolate, without an
inhabitant.
5:10. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one little measure, and
thirty bushels of seed shall yield three bushels.
5:11. Woe to you that rise up early in the morning to follow
drunkenness, and to drink till the evening, to be in lamed with wine.

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 5:12. The harp, and the lyre, and, the timbrel and the pipe, and wine
are in your feasts: and the work of the Lord you regard not, nor do you
consider the works of his hands.
5:13. Therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not
knowledge, and their nobles have perished with famine, and their
multitude were dried up with thirst.
5:14. Therefore hath hell enlarged her soul, and opened her mouth
without any bounds, and their strong ones, and their people, and their
high and glorious ones shall go down into it.
5:15. And man shall be brought down, and man shall be humbled,
and the eyes of the lofty shall be brought low.
5:16. And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the
holy God shall be sancti ied in justice.
5:17. And the lambs shall feed according to their order, and
strangers shall eat the deserts turned into fruitfulness.
5:18. Woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as
the rope of a cart.
5:19. That say: Let him make haste, and let his work come quickly,
that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come,
that we may know it.
5:20. Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness
for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet
for bitter.
5:21. Woe to you that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in
your own conceits.
5:22. Woe to you that are mighty to drink wine, and stout men at
drunkenness.
5:23. That justify the wicked for gifts, and take away the justice of
the just from him.
5:24. Therefore as the tongue of the ire devoureth the stubble, and
the heat of the lame consumeth it: so shall their root be as ashes, and

 their bud shall go up as dust: for they have cast away the law of the
Lord of hosts, and have blasphemed the word of the Holy One of Israel.
5:25. Therefore is the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people,
and he hath stretched out his hand upon them, and struck them: and
the mountains were troubled, and their carcasses became as dung in
the midst of the streets. For after this his anger is not turned away, but
his hand is stretched out still.
5:26. And he will lift up a sign to the nations afar off, and will
whistle to them from the ends of the earth: and behold they shall come
with speed swiftly.
5:27. There is none that shall faint, nor labour among them: they
shall not slumber nor sleep, neither shall the girdle of their loins be
loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken.
5:28. Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are bent. The hoofs
of their horses shall be like the lint, and their wheels like the violence
of a tempest.
5:29. Their roaring like that of a lion, they shall roar like young
lions: yea they shall roar, and take hold of the prey, and they shall keep
fast hold of it, and there shall be none to deliver it.
5:30. And they shall make a noise against them that day, like the
roaring of the sea; we shall look towards the land, and behold
darkness of tribulation, and the light is darkened with the mist
thereof.
Isaias Chapter 6

A glorious vision, in which the prophet’s lips are cleansed: he

foretelleth the obstinacy of the Jews.
6:1. In the year that king Ozias died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a
throne high and elevated: and his train illed the temple.
6:2. Upon it stood the seraphims: the one had six wings, and the
other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they
covered his feet, and with two they lew.

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 6:3. And they cried one to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, the
Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory,
6:4. And the lintels of the doors were moved at the voice of him that
cried, and the house was illed with smoke.
6:5. And I said: Woe is me, because I have held my peace; because I
am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that
hath unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King the Lord of
hosts.
6:6. And one of the seraphims lew to me, and in his hand was a live
coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar.
6:7. And he touched my mouth, and said: Behold this hath touched
thy lips, and thy iniquities shall be taken away, and thy sin shall be
cleansed.
6:8. And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send?
and who shall go for us? And I said: Lo, here am I, send me.
6:9. And he said: Go, and thou shalt say to this people: Hearing, hear,
and understand not: and see the vision, and know it not.
6:10. Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and
shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.
6:11. And I said: How long, O Lord? And he said: Until the cities be
wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land
shall be left desolate.
6:12. And the Lord shall remove men far away, and she shall be
multiplied that was left in the midst of the earth.
6:13. And there shall be still a tithing therein, and she shall turn,
and shall be made a show as a turpentine tree, and as an oak that
spreadeth its branches: that which shall stand therein, shall be a holy
seed.

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 Isaias Chapter 7

The prophet assures king Achaz that the two kings his enemies shall
not take Jerusalem. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son.
7:1. And it came to pass in the days of Achaz the son of Joathan, the
son of Ozias, king of Juda, that Rasin king of Syria and Phacee the son
of Romelia king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem, to ight against it: but
they could not prevail over it.
7:2. And they told the house of David, saying: Syria hath rested upon
Ephraim, and his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the
trees of the woods are moved with the wind.
7:3. And the Lord said to Isaias: Go forth to meet Achaz, thou and
Jasub thy son that is left, to the conduit of the upper pool in the way of
the fuller’s ield.
7:4. And thou shalt say to him: See thou be quiet: fear not, and let
not thy heart be afraid of the two tails of these irebrands, smoking
with the wrath of the fury of Rasin king of Syria, and of the son of
Romelia.
7:5. Because Syria hath taken counsel against thee, unto the evil of
Ephraim and the son of Romelia, saying:
7:6. Let us go up to Juda, and rouse it up, and draw it away to us,
and make the son of Tabeel king in the midst thereof.
7:7. Thus saith the Lord God: It shall not stand, and this shall not be.
7:8. But the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is
Rasin: and within threescore and ive years, Ephraim shall cease to be
a people:
7:9. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is
the son of Romelia. If you will not believe, you shall not continue.
7:10. And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying:
7:11. Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of
hell, or unto the height above.

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 7:12. And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.
7:13. And he said: Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small
thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God
also?
7:14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a
virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called
Emmanuel.
7:15. He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the
evil, and to choose the good.
7:16. For before the child know to refuse the evil and to choose the
good, the land which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of the face of
her two kings.
7:17. The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon
the house of thy father, days that have not come since the time of the
separation of Ephraim from Juda with the king of the Assyrians.
7:18. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss
for the ly, that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for
the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
7:19. And they shall come, and shall all of them rest in the torrents
of the valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all places set with
shrubs, and in all hollow places.
7:20. In that day the Lord shall shave with a razor that is hired by
them that are beyond the river, by the king of the Assyrians, the head
and the hairs of the feet, and the whole beard.
7:21. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish
a young cow, and two sheep.
7:22. And for the abundance of milk he shall eat butter: for butter
and honey shall every one eat that shall be left in the midst of the land.
7:23. And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place where
there were a thousand vines, at a thousand pieces of silver, shall
become thorns and briers.

 7:24. With arrows and with bows they shall go in thither: for briers
and thorns shall be in all the land.
7:25. And as for all the hills that shall be raked with a rake, the fear
of thorns and briers shall not come thither, but they shall be for the ox
to feed on, and the lesser cattle to tread upon.
Isaias Chapter 8

The name of a child that is to be born: many evils shall come upon the
Jews for their sins.
8:1. And the Lord said to me: Take thee a great book, and write in it
with a man’s pen. Take away the spoils with speed, quickly take the
prey.
8:2. And I took unto me faithful witnesses, Urias the priest, and
Zacharias the son of Barachias.
8:3. And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son.
And the Lord said to me: Call his name, Hasten to take away the spoils:
Make hast to take away the prey.
8:4. For before the child know to call his father and his mother, the
strength of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria shall be taken away
before the king of the Assyrians.
8:5. And the Lord spoke to me again, saying:
8:6. Forasmuch as this people hath cast away the waters of Siloe,
that go with silence, and hath rather taken Rasin, and the son of
Romelia:
8:7. Therefore behold the Lord will bring upon them the waters of
the river strong and many, the king of the Assyrians, and all his glory:
and he shall come up over all his channels, and shall over low all his
banks.
8:8. And shall pass through Juda, over lowing, and going over shall
reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of his wings shall ill the
breadth of thy, land, O Emmanuel.

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 8:9. Gather yourselves together, O ye people, and be overcome, and
give ear, all ye lands afar off: strengthen yourselves, and be overcome,
gird yourselves, and be overcome.
8:10. Take counsel together, and it shall be defeated: speak a word,
and it shall not be done: because God is with us.
8:11. For thus saith the Lord to me: As he hath taught me, with a
strong arm, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:
8:12. Say ye not: A conspiracy: for all that this people speaketh, is a
conspiracy: neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
8:13. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself: and let him be your fear,
and let him be your dread.
8:14. And he shall be a sancti ication to you. But for a stone of
stumbling, and for a rock of offence to the two houses of Israel, for a
snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
8:15. And very many of them shall stumble and fall, and shall be
broken in pieces, and shall be snared, and taken.
8:16. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
8:17. And I will wait for the Lord, who hath hid his face from the
house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
8:18. Behold I and my children, whom the Lord hath given me for a
sign, and for a wonder in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth in
mount Sion.
8:19. And when they shall say to you: Seek of pythons, and of
diviners, who mutter in their enchantments: should not the people
seek of their God, for the living of the dead?
Seek of pythons.... That is, people pretending to tell future things by a
prophesying spirit.—Ibid. Should not the people seek of their God, for the living
of the dead?.... Here is signi ied, that it is to God we should pray to be directed,
and not to seek of the dead, (that is, of fortune-tellers dead in sin,) for the health
of the living.
8:20. To the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not
according to this word, they shall not have the morning light.

 8:21. And they shall pass by it, they shall fall, and be hungry: and
when they shall be hungry, they will be angry, and curse their king,
and their God, and look upwards.
8:22. And they shall look to the earth, and behold trouble and
darkness, weakness and distress, and a mist following them, and they
cannot ly away from their distress.
Isaias Chapter 9

What joy shall come after af lictions by the birth and kingdom of
Christ; which shall lourish for ever. Judgments upon Israel for their
sins.
9:1. At the irst time the land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephtali
was lightly touched: and at the last the way of the sea beyond the
Jordan of the Galilee of the Gentiles was heavily loaded.
9:2. The people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light: to
them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen.
9:3. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and hast not increased the joy.
They shall rejoice before thee, as they that rejoice in the harvest, as
conquerors rejoice after taking a prey, when they divide the spoils.
9:4. For the yoke of their burden, and the rod of their shoulder, and
the sceptre of their oppressor thou hast overcome, as in the day of
Madian.
9:5. For every violent taking of spoils, with tumult, and garment
mingled with blood, shall be burnt, and be fuel for the ire.
9:6. For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the
government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to
come, the Prince of Peace.
9:7. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of
peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to
establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from
henceforth and for ever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

 9:8. The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
9:9. And all the people of Ephraim shall know, and the inhabitants of
Samaria that say in the pride and haughtiness of their heart:
9:10. The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with square
stones: they have cut down the sycamores, but we will change them for
cedars.
9:11. And the Lord shall set up the enemies of Rasin over him, and
shall bring on his enemies in a crowd:
9:12. The Syrians from the east, and, the Philistines from the west:
and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his
indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
9:13. And the people are not returned to him who hath struck them,
and have not sought after the Lord of hosts.
9:14. And the Lord shall destroy out of Israel the head and the tail,
him that bendeth down, and him that holdeth back, in one day.
9:15. The aged and honourable, he is the head: and the prophet that
teacheth lies, he is the tail.
9:16. And they that call this people blessed, shall cause them to err:
and they that are called blessed, shall be thrown down, headlong.
9:17. Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men:
neither shall he have mercy on their fatherless, and widows: for every
one is a hypocrite and wicked, and every mouth hath spoken folly. For
all this his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched
out still.
9:18. For wickedness is kindled as a ire, it shall devour the brier and
the thorn: and shall kindle in the thicket of the forest, and it shall be
wrapped up in smoke ascending on high.
9:19. By the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is troubled, and the
people shall be as fuel for the ire: no man shall spare his brother.
9:20. And he shall turn to the right hand, and shall be hungry: and
shall eat on the left hand, and shall not be illed: every one shall eat

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 the lesh of his own arm: Manasses Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasses,
and they together shall be against Juda.
9:21. After all these things his indignation is not turned away, but
his hand is stretched out still.
Isaias Chapter 10

Woe to the makers of wicked laws. The Assyrian shall be a rod for
punishing Israel: but for their pride they shall be destroyed: and a
remnant of Israel saved.
10:1. Woe to them that make wicked laws: and when they write,
write injustice:
10:2. To oppress the poor in judgment, and do violence to the cause
of the humble of my people: that widows might be their prey, and that
they might rob the fatherless.
10:3. What will you do in the day of visitation, and of the calamity
which cometh from afar? to whom will ye lee for help? and where will
ye leave your glory?
10:4. That you be not bowed down under the bond, and fall with the
slain? In all these things his anger is not turned away, but his hand is
stretched out still.
10:5. Woe to the Assyrian, he is the rod and the staff of my anger,
and my indignation is in their hands.
10:6. I will send him to a deceitful nation, and I will give him a
charge against the people of my wrath, to take away the spoils, and to
lay hold on the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the
streets.
10:7. But he shall not take it so, and his heart shall not think so: but
his heart shall be set to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few.
10:8. For he shall say:
10:9. Are not my princes as so many kings? is not Calano as
Charcamis: and Emath as Arphad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
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 10:10. As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idol, so also their
idols of Jerusalem, and of Samaria.
10:11. Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to
Jerusalem and her idols?
10:12. And it shall come to pass, that when the Lord shall have
performed all his works in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, I will visit the
fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of the
haughtiness of his eyes.
10:13. For he hath said: By the strength of my own hand I have done
it, and by my own wisdom I have understood: and I have removed the
bounds of the people, and have taken the spoils of the princes, and as a
mighty man hath pulled down them that sat on high.
10:14. And my hand hath found the strength of the people as a nest;
and as eggs are gathered, that are left, so have I gathered all the
earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth,
or made the least noise.
10:15. Shall the axe boast itself against him that cutteth with it? or
shall the saw exalt itself against him by whom it is drawn? as if a rod
should lift itself up against him that lifteth it up, and a staff exalt itself,
which is but wood.
10:16. Therefore the sovereign Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall send
leanness among his fat ones: and under his glory shall be kindled a
burning, as it were the burning of a ire.
10:17. And the light of Israel shall be as a ire, and the Holy One
thereof as a lame: and his thorns and his briers shall be set on ire,
and shall be devoured in one day.
10:18. And the glory of his forest, and of his beautiful hill, shall be
consumed from the soul even to the lesh, and he shall run away
through fear.
10:19. And they that remain of the trees of his forest shall be so few,
that they shall easily be numbered, and a child shall write them down.

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 10:20. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of
Israel, and they that shall escape of the house of Jacob, shall lean no
more upon him that striketh them: but they shall lean upon the Lord
the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
10:21. The remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, of Jacob,
to the mighty God.
10:22. For if thy people, O Israel, shall be as the sand of the sea, a
remnant of them shall be converted, the consumption abridged shall
over low with justice.
A remnant of them shall be converted.... This was partly veri ied in the children
of Israel who remained after the devastations of the Assyrians, in the time of
king Ezechias: and partly in the conversion of a remnant of the Jews to the
faithful of Christ.—Ibid. The consumption abridged, etc.... That is, the number of
them cut short, and reduced to few, shall lourish in abundance of justice.
10:23. For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, and an
abridgment in the midst of all the land.
10:24. Therefore, thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: O my people
that dwellest in Sion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall strike thee
with his rod, and he shall lift up his staff over thee in the way of Egypt.
10:25. For yet a little and a very little while, and my indignation
shall cease, and my wrath shall be upon their wickedness.
10:26. And the Lord of hosts shall raise up a scourge against him,
according to the slaughter of Madian in the rock of Oreb, and his rod
over the sea, and he shall lift it up in the way of Egypt.
10:27. And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be
taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and
the yoke shall putrify at the presence of the oil.
At the presence of the oil.... That is, by the sweet unction of divine mercy.
10:28. He shall come into Aiath, he shall pass into Magron: at
Machmas he shall lay up his carriages.
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 Into Aiath, etc.... Here the prophet describes the march of the Assyrians under
Sennacherib; and the terror they should carry with them; and how they should
suddenly be destroyed.
10:29. They have passed in haste, Gaba is our lodging: Rama was
astonished, Gabaath of Saul led away.
10:30. Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim, attend, O Laisa, poor
Anathoth.
10:31. Medemena is removed: ye inhabitants of Gabim, take
courage.
10:32. It is yet day enough, to remain in Nobe: he shall shake his
hand against the mountain of the daughter of Sion, the hill of
Jerusalem.
10:33. Behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall break the earthen
vessel with terror, and the tall of stature shall be cut down, and the
lofty shall be humbled.
10:34. And the thickets of the forest shall be cut down with iron, and
Libanus with its high ones shall fall.
Isaias Chapter 11

Of the spiritual kingdom of Christ, to which all nations shall repair.

11:1. And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a
lower shall rise up out of his root.
11:2. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of
wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude,
the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness.
11:3. And he shall be illed with the spirit of the fear of the Lord, He
shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove
according to the hearing of the ears.
11:4. But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with
equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the
rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the
wicked.
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 11:5. And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle
of his reins.
11:6. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid: the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide
together, and a little child shall lead them.
11:7. The calf and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall rest
together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
11:8. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp: and the
weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk.
11:9. They shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain,
for the earth is illed with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering
waters of the sea.
11:10. In that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an ensign of
the people, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulchre shall be
glorious.
11:11. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set
his hand the second time to possess the remnant of his people, which
shall be left from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Phetros, and
from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Sennaar, and from Emath,
and from the islands of the sea.
11:12. And he shall set up a standard unto the nations, and shall
assemble the fugitives of Israel, and shall gather together the
dispersed of Juda from the four quarters of the earth.
11:13. And the envy of Ephraim shall be taken away, and the
enemies of Juda shall perish: Ephraim shall not envy Juda, and Juda
shall not ight against Ephraim.
11:14. But they shall ly upon the shoulders of the Philistines by the
sea, they together shall spoil the children of the east: Edom, and Moab
shall be under the rule of their hand, and the children of Ammon shall
be obedient.
11:15. And the Lord shall lay waste the tongue of the sea of Egypt,
and shall lift up his hand over the river in the strength of his spirit: and

he shall strike it in the seven streams, so that men may pass through it
in their shoes.
11:16. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of my people,
which shall be left from the Assyrians: as there was for Israel in the
day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
Isaias Chapter 12

A canticle of thanksgiving for the bene its of Christ.

12:1. And thou shalt say in that day: I will give thanks to thee, O
Lord, for thou wast angry with me: thy wrath is turned away, and thou
hast comforted me.
12:2. Behold, God is my saviour, I will deal con idently, and will not
fear: because the Lord is my strength, and my praise, and he is become
my salvation.
12:3. Thou shall draw waters with joy out of the saviour’s fountains:
12:4. And you shall say in that day: Praise ye the Lord, and call upon
his name: make his works known among the people: remember that
his name is high.
12:5. Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath done great things: shew this
forth in all the earth.
12:6. Rejoice, and praise, O thou habitation of Sion: for great is he
that is in the midst of thee, the Holy One of Israel.
Isaias Chapter 13

The desolation of Babylon.

13:1. The burden of Babylon which Isaias the son of Amos saw.
The burden of Babylon.... That is, a prophecy against Babylon.
13:2. Upon the dark mountain lift ye up a banner, exalt the voice, lift
up the hand, and let the rulers go into the gates.
13:3. I have commanded my sancti ied ones, and have called my
strong ones in my wrath, them that rejoice in my glory.

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 13:4. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as it were of many

people, the noise of the sound of kings, of nations gathered together:
the Lord of hosts hath given charge to the troops of war.
13:5. To them that come from a country afar off, from the end of
heaven: the Lord and the instruments of his wrath, to destroy the
whole land.
13:6. Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is near: it shall come as a
destruction from the Lord.
13:7. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every heart of man shall
melt,
13:8. And shall be broken. Gripings and pains, shall take hold of
them, they shall be in pain as a woman in labour. Every one shall be
amazed at his neighbour, their countenances shall be as faces burnt.
13:9. Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, a cruel day, and full of
indignation, and of wrath, and fury, to lay the land desolate, and to
destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
13:10. For the stars of heaven, and their brightness shall not display
their light: the sun shall be darkened in his rising, and the moon shall
not shine with her light.
13:11. And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wicked
for their iniquity: and I will make the pride of in idels to cease, and will
bring down the arrogancy of the mighty.
13:12. A man shall be more precious than gold, yea a man than the
inest of gold.
13:13. For this I will trouble the heaven: and the earth shall be
moved out of her place, for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for
the day of his ierce wrath.
13:14. And they shall be as a doe leeing away, and as a sheep: and
there shall be none to gather them together: every man shall turn to
his own people, and every one shall lee to his own land.
13:15. Every one that shall be found, shall be slain: and every one
that shall come to their aid, shall fall by the sword.
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 13:16. Their infants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes: their
houses shall be pillaged, and their wives shall be ravished.
13:17. Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not
seek silver, nor desire gold:
13:18. But with their arrows they shall kill the children, and shall
have no pity upon the sucklings of the womb, and their eye shall not
spare their sons.
13:19. And that Babylon, glorious among kingdoms, the famous
pride of the Chaldeans, shall be even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrha.
13:20. It shall no more be inhabited for ever, and it shall not be
founded unto generation and generation: neither shall the Arabian
pitch his tents there, nor shall shepherds rest there.
13:21. But wild beasts shall rest there, and their houses shall be
illed with serpents, and ostriches shall dwell there, and the hairy ones
shall dance there:
13:22. And owls shall answer one another there, in the houses
thereof, and sirens in the temples of pleasure.
Isaias Chapter 14

The restoration of Israel after their captivity. The parable or song

insulting over the king of Babylon. A prophecy against the Philistines.
14:1. Her time is near at hand, and her days shall not be prolonged.
For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose out of
Israel, and will make them rest upon their own ground: and the
stranger shall be joined with them, and shall adhere to the house of
Jacob.
14:2. And the people shall take them, and bring them into their
place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord
for servants and handmaids: and they shall make them captives that
had taken them, and shall subdue their oppressors.
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 14:3. And it shall come to pass in that day, that when God shall give
thee rest from thy labour, and from thy vexation, and from the hard
bondage, wherewith thou didst serve before,
14:4. Thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon,
and shalt say: How is the oppressor come to nothing, the tribute hath
ceased?
14:5. The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the
rulers,
14:6. That struck the people in wrath with an incurable wound, that
brought nations under in fury, that persecuted in a cruel manner.
14:7. The whole earth is quiet and still, it is glad and hath rejoiced.
14:8. The ir trees also have rejoiced over thee, and the cedars of
Libanus, saying: Since thou hast slept, there hath none come up to cut
us down.
14:9. Hell below was in an uproar to meet thee at thy coming, it
stirred up the giants for thee. All the princes of the earth are risen up
from their thrones, all the princes of nations.
14:10. All shall answer, and say to thee: Thou also art wounded as
well as we, thou art become like unto us.
14:11. Thy pride is brought down to hell, thy carcass is fallen down:
under thee shall the moth be strewed, and worms shall be thy
covering.
14:12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in
the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth, that didst wound the
nations?
O Lucifer.... O day star. All this, according to the letter, is spoken of the king of
Babylon. It may also be applied, in a spiritual sense, to Lucifer the prince of
devils, who was created a bright angel, but fell by pride and rebellion against
God.
14:13. And thou saidst in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will
exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the
covenant, in the sides of the north.

 14:14. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the
most High.
14:15. But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, into the depth of
the pit.
14:16. They that shall see thee, shall turn toward thee, and behold
thee. Is this the man that troubled the earth, that shook kingdoms,
14:17. That made the world a wilderness, and destroyed the cities
thereof, that opened not the prison to his prisoners?
14:18. All the kings of the nations have all of them slept in glory,
every one in his own house.
14:19. But thou art cast out of thy grave, as an unpro itable branch
de iled, and wrapped up among them that were slain by the sword,
and art gone down to the bottom of the pit, as a rotten carcass.
14:20. Thou shalt not keep company with them, even in burial: for
thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people: the seed of
the wicked shall not be named for ever.
14:21. Prepare his children for slaughter for the iniquity of their
fathers: they shall not rise up, nor inherit the land, nor ill the face of
the world with cities.
14:22. And I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts: and I
will destroy the name of Babylon, and the remains, and the bud, and
the offspring, saith the Lord.
14:23. And I will make it a possession for the ericius and pools of
waters, and I will sweep it and wear it out with a besom, saith the Lord
of hosts.
14:24. The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying: Surely as I have
thought, so shall it be: and as I have purposed,
14:25. So shall it fall out: That I will destroy the Assyrian in my land,
and upon my mountains tread him under foot: and his yoke shall be
taken away from them, and his burden shall be taken off their
shoulder.
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 14:26. This is the counsel, that I have purposed upon all the earth,
and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations.
14:27. For the Lord of hosts hath decreed, and who can disannul it?
and his hand is stretched out: and who shall turn it away?
14:28. In the year that king Achaz died, was this burden:
14:29. Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, that the rod of him that
struck thee is broken in pieces: for out of the root of the serpent shall
come forth a basilisk, and his seed shall swallow the bird.
14:30. And the irstborn of the poor shall be fed, and the poor shall
rest with con idence: and I will make thy root perish with famine, and I
will kill thy remnant.
14:31. Howl, O gate; cry, O city: all Philistia is thrown down: for a
smoke shall come from the north, and there is none that shall escape
his troop.
14:32. And what shall be answered to the messengers of the
nations? That the Lord hath founded Sion, and the poor of his people
shall hope in him.
Isaias Chapter 15

A prophecy of the desolation of the Moabites.

15:1. The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid
waste, it is silent: because the wall of Moab is destroyed in the night, it
is silent.
15:2. The house is gone up, and Dibon to the high places to mourn
over Nabo, and over Medaba, Moab hath howled: on all their heads
shall be baldness, and every beard shall be shaven.
15:3. In their streets they are girded with sackcloth: on the tops of
their houses, and in their streets all shall howl and come down
weeping.

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 15:4. Hesebon shall cry, and Eleale, their voice is heard even to Jasa.
For this shall the well appointed men of Moab howl, his soul shall howl
to itself.
15:5. My heart shall cry to Moab, the bars thereof shall lee unto
Segor a heifer of three years old: for by the ascent of Luith they shall
go up weeping: and in the way of Oronaim they shall lift up a cry of
destruction.
15:6. For the waters of Nemrim shall be desolate, for the grass is
withered away, the spring is faded, all the greenness is perished.
15:7. According to the greatness of their work, is their visitation
also: they shall lead them to the torrent of the willows.
Torrent of the willows.... That is, as some say, the waters of Babylon: others
render it, a valley of the Arabians.
15:8. For the cry is gone round about the border of Moab: the
howling thereof unto Gallim, and unto the well of Elim the cry thereof.
15:9. For the waters of Dibon are illed with blood: for I will bring
more upon Dibon: the lion upon them that shall lee of Moab, and upon
the remnant of the land.
Isaias Chapter 16

The prophet prayeth for Christ’s coming. The af liction of the Moabites
for their pride.
16:1. Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra
of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Sion.
16:2. And it shall come to pass, that as a bird leeing away, and as
young ones lying out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be in
the passage of Arnon.
16:3. Take counsel, gather a council: make thy shadow as the night
in the midday: hide them that lee, and betray not them that wander
about.

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 16:4. My fugitives shall dwell with thee: O Moab, be thou a covert to

them from the face of the destroyer: for the dust is at an end, the
wretch is consumed: he hath failed, that trod the earth under foot.
16:5. And a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit
upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking
judgment and quickly rendering that which is just.
16:6. We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud: his
pride and his arrogancy, and his indignation is more than his strength.
16:7. Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab, every one shall howl: to
them that rejoice upon the brick walls, tell ye their stripes.
16:8. For the suburbs of Hesebon are desolate, and the lords of the
nations have destroyed the vineyard of Sabama: the branches thereof
have reached even to Jazer: they have wandered in the wilderness, the
branches thereof are left, they are gone over the sea.
16:9. Therefore I will lament with the weeping of Jazer the vineyard
of Sabama: I will water thee with my tears, O Hesebon, and Eleale: for
the voice of the treaders hath rushed in upon thy vintage, and upon
thy harvest.
16:10. And gladness and joy shall be taken away from Carmel, and
there shall be no rejoicing nor shouting in the vineyards. He shall not
tread out wine in the press that was wont to tread it out: the voice of
the treaders I have taken away.
Carmel.... This name is often taken to signify a fair and fruitful hill or ield, such
as mount Carmel is.
16:11. Wherefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and
my inward parts for the brick wall.
16:12. And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is
wearied on his high places, that he shall go in to his sanctuaries to
pray, and shall not prevail.
16:13. This is the word, that the Lord spoke to Moab from that time:

 16:14. And now the Lord hath spoken, saying: In three years, as the
years of a hireling, the glory of Moab shall be taken away for all the
multitude of the people, and it shall be left small and feeble, not many.
Isaias Chapter 17

Judgments upon Damascus and Samaria. The overthrow of the

Assyrians.
17:1. The burden of Damascus. Behold Damascus shall cease to be a
city, and shall be as a ruinous heap of stones.
17:2. The cities of Aroer shall be left for locks, and they shall rest
there, and there shall be none to make them afraid.
17:3. And aid shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from
Damascus: and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the
children of Israel: saith the Lord of hosts.
17:4. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob
shall be made thin, and the fatness of his lesh shall grow lean.
17:5. And it shall be as when one gathereth in the harvest that
which remaineth, and his arm shall gather the ears of corn: and it
shall be as he that seeketh ears in the vale of Raphaim.
17:6. And the fruit thereof that shall be left upon it, shall be as one
cluster of grapes, and as the shaking of the olive tree, two or three
berries in the top of a bough, or four or ive upon the top of the tree,
saith the Lord the God of Israel.
17:7. In that day man shall bow down himself to his Maker, and his
eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel.
17:8. And he shall not look to the altars which his hands made; and
he shall not have respect to the things that his ingers wrought, such
as groves and temples.
17:9. In that day his strong cities shall be forsaken, as the ploughs,
and the corn that were left before the face of the children of Israel, and
thou shalt be desolate.

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 That were left.... Viz., by the Chanaanites, when the children of Israel came into
their land.
17:10. Because thou hast forgotten God thy saviour, and hast not
remembered thy strong helper: therefore shalt thou plant good plants,
and shalt sow strange seed.
17:11. In the day of thy planting shall be the wild grape, and in the
morning thy seed shall lourish: the harvest is taken away in the day of
inheritance, and shall grieve thee much.
17:12. Woe to the multitude of many people, like the multitude of
the roaring sea: and the tumult of crowds, like the noise of many
waters.
The multitude, etc.... This and all that follows to the end of the chapter, relates to
the Assyrian army under Sennacherib.
17:13. Nations shall make a noise like the noise of waters
over lowing, but he shall rebuke him, and he shall lee far off: and he
shall be carried away as the dust of the mountains before the wind,
and as a whirlwind before a tempest.
17:14. In the time of the evening, behold there shall be trouble: the
morning shall come, and he shall not be: this is the portion of them
that have wasted us, and the lot of them that spoiled us.
Isaias Chapter 18

A woe to the Ethiopians, who fed Israel with vain hopes, their future
conversion.
18:1. Woe to the land, the winged cymbal, which is beyond the rivers
of Ethiopia,
18:2. That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, and in vessels of
bulrushes upon the waters. Go, ye swift angels, to a nation rent and
torn in pieces: to a terrible people, after which there is no other: to a
nation expecting and trodden underfoot, whose land the rivers have
spoiled.
Angels.... Or messengers.
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 18:3. All ye inhabitants of the world, who dwell on the earth, when
the sign shall be lifted up on the mountains, you shall see, and you
shall hear the sound of the trumpet.
18:4. For thus saith the Lord to me: I will take my rest, and consider
in my place, as the noon light is clear, and as a cloud of dew in the day
of harvest.
18:5. For before the harvest it was all lourishing, and it shall bud
without perfect ripeness, and the sprigs thereof shall be cut off with
pruning hooks: and what is left shall be cut away and shaken out.
18:6. And they shall be left together to the birds of the mountains,
and the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall be upon them all the
summer, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
18:7. At that time shall a present be brought to the Lord of hosts,
from a people rent and torn in pieces: from a terrible people, after
which there hath been no other: from a nation expecting, expecting
and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the
place of the name of the Lord of hosts, to mount Sion.
Isaias Chapter 19

The punishment of Egypt: their call to the church.

19:1. The burden of Egypt. Behold the Lord will ascend upon a swift
cloud, and will enter into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved
at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst thereof.
19:2. And I will set the Egyptians to ight against the Egyptians: and
they shall ight brother against brother, and friend against friend, city
against city, kingdom against kingdom.
19:3. And the spirit of Egypt shall be broken in the bowels thereof,
and I will cast down their counsel: and they shall consult their idols,
and their diviners, and their wizards, and soothsayers.
19:4. And I will deliver Egypt into the hand of cruel masters, and a
strong king shall rule over them, saith the Lord the God of hosts.
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 19:5. And the water of the sea shall be dried up, and the river shall
be wasted and dry.
19:6. And the rivers shall fail: the streams of the banks shall be
diminished, and be dried up. The reed and the bulrush shall wither
away.
19:7. The channel of the river shall be laid bare from its fountain,
and every thing sown by the water shall be dried up, it shall wither
away, and shall be no more.
19:8. The ishers also shall mourn, and all that cast a hook into the
river shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall
languish away.
19:9. They shall be confounded that wrought in lax, combing and
weaving ine linen.
19:10. And its watery places shall be dry, all they shall mourn that
made pools to take ishes.
19:11. The princes of Tanis are become fools, the wise counsellors of
Pharao have given foolish counsel: how will you say to Pharao: I am
the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
19:12. Where are now thy wise men? let them tell thee, and shew
what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.
19:13. The princes of Tanis are become fools, the princes of Memphis
are gone astray, they have deceived Egypt, the stay of the people
thereof.
19:14. The Lord hath mingled in the midst thereof the spirit of
giddiness: and they have caused Egypt to err in all its works, as a
drunken man staggereth and vomiteth.
19:15. And there shall be no work for Egypt, to make head or tail,
him that bendeth down, or that holdeth back.
19:16. In that day Egypt shall be like unto women, and they shall be
amazed, and afraid, because of the moving of the hand of the Lord of
hosts, which he shall move over it.

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 19:17. And the land of Juda shall be a terror to Egypt: everyone that
shall remember it shall tremble because of the counsel of the Lord of
hosts, which he hath determined concerning it.
19:18. In that day there shall be ive cities in the land of Egypt,
speaking the language of Chanaan, and swearing by the Lord of hosts:
one shall be called the city of the sun.
19:19. In that day there shall be an altar of the Lord in the midst of
the land of Egypt, and a monument of the Lord at the borders thereof:
19:20. It shall be for a sign, and for a testimony to the Lord of hosts
in the land of Egypt. For they shall cry to the Lord because of the
oppressor, and he shall send them a Saviour and a defender to deliver
them.
19:21. And the Lord shall be known by Egypt, and the Egyptians
shall know the Lord in that day, and shall worship him with sacri ices
and offerings: and they shall make vows to the Lord, and perform
them.
19:22. And the Lord shall strike Egypt with a scourge, and shall heal
it, and they shall return to the Lord, and he shall be paci ied towards
them, and heal them.
19:23. In that day there shall be a way from Egypt to the Assyrians,
and the Assyrian shall enter into Egypt, and the Egyptian to the
Assyrians, and the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrian.
19:24. In that day shall Israel be the third to the Egyptian and the
Assyrian: a blessing in the midst of the land,
19:25. Which the Lord of hosts hath blessed, saying: Blessed be my
people of Egypt, and the work of my hands to the Assyrian: but Israel is
my inheritance.
Isaias Chapter 20

The ignominious captivity of the Egyptians, and the Ethiopians.

 20:1. In the year that Tharthan entered into Azotus, when Sargon
the king of the Assyrians had sent him, and he had fought against
Azotus, and had taken it:
20:2. At that same time the Lord spoke by the hand of Isaias the son
of Amos, saying Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and take
off thy shoes from thy feet. And he did so, and went naked, and
barefoot.
20:3. And the Lord said: As my servant Isaias hath walked, naked
and barefoot, it shall be a sign and a wonder of three years upon
Egypt, and upon Ethiopia,
20:4. So shall the king of the Assyrians lead away the prisoners of
Egypt, and the captivity of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and
barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered to the shame of Egypt.
20:5. And they shall be afraid, and ashamed of Ethiopia their hope,
and of Egypt their glory.
20:6. And the inhabitants of this isle shall say in that day: Lo this
was our hope, to whom we led for help, to deliver us from the face of
the king of the Assyrians: and how shall we be able to escape?
Isaias Chapter 21

The destruction of Babylon by the Medes and Persians: a prophecy

against the Edomites and the Arabians.
21:1. The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds come from
the south, it cometh from the desert from a terrible land.
The desert of the sea.... So Babylon is here called, because from a city as full of
people as the sea is with water, it was become a desert.
21:2. A grievous vision is told me: he that is unfaithful dealeth
unfaithfully: and he that is a spoiler, spoileth. Go up, O Elam, besiege, O
Mede: I have made all the mourning thereof to cease.
O Elam.... That is, O Persia.

 21:3. Therefore are my loins illed with pain, anguish hath taken
hold of me, as the anguish of a woman in labour: I fell down at the
hearing of it, I was troubled at the seeing of it.
21:4. My heart failed, darkness amazed me: Babylon my beloved is
become a wonder to me.
21:5. Prepare the table, behold in the watchtower them that eat and
drink: arise, ye princes, take up the shield.
21:6. For thus hath the Lord said to me: Go, and set a watchman:
and whatsoever he shall see, let him tell.
21:7. And he saw a chariot with two horsemen, a rider upon an ass,
and a rider upon a camel: and he beheld them diligently with much
heed.
A rider upon an ass, etc.... These two riders are the kings of the Persians and
Medes.
21:8. And a lion cried out: I am upon the watchtower of the Lord,
standing continually by day: and I am upon my ward, standing whole
nights.
And a lion cried out.... That is, I Isaias seeing the approaching ruin of Babylon,
have cried out as a lion roaring.
21:9. Behold this man cometh, the rider upon the chariot with two
horsemen, and he answered, and said: Babylon is fallen, she is fallen,
and all the graven gods thereof are broken unto the ground.
21:10. O my thrashing, and the children of my loor, that which I
have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared unto
you.
21:11. The burden of Duma calleth to me out of Seir: Watchman,
what of the night? watchman, what of the night?
Duma.... That is, Idumea, or Edom.
21:12. The watchman said: The morning cometh, also the night: if
you seek, seek: return, come.

 21:13. The burden in Arabia. In the forest at evening you shall sleep,
in the paths of Dedanim.
21:14. Meeting the thirsty bring him water, you that inhabit the
land of the south, meet with bread him that leeth.
21:15. For they are led from before the swords, from the sword that
hung over them, from the bent bow, from the face of a grievous battle.
21:16. For thus saith the Lord to me: Within a year, according to the
years of a hireling, all the glory of Cedar shall be taken away.
Cedar.... Arabia.
21:17. And the residue of the number of strong archers of the
children of Cedar shall be diminished: for the Lord the God of Israel
hath spoken it.
Isaias Chapter 22

The prophet laments the devastation of Juda. He foretells the

deprivation of Sobna, and the substitution of Eliacim, a igure of
Christ.
22:1. The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee also, that
thou too art wholly gone up to the housetops?
The valley of vision.... Jerusalem. The temple of Jerusalem was built upon mount
Moria, or the mountain of vision. But the city is here called the valley of vision;
either because it was lower than the temple, or because of the low condition to
which it was to be reduced.
22:2. Full of clamour, a populous city, a joyous city: thy slain are not
slain by the sword, nor dead in battle.
22:3. All the princes are led together, and are bound hard: all that
were found, are bound together, they are led far off.
22:4. Therefore have I said: Depart from me, I will weep bitterly:
labour not to comfort me, for the devastation of the daughter of my
people.

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 22:5. For it is a day of slaughter and of treading down, and of

weeping to the Lord the God of hosts in the valley of vision, searching
the wall, and magni icent upon the mountain.
22:6. And Elam took the quiver, the chariot of the horseman, and the
shield was taken down from the wall.
22:7. And thy choice valleys shall be full of chariots, and the
horsemen shall place themselves in the gate.
22:8. And the covering of Juda shall be discovered, and thou shalt
see in that day the armoury of the house of the forest.
22:9. And you shall see the breaches of the city of David, that they
are many: and you have gathered together the waters of the lower
pool,
22:10. And have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and broken
down houses to fortify the wall.
22:11. And you made a ditch between the two walls for the water of
the old pool: and you have not looked up to the maker thereof, nor
regarded him even at a distance, that wrought it long ago.
22:12. And the Lord, the God of hosts, in that day shall call to
weeping, and to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
22:13. And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying rams,
eating lesh, and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink; for to morrow
we shall die.
22:14. And the voice of the Lord of hosts was revealed in my ears:
Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you till you die, saith the Lord
God of hosts.
22:15. Thus saith the Lord God of hosts: Go, get thee in to him that
dwelleth in the tabernacle, to Sobna who is over the temple: and thou
shalt say to him:
22:16. What dost thou here, or as if thou wert somebody here? for
thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, thou hast hewed out a
monument carefully in a high place, a dwelling for thyself in a rock.

 22:17. Behold the Lord will cause thee to be carried away, as a cock
is carried away, and he will lift thee up as a garment.
22:18. He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation, he will toss
thee like a ball into a large and spacious country: there shalt thou die,
and there shall the chariot of thy glory be, the shame of the house of
thy Lord.
22:19. And I will drive thee out from thy station, and depose thee
from thy ministry.
22:20. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my
servant Eliacim the son of Helcias,
22:21. And I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen him
with thy girdle, and will give thy power into his hand: and he shall be
as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Juda.
22:22. And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder:
and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none
shall open.
22:23. And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be
for a throne of glory to the house of his father.
22:24. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s
house, divers kinds of vessels, every little vessel, from the vessels of
cups even to every instrument of music.
22:25. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the peg be removed,
that was fastened in the sure place: and it shall be broken and shall
fall: and that which hung thereon, shall perish, because the Lord hath
spoken it.
Isaias Chapter 23

The destruction of Tyre. It shall be repaired again after seventy years.

23:1. The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of the sea, for the house is
destroyed, from whence they were wont to come: from the land of
Cethim it is revealed to them.

 23:2. Be silent, you that dwell in the island: the merchants of Sidon
passing over the sea, have illed thee.
23:3. The seed of the Nile in many waters, the harvest of the river is
her revenue: and she is become the mart of the nations.
23:4. Be thou ashamed, O Sidon: for the sea speaketh, even the
strength of the sea, saying: I have not been in labour, nor have I
brought forth, nor have I nourished up young men, nor brought up
virgins.
23:5. When it shall be heard in Egypt, they will be sorry when they
shall hear of Tyre:
23:6. Pass over the seas, howl, ye inhabitants of the island.
23:7. Is not this your city, which gloried from of old in her antiquity?
her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.
23:8. Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, that was formerly
crowned, whose merchants were princes, and her traders the nobles of
the earth?
23:9. The Lord of hosts hath designed it, to pull down the pride of all
glory, and bring to disgrace all the glorious ones of the earth.
23:10. Pass thy land as a river, O daughter of the sea, thou hast a
girdle no more.
23:11. He stretched out his hand over the sea, he troubled kingdoms:
the Lord hath given a charge against Chanaan, to destroy the strong
ones thereof.
23:12. And he said: Thou shalt glory no more, O virgin daughter of
Sidon, who art oppressed: arise and sail over to Cethim, there also thou
shalt have no rest.
23:13. Behold the land of the Chaldeans, there was not such a
people, the Assyrians founded it: they have led away the strong ones
thereof into captivity, they have destroyed the houses thereof, they
have, brought it to ruin.
23:14. Howl, O ye ships of the sea, for your strength is laid waste.

 23:15. And it shall come to pass in that day that thou, O Tyre, shalt
be forgotten, seventy years, according to the days of one king: but
after seventy years, there shall be unto Tyre as the song of a harlot.
23:16. Take a harp, go about the city, harlot that hast been
forgotten: sing well, sing many a song, that thou mayst be
remembered.
23:17. And it shall come to pass after seventy years, that the Lord
will visit Tyre, and will bring her back again to her traf ic: and she
shall commit fornication again with all the kingdoms of the world
upon the face of the earth.
23:18. And her merchandise and her hire shall be sancti ied to the
Lord: they shall not be kept in store, nor laid up: for her merchandise
shall be for them that shall dwell before the Lord, that they may eat
unto fulness, and be clothed for a continuance.
Sancti ied to the Lord.... This alludes to the conversion of the Gentiles.
Isaias Chapter 24

The judgments of God upon all the sinners of the world. A remnant
shall joyfully praise him.
24:1. Behold the Lord shall lay waste the earth, and shall strip it,
and shall af lict the face thereof, and scatter abroad the inhabitants
thereof.
24:2. And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest: and as
with the servant so with his master: as with the handmaid, so with her
mistress: as with the buyer, so with the seller: as with the lender, so
with the borrower: as with him that calleth for his money, so with him
that oweth.
24:3. With desolation shall the earth be laid waste, and it shall be
utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.
24:4. The earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened: the
world faded away, the height of the people of the earth is weakened.
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 24:5. And the earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof: because

they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance,
they have broken the everlasting covenant.
24:6. Therefore shall a curse devour the earth, and the inhabitants
thereof shall sin: and therefore they that dwell therein shall be mad,
and few men shall be left.
24:7. The vintage hath mourned, the vine hath languished away, all
the merry-hearted have sighed.
24:8. The mirth of timbrels hath ceased, the noise of them that
rejoice is ended, the melody of the harp is silent.
24:9. They shall not drink wine with a song: the drink shall be bitter
to them that drink it.
24:10. The city of vanity is broken down, every house is shut up, no
man cometh in.
24:11. There shall be a crying for wine in the streets: all mirth is
forsaken: the joy of the earth is gone away.
24:12. Desolation is left in the city, and calamity shall oppress the
gates.
24:13. For it shall be thus in the midst of the earth, in the midst of
the people, as if a few olives, that remain, should be shaken out of the
olive tree: or grapes, when the vintage is ended.
24:14. These shall lift up their voice, and shall give praise: when the
Lord shall be glori ied, they shall make a joyful noise from the sea.
24:15. Therefore glorify ye the Lord in instruction: the name of the
Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea.
24:16. From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory
of the just one. And I said: My secret to myself, my secret to myself, woe
is me: the prevaricators have prevaricated, and with the prevarication
of transgressors they have prevaricated.
24:17. Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O thou
inhabitant of the earth.

 24:18. And it shall come to pass, that he that shall lee from the
noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit: and he that shall rid himself out
of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for the lood-gates from on high
are opened, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken.
24:19. With breaking shall the earth be broken, with crushing shall
the earth be crushed, with trembling shall the earth be moved.
24:20. With shaking shall the earth be shaken as a drunken man,
and shall be removed as the tent of one night: and the iniquity thereof
shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.
24:21. And it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord shall visit
upon the host of heaven on high, and upon the kings of the earth, on
the earth.
The host of heaven on high.... The stars, which in many places of the Scripture are
so called. Some commentators explain that these words here signify the demons
of the air.
24:22. And they shall be gathered together as in the gathering of
one bundle into the pit, and they shall be shut up there in prison: and
after many days they shall be visited.
24:23. And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed,
when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem,
and shall be glori ied in the sight of his ancients.
Isaias Chapter 25

A canticle of thanksgiving for God’s judgments and bene its.

25:1. O Lord, thou art my God, I will exalt thee, and give glory to thy
name: for thou hast done wonderful things, thy designs of old faithful,
amen.
25:2. For thou hast reduced the city to a heap, the strong city to
ruin, the house of strangers, to be no city, and to be no more built up
for ever.
25:3. Therefore shall a strong people praise thee, the city of mighty
nations shall fear thee.

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 25:4. Because thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to

the needy in his distress: a refuge from the whirlwind, a shadow from
the heat. For the blast of the mighty is like a whirlwind beating
against a wall.
25:5. Thou shalt bring down the tumult of strangers, as heat in
thirst: and as with heat under a burning cloud, thou shalt make the
branch of the mighty to wither away.
25:6. And the Lord of hosts shall make unto all people in this
mountain, a feast of fat things, a feast of wine, of fat things full of
marrow, of wine puri ied from the lees.
25:7. And he shall destroy in this mountain the face of the bond with
which all people were tied, and the web that he began over all nations.
25:8. He shall cast death down headlong for ever: and the Lord God
shall wipe away tears from every face, and the reproach of his people
he shall take away from off the whole earth: for the Lord hath spoken
it.
25:9. And they shall say in that day: Lo, this is our God, we have
waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord, we have patiently
waited for him, we shall rejoice and be joyful in his salvation.
25:10. For the hand of the Lord shall rest in this mountain: and
Moab shall be trodden down under him, as straw is broken in pieces
with the wain.
Moab.... That is, the reprobate, whose eternal punishment, from which they can
no way escape, is described under these igures.
25:11. And he shall stretch forth his hands under him, as he that
swimmeth stretcheth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down
his glory with the dashing of his hands.
25:12. And the bulwarks of thy high walls shall fall, and be brought
low, and shall be pulled down to the ground, even to the dust.
Isaias Chapter 26

A canticle of thanks for the deliverance of God’s people.

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 26:1. In that day shall this canticle be sung in the land of Juda. Sion
the city of our strength a saviour, a wall and a bulwark shall be set
therein.
26:2. Open ye the gates, and let the just nation, that keepeth the
truth, enter in.
26:3. The old error is passed away: thou wilt keep peace: peace,
because we have hoped in thee.
26:4. You have hoped in the Lord for evermore, in the Lord God
mighty for ever.
26:5. For he shall bring down them that dwell on high, the high city
he shall lay low. He shall bring it down even to the ground, he shall
pull it down even to the dust.
26:6. The foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor, the steps of
the needy.
26:7. The way of the just is right, the path of the just is right to walk
in.
26:8. And in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, we have patiently
waited for thee: thy name, and thy remembrance are the desire of the
soul.
26:9. My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit
within me in the morning early I will watch to thee. When thou shalt
do thy judgments on the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn
justice.
26:10. Let us have pity on the wicked, but he will not learn justice: in
the land of the saints he hath done wicked things, and he shall not see
the glory of the Lord.
26:11. Lord, let thy hand be exalted, and let them not see: let the
envious people see, and be confounded: and let ire devour thy
enemies.
26:12. Lord, thou wilt give us peace: for thou hast wrought all our
works for us.

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 26:13. O Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion
over us, only in thee let us remember thy name.
26:14. Let not the dead live, let not the giants rise again: therefore
hast visited and destroyed them, and hast destroyed all their memory.
26:15. Thou hast been favourable to the nation, O Lord, thou hast
been favourable to the nation: art thou glori ied? thou hast removed
all the ends of the earth far off.
26:16. Lord, they have sought after thee in distress, in the
tribulation of murmuring thy instruction was with them.
26:17. As a woman with child, when she draweth near the time of
her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs: so are we become
in thy presence, O Lord.
26:18. We have conceived, and been as it were in labour, and have
brought forth wind: we have not wrought salvation on the earth,
therefore the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen.
26:19. Thy dead men shall live, my slain shall rise again: awake, and
give praise, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is the dew of the
light: and the land of the giants thou shalt pull down into ruin.
26:20. Go, my people, enter into thy chambers, shut thy doors upon
thee, hide thyself a little for a moment, until the indignation pass
away.
26:21. For behold the Lord will come out of his place, to visit the
iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth against him: and the earth shall
disclose her blood, and shall cover her slain no more.
Shall cover her slain no more.... This is said with relation to the martyrs, and
their happy resurrection.
Isaias Chapter 27

The punishment of the oppressors of God’s people. The Lord’s favour to

his church.

 27:1. In that day the Lord with his hard, and great, and strong
sword shall visit leviathan the bar serpent, and leviathan the crooked
serpent, and shall slay the whale that is in the sea.
Leviathan.... That is, the devil, the great enemy of the people of God. He is called
the bar serpent from his strength, and the crooked serpent from his wiles; and
the whale of the sea, from the tyranny he exercises in the sea of this world. He
was spiritually slain by the death of Christ, when his power was destroyed.
27:2. In that day there shall be singing to the vineyard of pure wine.
The vineyard, etc.... The church of Christ.
27:3. I am the Lord that keep it, I will suddenly give it drink: lest any
hurt come to it, I keep it night and day.
I will suddenly give it drink.... Or, as the Hebrew may also be rendered, I will
continually water it.
27:4. There is no indignation in me: who shall make me a thorn and
a brier in battle: shall I march against it, shall, I set it on ire together?
No indignation in me, etc.... Viz., against the church: nor shall I become as a
thorn or brier in its regard; or march against it, or set it on ire: but it shall
always take fast hold of me, and keep an everlasting peace with me.
27:5. Or rather shall it take hold of my strength, shall it make peace
with me, shall it make peace with me?
27:6. When they shall rush in unto Jacob, Israel shall blossom and
bud, and they shall ill the face of the world with seed.
When they shall rush in, etc.... Some understand this of the enemies of the true
Israel, that shall invade it in vain. Others of the spiritual invasion made by the
apostles of Christ.
27:7. Hath he struck him according to the stroke of him that struck
him? or is he slain, as he killed them that were slain by him?
Hath he struck him, etc.... Hath God punished the carnal persecuting Jews, in
proportion to their doings against Christ and his saints?
27:8. In measure against measure, when it shall be cast off, thou
shalt judge it. He hath meditated with his severe spirit in the day of
heat.

When it shall be cast off, etc.... When the synagogue shall be cast off, thou shalt
judge it in measure, and in proportion to its crimes.—Ibid. He hath meditated,
etc.... God hath designed severe punishments in the day of his wrath.
27:9. Therefore upon this shall the iniquity of the house of Jacob be
forgiven: and this is all the fruit, that the sin thereof should be taken
away, when he shall have made all the stones of the altar, as burnt
stones broken in pieces, the groves and temples shall not stand.
Of the house of Jacob.... Viz., of such of them as shall be converted.
27:10. For the strong city shall be desolate, the beautiful city shall
be forsaken, and shall be left as a wilderness: there the calf shall feed,
and there shall he lie down, and shall consume its branches.
The strong city.... Jerusalem.
27:11. Its harvest shall be destroyed with drought, women shall
come and teach it: for it is not a wise people, therefore he that made it,
shall not have mercy on it: and he that formed it, shall not spare it.
27:12. And it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord will strike
from the channel of the river even to the torrent of Egypt, and you
shall be gathered together one by one, O ye children of Israel.
27:13. And it shall come to pass, that in that day a noise shall be
made with a great trumpet, and they that were lost, shall come from
the land of the Assyrians, and they that were outcasts in the land of
Egypt, and they shall adore the Lord in the holy mount in Jerusalem.
A great trumpet.... The preaching of the gospel for the conversion of the Jews.
Isaias Chapter 28

The punishment of the Israelites, for their pride, intemperance, and

contempt of religion. Christ the cornerstone.
28:1. Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, and to
the fading lower the glory his joy, who were on the head of the fat
valley, staggering with wine.
Ephraim.... That is, the kingdom of the ten tribes.—Ibid. The head of the fat
valley.... Samaria, situate on a hill, having under it a most fertile valley.
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 28:2. Behold the Lord is mighty and strong, as a storm of hail: a

destroying whirlwind, as the violence of many waters over lowing, and
sent forth upon a spacious land.
28:3. The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be
trodden under feet.
28:4. And the fading lower the glory of his joy, who is on the head of
the fat valley, shall be as a hasty fruit before the ripeness of autumn:
which when he that seeth it shall behold, as soon as he taketh it in his
hand, he will eat it up.
28:5. In that day the Lord of hosts shall be a crown of glory, and a
garland of joy to the residue of his people:
28:6. And a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and
strength to them that return out of the battle to the gate.
28:7. But these also have been ignorant through wine, and through
drunkenness have erred: the priest and the prophet have been
ignorant through drunkenness, they are swallowed up with wine, they
have gone astray in drunkenness, they have not known him that seeth,
they have been ignorant of judgment.
These also.... The kingdom of Juda.
28:8. For all the tables were full of vomit and ilth, so that there was
no more place.
28:9. Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to
understand the hearing? them that are weaned from the milk, that are
drawn away from the breasts.
28:10. For command, command again; command, command again;
expect, expect again; expect, expect again; a little there, a little there.
Command, command again, etc.... This is said in the person of the Jews, resisting
the repeated commands of God, and still putting him off.
28:11. For with the speech of lips, and with another tongue he will
speak to this people.

 28:12. To whom he said: This is my rest, refresh the weary, and this
is my refreshing: and they would not hear.
28:13. And the word of the Lord shall be to them: Command,
command again; command, command again; expect, expect again; a
little there, a little there: that they may go, and fall backward, and be
broken, and snared, and taken.
28:14. Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, who
rule over my people that is in Jerusalem.
28:15. For you have said: We have entered into a league with death,
and we have made a covenant with hell. When the over lowing scourge
shall pass through, it shall not come upon us: for we have placed our
hope in lies, and by falsehood we are protected.
28:16. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will lay a stone in
the foundations of Sion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone,
founded in the foundation. He that believeth, let him not hasten.
A stone in the foundations.... Viz., Christ.—Ibid. Let him not hasten, etc.... Let him
expect his coming with patience.
28:17. And I will set judgment in weight, and justice in measure: and
hail shall overturn the hope of falsehood: and waters shall over low its
protection.
28:18. And your league with death shall be abolished, and your
covenant with hell shall not stand: when the over lowing scourge shall
pass, you shall be trodden down by it.
28:19. Whensoever it shall pass through, it shall take you away:
because in the morning early it shall pass through, in the day and in
the night, and vexation alone shall make you understand what you
hear.
28:20. For the bed is straitened, so that one must fall out, and a
short covering cannot cover both.
The bed is straitened, etc.... It is too narrow to hold two: God will have the bed of
our heart all to himself.

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 28:21. For the Lord shall stand up as in the mountain of divisions: he

shall be angry as in the valley which is in Gabaon: that he may do his
work, his strange work: that he may perform his work, his work is
strange to him.
As in the mountain, etc.... As the Lord fought against the Philistines in Baal
Pharasim, 2 Kings 5., and against the Chanaanites, in the valley of Gabaon, Jos.
10.
28:22. And now do not mock, lest your bonds be tied strait. For I
have heard of the Lord the God of hosts a consumption and a cutting
short upon all the earth.
28:23. Give ear, and hear my voice, hearken, and hear my speech.
28:24. Shall the ploughman plough all the day to sow, shall he open
and harrow his ground?
28:25. Will he not, when he hath made plain the surface thereof, sow
gith, and scatter cummin, and put wheat in order, and barley, and
millet, and vetches in their bounds?
28:26. For he will instruct him in judgment: his God will teach him.
28:27. For gith shall not be thrashed with saws, neither shall the
cart wheel turn about upon cummin: but gith shall be beaten out with
a rod, and cumin with a staff.
28:28. But breadcorn shall be broken small: but the thrasher shall
not thrash it for ever, neither shall the cart wheel hurt it, nor break it
with its teeth.
28:29. This also is come forth from the Lord God of hosts, to make
his counsel wonderful, and magnify justice.
This also, etc.... Such also is the proceeding of the Lord with his land, and the
divers seeds he throws therein.
Isaias Chapter 29

God’s heavy judgments upon Jerusalem, for their obstinacy: with a

prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles.

 29:1. Woe to Ariel, to Ariel the city which David took: year is added
to year: the solemnities are at an end.
Ariel.... This word signi ies, the lion of God, and here is taken for the strong city of
Jerusalem.
29:2. And I will make a trench about Ariel, and it shall be in sorrow
and mourning, and it shall be to me as Ariel.
29:3. And I will make a circle round about thee, and I will cast up a
rampart against thee, and raise up bulwarks to besiege thee.
29:4. Thou shalt be brought down, thou shalt speak out of the earth,
and thy speech shall be heard out of the ground: and thy voice shall be
from the earth like that of the python, and out of the earth thy speech
shall mutter.
29:5. And the multitude of them that fan thee, shall be like small
dust: and as ashes passing away, the multitude of them that have
prevailed against thee.
29:6. And it shall be at an instant suddenly. A visitation shall come
from the Lord of hosts in thunder, and with earthquake, and with a
great noise of whirlwind and tempest; and with the lame of devouring
ire.
29:7. And the multitude of all nations that have fought against Ariel,
shall be as the dream of a vision by night, and all that have fought, and
besieged and prevailed against it.
29:8. And as he that is hungry dreameth, and eateth, but when he is
awake, his soul is empty: and as he that is thirsty dreameth, and
drinketh and after he is awake, is yet faint with thirst, and his soul is
empty: so shall be the multitude of all the Gentiles, that have fought
against mount Sion.
29:9. Be astonished, and wonder, waver, and stagger: be drunk, and
not with wine: stagger, and not with drunkenness.
29:10. For the Lord hath mingled for you the spirit of a deep sleep,
he will shut up your eyes, he will cover your prophets and princes, that
see visions.
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 29:11. And the vision of all shall be unto you as the words of a book
that is sealed which when they shall deliver to one that is learned, they
shall say: Read this: and he shall answer: I cannot, for it is sealed.
29:12. And the book shall be given to one that knoweth no letters,
and it shall be said to him: Read: and he shall answer: I know no
letters.
29:13. And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near me
with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far
from me, and they have feared me with the commandment and
doctrines of men:
29:14. Therefore behold I will proceed to cause an admiration in
this people, by a great and wonderful miracle: for wisdom shall perish
from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall
be hid.
29:15. Woe to you that are deep of heart, to hide your counsel from
the Lord: and their works are in the dark, and they say: Who seeth us,
and who knoweth us?
29:16. This thought of yours is perverse: as if the clay should think
against the potter, and the work should say to the maker thereof: Thou
madest me not: or the thing framed should say to him that fashioned
it: Thou understandest not.
29:17. Is it not yet a very little while, and Libanus shall be turned
into charmel, and charmel shall be esteemed as a forest?
Charmel.... This word signi ies a fruitful ield.
29:18. And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and
out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind shall see.
29:19. And the meek shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the
poor men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
29:20. For he that did prevail hath failed, the scorner is consumed,
and they are all cut off that watched for iniquity:
29:21. That made men sin by word, and supplanted him that
reproved them in the gate, and declined in vain from the just.

 29:22. Therefore thus saith the Lord to the house of Jacob, he that
redeemed Abraham: Jacob shall not now be confounded, neither shall
his countenance now be ashamed:
29:23. But when he shall see his children, the work of my hands in
the midst of him sanctifying my name, and they shall sanctify the Holy
One of Jacob, and shall glorify the God of Israel:
29:24. And they that erred in spirit, shall know understanding, and
they that murmured, shall learn the law.
Isaias Chapter 30

The people are blamed for their con idence in Egypt. God’s mercies
towards his church. The punishment of sinners.
30:1. Woe to you, apostate children, saith the Lord, that you would
take counsel, and not of me: and would begin a web, and not by my
spirit, that you might add sin upon sin:
30:2. Who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my
mouth, hoping for help in the strength of Pharao, and trusting in the
shadow of Egypt.
30:3. And the strength of Pharao shall be to your confusion, and the
con idence of the shadow of Egypt to your shame.
30:4. For thy princes were in Tanis, and thy messengers came even
to Hanes.
30:5. They were all confounded at a people that could not pro it
them: they were no help, nor to any pro it, but to confusion and to
reproach.
30:6. The burden of the beasts of the south. In a land of trouble and
distress, from whence come the lioness, and the lion, the viper and the
lying basilisk, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of beasts, and
their treasures upon the bunches of camels to a people that shall not
be able to pro it them.
30:7. For Egypt shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have
I cried concerning this: It is pride only, sit still.
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 30:8. Now therefore go in and write for them upon box, and note it
diligently in a book, and it shall be in the latter days for a testimony
for ever.
30:9. For it is a people that provoketh to wrath, and lying children,
children that will not hear the law of God.
30:10. Who say to the seers: See not: and to them that behold:
Behold not for us those things that are right: speak unto us pleasant
things, see errors for us.
30:11. Take away from me the way, turn away the path from me, let
the Holy One of Israel cease from before us.
30:12. Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel: Because you have
rejected this word, and have trusted in oppression and tumult, and
have leaned upon it:
30:13. Therefore shall this iniquity be to you as a breach that
falleth, and is found wanting in a high wall, for the destruction thereof
shall come on a sudden, when it is not looked for.
30:14. And it shall be broken small, as the potter’s vessel is broken
all to pieces with mighty breaking, and there shall not a sherd be
found of the pieces thereof, wherein a little ire may be carried from
the hearth, or a little water be drawn out of the pit.
30:15. For thus saith the Lord God the Holy One of Israel: If you
return and be quiet, you shall be saved: in silence and in hope shall
your strength be. And you would not:
30:16. But have said: No, but we will lee to horses: therefore shall
you lee. And we will mount upon swift ones: therefore shall they be
swifter that shall pursue after you.
30:17. A thousand men shall lee for fear of one: and for fear of ive
shall you lee, till you be left as the mast of ship on the top of a
mountain, and as an ensign upon a hill.
30:18. Therefore the Lord waiteth that he may have mercy on you:
and therefore shall he be exalted sparing you: because the Lord is the
God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
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 30:19. For the people of Sion shall dwell in Jerusalem: weeping thou
shalt not weep, he will surely have pity on thee: at the voice of thy cry,
as soon as he shall hear, he will answer thee.
30:20. And the Lord will give you spare bread, and short water: and
will not cause thy teacher to lee away from thee any more, and thy
eyes shall see thy teacher.
30:21. And thy ears shall hear the word of one admonishing thee
behind thy back: This is the way, walk ye in it: and go not aside neither
to the right hand, nor to the left.
30:22. And thou shalt de ile the plates of thy graven things of silver,
and the garment of thy molten things of gold, and shalt cast them
away as the uncleanness of a menstruous woman. Thou shalt say to it:
Get thee hence.
30:23. And rain shall be given to thy seed, wheresoever thou shalt
sow in the land: and the bread of the corn of the land shall be most
plentiful, and fat. The lamb in that day shall feed at large in thy
possession:
30:24. And thy oxen, and the ass colts that till the ground, shall eat
mingled provender as it was winnowed in the loor.
30:25. And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every
elevated hill rivers of running waters in the day of the slaughter of
many, when the tower shall fall.
30:26. And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and
the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days: in the
day when the Lord shall bind up the wound of his people, and shall
heal the stroke of their wound.
30:27. Behold the name of the Lord cometh from afar, his wrath
burneth, and is heavy to bear: his lips are illed with indignation, and
his tongue as a devouring ire.
30:28. His breath as a torrent over lowing even to the midst of the
neck, to destroy the nations unto nothing, and the bridle of error that
was in the jaws of the people.

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 30:29. You shall have a song as in the night of the sancti ied
solemnity, and joy of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe, to come
into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel.
30:30. And the Lord shall make the glory of his voice to be heard,
and shall shew the terror of his arm, in the threatening of wrath, and
the lame of devouring ire: he shall crush to pieces with whirlwind,
and hailstones.
30:31. For at the voice of the Lord the Assyrian shall fear being
struck with the rod.
30:32. And the passage of the rod shall be strongly grounded, which
the Lord shall make to rest upon him with timbrels and harps, and in
great battles he shall overthrow them.
30:33. For Topheth is prepared from yesterday, prepared by the
king, deep, and wide. The nourishment thereof is ire and much wood:
the breath of the Lord as a torrent of brimstone kindling it.
Topheth.... It is the same as Gehenna, and is taken for hell.
Isaias Chapter 31

The folly of trusting to Egypt, and forgetting God. He will ight for his
people against the Assyrians.
31:1. Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, trusting in horses,
and putting their con idence in chariots, because they are many: and
in horsemen, because they are very strong: and have not trusted in the
Holy One of Israel, and have not sought after the Lord.
31:2. But he that is the wise one hath brought evil, and hath not
removed his words: and he will rise up against the house of the wicked,
and against the aid of them that work iniquity.
31:3. Egypt is man, and not God: and their horses, lesh, and not
spirit: and the Lord shall put down his hand, and the helper shall fall,
and he that is helped shall fall, and they shall all be confounded
together.
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 31:4. For thus saith the Lord to me: Like as the lion roareth, and the
lion’s whelp upon his prey, and when a multitude of shepherds shall
come against him, he will not fear at their voice, nor be afraid of their
multitude: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to ight upon mount
Sion, and upon the hill thereof.
31:5. As birds lying, so will the Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem,
protecting and delivering, passing over and saving.
31:6. Return as you had deeply revolted, O children of Israel.
31:7. For in that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his
idols of gold, which your hands have made for you to sin.
31:8. And the Assyrian shall fall by the sword not of a man, and the
sword not of a man shall devour him, and he shall lee not at the face
of the sword, and his young men shall be tributaries.
31:9. And his strength shall pass away with dread, and his princes
leeing shall be afraid: the Lord hath said it, whose ire is in Sion, and
his furnace in Jerusalem.
Isaias Chapter 32

The blessings of the reign of Christ. The desolation of the Jews, and
prosperity of the church of Christ.
32:1. Behold a king shall reign in justice, and princes shall rule in
judgment.
32:2. And a man shall be as when one is hid from the wind, and
hideth himself from a storm, as rivers of waters in drought, and the
shadow of a rock that standeth out in a desert land.
32:3. The eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of
them that hear shall hearken diligently.
32:4. And the heart of fools shall understand knowledge, and the
tongue of stammerers shall speak readily and plain.
32:5. The fool shall no more be called prince: neither shall the
deceitful be called great:
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 32:6. For the fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will work
iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and speak to the Lord deceitfully, and to
make empty the soul of the hungry, and take away drink from the
thirsty.
32:7. The vessels of the deceitful are most wicked: for he hath
framed devices to destroy the meek, with lying words, when the poor
man speaketh judgment.
32:8. But the prince will devise such things as are worthy of a
prince, and he shall stand above the rulers.
32:9. Rise up, ye rich women, and hear my voice: ye con ident
daughters, give ear to my speech.
32:10. For after days and a year, you that are con ident shall be
troubled: for the vintage is at an end, the gathering shall come no
more.
32:11. Be astonished, ye rich women, be troubled, ye con ident ones:
strip you, and be confounded, gird your loins.
32:12. Mourn for your breasts, for the delightful country, for the
fruitful vineyard.
32:13. Upon the land of my people shall thorns and briers come up:
how much more upon all the houses of joy, of the city that rejoiced?
32:14. For the house is forsaken, the multitude of the city is left,
darkness and obscurity are come upon its dens for ever. A joy of wild
asses, the pastures of locks.
32:15. Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high: and the
desert shall be as a charmel, and charmel shall be counted for a forest.
32:16. And judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and justice shall
sit in charmel.
32:17. And the work of justice shall be peace, and the service of
justice quietness, and security for ever.
32:18. And my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the
tabernacles of con idence, and in wealthy rest.

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 32:19. But hail shall be in the descent of the forest, and the city shall
be made very low.
32:20. Blessed are ye that sow upon all waters, sending thither the
foot of the ox and the ass.
Isaias Chapter 33

God’s revenge against the enemies of his church. The happiness of the
heavenly Jerusalem.
33:1. Woe to thee that spoilest, shalt not thou thyself also be
spoiled? and thou that despisest, shalt not thyself also be despised?
when thou shalt have made an end of spoiling, thou shalt be spoiled:
when being wearied thou shalt cease to despise, thou shalt be
despised.
That spoilest, etc.... This is particularly directed to Sennacherib.
33:2. O Lord, have mercy on us: for we have waited for thee: be thou
our arm in the morning, and our salvation in the time of trouble.
33:3. At the voice of the angel the people led, and at the lifting up
thyself the nations are scattered.
33:4. And your spoils shall be gathered together as the locusts are
gathered, as when the ditches are full of them.
33:5. The Lord is magni ied, for he hath dwelt on high: he hath illed
Sion with judgment and justice.
33:6. And there shall be faith in thy times: riches of salvation,
wisdom and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is his treasure.
33:7. Behold they that see shall cry without, the angels of peace
shall weep bitterly.
The angels of peace.... The messengers or deputies sent to negotiate a peace.
33:8. The ways are made desolate, no one passeth by the road, the
covenant is made void, he hath rejected the cities, he hath not
regarded the men.

 33:9. The land hath mourned, and languished: Libanus is

confounded, and become foul, and Saron is become as a desert: and
Basan and Carmel are shaken.
33:10. Now will I rise up, saith the Lord: now will I be exalted, now
will I lift up myself.
33:11. You shall conceive heat, you shall bring forth stubble: your
breath as ire shall devour you.
33:12. And the people shall be as ashes after a ire, as a bundle of
thorns they shall be burnt with ire.
33:13. Hear, you that are far off, what I have done, and you that are
near know my strength.
33:14. The sinners in Sion are afraid, trembling hath seized upon the
hypocrites. Which of you can dwell with devouring ire? which of you
shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
33:15. He that walketh in justices, and speaketh truth, that casteth
away avarice by oppression, and shaketh his hands from all bribes,
that stoppeth his ears lest he hear blood, and shutteth his eyes that he
may see no evil.
33:16. He shall dwell on high, the forti ications of rocks shall be his
highness: bread is given him, his waters are sure.
33:17. His eyes shall see the king in his beauty, they shall see the
land far off.
33:18. Thy heart shall meditate fear: where is the learned? where is
he that pondereth the words of the law? where is the teacher of little
ones?
33:19. The shameless people thou shalt not see, the people of
profound speech: so that thou canst not understand the eloquence of
his tongue, in whom there is no wisdom.
33:20. Look upon Sion the city of our solemnity: thy eyes shall see
Jerusalem, a rich habitation, a tabernacle that cannot be removed:
neither shall the nails thereof be taken away for ever, neither shall any
of the cords thereof be broken.

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 33:21. Because only there our Lord is magni icent: a place of rivers,
very broad and spacious streams: no ship with oars shall pass by it,
neither shall the great galley pass through it.
Of rivers.... He speaks of the rivers of endless joys that low from the throne of
God to water the heavenly Jerusalem, where no enemy’s ship can come, etc.
33:22. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is
our king: he will save us.
33:23. Thy tacklings are loosed, and they shall be of no strength: thy
mast shall be in such condition, that thou shalt not be able to spread
the lag. Then shall the spoils of much prey be divided: the lame shall
take the spoil.
Thy tacklings.... He speaks of the enemies of the church, under the allegory of a
ship that is disabled.
33:24. Neither shall he that is near, say: I am feeble. The people that
dwell therein, shall have their iniquity taken away from them.
Isaias Chapter 34

The general judgment of the wicked.

34:1. Come near, ye Gentiles, and hear, and hearken, ye people: let
the earth hear, and all that is therein, the world, and every thing that
cometh forth of it.
34:2. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury
upon all their armies: he hath killed them, and delivered them to
slaughter.
34:3. Their slain shall be cast forth, and out of their carcasses shall
rise a stink: the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
34:4. And all the host of the heavens shall pine away, and the
heavens shall be folded together as a book: and all their host shall fall
down as the leaf falleth from the vine, and from the ig tree.
And all the host of the heavens.... That is, the sun, moon, and stars.
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 34:5. For my sword is inebriated in heaven: behold it shall come

down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my slaughter unto
judgment.
Idumea.... Under the name of Idumea, or Edom a people that were enemies of the
Jews, are here understood the wicked in general, the enemies of God and his
church.
34:6. The sword of the Lord is illed with blood, it is made thick with
the blood of lambs and buck goats, with the blood of rams full of
marrow: for there is a victim of the Lord in Bosra and a great
slaughter in the land of Edom.
34:7. And the unicorns shall go down with them, and the bulls with
the mighty: their land shall be soaked with blood, and their ground
with the fat of fat ones.
The unicorns.... That is, the great and mighty.
34:8. For it is the day of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of
recompenses of the judgment of Sion.
The year of recompenses, etc.... When the persecutors of Sion, that is, of the
church, shall receive their reward.
34:9. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the
ground thereof into brimstone: and the land thereof shall become
burning pitch.
34:10. Night and day it shall not be quenched, the smoke thereof
shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste,
none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
34:11. The bittern and ericius shall possess it: and the ibis and the
raven shall dwell in it: and a line shall be stretched out upon it, to
bring it to nothing, and a plummet, unto desolation.
34:12. The nobles thereof shall not be there: they shall call rather
upon the king, and all the princes thereof shall be nothing.
34:13. And thorns and nettles shall grow up in its houses, and the
thistle in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be the habitation of
dragons, and the pasture of ostriches.

 34:14. And demons and monsters shall meet, and the hairy ones
shall cry out one to another, there hath the lamia lain down, and found
rest for herself.
34:15. There hath the ericius had its hole, and brought up its young
ones, and hath dug round about, and cherished them in the shadow
thereof: thither are the kites gathered together one to another.
34:16. Search ye diligently in the book of the Lord, and read: not one
of them was wanting, one hath not sought for the other: for that which
proceedeth out of my mouth, he hath commanded, and his spirit it
hath gathered them.
34:17. And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided
it to them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to
generation they shall dwell therein.
Isaias Chapter 35

The joyful lourishing of Christ’s kingdom: in his church shall be a holy

and secure way.
35:1. The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad, and
the wilderness shall rejoice, and shall lourish like the lily.
35:2. It shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and
praise: the glory of Libanus is given to it: the beauty of Carmel, and
Saron, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty of our God.
35:3. Strengthen ye the feeble hands, and con irm the weak knees.
35:4. Say to the fainthearted: Take courage, and fear not: behold
your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come
and will save you.
35:5. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the
deaf shall be unstopped.
35:6. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the
dumb shall be free: for waters are broken out in the desert, and
streams in the wilderness.
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 35:7. And that which was dry land, shall become a pool, and the
thirsty land springs of water. In the dens where dragons dwelt before,
shall rise up the verdure of the reed and the bulrush.
35:8. And a path and a way shall be there, and it shall be called the
holy way: the unclean shall not pass over it, and this shall be unto you
a straight way, so that fools shall not err therein.
35:9. No lion shall be there, nor shall any mischievous beast go up by
it, nor be found there: but they shall walk there that shall be delivered.
35:10. And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and shall come
into Sion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads:
they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall lee
away.
Isaias Chapter 36

Sennacherib invades Juda: his blasphemies.

36:1. And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Ezechias,
that Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came up against all the fenced
cities of Juda, and took them.
36:2. And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabsaces from Lachis to
Jerusalem, to king Ezechias with a great army, and he stood by the
conduit of the upper pool in the way of the fuller’s ield.
36:3. And there went out to him Eliacim the son of Helcias, who was
over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the
recorder.
36:4. And Rabsaces said to them: Tell Ezechias: Thus saith the great
king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this con idence wherein thou
trustest?
36:5. Or with what counsel or strength dost thou prepare for war?
on whom dost thou trust, that thou art revolted from me?
36:6. Lo thou trustest upon this broken staff of a reed, upon Egypt:
upon which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is
Pharao king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

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 36:7. But if thou wilt answer me: We trust in the Lord our God: is it
not he whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away, and
hath said to Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar?
36:8. And now deliver thyself up to my lord the king of the Assyrians,
and I will give thee two thousand horses, and thou wilt not be able on
thy part to ind riders for them.
36:9. And how wilt thou stand against the face of the judge of one
place, of the least of my master’s servants? But if thou trust in Egypt,
in chariots and in horsemen:
36:10. And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to
destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up against this land, and destroy it.
36:11. And Eliacim, and Sobna, and Joahe said to Rabsaces: Speak to
thy servants in the Syrian tongue: for we understand it: speak not to us
in the Jews’ language in the hearing of the people, that are upon the
wall.
36:12. And Rabsaces said to them: Hath my master sent me to thy
master and to thee, to speak all these words; and not rather to the
men that sit on the wall; that they may eat their own dung, and drink
their urine with you?
36:13. Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the
Jews’ language, and said: Hear the words of the great king, the king of
the Assyrians.
36:14. Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you, for he shall
not be able to deliver you.
36:15. And let not Ezechias make you trust in the Lord, saying: The
Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the
hands of the king of the Assyrians.
36:16. Do not hearken to Ezechias: for thus said the king of the
Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out
to me, and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his ig tree,
and drink ye every one the water of his cistern,

 36:17. Till I come and take you away to a land, like to your own, a
land of corn and of wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
36:18. Neither let Ezechias trouble you, saying: The Lord will deliver
us. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land out of the
hand of the king of the Assyrians?
36:19. Where is the god of Emath and of Arphad? where is the god
of Sepharvaim? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
36:20. Who is there among all the gods of these lands, that hath
delivered his country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver
Jerusalem out of my hand?
36:21. And they held their peace, and answered him not a word. For
the king had commanded, saying: Answer him not.
36:22. And Eliacim the son of Helcias, that was over the house, and
Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder, went in to
Ezechias with their garments rent, and told him the words of
Rabsaces.
Isaias Chapter 37

Ezechias, his mourning and prayer. God’s promise of protection. The

Assyrian army is destroyed. Sennacherib is slain.
37:1. And it came to pass, when king Ezechias had heard it, that he
rent his garments and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into
the house of the Lord.
37:2. And he sent Eliacim who was over the house, and Sobna the
scribe, and the ancients of the priests covered with sackcloth, to Isaias
the son of Amos the prophet.
37:3. And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day is a day of
tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come
to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
37:4. It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabsaces,
whom the king of the Assyrians his master hath sent to blaspheme the

 living God, and to reproach with words which the Lord thy God hath
heard: wherefore lift up by prayer for the remnant that is left.
37:5. And the servants of Ezechias came to Isaias.
37:6. And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master:
Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard,
with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed
me.
37:7. Behold, I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a
message, and shall return to his own country, and I will cause him to
fall by the sword in his own country.
37:8. And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians
besieging Lobna. For he had heard that he was departed from Lachis.
37:9. And he heard say about Tharaca the king of Ethiopia: He is
come forth to ight against thee. And when he heard it, he sent
messengers to Ezechias, saying:
37:10. Thus shall you speak to Ezechias the king of Juda, saying: Let
not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest, saying: Jerusalem
shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.
37:11. Behold thou hast heard all that the kings of the Assyrians
have done to all countries which they have destroyed, and canst thou
be delivered?
37:12. Have the gods of the nations delivered them whom my
fathers have destroyed, Gozam, and Haram, and Reseph, and the
children of Eden, that were in Thalassar?
37:13. Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the
king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava?
37:14. And Ezechias took the letter from the hand of the messengers,
and read it, and went up to the house of the Lord, and Ezechias spread
it before the Lord.
37:15. And Ezechias prayed to the Lord, saying:

 37:16. Lord of hosts, God of Israel who sittest upon the cherubims,
thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast
made heaven and earth.
37:17. Incline, O Lord, thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes, and
see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to
blaspheme the living God.
37:18. For of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid
waste lands, and their countries.
37:19. And they have cast their gods into the ire, for they were not
gods, but the works of men’s hands, of wood and stone: and they broke
them in pieces.
37:20. And now, O Lord our God, save us out of his hand: and let all
the kingdoms of the earth know, that thou only art the Lord.
37:21. And Isaias the son of Amos sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus
saith the Lord the God of Israel: For the prayer thou hast made to me
concerning Sennacherib the king of the Assyrians:
37:22. This is the word which the Lord hath spoken of him: The
virgin the daughter of Sion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to
scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged the head after thee.
37:23. Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou
blasphemed, and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted
up thy eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.
37:24. By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord:
and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the
height of the mountains, to the top of Libanus: and I will cut down its
tall cedars, and its choice ir trees, and will enter to the top of its
height, to the forest of its Carmel.
Carmel.... See these igurative expressions explained in the annotations on the
nineteenth chapter of the fourth book of Kings.
37:25. I have digged, and drunk water, and have dried up with the
sole of my foot, all the rivers shut up in banks.

 37:26. Hast thou not heard what I have done to him of old? from the
days of old I have formed it: and now I have brought it to effect: and it
hath come to pass that hills ighting together, and fenced cities should
be destroyed.
37:27. The inhabitants of them were weak of hand, they trembled,
and were confounded: they became like the grass of the ield, and the
herb of the pasture, and like the grass of the housetops, which
withered before it was ripe.
37:28. I know thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in,
and thy rage against me.
37:29. When thou wast mad against me, thy pride came up to my
ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy nose, and a bit between thy lips,
and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
37:30. But to thee this shall be a sign: Eat this year the things that
spring of themselves, and in the second year eat fruits: but in the third
year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
37:31. And that which shall be saved of the house of Juda, and which
is left, shall take root downward, and shall bear fruit upward:
37:32. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and salvation
from mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
37:33. Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the
Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it,
nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it.
37:34. By the way that he came, he shall return, and into this city he
shall not come, saith the Lord.
37:35. And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake,
and for the sake of David my servant.
37:36. And the angel of the Lord went out and slew in the camp of
the Assyrians a hundred and eighty- ive thousand. And they arose in
the morning, and behold they were all dead corpses.
37:37. And Sennacherib the king of the Assyrians went out and
departed, and returned, and dwelt in Ninive.

 37:38. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the temple of

Nesroch his god, that Adramelech and Sarasar his sons slew him with
the sword: and they led into the land of Ararat, and Asarhaddon his
son reigned in his stead.
Isaias Chapter 38

Ezechias being advertised that he shall die, obtains by prayer a

prolongation of his life: in con irmation of which the sun goes back.
The canticle of Ezechias.
38:1. In those days Ezechias was sick even to death, and Isaias the
son of Amos the prophet came unto him, and said to him: Thus saith
the Lord: Take order with thy house, for thou shalt die, and not live.
38:2. And Ezechias turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to
the Lord,
38:3. And said: I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked
before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that
which is good in thy sight. And Ezechias wept with great weeping.
38:4. And the word of the Lord came to Isaias, saying:
38:5. Go and say to Ezechias: Thus saith the Lord the God of David
thy father: I have heard thy prayer, and I have seen thy tears: behold I
will add to thy days ifteen years:
38:6. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king
of the Assyrians, and I will protect it.
38:7. And this shall be a sign to thee from the Lord, that the Lord
will do this word which he hath spoken:
38:8. Behold I will bring again the shadow of the lines, by which it is
now gone down in the sun dial of Achaz with the sun, ten lines
backward. And the sun returned ten lines by the degrees by which it
was gone down.
38:9. The writing of Ezechias king of Juda, when he had been sick,
and was recovered of his sickness.

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 38:10. I said: In the midst of my days I shall go to the gates of hell: I

sought for the residue of my years.
Hell.... Sheol, or Hades, the region of the dead.
38:11. I said: I shall not see the Lord God in the land of the living. I
shall behold man no more, nor the inhabitant of rest.
38:12. My generation is at an end, and it is rolled away from me, as
a shepherd’s tent. My life is cut off, as by a weaver: whilst I was yet but
beginning, he cut me off: from morning even to night thou wilt make
an end of me.
38:13. I hoped till morning, as a lion so hath he broken all my bones:
from morning even to night thou wilt make an end of me.
38:14. I will cry like a young swallow, I will meditate like a dove: my
eyes are weakened looking upward: Lord, I suffer violence, answer
thou for me.
38:15. What shall I say, or what shall he answer for me, whereas he
himself hath done it? I will recount to thee all my years in the
bitterness of my soul.
38:16. O Lord, if man’s life be such, and the life of my spirit be in
such things as these, thou shalt correct me, and make me to live.
38:17. Behold in peace is my bitterness most bitter: but thou hast
delivered my soul that it should not perish, thou hast cast all my sins
behind thy back.
38:18. For hell shall not confess to thee, neither shall death praise
thee: nor shall they that go down into the pit, look for thy truth.
38:19. The living, the living, he shall give praise to thee, as I do this
day: the father shall make thy truth known to the children.
38:20. O Lord, save me, and we will sing our psalms all the days of
our life in the house of the Lord.
38:21. Now Isaias had ordered that they should take a lump of igs,
and lay it as a plaster upon the wound, and that he should be healed.

 38:22. And Ezechias had said: What shall be the sign that I shall go
up to the house of the Lord?
Isaias Chapter 39

Ezechias shews all his treasures to the ambassadors of Babylon: upon

which Isaias foretells the Babylonish captivity.
39:1. At that time Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan king of
Babylon, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had heard that
he had been sick and was recovered.
39:2. And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he shewed them
the storehouses of his aromatical spices, and of the silver, and of the
gold, and of the sweet odours, and of the precious ointment, and all the
storehouses of his furniture, and all things that were found in his
treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion that
Ezechias shewed them not.
39:3. Then Isaias the prophet came to king Ezechias, and said to
him: What said these men, and from whence came they to thee? And
Ezechias said: From a far country they came to me, from Babylon.
39:4. And he said: What saw they in thy house? And Ezechias said:
All things that are in my house have they seen, there was not any thing
which I have not shewn them in my treasures.
39:5. And Isaias said to Ezechias: Hear the word of the Lord of hosts.
39:6. Behold the days shall come that all that is in thy house, and
that thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried
away into Babylon: there shall not any thing be left, saith the Lord.
39:7. And of thy children, that shall issue from thee, whom thou
shalt beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the
palace of the king of Babylon.
39:8. And Ezechias said to Isaias: The word of the Lord, which he
hath spoken, is good. And he said: Only let peace and truth be in my
days.

 Isaias Chapter 40

The prophet comforts the people with the promise of the coming of
Christ to forgive their sins. God’s almighty power and majesty.
40:1. Be comforted, be comforted, my people, saith your God.
40:2. Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her: for her evil
is come to an end, her iniquity is forgiven: she hath received of the
hand of the Lord double for all her sins.
40:3. The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God.
40:4. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall
be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough
ways plain.
40:5. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all lesh
together shall see, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken.
40:6. The voice of one, saying: Cry. And I said: What shall I cry? All
lesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the lower of the ield.
40:7. The grass is withered, and the lower is fallen, because the
spirit of the Lord hath blown upon it. Indeed the people is grass:
40:8. The grass is withered, and the lower is fallen: but the word of
our Lord endureth for ever.
40:9. Get thee up upon a high mountain, thou that bringest good
tidings to Sion: lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good
tidings to Jerusalem: lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Juda: Behold
your God:
40:10. Behold the Lord God shall come with strength, and his arm
shall rule: Behold his reward is with him and his work is before him.
40:11. He shall feed his lock like a shepherd: he shall gather
together the lambs with his arm, and shall take them up in his bosom,
and he himself shall carry them that are with young.
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 40:12. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and
weighed the heavens with his palm? who hath poised with three
ingers the bulk of the earth, and weighed the mountains in scales, and
the hills in a balance?
40:13. Who hath forwarded the spirit of the Lord? or who hath been
his counsellor, and hath taught him?
40:14. With whom hath he consulted, and who hath instructed him,
and taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and
shewed him the way of understanding?
40:15. Behold the Gentiles are as a drop of a bucket, and are
counted as the smallest grain of a balance: behold the islands are as a
little dust.
40:16. And Libanus shall not be enough to burn, nor the beasts
thereof suf icient for a burnt offering.
40:17. All nations are before him as if they had no being at all, and
are counted to him as nothing, and vanity.
40:18. To whom then have you likened God? or what image will you
make for him?
40:19. Hath the workman cast a graven statue? or hath the
goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?
40:20. He hath chosen strong wood, and that will not rot: the skilful
workman seeketh how he may set up an idol that may not be moved.
40:21. Do you not know? hath it not been heard? hath it not been
told you from the beginning? have you not understood the foundations
of the earth?
40:22. It is he that sitteth upon the globe of the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof are as locusts: he that stretcheth out the heavens
as nothing, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.
40:23. He that bringeth the searchers of secrets to nothing, that
hath made the judges of the earth as vanity.
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 40:24. And surely their stock was neither planted, nor sown, nor
rooted in the earth: suddenly he hath blown upon them, and they are
withered, and a whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
40:25. And to whom have ye likened me, or made me equal, saith the
Holy One?
40:26. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these
things: who bringeth out their host by number, and calleth them all by
their names: by the greatness of his might, and strength, and power,
not one of them was missing.
40:27. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: My way is
hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
40:28. Knowest thou not, or hast thou not heard? the Lord is the
everlasting God, who hath created the ends of the earth: he shall not
faint, nor labour, neither is there any searching out of his wisdom.
40:29. It is he that giveth strength to the weary, and increaseth
force and might to them that are not.
40:30. Youths shall faint, and labour, and young men shall fall by
in irmity.
40:31. But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they
shall walk and not faint.
Isaias Chapter 41

The reign of the just one: the vanity of idols.

41:1. Let the islands keep silence before me, and the nations take
new strength: let them come near, and then speak, let us come near to
judgment together.
41:2. Who hath raised up the just one from the east, hath called him
to follow him? he shall give the nations in his sight, and he shall rule
over kings: he shall give them as the dust to his sword, as stubble
driven by the wind, to his bow.
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 41:3. He shall pursue them, he shall pass in peace, no path shall

appear after his feet.
41:4. Who hath wrought and done these things, calling the
generations from the beginning? I the Lord, I am the irst and the last.
41:5. The islands saw it, and feared, the ends of the earth were
astonished, they drew near, and came.
41:6. Every one shall help his neighbour, and shall say to his
brother: Be of good courage.
41:7. The coppersmith striking with the hammer encouraged him
that forged at that time, saying: It is ready for soldering: and he
strengthened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
41:8. But thou Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the
seed of Abraham my friend:
41:9. In whom I have taken thee from the ends of the earth, and
from the remote parts thereof have called thee, and said to thee: Thou
art my servant, I have chosen thee, and have not cast thee away.
41:10. Fear not, for I am with thee: turn not aside, for I am thy God:
I have strengthened thee, and have helped thee, and the right hand of
my just one hath upheld thee.
41:11. Behold all that ight against thee shall be confounded and
ashamed, they shall be as nothing, and the men shall perish that strive
against thee.
41:12. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not ind the men that resist
thee: they shall be as nothing: and as a thing consumed the men that
war against thee.
41:13. For I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and
say to thee: Fear not, I have helped thee.
41:14. Fear not, thou worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel: I
have helped thee, saith the Lord: and thy Redeemer the Holy One of
Israel.

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 41:15. I have made thee as a new thrashing wain, with teeth like a
saw: thou shalt thrash the mountains, and break them in pieces: and
shalt make the hills as chaff.
41:16. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away,
and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the
Lord, in the Holy One of Israel thou shalt be joyful.
41:17. The needy and the poor seek for waters, and there are none:
their tongue hath been dry with thirst. I the Lord will hear them, I the
God of Israel will not forsake them.
41:18. I will open rivers in the high hills, and fountains in the midst
of the plains: I will turn the desert into pools of waters, and the
impassable land into streams of waters.
41:19. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, and the thorn, and the
myrtle, and the olive tree: I will set in the desert the ir tree, the elm,
and the box tree together:
The thorn.... In Hebrew, the shitta, or setim, a tree resembling the white thorn.
41:20. That they may see and know, and consider, and understand
together that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of
Israel hath created it.
41:21. Bring your cause near, saith the Lord: bring hither, if you
have any thing to allege, saith the King of Jacob.
41:22. Let them come, and tell us all things that are to come: tell us
the former things what they were: and we will set our heart upon
them and shall know the latter end of them, and tell us the things that
are to come.
41:23. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, and we shall
know that ye are gods. Do ye also good or evil, if you can: and let us
speak, and see together.
41:24. Behold, you are of nothing, and your work of that which hath
no being: he that hath chosen you is an abomination.

 41:25. I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come from
the rising of the sun: he shall call upon my name, and he shall make
princes to be as dirt, and as the potter treading clay.
41:26. Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know:
and from time of old, that we may say: Thou art just. There is none
that sheweth, nor that foretelleth, nor that heareth your words.
41:27. The irst shall say to Sion: Behold they are here, and to
Jerusalem I will give an evangelist.
41:28. And I saw, and there was no one even among them to consult,
or who, when I asked, could answer a word.
41:29. Behold they are all in the wrong, and their works are vain:
their idols are wind and vanity.
Isaias Chapter 42

The of ice of Christ. The preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles. The
blindness and reprobation of the Jews.
42:1. Behold my servant, I will uphold him: my elect, my soul
delighteth in him: I have given my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth
judgment to the Gentiles.
My servant.... Christ, who according to his humanity, is the servant of God.
42:2. He shall not cry, nor have respect to person, neither shall his
voice be heard abroad.
42:3. The bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking lax he shall
not quench, he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
42:4. He shall not be sad, nor troublesome, till he set judgment in
the earth, and the islands shall wait for his law.
42:5. Thus saith the Lord God that created the heavens, and
stretched them out: that established the earth, and the things that
spring out of it: that giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to
them that tread thereon.
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 42:6. I the Lord have called thee in justice, and taken thee by the
hand, and preserved thee. And I have given thee for a covenant of the
people, for a light of the Gentiles:
42:7. That thou mightest open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth
the prisoner out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the
prison house.
42:8. I the Lord, this is my name: I will not give my glory to another,
nor my praise to graven things.
42:9. The things that were irst, behold they are come: and new
things do I declare: before they spring forth, I will make you hear
them.
42:10. Sing ye to the Lord a new song, his praise is from the ends of
the earth: you that go down to the sea, and all that are therein: ye
islands, and ye inhabitants of them.
42:11. Let the desert and the cities thereof be exalted: Cedar shall
dwell in houses: ye inhabitants of Petra, give praise, they shall cry from
the top of the mountains.
Petra.... A city that gives name to Arabia Petraea.
42:12. They shall give glory to the Lord, and shall declare his praise
in the islands.
42:13. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, as a man of war
shall he stir up zeal: he shall shout and cry: he shall prevail against his
enemies.
42:14. I have always held my peace, I have kept silence, I have been
patient, I will speak now as a woman in labour: I will destroy, and
swallow up at once.
42:15. I will lay waste the mountains and hills, and will make all
their grass to wither: and I will turn rivers into islands, and will dry up
the standing pools.
42:16. And I will lead the blind into the way which they know not:
and in the paths which they were ignorant of I will make them walk: I

will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight:
these things have I done to them, and have not forsaken them.
42:17. They are turned back: let them be greatly confounded, that
trust in a graven thing, that say to a molten thing: You are our god.
42:18. Hear, ye deaf, and, ye blind, behold that you may see.
42:19. Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, but he to whom I have
sent my messengers? Who is blind, but he that is sold? or who is blind,
but the servant of the Lord?
42:20. Thou that seest many things, wilt thou not observe them?
thou that hast ears open, wilt thou not hear?
42:21. And the Lord was willing to sanctify him, and to magnify the
law, and exalt it.
42:22. But this is a people that is robbed and wasted: they are all
the snare of young men, and they are hid in the houses of prisons: they
are made a prey, and there is none to deliver them: a spoil, and there is
none that saith: Restore.
42:23. Who is there among you that will give ear to this, that will
attend and hearken for times to come?
42:24. Who hath given Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to robbers? hath
not the Lord himself, against whom we have sinned? And they would
not walk in his ways, and they have not hearkened to his law.
42:25. And he hath poured out upon him the indignation of his fury,
and a strong battle, and hath burnt him round about, and he knew
not: and set him on ire, and he understood not.
Isaias Chapter 43

God comforts his church, promising to protect her for ever: he

expostulates with the Jews for their ingratitude.
43:1. And now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and
formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called
thee by thy name: thou art mine.

 43:2. When thou shalt pass through the waters, I will be with thee,
and the rivers shall not cover thee: when thou shalt walk in the ire,
thou shalt not be burnt, and the lames shall not burn in thee:
43:3. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I
have given Egypt for thy atonement, Ethiopia and Saba for thee.
43:4. Since thou becamest honourable in my eyes, thou art glorious:
I have loved thee, and I will give men for thee, and people for thy life.
43:5. Fear not, for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east,
and gather thee from the west.
43:6. I will say to the north: Give up: and to the south: Keep not
back: bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the
earth.
43:7. And every one that calleth upon my name, I have created him
for my glory. I have formed him, and made him.
43:8. Bring forth the people that are blind, and have eyes: that are
deaf, and have ears.
43:9. All the nations are assembled together, and the tribes are
gathered: who among you can declare this, and shall make us hear the
former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, let them be
justi ied, and hear, and say: It is truth.
43:10. You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I
have chosen: that you may know, and believe me, and understand that
I myself am. Before me there was no God formed, and after me there
shall be none.
43:11. I am, I am the Lord: and there is no saviour besides me.
43:12. I have declared, and have saved. I have made it heard, and
there was no strange one among you. You are my witnesses, saith the
Lord, and I am God.
43:13. And from the beginning I am the same, and there is none that
can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall turn it away?
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 43:14. Thus saith the Lord your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For
your sake I sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their bars, and
the Chaldeans glorying in their ships.
43:15. I am the Lord your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.
43:16. Thus saith the Lord, who made a way in the sea, and a path
in the mighty waters.
43:17. Who brought forth the chariot and the horse, the army and
the strong: they lay down to sleep together, and they shall not rise
again: they are broken as lax, and are extinct.
43:18. Remember not former things, and look not on things of old.
43:19. Behold I do new things, and now they shall spring forth,
verily you shall know them: I will make a way in the wilderness, and
rivers in the desert.
43:20. The beast of the ield shall glorify me, the dragons and the
ostriches: because I have given waters in the wilderness, rivers in the
desert, to give drink to my people, to my chosen.
43:21. This people have I formed for myself, they shall shew forth my
praise.
43:22. But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob, neither hast thou
laboured about me, O Israel.
43:23. Thou hast not offered me the ram of thy holocaust, nor hast
thou glori ied me with thy victims: I have not caused thee to serve with
oblations, nor wearied thee with incense.
43:24. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast
thou illed me with the fat of thy victims. But thou hast made me to
serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thy iniquities.
43:25. I am, I am he that blot out thy iniquities for my own sake, and
I will not remember thy sins.
43:26. Put me in remembrance, and let us plead together: tell if thou
hast any thing to justify thyself.
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 43:27. Thy irst father sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed
against me.
43:28. And I have profaned the holy princes, I have given Jacob to
slaughter, and Israel to reproach.
Isaias Chapter 44

God’s favour to his church. The folly of idolatry. The people shall be
delivered from captivity.
44:1. And now hear, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel whom I have
chosen.
44:2. Thus saith the Lord that made and formed thee, thy helper
from the womb: Fear not, O my servant Jacob, and thou most righteous
whom I have chosen.
44:3. For I will pour out waters upon the thirsty ground, and
streams upon the dry land: I will pour out my spirit upon thy seed, and
my blessing upon thy stock.
44:4. And they shall spring up among the herbs, as willows beside
the running waters.
44:5. One shall say: I am the Lord’s, and another shall call himself by
the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand, To the
Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.
44:6. Thus saith the Lord the king of Israel, and his redeemer the
Lord of hosts: I am the irst, and I am the last, and besides me there is
no God.
44:7. Who is like to me? let him call and declare: and let him set
before me the order, since I appointed the ancient people: and the
things to come, and that shall be hereafter, let them shew unto them.
44:8. Fear ye not, neither be ye troubled from that time I have made
thee to hear, and have declared: you are my witnesses. Is there a God
besides me, a maker, whom I have not known?

 44:9. The makers of idols are all of them nothing, and their best
beloved things shall not pro it them. They are their witnesses, that
they do not see, nor understand, that they may be ashamed.
44:10. Who hath formed a god, and made a graven thing that is
pro itable for nothing?
44:11. Behold, all the partakers thereof shall be confounded: for the
makers are men: they shall all assemble together, they shall stand and
fear, and shall be confounded together.
44:12. The smith hath wrought with his ile, with coals, and with
hammers he hath formed it, and hath wrought with the strength of his
arm: he shall hunger and faint, he shall drink no water, and shall be
weary.
44:13. The carpenter hath stretched out his rule, he hath formed it
with a plane: he hath made it with corners, and hath fashioned it
round with the compass: and he hath made the image of a man as it
were a beautiful man dwelling in a house.
44:14. He hath cut down cedars, taken the holm, and the oak that
stood among the trees of the forest: he hath planted the pine tree,
which the rain hath nourished.
44:15. And it hath served men for fuel: he took thereof, and warmed
himself: and he kindled it, and baked bread: but of the rest he made a
god, and adored it: he made a graven thing, and bowed down before it.
44:16. Part of it he burnt with ire, and with part of it he dressed his
meat: he boiled pottage, and was illed, and was warmed, and said:
Aha, I am warm, I have seen the ire.
44:17. But the residue thereof he made a god, and a graven thing for
himself: he boweth down before it, and adoreth it, and prayeth unto it,
saying: Deliver me, for thou art my God.
44:18. They have not known, nor understood: for their eyes are
covered that they may not see, and that they may not understand with
their heart.
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 44:19. They do not consider in their mind, nor know, nor have the
thought to say: I have burnt part of it in the ire, and I have baked
bread upon the coals thereof: I have broiled lesh and have eaten, and
of the residue thereof shall I make an idol? shall I fall down before the
stock of a tree?
44:20. Part thereof is ashes: his foolish heart adoreth it, and he will
not save his soul, nor say: Perhaps there is a lie in my right hand.
44:21. Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for thou art my
servant. I have formed thee, thou art my servant, O Israel, forget me
not.
44:22. I have blotted out thy iniquities as a cloud, and thy sins as a
mist: return to me, for I have redeemed thee.
44:23. Give praise, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath shewn mercy:
shout with joy, ye ends of the earth: ye mountains, resound with praise,
thou, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed
Jacob, and Israel shall be glori ied.
44:24. Thus saith the Lord thy redeemer, and thy maker, from the
womb: I am the Lord, that make all things, that alone stretch out the
heavens, that establish the earth, and there is none with me.
44:25. That make void the tokens of diviners, and make the
soothsayers mad. That turn the wise backward, and that make their
knowledge foolish.
44:26. That raise up the word of my servant and perform the
counsel of my messengers, who say to Jerusalem: Thou shalt be
inhabited: and to the cities of Juda: You shall be built, and I will raise
up the wastes thereof.
44:27. Who say to the deep: Be thou desolate, and I will dry up thy
rivers.
44:28. Who say to Cyrus: Thou art my shepherd, and thou shalt
perform all my pleasure. Who say to Jerusalem: Thou shalt be built:
and to the temple: Thy foundations shall be laid.

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 Isaias Chapter 45

A prophecy of Cyrus, as a igure of Christ, the great deliverer of God’s

people.
45:1. Thus saith the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I
have taken hold of, to subdue nations before his face, and to turn the
backs of kings, and to open the doors before him, and the gates shall
not be shut.
45:2. I will go before thee, and will humble the great ones of the
earth: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and will burst the bars
of iron.
45:3. And I will give thee hidden treasures, and the concealed riches
of secret places: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord who call
thee by thy name, the God of Israel.
45:4. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my elect, I have
even called thee by thy name: I have made a likeness of thee, and thou
hast not known me.
45:5. I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no God besides
me: I girded thee, and thou hast not known me:
45:6. That they may know who are from the rising of the sun, and
they who are from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the
Lord, and there is none else:
45:7. I form the light, and create darkness, I make peace, and create
evil: I the Lord that do all these things.
Create evil, etc.... The evils of af lictions and punishments, but not the evil of sin.
45:8. Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds
rain the just: let the earth be opened, and bud forth a saviour: and let
justice spring up together: I the Lord have created him.
45:9. Woe to him that gainsayeth his maker, a sherd of the earthen
pots: shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it: What art thou
making, and thy work is without hands?

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 45:10. Woe to him that saith to his father: Why begettest thou? and
to the woman: Why dost thou bring forth?
45:11. Thus saith the Lord the Holy One of Israel, his maker: Ask me
of things to come, concerning my children, and concerning the work of
my hands give ye charge to me.
45:12. I made the earth: and I created man upon it: my hand
stretched forth the heavens, and I have commanded all their host.
45:13. I have raised him up to justice, and I will direct all his ways:
he shall build my city, and let go my captives, not for ransom, nor for
presents, saith the Lord the God of hosts.
45:14. Thus saith the Lord: The labour of Egypt, and the
merchandise of Ethiopia, and of Sabaim, men of stature shall come
over to thee, and shall be thine: they shall walk after thee, they shall go
bound with manacles: and they shall worship thee, and shall make
supplication to thee: only in thee is God, and there is no God besides
thee.
45:15. Verily thou art a hidden God, the God of Israel the saviour.
45:16. They are all confounded and ashamed: the forgers of errors
are gone together into confusion.
45:17. Israel is saved in the Lord with an eternal salvation: you shall
not be confounded, and you shall not be ashamed for ever and ever.
45:18. For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself
that formed the earth, and made it, the very maker thereof: he did not
create it in vain: he formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there
is no other.
45:19. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I
have not said to the seed of Jacob: Seek me in vain. I am the Lord that
speak justice, that declare right things.
45:20. Assemble yourselves, and come, and draw near together, ye
that are saved of the Gentiles: they have no knowledge that set up the
wood of their graven work, and pray to a god that cannot save.

 45:21. Tell ye, and come, and consult together: who hath declared
this from the beginning, who hath foretold this from that time? Have
not I the Lord, and there is no God else besides me? A just God and a
saviour, there is none besides me.
45:22. Be converted to me, and you shall be saved, all ye ends of the
earth: for I am God, and there is no other.
45:23. I have sworn by myself, the word of justice shall go out of my
mouth, and shall not return:
45:24. For every knee shall be bowed to me, and every tongue shall
swear.
45:25. Therefore shall he say: In the Lord are my justices and
empire: they shall come to him, and all that resist him shall be
confounded.
45:26. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justi ied and praised.
Isaias Chapter 46

The idols of Babylon shall be destroyed. Salvation is promised through

Christ.
46:1. Bel is broken, Nebo is destroyed: their idols are put upon
beasts and cattle, your burdens of heavy weight even unto weariness.
46:2. They are consumed, and are broken together: they could not
save him that carried them, and they themselves shall go into
captivity.
46:3. Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the
house of Israel who are carried by my bowels, are borne up by my
womb.
46:4. Even to your old age I am the same, and to your grey hairs I
will carry you: I have made you, and I will bear: I will carry and will
save.
46:5. To whom have you likened me, and made me equal, and
compared me, and made me like?

 46:6. You that contribute gold out of the bag, and weigh out silver in
the scales: and hire a goldsmith to make a god: and they fall down and
worship.
46:7. They bear him on their shoulders and carry him, and set him
in his place, and he shall stand, and shall not stir out of his place. Yea,
when they shall cry also unto him, he shall not hear: he shall not save
them from tribulation.
46:8. Remember this, and be ashamed: return, ye transgressors, to
the heart.
46:9. Remember the former age, for I am God, and there is no God
beside, neither is there the like to me:
46:10. Who shew from the beginning the things that shall be at last,
and from ancient times the things that as yet are not done, saying: My
counsel shall stand, and all my will shall be done:
46:11. Who call a bird from the east, and from a far country the
man of my own will, and I have spoken, and will bring it to pass: I have
created, and I will do it. Hear me, O ye hardhearted, who are far from
justice.
46:12. I have brought my justice near, it shall not be afar off: and my
salvation shall not tarry. I will give salvation in Sion, and my glory in
Israel.
Isaias Chapter 47

God’s judgment upon Babylon.

47:1. Come down, sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on
the ground: there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for
thou shalt no more be called delicate and tender.
47:2. Take a millstone and grind meal: uncover thy shame, strip thy
shoulder, make bare thy legs, pass over the rivers.
47:3. Thy nakedness shall be discovered, and thy shame shall be
seen: I will take vengeance, and no man shall resist me.

 47:4. Our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of
Israel.
47:5. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the
Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms.
47:6. I was angry with my people, I have polluted my inheritance,
and have given them into thy hand: thou hast shewn no mercy to
them: upon the ancient thou hast laid thy yoke exceeding heavy.
47:7. And thou hast said: I shall be a lady for ever: thou hast not laid
these things to thy heart, neither hast thou remembered thy latter end.
47:8. And now hear these things, thou that art delicate, and dwellest
con idently, that sayest in thy heart: I am, and there is none else
besides me: I shall not sit as a widow, and I shall not know barrenness.
47:9. These two things shall come upon thee suddenly in one day,
barrenness and widowhood. All things are come upon thee, because of
the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great hardness of thy
enchanters.
47:10. And thou hast trusted in thy wickedness, and hast said: There
is none that seeth me. Thy wisdom, and, thy knowledge, this hath
deceived thee. And thou hast said in thy heart: I am, and besides me
there is no other.
47:11. Evil shall come upon thee, and thou shalt not know the rising
thereof: and calamity shall fall violently upon thee, which thou canst
not keep off: misery shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt
not know.
47:12. Stand now with thy enchanters, and with the multitude of thy
sorceries, in which thou hast laboured from thy youth, if so be it may
pro it thee any thing, or if thou mayst become stronger.
47:13. Thou hast failed in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the
astrologers stand and save thee, they that gazed at the stars, and
counted the months, that from them they might tell the things that
shall come to thee.
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 47:14. Behold they are as stubble, ire hath burnt them, they shall
not deliver themselves from the power of the lames: there are no coals
wherewith they may be warmed, nor ire, that they may sit thereat.
47:15. Such are all the things become to thee, in which thou hast
laboured: thy merchants from thy youth, every one hath erred in his
own way, there is none that can save thee.
Isaias Chapter 48

He reproaches the Jews for their obstinacy: he will deliver them out of
their captivity, for his own name’s sake.
48:1. Hear ye these things, O house of Jacob, you that are called by
the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Juda, you
who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of
Israel, but not in truth, nor in justice.
48:2. For they are called of the holy city, and are established upon
the God of Israel: the Lord of hosts is his name.
48:3. The former things of old, I have declared, and they went forth
out of my mouth, and I have made them to be heard: I did them
suddenly and they came to pass.
48:4. For I knew that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is as an iron
sinew, and thy forehead as brass.
48:5. I foretold thee of old, before they came to pass I told thee, lest
thou shouldst say: My idols have done these things, and my graven and
molten things have commanded them.
48:6. See now all the things which thou hast heard: but have you
declared them? I have shewn thee new things from that time, and
things are kept which thou knowest not:
48:7. They are created now, and not of old: and before the day, when
thou heardest them not, lest thou shouldst say: Behold I knew them.
48:8. Thou hast neither heard, nor known, neither was thy ear
opened of old. For I know that transgressing thou wilt transgress, and
I have called thee a transgressor from the womb.

 48:9. For my name’s sake I will remove my wrath far off: and for my
praise I will bridle thee, lest thou shouldst perish.
48:10. Behold I have re ined thee, but not as silver, I have chosen
thee in the furnace of poverty.
48:11. For my own sake, for my own sake will I do it, that I may not
be blasphemed: and I will not give my glory to another.
48:12. Hearken to me, O Jacob, and thou Israel whom I call: I am he,
I am the irst, and I am the last.
48:13. My hand also hath founded the earth, and my right hand
hath measured the heavens: I shall call them, and they shall stand
together.
48:14. Assemble yourselves together, all you, and hear: who among
them hath declared these things? the Lord hath loved him, he will do
his pleasure in Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
48:15. I, even I have spoken and called him: I have brought him, and
his way is made prosperous.
48:16. Come ye near unto me, and hear this: I have not spoken in
secret from the beginning: from the time before it was done, I was
there, and now the Lord God hath sent me, and his spirit.
48:17. Thus saith the Lord thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am
the Lord thy God that teach thee pro itable things, that govern thee in
the way that thou walkest.
48:18. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments: thy
peace had been as a river, and thy justice as the waves of the sea,
48:19. And thy seed had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy
bowels like the gravel thereof: his name should not have perished, nor
have been destroyed from before my face.
48:20. Come forth out of Babylon, lee ye from the Chaldeans,
declare it with the voice of joy: make this to be heard, and speak it out
even to the ends of the earth. Say: The Lord hath redeemed his servant
Jacob.

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 48:21. They thirsted not in the desert, when he led them out: he
brought forth water out of the rock for them, and he clove the rock,
and the waters gushed out.
48:22. There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord.
Isaias Chapter 49

Christ shall bring the Gentiles to salvation. God’s love to his church is
perpetual.
49:1. Give ear, ye islands, and hearken, ye people from afar. The Lord
hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother he hath
been mindful of my name.
49:2. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword: in the shadow
of his hand he hath protected me, and hath made me as a chosen
arrow: in his quiver he hath hidden me.
49:3. And he said to me: Thou art my servant Israel, for in thee will I
glory.
49:4. And I said: I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength
without cause and in vain: therefore my judgment is with the Lord,
and my work with my God.
49:5. And now saith the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be
his servant, that I may bring back Jacob unto him, and Israel will not
be gathered together: and I am glori ied in the eyes of the Lord, and
my God is made my strength.
49:6. And he said: It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my
servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of
Israel. Behold, I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that
thou mayst be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth.
49:7. Thus saith the Lord the redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to the
soul that is despised, to the nation that is abhorred, to the servant of
rulers: Kings shall see, and princes shall rise up, and adore for the
Lord’s sake, because he is faithful, and for the Holy One of Israel, who
hath chosen thee.

 49:8. Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard thee,
and in the day of salvation I have helped thee: and I have preserved
thee, and given thee to be a covenant of the people, that thou mightest
raise up the earth, and possess the inheritances that were destroyed:
49:9. That thou mightest say to them that are bound: Come forth:
and to them that are in darkness: Shew yourselves. They shall feed in
the ways, and their pastures shall be in every plain.
49:10. They shall not hunger, nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor
the sun strike them: for he that is merciful to them, shall be their
shepherd, and at the fountains of waters he shall give them drink.
49:11. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my paths shall
be exalted.
49:12. Behold these shall come from afar, and behold these from the
north and from the sea, and these from the south country.
49:13. Give praise, O ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth, ye mountains,
give praise with jubilation: because the Lord hath comforted his
people, and will have mercy on his poor ones.
49:14. And Sion said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath
forgotten me.
49:15. Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the
son of her womb? and if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee.
49:16. Behold, I have graven thee in my hands: thy walls are always
before my eyes.
49:17. Thy builders are come: they that destroy thee and make thee
waste shall go out of thee.
49:18. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see all these are gathered
together, they are come to thee: I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt be
clothed with all these as with an ornament, and as a bride thou shalt
put them about thee.
49:19. For thy deserts, and thy desolate places, and the land of thy
destruction shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and
they that swallowed thee up shall be chased far away.

 49:20. The children of thy barrenness shall still say in thy ears: The
place is too strait for me, make me room to dwell in.
49:21. And thou shalt say in thy heart: Who hath begotten these? I
was barren and brought not forth, led away, and captive: and who
hath brought up these? I was destitute and alone: and these, where
were they?
49:22. Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will lift up my hand to the
Gentiles, and will set up my standard to the people. And they shall
bring thy sons in their arms, and carry thy daughters upon their
shoulders.
49:23. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nurses:
they shall worship thee with their face toward the earth, and they
shall lick up the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I am the
Lord, for they shall not be confounded that wait for him.
49:24. Shall the prey be taken from the strong? or can that which
was taken by the mighty, be delivered?
49:25. For thus saith the Lord: Yea verily, even the captivity shall be
taken away from the strong: and that which was taken by the mighty,
shall be delivered. But I will judge those that have judged thee, and thy
children I will save.
49:26. And I will feed thy enemies with their own lesh: and they
shall be made drunk with their own blood, as with new wine: and all
lesh shall know, that I am the Lord that save thee, and thy Redeemer
the Mighty One of Jacob.
Isaias Chapter 50

The synagogue shall be divorced for her iniquities. Christ for her sake
will endure ignominious af lictions.
50:1. Thus saith the Lord: What is this bill of the divorce of your
mother, with which I have put her away? or who is my creditor, to
whom I sold you: behold you are sold for your iniquities, and for your
wicked deeds have I put your mother away.
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 50:2. Because I came, and there was not a man: I called, and there
was none that would hear. Is my hand shortened and become little,
that I cannot redeem? or is there no strength in me to deliver? Behold
at my rebuke I will make the sea a desert, I will turn the rivers into dry
land: the ishes shall rot for want of water, and shall die for thirst.
50:3. I will clothe the heavens with darkness, and will make
sackcloth their covering.
50:4. The Lord hath given me a learned tongue, that I should know
how to uphold by word him that is weary: he wakeneth in the
morning, in the morning he wakeneth my ear, that I may hear him as a
master.
50:5. The Lord God hath opened my ear, and I do not resist: I have
not gone back.
50:6. I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them
that plucked them: I have not turned away my face from them that
rebuked me, and spit upon me.
50:7. The Lord God is my helper, therefore am I not confounded:
therefore have I set my face as a most hard rock, and I know that I
shall not be confounded.
50:8. He is near that justi ieth me, who will contend with me? let us
stand together, who is my adversary? let him come near to me.
50:9. Behold the Lord God is my helper: who is he that shall
condemn me? Lo, they shall all be destroyed as a garment, the moth
shall eat them up.
50:10. Who is there among you that feareth the Lord, that heareth
the voice of his servant, that hath walked in darkness, and hath no
light? let him hope in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God.
50:11. Behold all you that kindle a ire, encompassed with lames,
walk in the light of your ire, and in the lames which you have kindled:
this is done to you by my hand, you shall sleep in sorrows.

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 Isaias Chapter 51

An exhortation to trust in Christ. He shall protect the children of his

church.
51:1. Give ear to me, you that follow that which is just, and you that
seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence you are hewn, and to the hole
of the pit from which you are dug out.
51:2. Look unto Abraham your father, and to Sara that bore you: for
I called him alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him.
51:3. The Lord therefore will comfort Sion, and will comfort all the
ruins thereof: and he will make her desert as a place of pleasure, and
her wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be
found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise.
51:4. Hearken unto me, O my people, and give ear to me, O my
tribes: for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment shall rest to
be a light of the nations.
51:5. My just one is near at hand, my saviour is gone forth, and my
arms shall judge the people: the islands shall look for me, and shall
patiently wait for my arm.
51:6. Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down to the earth
beneath: for the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall
be worn away like a garment, and the inhabitants thereof shall perish
in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my justice shall
not fail.
51:7. Hearken to me, you that know what is just, my people who
have my law in your heart: fear ye not the reproach of men, and be not
afraid of their blasphemies.
51:8. For the worm shall eat them up as a garment: and the moth
shall consume them as wool: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my
justice from generation to generation.

 51:9. Arise, arise, put on strength, O thou arm of the Lord, arise as in
the days of old, in the ancient generations. Hast not thou struck the
proud one, and wounded the dragon?
51:10. Hast not thou dried up the sea, the water of the mighty deep,
who madest the depth of the sea a way, that the delivered might pass
over?
51:11. And now they that are redeemed by the Lord, shall return,
and shall come into Sion singing praises, and joy everlasting shall be
upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, sorrow and
mourning shall lee away.
51:12. I, I myself will comfort you: who art thou, that thou shouldst
be afraid of a mortal man, and of the son of man, who shall wither
away like grass?
51:13. And thou hast forgotten the Lord thy maker, who stretched
out the heavens, and founded the earth: and thou hast been afraid
continually all the day at the presence of his fury who af licted thee,
and had prepared himself to destroy thee: where is now the fury of the
oppressor?
51:14. He shall quickly come that is going to open unto you, and he
shall not kill unto utter destruction, neither shall his bread fail.
51:15. But I am the Lord thy God, who trouble the sea, and the
waves thereof swell: the Lord of hosts is my name.
51:16. I have put my words in thy mouth, and have protected thee in
the shadow of my hand, that thou mightest plant the heavens, and
found the earth: and mightest say to Sion: Thou art my people.
51:17. Arise, arise, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the
hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath; thou hast drunk even to the
bottom of the cup of dead sleep, and thou hast drunk even to the dregs.
51:18. There is none that can uphold her among all the children
that she hath brought forth: and there is none that taketh her by the
hand among all the children that she hath brought up.

 51:19. There are two things that have happened to thee: who shall
be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the
sword, who shall comfort thee?
51:20. Thy children are cast forth, they have slept at the head of all
the ways, as the wild ox that is snared: full of the indignation of the
Lord, of the rebuke of thy God.
51:21. Therefore hear this, thou poor little one, and thou that art
drunk but not with wine.
51:22. Thus saith thy Sovereign the Lord, and thy God, who will ight
for his people: Behold I have taken out of thy hand the cup of dead
sleep, the dregs of the cup of my indignation, thou shalt not drink it
again any more.
51:23. And I will put it in the hand of them that have oppressed thee,
and have said to thy soul: Bow down, that we may go over: and thou
hast laid thy body as the ground, and as a way to them that went over.
Isaias Chapter 52

Under the igure of the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity, the
church is invited to rejoice for her redemption from sin. Christ’s
kingdom shall be exalted.
52:1. Arise, arise, put on thy strength, O Sion, put on the garments of
thy glory, O Jerusalem, the city of the Holy One: for henceforth the
uncircumcised, and unclean shall no more pass through thee.
52:2. Shake thyself from the dust, arise, sit up, O Jerusalem: loose the
bonds from off thy neck, O captive daughter of Sion.
52:3. For thus saith the Lord: You were sold gratis, and you shall be
redeemed, without money.
52:4. For thus saith the Lord God: My people went down into Egypt
at the beginning to sojourn there: and the Assyrian hath oppressed
them without any cause at all.
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 52:5. And now what have I here, saith the Lord: for my people is
taken away gratis. They that rule over them treat them unjustly, saith
the Lord, and my name is continually blasphemed all the day long.
52:6. Therefore my people shall know my name in that day: for I
myself that spoke, behold I am here.
52:7. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that
bringeth good tidings, and that preacheth peace: of him that sheweth
forth good, that preacheth salvation, that saith to Sion: Thy God shall
reign!
52:8. The voice of thy watchmen: they have lifted up their voice, they
shall praise together: for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall
convert Sion.
52:9. Rejoice, and give praise together, O ye deserts of Jerusalem: for
the Lord hath comforted his people: he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
52:10. The Lord hath prepared his holy arm in the sight of all the
Gentiles: and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our
God.
52:11. Depart, depart, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean
thing: go out of the midst of her, be ye clean, you that carry the vessels
of the Lord.
52:12. For you shall not go out in a tumult, neither shall you make
haste by light: for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel
will gather you together.
52:13. Behold my servant shall understand, he shall be exalted, and
extolled, and shall be exceeding high.
52:14. As many have been astonished at thee, so shall his visage be
inglorious among men, and his form among the sons of men.
52:15. He shall sprinkle many nations, kings shall shut their mouth
at him: for they to whom it was not told of him, have seen: and they
that heard not, have beheld.

 Isaias Chapter 53

A prophecy of the passion of Christ.

53:1. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed?
53:2. And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a
root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in him, nor comeliness:
and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be
desirous of him:
53:3. Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with in irmity: and his look was as it were hidden and
despised, whereupon we esteemed him not.
53:4. Surely he hath borne our in irmities and carried our sorrows:
and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God
and af licted.
53:5. But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our
sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises
we are healed.
53:6. All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside
into his own way: and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
53:7. He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not
his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be
dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth.
53:8. He was taken away from distress, and from judgment: who
shall declare his generation? because he is cut off out of the land of the
living: for the wickedness of my people have I struck him.
53:9. And he shall give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his
death: because he hath done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in
his mouth.
53:10. And the Lord was pleased to bruise him in in irmity: if he
shall lay down his life for sin, he shall see a longlived seed, and the will
of the Lord shall be prosperous in his hand.
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 53:11. Because his soul hath laboured, he shall see and be illed: by
his knowledge shall this my just servant justify many, and he shall bear
their iniquities.
53:12. Therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he shall
divide the spoils of the strong, because he hath delivered his soul unto
death, and was reputed with the wicked: and he hath borne the sins of
many, and hath prayed for the transgressors.
Isaias Chapter 54

The Gentiles, who were barren before, shall multiply in the church of
Christ: from which God’s mercy shall never depart.
54:1. Give praise, O thou barren, that bearest not: sing forth praise,
and make a joyful noise, thou that didst not travail with child: for
many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath a
husband, saith the Lord.
54:2. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and stretch out the skins of thy
tabernacles, spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.
54:3. For thou shalt pass on to the right hand, and to the left: and
thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and shall inhabit the desolate cities.
54:4. Fear not, for thou shalt not be confounded, nor blush: for thou
shalt not be put to shame, because thou shalt forget the shame of thy
youth, and shalt remember no more the reproach of thy widowhood.
54:5. For he that made thee shall rule over thee, the Lord of hosts is
his name: and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, shall be called the
God of all the earth.
54:6. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and
mourning in spirit, and as a wife cast off from her youth, said thy God.
54:7. For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great
mercies will I gather thee.
54:8. In a moment of indignation have I hid my face a little while
from thee, but with everlasting kindness have I had mercy on thee, said
the Lord thy Redeemer.

 54:9. This thing is to me as in the days of Noe, to whom I swore, that

I would no more bring in the waters of Noe upon the earth: so have I
sworn not to be angry with thee, and not to rebuke thee.
54:10. For the mountains shall be moved, and the hills shall tremble;
but my mercy shall not depart from thee, and the covenant of my
peace shall not be moved: said the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
54:11. O poor little one, tossed with tempest, without all comfort,
behold I will lay thy stones in order, and will lay thy foundations with
sapphires,
54:12. And I will make thy bulwarks of jasper: and thy gates of
graven stones, and all thy borders of desirable stones.
54:13. All thy children shall be taught of the Lord: and great shall be
the peace of thy children.
54:14. And thou shalt be founded in justice: depart far from
oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not
come near thee.
54:15. Behold, an inhabitant shall come, who was not with me, he
that was a stranger to thee before, shall be joined to thee.
54:16. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the
ire, and bringeth forth an instrument for his work, and I have created
the killer to destroy.
54:17. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper: and
every tongue that resisteth thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This
is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their justice with me,
saith the Lord.
Isaias Chapter 55

God promises abundance of spiritual graces to the faithful, that shall

believe in Christ out of all nations, and sincerely serve him.
55:1. All you that thirst, come to the waters: and you that have no
money make haste, buy, and eat: come ye, buy wine and milk without
money, and without any price.
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 55:2. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your
labour for that which doth not satisfy you? Hearken diligently to me,
and eat that which is good, and your soul shall be delighted in fatness.
55:3. Incline your ear and come to me: hear and your soul shall live,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the faithful mercies
of David.
55:4. Behold I have given him for a witness to the people, for a
leader and a master to the Gentiles.
55:5. Behold thou shalt call a nation, which thou knewest not: and
the nations that knew not thee shall run to thee, because of the Lord
thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glori ied thee.
55:6. Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while
he is near.
55:7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his
thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on
him, and to our God: for he is bountiful to forgive.
55:8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways my
ways, saith the Lord.
55:9. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways
exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.
55:10. And as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and
return no more thither, but soak the earth, and water it, and make it
to spring, and give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
55:11. So shall my word be, which shall go forth from my mouth: it
shall not return to me void, but it shall do whatsoever I please, and
shall prosper in the things for which I sent it.
55:12. For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the
mountains and the hills shall sing praise before you, and all the trees
of the country shall clap their hands.
55:13. Instead of the shrub, shall come up the ir tree, and instead of
the nettle, shall come up the myrtle tree: and the Lord shall be named
for an everlasting sign, that shall not be taken away.

 Isaias Chapter 56

God invites all to keep his commandments: the Gentiles that keep them
shall be the people of God: the Jewish pastors are reproved.
56:1. Thus saith the Lord: Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my
salvation is near to come, and my justice to be revealed.
56:2. Blessed is the man that doth this, and the son of man that shall
lay hold on this: that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, that
keepeth his hands from doing any evil.
56:3. And let not the son of the stranger, that adhereth to the Lord,
speak, saying: The Lord will divide and separate me from his people.
And let not the eunuch say: Behold I am a dry tree.
56:4. For thus saith the Lord to the eunuchs, They that shall keep my
sabbaths, and shall choose the things that please me, and shall hold
fast my covenant:
56:5. I will give to them in my house, and within my walls, a place,
and a name better than sons and daughters: I will give them an
everlasting name which shall never perish.
56:6. And the children of the stranger that adhere to the Lord, to
worship him, and to love his name, to be his servants: every one that
keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and that holdeth fast my
covenant:
56:7. I will bring them into my holy mount, and will make them
joyful in my house of prayer: their holocausts, and their victims shall
please me upon my altar: for my house shall be called the house of
prayer, for all nations.
56:8. The Lord God, who gathereth the scattered of Israel, saith: I
will still gather unto him his congregation.
56:9. All ye beasts of the ield come to devour, all ye beasts of the
forest.
56:10. His watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant: dumb dogs
not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping and loving dreams.

 56:11. And most impudent dogs, they never had enough: the
shepherds themselves knew no understanding: all have turned aside
into their own way, every one after his own gain, from the irst even to
the last.
56:12. Come, let us take wine, and be illed with drunkenness: and it
shall be as to day, so also to morrow, and much more.
Isaias Chapter 57

The in idelity of the Jews: their idolatry. Promises to humble penitents.

57:1. The just perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and men of
mercy are taken away, because there is none that understandeth; for
the just man is taken away from before the face of evil.
57:2. Let peace come, let him rest in his bed that hath walked in his
uprightness.
57:3. But draw near hither, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the
adulterer, and of the harlot.
57:4. Upon whom have you jested? upon whom have you opened
your mouth wide, and put out your tongue? are not you wicked
children, a false seed,
57:5. Who seek your comfort in idols under every green tree,
sacri icing children in the torrents, under the high rocks?
57:6. In the parts of the torrent is thy portion, this is thy lot: and
thou hast poured out libations to them, thou hast offered sacri ice.
Shall I not be angry at these things?
57:7. Upon a high and lofty mountain thou hast laid thy bed, and
hast gone up thither to offer victims.
57:8. And behind the door, and behind the post thou hast set up thy
remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself near me, and hast
received an adulterer: thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made a
covenant with them: thou hast loved their bed with open hand.
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 57:9. And thou hast adorned thyself for the king with ointment, and
hast multiplied thy perfumes. Thou hast sent thy messengers far off,
and wast debased even to hell.
57:10. Thou hast been wearied in the multitude of thy ways: yet
thou saidst not: I will rest: thou hast found life of thy hand, therefore
thou hast not asked.
57:11. For whom hast thou been solicitous and afraid, that thou
hast lied, and hast not been mindful of me, nor thought on me in thy
heart? for I am silent, and as one that seeth not, and thou hast
forgotten me.
57:12. I will declare thy justice, and thy works shall not pro it thee.
57:13. When thou shalt cry, let thy companies deliver thee, but the
wind shall carry them all off, a breeze shall take them away, but he
that putteth his trust in me, shall inherit the land, and shall possess my
holy mount.
57:14. And I will say: Make a way: give free passage, turn out of the
path, take away the stumblingblocks out of the way of my people.
57:15. For thus saith the High and the Eminent that inhabiteth
eternity: and his name is Holy, who dwelleth in the high and holy
place, and with a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the
humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
57:16. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be angry unto
the end: because the spirit shall go forth from my face, and breathings
I will make.
57:17. For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry, and I struck
him: I hid my face from thee, and was angry: and he went away
wandering in his own heart.
57:18. I saw his ways, and I healed him, and brought him back, and
restored comforts to him, and to them that mourn for him.
57:19. I created the fruit of the lips, peace, peace to him that is far
off, and to him that is near, said the Lord, and I healed him.

 57:20. But the wicked are like the raging sea, which cannot rest, and
the waves thereof cast up dirt and mire.
57:21. There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord God.
Isaias Chapter 58

God rejects the hypocritical fasts of the Jews: recommends works of

mercy, and sincere godliness.
58:1. Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my
people their wicked doings, and the house of Jacob their sins.
58:2. For they seek me from day to day, and desire to know my ways,
as a nation that hath done justice, and hath not forsaken the judgment
of their God: they ask of me the judgments of justice: they are willing
to approach to God.
58:3. Why have we fasted, and thou hast not regarded: have we
humbled our souls, and thou hast not taken notice? Behold in the day
of your fast your own will is found, and you exact of all your debtors.
58:4. Behold you fast for debates and strife, and strike with the ist
wickedly. Do not fast as you have done until this day, to make your cry
to be heard on high.
58:5. Is this such a fast as I have chosen: for a man to af lict his soul
for a day? is this it, to wind his head about like a circle, and to spread
sackcloth and ashes? wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to
the Lord?
58:6. Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? loose the bands
of wickedness, undo the bundles that oppress, let them that are broken
go free, and break asunder every burden.
58:7. Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy and the
harbourless into thy house: when thou shalt see one naked, cover him,
and despise not thy own lesh.
58:8. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health
shall speedily arise, and thy justice shall go before thy face, and the
glory of the Lord shall gather thee up.

 58:9. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall hear: thou shalt cry,
and he shall say, Here I am. If thou wilt take away the chain out of the
midst of thee, and cease to stretch out the inger, and to speak that
which pro iteth not.
58:10. When thou shalt pour out thy soul to the hungry, and shalt
satisfy the af licted soul, then shall thy light rise up in darkness, and
thy darkness shall be as the noonday.
58:11. And the Lord will give thee rest continually, and will ill thy
soul with brightness, and deliver thy bones, and thou shalt be like a
watered garden, and like a fountain of water whose waters shall not
fail.
58:12. And the places that have been desolate for ages shall be built
in thee: thou shalt raise up the foundations of generation and
generation: and thou shalt be called the repairer of the fences, turning
the paths into rest.
58:13. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy
own will in my holy day, and call the sabbath delightful, and the holy
of the Lord glorious, and glorify him, while thou dost not thy own
ways, and thy own will is not found, to speak a word:
58:14. Then shalt thou be delighted in the Lord, and I will lift thee
up above the high places of the earth, and will feed thee with the
inheritance of Jacob thy father. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
it.
Isaias Chapter 59

The dreadful evil of sin is displayed, as the great obstacle to all good
from God: yet he will send a Redeemer, and make an everlasting
covenant with his church.
59:1. Behold the hand of the Lord is not shortened that it cannot
save, neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear.
59:2. But your iniquities have divided between you and your God,
and your sins have hid his face from you that he should not hear.

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 59:3. For your hands are de iled with blood, and your ingers with
iniquity: your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue uttereth iniquity.
59:4. There is none that calleth upon justice, neither is there any one
that judgeth truly: but they trust in a mere nothing, and speak
vanities: they have conceived labour, and brought forth iniquity.
59:5. They have broken the eggs of asps, and have woven the webs of
spiders: he that shall eat of their eggs, shall die: and that which is
brought out, shall be hatched into a basilisk.
59:6. Their webs shall not be for clothing, neither shall they cover
themselves with their works: their works are unpro itable works, and
the work of iniquity is in their hands.
59:7. Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed innocent blood:
their thoughts are unpro itable thoughts: wasting and destruction are
in their ways.
59:8. They have not known the way of peace, and there is no
judgment in their steps: their paths are become crooked to them, every
one that treadeth in them knoweth no peace.
59:9. Therefore is judgment far from us, and justice shall not
overtake us. We looked for light, and behold darkness: brightness, and
we have walked in the dark.
59:10. We have groped for the wall, and like the blind we have
groped as if we had no eyes: we have stumbled at noonday as in
darkness, we are in dark places, as dead men.
59:11. We shall roar all of us like bears, and shall lament as
mournful doves. We have looked for judgment, and there is none: for
salvation, and it is far from us.
59:12. For our iniquities are multiplied before thee, and our sins
have testi ied against us: for our wicked doings are with us, and we
have known our iniquities:
59:13. In sinning and lying against the Lord: and we have turned
away so that we went not after our God, but spoke calumny and
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transgression: we have conceived, and uttered from the heart, words

of falsehood.
59:14. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice hath
stood far off: because truth hath fallen down in the street, and equity
could not come in.
59:15. And truth hath been forgotten: and he that departed from
evil, lay open to be a prey: and the Lord saw, and it appeared evil in his
eyes, because there is no judgment.
59:16. And he saw that there is not a man: and he stood astonished,
because there is none to oppose himself: and his own arm brought
salvation to him, and his own justice supported him.
59:17. He put on justice as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation
upon his head: he put on the garments of vengeance, and was clad
with zeal as with a cloak.
59:18. As unto revenge, as it were to repay wrath to his adversaries,
and a reward to his enemies: he will repay the like to the islands.
59:19. And they from the west, shall fear the name of the Lord: and
they from the rising of the sun, his glory when he shall come as a
violent stream, which the spirit of the Lord driveth on:
59:20. And there shall come a redeemer to Sion, and to them that
return from iniquity in Jacob, saith the Lord.
59:21. This is my covenant with them, saith the Lord: My spirit that
is in thee, and my words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart
out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the
mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.
This is my covenant, etc.... Note here a clear promise of perpetual orthodoxy to
the church of Christ.
Isaias Chapter 60

The light of true faith shall shine forth in the church of Christ, and
shall be spread through all nations, and continue for all ages.

 60:1. Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and

the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
60:2. For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the
people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen
upon thee.
60:3. And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the
brightness of thy rising.
60:4. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see: all these are gathered
together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy
daughters shall rise up at thy side.
60:5. Then shalt thou see, and abound, and thy heart shall wonder
and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to
thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to thee.
60:6. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of
Madian and Epha: all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and
frankincense: and shewing forth praise to the Lord.
60:7. All the locks of Cedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the
rams of Nabaioth shall minister to thee: they shall be offered upon my
acceptable altar, and I will glorify the house of my majesty.
60:8. Who are these, that ly as clouds, and as doves to their
windows?
60:9. For, the islands wait for me, and the ships of the sea in the
beginning: that I may bring thy sons from afar: their silver, and their
gold with them, to the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One
of Israel, because he hath glori ied thee.
60:10. And the children of strangers shall build up thy walls, and
their kings shall minister to thee: for in my wrath have I struck thee,
and in my reconciliation have I had mercy upon thee.
60:11. And thy gates shall be open continually: they shall not be shut
day nor night, that the strength of the Gentiles may be brought to thee,
and their kings may be brought.

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 60:12. For the nation and the kingdom that will not serve thee, shall
perish: and the Gentiles shall be wasted with desolation.
60:13. The glory of Libanus shall come to thee, the ir tree, and the
box tree, and the pine tree together, to beautify the place of my
sanctuary: and I will glorify the place of my feet.
60:14. And the children of them that af lict thee, shall come bowing
down to thee, and all that slandered thee shall worship the steps of thy
feet, and shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Sion of the Holy One of
Israel.
60:15. Because thou wast forsaken, and hated, and there was none
that passed through thee, I will make thee to be an everlasting glory, a
joy unto generation and generation:
60:16. And thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, and thou shalt be
nursed with the breasts of kings: and thou shalt know that I am the
Lord thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
60:17. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver: and
for wood brass, and for stones iron: and I will make thy visitation
peace, and thy overseers justice.
60:18. Iniquity shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor
destruction in thy borders, and salvation shall possess thy walls, and
praise thy gates.
60:19. Thou shalt no more have the sun for thy light by day, neither
shall the brightness of the moon enlighten thee: but the Lord shall be
unto thee for an everlasting light, and thy God for thy glory.
Thou shalt no more, etc.... In this latter part of the Chapter, the prophet passes
from the illustrious promises made to the church militant on earth, to the glory
of the church triumphant in heaven.
60:20. Thy sun shall go down no more, and thy moon shall not
decrease: for the Lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and
the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
60:21. And thy people shall be all just, they shall inherit the land for
ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hand to glorify me.

 60:22. The least shall become a thousand, and a little one a most
strong nation: I the Lord will suddenly do this thing in its time.
Isaias Chapter 61

The of ice of Christ: the mission of the Apostles; the happiness of their
converts.
61:1. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath
anointed me: he hath sent me to preach to the meek, to heal the
contrite of heart, and to preach a release to the captives, and
deliverance to them that are shut up.
61:2. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of
vengeance of our God: to comfort all that mourn:
61:3. To appoint to the mourners of Sion, and to give them a crown
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, a garment of praise for the spirit
of grief: and they shall be called in it the mighty ones of justice, the
planting of the Lord to glorify him.
61:4. And they shall build the places that have been waste from of
old, and shall raise up ancient ruins, and shall repair the desolate
cities, that were destroyed for generation and generation.
61:5. And strangers shall stand and shall feed your locks: and the
sons of strangers shall be your husbandmen, and the dressers of your
vines.
61:6. But you shall be called the priests of the Lord: to you it shall be
said: Ye ministers of our God: you shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
and you shall pride yourselves in their glory.
61:7. For your double confusion and shame, they shall praise their
part: therefore shall they receive double in their land, everlasting joy
shall be unto them.
61:8. For I am the Lord that love judgment, and hate robbery in a
holocaust: and I will make their work in truth, and I will make a
perpetual covenant with them.

 61:9. And they shall know their seed among the Gentiles, and their
offspring in the midst of peoples: all that shall see them, shall know
them, that these are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.
61:10. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in
my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation: and
with the robe of justice he hath covered me, as a bridegroom decked
with a crown, and as a bride adorned with her jewels.
61:11. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden
causeth her seed to shoot forth: so shall the Lord God make justice to
spring forth, and praise before all the nations.
Isaias Chapter 62

The prophet will not cease from preaching Christ: to whom all nations
shall be converted: and whose church shall continue for ever.
62:1. For Sion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for the sake of
Jerusalem, I will not rest till her just one come forth as brightness, and
her saviour be lighted as a lamp.
62:2. And the Gentiles shall see thy just one, and all kings thy
glorious one: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the
mouth of the Lord shall name.
62:3. And thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and
a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
62:4. Thou shalt no more be called Forsaken: and thy land shall no
more be called Desolate: but thou shalt be called My pleasure in her,
and thy land inhabited. Because the Lord hath been well pleased with
thee: and thy land shall be inhabited.
62:5. For the young man shall dwell with the virgin, and thy children
shall dwell in thee. And the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride,
and thy God shall rejoice over thee.
62:6. Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen all
the day, and all the night, they shall never hold their peace. You that
are mindful of the Lord, hold not your peace,

 62:7. And give him no silence till he establish, and till he make
Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
62:8. The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his
strength: Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thy
enemies: and the sons of the strangers shall not drink thy wine, for
which thou hast laboured.
62:9. For they that gather it, shall eat it, and shall praise the Lord:
and they that bring it together, shall drink it in my holy courts.
62:10. Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the
people, make the road plain, pick out the stones, and lift up the
standard to the people.
62:11. Behold the Lord hath made it to be heard in the ends of the
earth, tell the daughter of Sion: Behold thy Saviour cometh: behold his
reward is with him, and his work before him.
62:12. And they shall call them, The holy people, the redeemed of the
Lord. But thou shalt be called: A city sought after, and not forsaken.
Isaias Chapter 63

Christ’s victory over his enemies: his mercies to his people: their
complaint.
63:1. Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from
Bosra, this beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his
strength. I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save.
Edom.... Edom and Bosra (a strong city of Edom) are here taken in a mystical
sense for the enemies of Christ and his church.
63:2. Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like theirs that
tread in the winepress?
63:3. I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the Gentiles there is
not a man with me: I have trampled on them in my indignation, and
have trodden them down in my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled
upon my garments, and I have stained all my apparel.

 63:4. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my

redemption is come.
63:5. I looked about, and there was none to help: I sought, and there
was none to give aid: and my own arm hath saved for me, and my
indignation itself hath helped me.
63:6. And I have trodden down the people in my wrath, and have
made them drunk in my indignation, and have brought down their
strength to the earth.
63:7. I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the praise of
the Lord for all the things that the Lord hath bestowed upon us, and
for the multitude of his good things to the house of Israel, which he
hath given them according to his kindness, and according to the
multitude of his mercies.
63:8. And he said: Surely they are my people, children that will not
deny: so he became their saviour.
63:9. In all their af liction he was not troubled, and the angel of his
presence saved them: in his love, and in his mercy he redeemed them,
and he carried them and lifted them up all the days of old.
63:10. But they provoked to wrath, and af licted the spirit of his
Holy One: and he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against
them.
63:11. And he remembered the days of old of Moses, and of his
people: Where is he that brought them up out of the sea, with the
shepherds of his lock? where is he that put in the midst of them the
spirit of his Holy One?
63:12. He that brought out Moses by the right hand, by the arm of
his majesty: that divided the waters before them, to make himself an
everlasting name.
63:13. He that led them out through the deep, as a horse in the
wilderness that stumbleth not.

 63:14. As a beast that goeth down in the ield, the spirit of the Lord
was their leader: so didst thou lead thy people to make thyself a
glorious name.
63:15. Look down from heaven, and behold from thy holy habitation
and the place of thy glory: where is thy zeal, and thy strength, the
multitude of thy bowels, and of thy mercies? they have held back
themselves from me.
They have held back, etc.... This is spoken by the prophet in the person of the Jews
at the time when, for their sins, they were given up to their enemies.
63:16. For thou art our father, and Abraham hath not known us, and
Israel hath been ignorant of us: thou, O Lord, art our father, our
redeemer, from everlasting is thy name.
Abraham hath not know us, etc.... That is, Abraham will not now acknowledge us
for his children, by reason of our degeneracy; but thou, O Lord, art our true
father and our redeemer, and no other can be called our parent in comparison
with thee.
63:17. Why hast thou made us to err, O Lord, from thy ways: why
hast thou hardened our heart, that we should not fear thee? return for
the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy inheritance.
Made us to err, etc. Hardened our heart, etc.... The meaning is, that God in
punishment of their great and manifold crimes, and their long abuse of his
mercy and grace, had withdrawn his graces from them, and so given them up to
error and hardness of heart.
63:18. They have possessed thy holy people as nothing: our enemies
have trodden down thy sanctuary.
63:19. We are become as in the beginning, when thou didst not rule
over us, and when we were not called by thy name.
Isaias Chapter 64

The prophet prays for the release of his people; and for the remission
of their sins.

 64:1. O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come
down: the mountains would melt away at thy presence.
64:2. They would melt as at the burning of ire, the waters would
burn with ire, that thy name might be made known to thy enemies:
that the nations might tremble at thy presence.
64:3. When thou shalt do wonderful things, we shall not bear them:
thou didst come down, and at thy presence the mountains melted
away.
64:4. From the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor
perceived with the ears: the eye hath not seen, O God, besides thee,
what things thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee.
64:5. Thou hast met him that rejoiceth, and doth justice: in thy ways
they shall remember thee: behold thou art angry, and we have sinned:
in them we have been always, and we shall be saved.
64:6. And we are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as
the rag of a menstruous woman: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and
our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Our justices, etc.... That is, the works by which we pretended to make ourselves
just. This is spoken particularly of the sacri ices, sacraments, and ceremonies of
the Jews, after the death of Christ, and the promulgation of the new law.
64:7. There is none that calleth upon thy name: that riseth up, and
taketh hold of thee: thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast crushed us
in the hand of our iniquity.
64:8. And now, O Lord, thou art our father, and we are clay: and
thou art our maker, and we all are the works of thy hands.
64:9. Be not very angry, O Lord, and remember no longer our
iniquity: behold, see we are all thy people.
64:10. The city of thy sanctuary is become a desert, Sion is made a
desert, Jerusalem is desolate.
64:11. The house of our holiness, and of our glory, where our fathers
praised thee, is burnt with ire, and all our lovely things are turned
into ruins.

 64:12. Wilt thou refrain thyself, O Lord, upon these things, wilt thou
hold thy peace, and af lict us vehemently?
Isaias Chapter 65

The Gentiles shall seek and ind Christ, but the Jews will persecute him,
and be rejected, only a remnant shall be reserved. The church shall
multiply, and abound with graces.
65:1. They have sought me that before asked not for me, they have
found me that sought me not. I said: Behold me, behold me, to a nation
that did not call upon my name.
65:2. I have spread forth my hands all the day to an unbelieving
people, who walk in a way that is not good after their own thoughts.
65:3. A people that continually provoke me to anger before my face,
that immolate in gardens, and sacri ice upon bricks.
65:4. That dwell in sepulchres, and sleep in the temple of idols: that
eat swine’s lesh, and profane broth is in their vessels.
65:5. That say: Depart from me, come not near me, because thou art
unclean: these shall be smoke in my anger, a ire burning all the day.
65:6. Behold it is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will
render and repay into their bosom.
65:7. Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together,
saith the Lord, who have sacri iced upon the mountains, and have
reproached me upon the hills; and I will measure back their irst work
in their bosom.
65:8. Thus saith the Lord: As if a grain be found in a cluster, and it
be said: Destroy it not, because it is a blessing: so will I do for the sake
of my servants, that I may not destroy the whole.
65:9. And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Juda a
possessor of my mountains: and my elect shall inherit it, and my
servants shall dwell there.
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 65:10. And the plains shall be turned to folds of locks, and the valley
of Achor into a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that
have sought me.
65:11. And you, that have forsaken the Lord, that have forgotten my
holy mount, that set a table for fortune, and offer libations upon it,
65:12. I will number you in the sword, and you shall all fall by
slaughter: because I called and you did not answer: I spoke, and you
did not hear: and you did evil in my eyes, and you have chosen the
things that displease me.
65:13. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold my servants shall
eat, and you shall be hungry: behold my servants shall drink, and you
shall be thirsty.
65:14. Behold my servants shall rejoice, and you shall be
confounded: behold my servants shall praise for joyfulness of heart,
and you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for grief of spirit.
65:15. And you shall leave your name for an execration to my elect:
and the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another
name.
65:16. In which he that is blessed upon the earth, shall be blessed in
God, amen: and he that sweareth in the earth, shall swear by God,
amen: because the former distresses are forgotten, and because they
are hid from my eyes.
65:17. For behold I create new heavens, and a new earth: and the
former things shall not be in remembrance, and they shall not come
upon the heart.
65:18. But you shall be glad and rejoice for ever in these things,
which I create: for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and the
people thereof joy.
65:19. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people, and the
voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

 65:20. There shall no more be an infant of days there, nor an old

man that shall not ill up his days: for the child shall die a hundred
years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.
65:21. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall
plant vineyards, and eat the fruits of them.
65:22. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not
plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of
my people, and the works of their hands shall be of long continuance.
65:23. My elect shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth in trouble;
for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their posterity with
them.
65:24. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will hear; as
they are yet speaking, I will hear.
65:25. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion and the ox
shall eat straw; and dust shall be the serpent’s food: they shall not hurt
nor kill in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.
Isaias Chapter 66

More of the reprobation of the Jews, and of the call of the Gentiles.
66:1. Thus saith the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth my
footstool: what is this house that you will build to me? and what is this
place of my rest?
What is this house, etc.... This is a prophecy that the temple should be cast off.
66:2. My hand made all these things, and all these things were
made, saith the Lord. But to whom shall I have respect, but to him that
is poor and little, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my
words?
66:3. He that sacri iceth an ox, is as if he slew a man: he that killeth
a sheep in sacri ice, as if he should brain a dog: he that offereth an
oblation, as if he should offer swine’s blood; he that remembereth
incense, as if he should bless an idol. All these things have they chosen
in their ways, and their soul is delighted in their abominations.

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 He that sacri iceth an ox, etc.... This is a prophecy that the sacri ices which were
offered in the old law should be abolished in the new; and that the offering of
them should be a crime.—Ibid. Remembereth incense.... Viz., to offer it in the way
of a sacri ice.
66:4. Wherefore I also will choose their mockeries, and will bring
upon them the things they feared: because I called, and there was none
that would answer; I have spoken, and they heard not; and they have
done evil in my eyes, and have chosen the things that displease me.
I will choose their mockeries.... I will turn their mockeries upon themselves; and
will cause them to be mocked by their enemies.
66:5. Hear the word of the Lord, you that tremble at his word: Your
brethren that hate you, and cast you out for my name’s sake, have
said: Let the Lord be glori ied, and we shall see in your joy: but they
shall be confounded.
66:6. A voice of the people from the city, a voice from the temple, the
voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies.
66:7. Before she was in labour, she brought forth; before her time
came to be delivered, she brought forth a man child.
Before she was in labour, etc.... This relates to the conversion of the Gentiles, who
were born, as it were, all on a sudden to the church of God.
66:8. Who hath ever heard such a thing? and who hath seen the like
to this? shall the earth bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be
brought forth at once, because Sion hath been in labour, and hath
brought forth her children?
66:9. Shall not I that make others to bring forth children, myself
bring forth, saith the Lord? shall I, that give generation to others, be
barren, saith the Lord thy God?
66:10. Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love
her: rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her.
66:11. That you may suck, and be illed with the breasts of her
consolations: that you may milk out, and low with delights, from the
abundance of her glory.
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 66:12. For thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring upon her as it
were a river of peace, and as an over lowing torrent the glory of the
Gentiles, which you shall suck; you shall be carried at the breasts, and
upon the knees they shall caress you.
66:13. As one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you, and
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
66:14. You shall see and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones
shall lourish like an herb, and the hand of the Lord shall be known to
his servants, and he shall be angry with his enemies.
66:15. For behold the Lord will come with ire, and his chariots are
like a whirlwind, to render his wrath in indignation, and his rebuke
with lames of ire.
66:16. For the Lord shall judge by ire, and by his sword unto all
lesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
66:17. They that were sancti ied, and thought themselves clean in
the gardens behind the gate within, they that did eat swine’s lesh, and
the abomination, and the mouse: they shall be consumed together,
saith the Lord.
66:18. But I know their works, and their thoughts: I come that I may
gather them together with all nations and tongues: and they shall
come and shall see my glory.
66:19. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send of them that
shall be saved, to the Gentiles into the sea, into Africa, and Lydia them
that draw the bow: into Italy, and Greece, to the islands afar off, to
them that have not heard of me, and have not seen my glory. And they
shall declare my glory to the Gentiles:
66:20. And they shall bring all your brethren out of all nations for a
gift to the Lord, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on
mules, and in coaches, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord,
as if the children of Israel should bring an offering in a clean vessel
into the house of the Lord.
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 66:21. And I will take of them to be priests, and Levites, saith the
Lord.
66:22. For as the new heavens, and the new earth, which I will make
to stand before me, saith the Lord: so shall your seed stand, and your
name.
66:23. And there shall be month after month, and sabbath after
sabbath: and all lesh shall come to adore before my face, saith the
Lord.
66:24. And they shall go out, and see the carcasses of the men that
have transgressed against me: their worm shall not die, and their ire
shall not be quenched: and they shall be a loathsome sight to all lesh.

THE PROPHECY OF JEREMIAS

Jeremias was a priest, a native of Anathoth, a priestly city in the tribe

of Benjamin: and was sancti ied from his mother’s womb, to be a
prophet of God; which of ice he began to execute when he was yet a
child in age. He was in his whole life, according to the signi ication of
his name, Great before the Lord; and a special igure of Jesus Christ, in
the persecutions he underwent for discharging his duty; in his charity
for his persecutors; and in the violent death he suffered at their hands:
it being an ancient tradition of the Hebrews, that he was stoned to
death by the remnant of the Jews who had retired into Egypt.
Jeremias Chapter 1

The time, and the calling, of Jeremias: his prophetical visions. God
encourages him.
1:1. The words of Jeremias the son of Helcias, of the priests that
were in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin.

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 1:2. The word of the Lord which came to him in the days of Josias
the son of Amon king of Juda, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
1:3. And which came to him in the days of Joakim the son of Josias
king of Juda, unto the end of the eleventh year of Sedecias the son of
Josias king of Juda, even unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive,
in the ifth month.
1:4. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
1:5. Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee:
and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sancti ied thee, and
made thee a prophet unto the nations.
1:6. And I said: Ah, ah, ah, Lord God: behold, I cannot speak, for I am
a child.
1:7. And the Lord said to me: Say not: I am a child: for thou shalt go
to all that I shall send thee: and whatsoever I shall command thee,
thou shalt speak.
1:8. Be not afraid at their presence: for I am with thee to deliver
thee, saith the Lord.
1:9. And the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and
the Lord said to me: Behold I have given my words in thy mouth:
1:10. Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over
kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy,
and to build, and to plant.
1:11. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What seest thou,
Jeremias? And I said: I see a rod watching.
1:12. And the Lord said to me: Thou hast seen well: for I will watch
over my word to perform it.
1:13. And the word of the Lord came to me a second time saying:
What seest thou? And I said: I see a boiling caldron, and the face
thereof from the face of the north.
1:14. And the Lord said to me: From the north shall an evil break
forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
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 1:15. For behold I will call together all the families of the kingdoms
of the north, saith the Lord: and they shall come, and shall set every
one his throne in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and upon all
the walls thereof round about, and upon all the cities of Juda.
1:16. And I will pronounce my judgments against them, touching all
their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have sacri iced to
strange gods, and have adored the work of their own hands.
1:17. Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak to them
all that I command thee. Be not afraid at their presence: for I will
make thee not to fear their countenance.
1:18. For behold I have made thee this day a forti ied city, and a
pillar of iron, and a wall of brass, over all the land, to the kings of Juda,
to the princes thereof, and to the priests, and to the people of the land.
1:19. And they shall ight against thee, and shall not prevail: for I
am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.
Jeremias Chapter 2

God expostulates with the Jews for their ingratitude and in idelity.
2:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2:2. Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the Lord:
I have remembered thee, pitying thy youth, and the love of thy
espousals, when thou followedst me in the desert, in a land that is not
sown.
2:3. Israel is holy to the Lord, the irstfruits of his increase: all they
that devour him offend: evils shall come upon them, saith the Lord.
2:4. Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all ye
families of the house of Israel:
2:5. Thus saith the Lord: What iniquity have your fathers found in
me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and
are become vain?

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 2:6. And they have not said: Where is the Lord, that made us come
up out of the land of Egypt? that led us through the desert, through a
land uninhabited and unpassable, through a land of drought, and the
image of death, through a land wherein no man walked, nor any man
dwelt?
2:7. And I brought you into the land of Carmel, to eat the fruit
thereof, and the best things thereof: and when ye entered in, you
de iled my land and made my inheritance an abomination.
Carmel.... That is, a fruitful, plentiful land.
2:8. The priests did not say: Where is the Lord? and they that held
the law knew me not, and the pastors transgressed against me: and
the prophets prophesied in Baal, and followed idols.
2:9. Therefore will I yet contend in judgment with you, saith the
Lord, and I will plead with your children.
2:10. Pass over to the isles of Cethim, and see: and send into Cedar,
and consider diligently: and see if there hath been done any thing like
this.
2:11. If a nation hath changed their gods, and indeed they are not
gods: but my people have changed their glory into an idol.
2:12. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and ye gates thereof, be
very desolate, saith the Lord.
2:13. For my people have done two evils. They have forsaken me, the
fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
2:14. Is Israel a bondman, or a homeborn slave? why then is he
become a prey?
2:15. The lions have roared upon him, and have made a noise, they
have made his land a wilderness: his cities are burnt down, and there
is none to dwell in them.
2:16. The children also of Memphis, and of Taphnes have de loured
thee, even to the crown of the head.
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 2:17. Hath not this been done to thee, because thou hast forsaken
the Lord thy God at that time, when he led thee by the way?
2:18. And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the
troubled water? And what hast thou to do with the way of the
Assyrians, to drink the water of the river?
2:19. Thy own wickedness shall reprove thee, and thy apostasy shall
rebuke thee. Know thou, and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing for
thee, to have left the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not with thee,
saith the Lord the God of hosts.
2:20. Of old time thou hast broken my yoke, thou hast burst my
bands, and thou saidst: I will not serve. For on every high hill, and
under every green tree thou didst prostitute thyself.
2:21. Yet, I planted thee a chosen vineyard, all true seed: how then
art thou turned unto me into that which is good for nothing, O strange
vineyard?
2:22. Though thou wash thyself with nitre, and multiply to thyself
the herb borith, thou art stained in thy iniquity before me, saith the
Lord God.
Borith.... An herb used to clean clothes, and take out spots and dirt.
2:23. How canst thou say: I am not polluted, I have not walked after
Baalim? see thy ways in the valley, know what thou hast done: as a
swift runner pursuing his course.
2:24. A wild ass accustomed to the wilderness in the desire of his
heart, snuffed up the wind of his love: none shall turn her away: all
that seek her shall not fail: in her monthly ilth they shall ind her.
2:25. Keep thy foot from being bare, and thy throat from thirst. But
thou saidst: I have lost all hope, I will not do it: for I have loved
strangers, and I will walk after them.
2:26. As the thief is confounded when he is taken, so is the house of
Israel confounded, they and their kings, their princes and their priests,
and their prophets.

 2:27. Saying to a stock: Thou art my father: and to a stone: Thou

hast begotten me: they have turned their back to me, and not their
face: and in the time of their af liction they will say: Arise, and deliver
us.
2:28. Where are the gods, whom thou hast made thee? let them
arise and deliver thee in the time of thy af liction: for according to the
number of thy cities were thy gods, O Juda.
2:29. Why will you contend with me in judgment? you have all
forsaken me, saith the Lord.
2:30. In vain have I struck your children, they have not received
correction: your sword hath devoured your prophets, your generation
is like a ravaging lion.
2:31. See ye the word of the Lord: Am I become a wilderness to
Israel, or a lateward springing land? why then have my people said:
We are revolted, we will come to thee no more?
2:32. Will a virgin forget her ornament, or a bride her stomacher?
but my people hath forgotten me days without number.
2:33. Why dost thou endeavour to shew thy way good to seek my
love, thou who hast also taught thy malices to be thy ways,
2:34. And in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor and
innocent? not in ditches have I found them, but in all places, which I
mentioned before.
2:35. And thou hast said: I am without sin and am innocent: and
therefore let thy anger be turned away from me. Behold, I will contend
with thee in judgment, because thou hast said: I have not sinned.
2:36. How exceeding base art thou become, going the same ways
over again! and thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast
ashamed of Assyria.
2:37. For from thence thou shalt go, and thy hand shall be upon thy
head: for the Lord hath destroyed thy trust, and thou shalt have
nothing prosperous therein.

 Jeremias Chapter 3

God invites the rebel Jews to return to him, with a promise to receive
them: he foretells the conversion of the Gentiles.
3:1. It is commonly said: If a man put away his wife, and she go from
him, and marry another man, shall he return to her any more? shall
not that woman be polluted, and de iled? but thou hast prostituted
thyself to many lovers: nevertheless return to me, saith the Lord, and I
will receive thee.
3:2. Lift up thy eyes on high: and see where thou hast not prostituted
thyself: thou didst sit in the ways, waiting for them as a robber in the
wilderness: and thou hast polluted the land with thy fornications, and
with thy wickedness.
3:3. Therefore the showers were withholden, and there was no
lateward rain: thou hadst a harlot’s forehead, thou wouldst not blush.
3:4. Therefore at the least from this time call to me: Thou art my
father, the guide of my virginity:
3:5. Wilt thou be angry for ever, or wilt thou continue unto the end?
Behold, thou hast spoken, and hast done evil things, and hast been
able.
3:6. And the Lord said to me in the days of king Josias: Hast thou
seen what rebellious Israel hath done? she hath gone of herself upon
every high mountain, and under every green tree, and hath played the
harlot there.
3:7. And when she had done all these things, I said: Return to me,
and she did not return. And her treacherous sister Juda saw,
3:8. That because the rebellious Israel had played the harlot, I had
put her away, and given her a bill of divorce: yet her treacherous sister
Juda was not afraid, but went and played the harlot also herself.
3:9. And by the facility of her fornication she de iled the land, and
played the harlot with stones and with stocks.

 3:10. And after all this, her treacherous sister Juda hath not
returned to me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith the
Lord.
3:11. And the Lord said to me: The rebellious Israel hath justi ied
her soul, in comparison of the treacherous Juda.
3:12. Go, and proclaim these words towards the north, and thou
shalt say: Return, O rebellious Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not turn
away my face from you: for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I will not be
angry for ever.
3:13. But yet acknowledge thy iniquity, that thou hast transgressed
against the Lord thy God: and thou hast scattered thy ways to
strangers under every green tree, and hast not heard my voice, saith
the Lord.
3:14. Return, O ye revolting children, saith the Lord: for I am your
husband: and I will take you, one of a city, and two of a kindred, and
will bring you into Sion.
3:15. And I will give you pastors according to my own heart, and
they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine.
3:16. And when you shall be multiplied, and increase in the land in
those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more: The ark of the
covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come upon the heart, neither
shall they remember it, neither shall it be visited, neither shall that be
done any more.
3:17. At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord:
and all the nations shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the
Lord to Jerusalem, and they shall not walk after the perversity of their
most wicked heart.
3:18. In those days the house of Juda shall go to the house of Israel,
and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land
which I gave to your fathers.
3:19. But I said: How shall I put thee among the children, and give
thee a lovely land, the goodly inheritance of the armies of the Gentiles?

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 And I said: Thou shalt call me father and shalt not cease to walk after
me.
3:20. But as a woman that despiseth her lover, so hath the house of
Israel despised me, saith the Lord.
3:21. A voice was heard in the highways, weeping and howling of
the children of Israel: because they have made their way wicked, they
have forgotten the Lord their God.
3:22. Return, you rebellious children, and I will heal your rebellions.
Behold we come to thee: for thou art the Lord our God.
3:23. In very deed the hills were liars, and the multitude of the
mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.
3:24. Confusion hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our
youth, their locks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
3:25. We shall sleep in our confusion, and our shame shall cover us,
because we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers
from our youth even to this day, and we have not hearkened to the
voice of the Lord our God.
Jeremias Chapter 4

And admonition to sincere repentance, and circumcision of the heart,

with threats of grievous punishment to those that persist in sin.
4:1. If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return to me: if thou
wilt take away thy stumblingblocks out of my sight, thou shalt not be
moved.
4:2. And thou shalt swear: As the Lord liveth, in truth, and in
judgment, and in justice: and the Gentiles shall bless him, and shall
praise him.
4:3. For thus saith the Lord to the men of Juda and Jerusalem: Break
up anew your fallow ground, and sow not upon thorns:
4:4. Be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your
hearts, ye men of Juda, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my

 indignation come forth like ire, and burn, and there be none that can
quench it because of the wickedness of your thoughts.
4:5. Declare ye in Juda, and make it heard in Jerusalem: speak, and
sound with the trumpet in the land: cry aloud, and say: Assemble
yourselves, and let us go into strong cities.
4:6. Set up the standard in Sion. Strengthen yourselves, stay not: for
I bring evil from the north, and great destruction.
4:7. The lion is come up out of his den, and the robber of nations
hath roused himself: he is come forth out of his place, to make thy land
desolate: thy cities shall be laid waste, remaining without an
inhabitant.
4:8. For this gird yourselves with haircloth, lament and howl: for the
ierce anger of the Lord is not turned away from us.
4:9. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord: That the
heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes: and the
priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall be amazed.
4:10. And I said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, hast thou then deceived
this people and Jerusalem, saying: You shall have peace: and behold
the sword reacheth even to the soul?
4:11. At that time it shall be said to this people, and to Jerusalem: A
burning wind is in the ways that are in the desert of the way of the
daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse.
4:12. A full wind from these places shall come to me: and now I will
speak my judgments with them.
4:13. Behold he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a
tempest: his horses are swifter than eagles: woe unto us, for we are
laid waste.
4:14. Wash thy heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that thou mayst
be saved: how long shall hurtful thoughts abide in thee?
4:15. For a voice of one declaring from Dan, and giving notice of the
idol from mount Ephraim.
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 4:16. Say ye to the nations: Behold it is heard in Jerusalem, that

guards are coming from a far country, and give out their voice against
the cities of Juda.
4:17. They are set round about her, as keepers of ields: because she
hath provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord.
4:18. Thy ways, and thy devices have brought these things upon
thee: this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it hath
touched thy heart.
4:19. My bowels, my bowels are in pain, the senses of my heart are
troubled within me, I will not hold my peace, for my soul hath heard
the sound of the trumpet, the cry of battle.
4:20. Destruction upon destruction is called for, and all the earth is
laid waste: my tents are destroyed on a sudden, and my pavilions in a
moment.
4:21. How long shall I see men leeing away, how long shall I hear
the sound of the trumpet?
4:22. For my foolish people have not known me: they are foolish and
senseless children: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no
knowledge.
4:23. I beheld the earth, and lo it was void, and nothing: and the
heavens, and there was no light in them.
4:24. I looked upon the mountains, and behold they trembled: and
all the hills were troubled.
4:25. I beheld, and lo there was no man: and all the birds of the air
were gone.
4:26. I looked, and behold Carmel was a wilderness: and all its cities
were destroyed at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of the
wrath of his indignation.
4:27. For thus saith the Lord: All the land shall be desolate, but yet I
will not utterly destroy.

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 4:28. The Earth shall mourn, and the heavens shall lament from
above: because I have spoken, I have purposed, and I have not
repented, neither am I turned away from it.
4:29. At the voice of the horsemen, and the archers, all the city is led
away: they have entered into thickets and climbed up the rocks: all the
cities are forsaken, and there dwelleth not a man in them.
4:30. But when thou art spoiled what wilt thou do? though thou
clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments
of gold, and paintest thy eyes with stibic stone, thou shalt dress thyself
out in vain: thy lovers have despised thee, they will seek thy life.
4:31. For I have heard the voice as of a woman in travail, anguishes
as of a woman in labour of a child. The voice of the daughter of Sion,
dying away, spreading her hands: Woe is me, for my soul hath fainted
because of them that are slain.
Jeremias Chapter 5

The judgments of God shall fall upon the Jews for their manifold sins.
5:1. Go about through the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and
consider, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can ind a man
that executeth judgment, and seeketh faith: and I will be merciful unto
it.
5:2. And though they say: The Lord liveth; this also they will swear
falsely.
5:3. O Lord, thy eyes are upon truth: thou hast struck them, and they
have not grieved: thou hast bruised them, and they have refused to
receive correction: they have made their faces harder than the rock,
and they have refused to return.
5:4. But I said: Perhaps these are poor and foolish, that know not
the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God.
5:5. I will go therefore to the great men, and will speak to them: for
they have known the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God: and

 behold these have altogether broken the yoke more, and have burst
the bonds.
5:6. Wherefore a lion out of the wood hath slain them, a wolf in the
evening hath spoiled them, a leopard watcheth for their cities: every
one that shall go out thence shall be taken, because their
transgressions are multiplied, their rebellions are strengthened.
5:7. How can I be merciful to thee? thy children have forsaken me,
and swear by them that are not gods: I fed them to the full, and they
committed adultery, and rioted in the harlot’s house.
5:8. They are become as amorous horses and stallions: every one
neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
5:9. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? and shall not my
soul take revenge on such a nation?
5:10. Scale the walls thereof, and throw them down, but do not
utterly destroy: take away the branches thereof, because they are not
the Lord’s.
5:11. For the house of Israel, and the house of Juda have greatly
transgressed against me, saith the Lord.
5:12. They have denied the Lord, and said, It is not he: and the evil
shall not come upon us: we shall not see the sword and famine.
5:13. The prophets have spoken in the wind, and there was no word
of God in them: these things therefore shall befall them.
5:14. Thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: because you have spoken
this word, behold I will make my words in thy mouth as ire, and this
people as wood, and it shall devour them.
5:15. Behold I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of
Israel, saith the Lord: a strong nation, an ancient nation, a nation
whose language thou shalt not know, nor understand what they say.
5:16. Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all valiant.
5:17. And they shall eat up thy corn, and thy bread: they shall
devour thy sons, and thy daughters: they shall eat up thy locks, and

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 thy herds: they shall eat thy vineyards, and thy igs: and with the
sword they shall destroy thy strong cities, wherein thou trustest.
5:18. Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not bring you
to utter destruction.
5:19. And if you shall say: Why hath the Lord our God done all these
things to us? thou shalt say to them: As you have forsaken me, and
served a strange god in your own land, so shall you serve strangers in
a land that is not your own.
5:20. Declare ye this to the house of Jacob, and publish it in Juda,
saying:
5:21. Hear, O foolish people, and without understanding: who have
eyes, and see not: and ears, and hear not.
5:22. Will not you then fear me, saith the Lord: and will you not
repent at my presence? I have set the sand a bound for the sea, an
everlasting ordinance, which it shall not pass over: and the waves
thereof shall toss themselves, and shall not prevail: they shall swell,
and shall not pass over it.
5:23. But the heart of this people is become hard of belief and
provoking, they are revolted and gone away.
5:24. And they have not said in their heart: Let us fear the Lord our
God, who giveth us the early and the latter rain in due season: who
preserveth for us the fulness of the yearly harvest.
5:25. Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins
have withholden good things from you.
5:26. For among my people are found wicked men, that lie in wait as
fowlers, setting snares and traps to catch men.
5:27. As a net is full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit:
therefore are they become great and enriched.
5:28. They are grown gross and fat: and have most wickedly
transgressed my words. They have not judged the cause of the widow,
they have not managed the cause of the fatherless, and they have not
judged the judgment of the poor.

 5:29. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? or shall not my
soul take revenge on such a nation?
5:30. Astonishing and wonderful things have been done in the land.
5:31. The prophets prophesied falsehood, and the priests clapped
their hands: and my people loved such things: what then shall be done
in the end thereof?
Jeremias Chapter 6

The evils that threaten Jerusalem. She is invited to return, and walk in
the good way, and not to rely on sacri ices without obedience.
6:1. Strengthen yourselves, ye sons of Benjamin, in the midst of
Jerusalem, and sound the trumpet in Thecua, and set up the standard
over Bethacarem: for evil is seen out of the north, and a great
destruction.
6:2. I have likened the daughter of Sion to a beautiful and delicate
woman.
6:3. The shepherds shall come to her with their locks: they have
pitched their tents against her round about: every one shall feed them
that are under his hand.
6:4. Prepare ye war against her: arise, and let us go up at midday:
woe unto us, for the day is declined, for the shadows of the evening are
grown longer.
6:5. Arise, and let us go up in the night, and destroy her houses.
6:6. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hew down her trees, cast up a
trench about Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited, all oppression is in
the midst of her.
6:7. As a cistern maketh its water cold, so hath she made her
wickedness cold: violence and spoil shall be heard in her, in irmity and
stripes are continually before me.
6:8. Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee,
lest I make thee desolate, a land uninhabited.

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 6:9. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall gather the remains of
Israel, as in a vine, even to one cluster: turn back thy hand, as a
grapegatherer into the basket.
6:10. To whom shall I speak? and to whom shall I testify, that he
may hear? behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear:
behold the word of the Lord is become unto them a reproach: and they
will not receive it.
6:11. Therefore am I full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary with
holding in: pour it out upon the child abroad, and upon the council of
the young men together: for man and woman shall be taken, the
ancient and he that is full of days.
6:12. And their houses shall be turned over to others, with their
lands and their wives together: for I will stretch forth my hand upon
the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.
6:13. For from the least of them even to the greatest, all are given to
covetousness: and from the prophet even to the priest, all are guilty of
deceit.
6:14. And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people
disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace: and there was no peace.
6:15. They were confounded, because they committed abomination:
yea, rather they were not confounded with confusion, and they knew
not how to blush: wherefore they shall fall among them that fall: in the
time of their visitation they shall fall down, saith the Lord.
6:16. Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye on the ways, and see, and ask for
the old paths, which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall
ind refreshment for your souls. And they said: We will not walk.
6:17. And I appointed watchmen over you, saying: Hearken ye to the
sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hearken.
6:18. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what
great things I will do to them.
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 6:19. Hear, O earth: Behold I will bring evils upon this people, the
fruits of their own thoughts: because they have not heard my words,
and they have cast away my law.
6:20. To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba, and
the sweet smelling cane from a far country? your holocausts are not
acceptable, nor are your sacri ices pleasing to me.
6:21. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring destruction
upon this people, by which fathers and sons together shall fall,
neighbour and kinsman shall perish.
6:22. Thus saith the Lord: Behold a people cometh from the land of
the north, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth.
6:23. They shall lay hold on arrow and shield: they are cruel, and
will have no mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea: and they shall
mount upon horses, prepared as men for war, against thee, O daughter
of Sion.
6:24. We have heard the fame thereof, our hands grow feeble:
anguish hath taken hold of us, as a woman in labour.
6:25. Go not out into the ields, nor walk in the highway: for the
sword of the enemy, and fear is on every side.
6:26. Gird thee with sackcloth, O daughter of my people, and
sprinkle thee with ashes: make thee mourning as for an only son, a
bitter lamentation, because the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.
6:27. I have set thee for a strong trier among my people: and thou
shalt know, and prove their way.
6:28. All these princes go out of the way, they walk deceitfully, they
are brass and iron: they are all corrupted.
6:29. The bellows have failed, the lead is consumed in the ire, the
founder hath melted in vain: for their wicked deeds are not consumed.
6:30. Call them reprobate silver, for the Lord hath rejected them.

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 Jeremias Chapter 7

The temple of God shall not protect a sinful people, without a sincere
conversion. The Lord will not receive the prayers of the prophet for
them: because they are obstinate in their sins.
7:1. The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying:
7:2. Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim there
this word, and say: Hear ye the word of the Lord, all ye men of Juda,
that enter in at these gates, to adore the Lord.
7:3. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Make your ways
and your doings good: and I will dwell with you in this place.
7:4. Trust not in lying words, saying: The temple of the Lord, the
temple of the Lord, it is the temple of the Lord.
7:5. For if you will order well your ways, and your doings: if you will
execute judgment between a man and his neighbour,
7:6. If you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow,
and shed not innocent blood in this place, and walk not after strange
gods to your own hurt,
7:7. I will dwell with you in this place: in the land, which I gave to
your fathers from the beginning and for evermore.
7:8. Behold you put your trust in lying words, which shall not pro it
you:
7:9. To steal, to murder, to commit adultery, to swear falsely, to offer
to Baalim, and to go after strange gods, which you know not.
7:10. And you have come, and stood before me in this house, in
which my name is called upon, and have said: We are delivered,
because we have done all these abominations.
7:11. Is this house then, in which my name hath been called upon, in
your eyes become a den of robbers? I, I am he: I have seen it, saith the
Lord.

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 7:12. Go ye to my place in Silo, where my name dwelt from the
beginning: and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people
Israel:
7:13. And now, because you have done all these works, saith the
Lord: and I have spoken to you rising up early, and speaking, and you
have not heard: and I have called you, and you have not answered:
7:14. I will do to this house, in which my name is called upon, and in
which you trust, and to the place which I have given you and your
fathers, as I did to Silo.
7:15. And I will cast you away from before my face, as I have cast
away all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim.
7:16. Therefore do not thou pray for this people, nor take to thee
praise and supplication for them: and do not withstand me: for I will
not hear thee.
7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Juda, and in the
streets of Jerusalem?
7:18. The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the ire, and
the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven,
and to offer libations to strange gods, and to provoke me to anger.
Queen of heaven.... That is, the moon, which they worshipped under that name.
7:19. Do they provoke me to anger, saith the Lord? is it not
themselves, to the confusion of their own countenance?
7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold my wrath and my
indignation is enkindled against this place, upon men and upon beasts,
and upon the trees of the ield, and upon the fruits of the land, and it
shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
7:21. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Add your burnt
offerings to your sacri ices, and eat ye the lesh.
7:22. For I spoke not to your fathers, and I commanded them not, in
the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the
matter of burnt offerings and sacri ices.

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 I commanded them not.... Viz., such sacri ices as the Jews at this time offered,
without obedience; which was the thing principally commanded: so that in
comparison with it, the offering of the holocausts and sacri ices was of small
account.
7:23. But this thing I commanded them, saying: Hearken to my
voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people: and walk ye
in all the way that I have commanded you, that it may be well with
you.
7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear: but walked in
their own will, and in the perversity of their wicked heart: and went
backward and not forward,
7:25. From the day that their fathers came out of the land of Egypt,
even to this day. And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets,
from day to day, rising up early and sending.
7:26. And they have not hearkened to me: nor inclined their ear: but
have hardened their neck, and have done worse than their fathers.
7:27. And thou shalt speak to them all these words, but they will not
hearken to thee: and thou shalt call them, but they will not answer
thee.
7:28. And thou shalt say to them: This is a nation which hath not
hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God, nor received instruction:
faith is lost, and is taken away out of their mouth.
7:29. Cut off thy hair, and cast it away: and take up a lamentation
on high: for the Lord hath rejected, and forsaken the generation of his
wrath,
7:30. Because the children of Juda have done evil in my eyes, saith
the Lord. They have set their abominations in the house in which my
name is called upon, to pollute it;
7:31. And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the
valley of the son of Ennom, to burn their sons, and their daughters in
the ire: which I commanded not, nor thought on in my heart.
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 7:32. Therefore behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, and it
shall no more be called Topheth, nor the valley of the son of Ennom:
but the valley of slaughter: and they shall bury in Topheth, because
there is no place.
7:33. And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of
the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be none to drive
them away.
7:34. And I will cause to cease out of the cities of Juda, and out of the
streets of Jerusalem, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the
voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be
desolate.
Jeremias Chapter 8

Other evils that shall fall upon the Jews for their impenitence.
8:1. At that time, saith the Lord, they shall cast out the bones of the
kings of Juda, and the bones of the princes thereof, and the bones of
the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves.
8:2. And they shall spread them abroad to the sun, and the moon,
and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have
served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have
sought, and adored: they shall not be gathered, and they shall not be
buried: they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth.
8:3. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all that shall
remain of this wicked kindred in all places, which are left, to which I
have cast them out, saith the Lord of hosts.
8:4. And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Shall not he
that falleth, rise again? and he that is turned away, shall he not turn
again?
8:5. Why then is this people in Jerusalem turned away with a
stubborn revolting? they have laid hold on lying, and have refused to
return.

 8:6. I attended, and hearkened; no man speaketh what is good, there

is none that doth penance for his sin, saying: What have I done? They
are all turned to their own course, as a horse rushing to the battle.
8:7. The kite in the air hath known her time: the turtle, and the
swallow, and the stork have observed the time of their coming: but my
people have not known the judgment of the Lord.
8:8. How do you say: We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us?
Indeed the lying pen of the scribes hath wrought falsehood.
8:9. The wise men are confounded, they are dismayed, and taken: for
they have cast away the word of the Lord, and there is no wisdom in
them.
8:10. Therefore will I give their women to strangers, their ields to
others for an inheritance: because from the least even to the greatest
all follow covetousness: from the prophet even to the priest all deal
deceitfully.
8:11. And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people
disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace: when there was no peace.
8:12. They are confounded, because they have committed
abomination: yea rather they are not confounded with confusion, and
they have not known how to blush: therefore shall they fall among
them that fall; in the time of their visitation they shall fall, saith the
Lord.
8:13. Gathering I will gather them together, saith the Lord, there is
no grape on the vines, and there are no igs on the ig tree, the leaf is
fallen: and I have given them the things that are passed away.
8:14. Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into
the fenced city, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put
us to silence, and hath given us water of gall to drink: for we have
sinned against the Lord.
8:15. We looked for peace and no good came: for a time of healing,
and behold fear.

 8:16. The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan, all the land
was moved at the sound of the neighing of his warriors: and they came
and devoured the land, and all that was in it: the city and its
inhabitants.
8:17. For behold I will send among you serpents, basilisks, against
which there is no charm: and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.
8:18. My sorrow is above sorrow, my heart mourneth within me.
8:19. Behold the voice of the daughter of my people from a far
country: Is not the Lord in Sion, or is not her king in her? why then
have they provoked me to wrath with their idols, and strange vanities?
8:20. The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not
saved.
8:21. For the af liction of the daughter of my people I am af licted,
and made sorrowful, astonishment hath taken hold on me.
8:22. Is there no balm in Galaad? or is there no physician there?
Why then is not the wound of the daughter of my people closed?
Jeremias Chapter 9

The prophet laments the miseries of his people: and their sins, which
are the cause of them. He exhorts them to repentance.
9:1. Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my
eyes? and I will weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my
people.
9:2. Who will give me in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring
men, and I will leave my people, and depart from them? because they
are all adulterers, an assembly of transgressors.
9:3. And they have bent their tongue, as a bow, for lies, and not for
truth: they have strengthened themselves upon the earth, for they have
proceeded from evil to evil, and me they have not known, saith the
Lord.

 9:4. Let every man take heed of his neighbour, and let him not trust
in any brother of his: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every
friend will walk deceitfully.
9:5. And a man shall mock his brother, and they will not speak the
truth: for they have taught their tongue to speak lies: they have
laboured to commit iniquity.
9:6. Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit: through deceit they
have refused to know me, saith the Lord.
9:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will melt, and
try them: for what else shall I do before the daughter of my people?
9:8. Their tongue is a piercing arrow, it hath spoken deceit: with his
mouth one speaketh peace with his friend, and secretly he lieth in wait
for him.
9:9. Shall I not visit them for these things, saith the Lord? or shall
not my soul be revenged on such a nation?
9:10. For the mountains I will take up weeping and lamentation,
and for the beautiful places of the desert, mourning: because they are
burnt up, for that there is not a man that passeth through them: and
they have not heard the voice of the owner: from the fowl of the air to
the beasts they are gone away and departed.
9:11. And I will make Jerusalem to be heaps of sand, and dens of
dragons: and I will make the cities of Juda desolate, for want of an
inhabitant.
9:12. Who is the wise man, that may understand this, and to whom
the word of the mouth of the Lord may come that he may declare this,
why the land hath perished, and is burnt up like a wilderness, which
none passeth through?
9:13. And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken my law, which I
gave them, and have not heard my voice, and have not walked in it.
9:14. But they have gone after the perverseness of their own heart,
and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them.

 9:15. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Behold
I will feed this people with wormwood, and give them water of gall to
drink.
9:16. And I will scatter them among the nations, which they and
their fathers have not known: and I will send the sword after them till
they be consumed.
9:17. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Consider ye, and
call for the mourning women, and let them come: and send to them
that are wise women, and let them make haste:
9:18. Let them hasten and take up a lamentation for us: let our eyes
shed tears, and our eyelids run down with waters.
9:19. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Sion: How are we wasted
and greatly confounded? because we have left the land, because our
dwellings are cast down.
9:20. Hear therefore, ye women, the word of the Lord: and let your
ears receive the word of his mouth: and teach your daughters wailing:
and every one her neighbour mourning.
9:21. For death is come up through our windows, it is entered into
our houses to destroy the children from without, the young men from
the streets.
9:22. Speak: Thus saith the Lord: Even the carcass of man shall fall
as dung upon the face of the country, and as grass behind the back of
the mower, and there is none to gather it.
9:23. Thus saith the Lord: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
and let not the strong man glory in his strength, and let not the rich
man glory in his riches:
9:24. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth
and knoweth me, for I am the Lord that exercise mercy, and judgment,
and justice in the earth: for these things please me, saith the Lord.
9:25. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, and I will visit upon
every one that hath the foreskin circumcised.

 9:26. Upon Egypt, and upon Juda, and upon Edom, and upon the
children of Ammon, and upon Moab, and upon all that have their hair
polled round, that dwell in the desert: for all the nations are
uncircumcised in the lesh, but all the house of Israel are
uncircumcised in the heart.
Jeremias Chapter 10

Neither stars nor idols are to be feared, but the great Creator of all
things. The chastisement of Jerusalem for her sins.
10:1. Hear ye the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning you,
O house of Israel.
10:2. Thus saith the Lord: Learn not according to the ways of the
Gentiles: and be not afraid of the signs of heaven, which the heathens
fear:
10:3. For the laws of the people are vain: for the works of the hand
of the workman hath cut a tree out of the forest with an axe.
10:4. He hath decked it with silver and gold: he hath put it together
with nails and hammers, that it may not fall asunder.
10:5. They are framed after the likeness of a palm tree, and shall not
speak: they must be carried to be removed, because they cannot go.
Therefore fear them not, for they can neither do evil nor good.
10:6. There is none like to thee, O Lord: thou art great, and great is
thy name in might.
10:7. Who shall not fear thee, O king of nations? for thine is the
glory: among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms
there is none like unto thee.
10:8. They shall be all proved together to be senseless and foolish:
the doctrine of their vanity is wood.
10:9. Silver spread into plates is brought from Tharsis, and gold
from Ophaz: the work of the arti icer, and of the hand of the
coppersmith: violet and purple is their clothing: all these things are
the work of arti icers.

 10:10. But the Lord is the true God: he is the living God, and the
everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations
shall not be able to abide his threatening.
10:11. Thus then shall you say to them: The gods that have not
made heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth, and from
among those places that are under heaven.
10:12. He that maketh the earth by his power, that prepareth the
world by his wisdom, and stretcheth out the heavens by his knowledge.
10:13. At his voice he giveth a multitude of waters in the heaven,
and lifteth up the clouds from the ends of the earth: he maketh
lightnings for rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
10:14. Every man is become a fool for knowledge, every artist is
confounded in his graven idol: for what he hath cast is false, and there
is no spirit in them.
10:15. They are vain things, and a ridiculous work: in the time of
their visitation they shall perish.
10:16. The portion of Jacob is not like these: for it is he who formed
all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is
his name.
10:17. Gather up thy shame out of the land, thou that dwellest in a
siege.
10:18. For thus saith he Lord: Behold I will cast away far off the
inhabitants of the land at this time: and I will af lict them, so that they
may be found.
10:19. Woe is me for my destruction, my wound is very grievous. But
I said: Truly this is my own evil, and I will bear it.
10:20. My tabernacle is laid waste, all my cords are broken: my
children are gone out from me, and they are not: there is none to
stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
10:21. Because the pastors have done foolishly, and have not sought
the Lord: therefore have they not understood, and all their lock is
scattered.

 10:22. Behold the sound of a noise cometh, a great commotion out

of the land of the north: to make the cities of Juda a desert, and a
dwelling for dragons.
10:23. I know, O Lord, that the way of a man is not his: neither is it
in a man to walk, and to direct his steps.
The way of a man is not his.... The meaning is, that notwithstanding man’s free
will, yet he can do no good without God’s help, nor evil without his permission. So
that, in the present case, all the evils which Nabuchodonosor was about to bring
upon Jerusalem, could not have come but by the will of God.
10:24. Correct me, O Lord, but yet with judgment: and not in thy
fury, lest thou bring me to nothing.
10:25. Pour out thy indignation upon the nations that have not
known thee, and upon the provinces that have not called upon thy
name: because they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and
consumed him, and have destroyed his glory.
Jeremias Chapter 11

The prophet proclaims the covenant of God: and denounces evils to the
obstinate transgressors of it. The conspiracy of the Jews against him, a
igure of their conspiracy against Christ.
11:1. The word that came from the Lord to Jeremias, saying:
11:2. Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of
Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
11:3. And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord the God of
Israel: Cursed is the man that shall not hearken to the words of this
covenant,
11:4. Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought
them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying: Hear ye
my voice, and do all things that I command you: and you shall be my
people, and I will be your God:
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 11:5. That I may accomplish the oath which I swore to your fathers,
to give them a land lowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. And I
answered and said: Amen, O Lord.
11:6. And the Lord said to me: Proclaim aloud all these words in the
cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Hear ye the
words of the covenant, and do them:
11:7. For protesting I conjured your fathers in the day that I
brought them out of the land of Egypt even to this day: rising early I
conjured them, and said: Hearken ye to my voice:
11:8. And they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear: but walked every
one in the perverseness of his own wicked heart: and I brought upon
them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do,
but they did them not.
11:9. And the Lord said to me: A conspiracy is found among the men
of Juda, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
11:10. They are returned to the former iniquities of their fathers,
who refused to hear my words: so these likewise have gone after
strange gods, to serve them: the house of Israel, and the house of Juda
have made void my covenant, which I made with their fathers.
11:11. Wherefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring in evils
upon them, which they shall not be able to escape: and they shall cry
to me, and I will not hearken to them.
11:12. And the cities of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall
go, and cry to the gods to whom they offer sacri ice, and they shall not
save them in the time of their af liction.
11:13. For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O
Juda: and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem thou
hast set up altars of confusion, altars to offer sacri ice to Baalim.
11:14. Therefore do not thou pray for this people, and do not take
up praise and prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time of
their cry to me, in the time of their af liction.
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 11:15. What is the meaning that my beloved hath wrought much

wickedness in my house? shall the holy lesh take away from thee thy
crimes, in which thou hast boasted?
11:16. The Lord called thy name, a plentiful olive tree, fair, fruitful,
and beautiful: at the noise of a word, a great ire was kindled in it, and
the branches thereof are burnt.
11:17. And the Lord of hosts that planted thee, hath pronounced evil
against thee: for the evils of the house of Israel, and of the house of
Juda, which they have done to themselves, to provoke me, offering
sacri ice to Baalim.
11:18. But thou, O Lord, hast shewn me, and I have known: then
thou shewedst me their doings.
11:19. And I was as a meek lamb, that is carried to be a victim: and I
knew not that they had devised counsels against me, saying: Let us put
wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living, and let
his name be remembered no more.
11:20. But thou, O Lord of Sabaoth, who judgest justly, and triest the
reins and the hearts, let me see thy revenge on them: for to thee have I
revealed my cause.
Sabaoth.... That is, of hosts or armies, a name frequently given to God in the
scriptures.—Ibid. Thy revenge.... This was rather a prediction of what was to
happen, with an approbation of the divine justice, than an imprecation.
11:21. Therefore thus saith the Lord to the men of Anathoth, who
seek thy life, and say: Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of the Lord,
and thou shalt not die in our hands.
11:22. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will visit upon
them: their young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their
daughters shall die by famine.
11:23. And there shall be no remains of them: for I will bring in evil
upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their visitation.
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 Jeremias Chapter 12

The prosperity of the wicked shall be but for a short time. The
desolation of the Jews for their sins. Their return from their captivity.
12:1. Thou indeed, O Lord, art just, if I plead with thee, but yet I will
speak what is just to thee: Why doth the way of the wicked prosper:
why is it well with all them that transgress, and do wickedly?
12:2. Thou hast planted them, and they have taken root: they
prosper and bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far
from their reins.
12:3. And thou, O Lord, hast known me, thou hast seen me, and
proved my heart with thee: gather them together as sheep for a
sacri ice, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
12:4. How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of every ield
wither for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The beasts and
the birds are consumed: because they have said: He shall not see our
last end.
12:5. If thou hast been wearied with running with footmen, how
canst thou contend with horses? and if thou hast been secure in a land
of peace, what wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan?
12:6. For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they
have fought against thee, and have cried after thee with full voice:
believe them not when they speak good things to thee.
12:7. I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance: I have
given my dear soul into the hand of her enemies.
12:8. My inheritance is become to me as a lion in the wood: it hath
cried out against me, therefore have I hated it.
12:9. Is my inheritance to me as a speckled bird? is it as a bird dyed
throughout? come ye, assemble yourselves, all ye beasts of the earth,
make haste to devour.
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