1 Kings 20 Cross References - Leeser

¹ And Ben-hadad the king of Syria assembled all his host together: and thirty and two kings were with him, and horses, and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and made war against it. ² And he sent messengers to Achab the king of Israel into the city; ³ And he said unto him, Thus hath said Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold are mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the best, are mine. ⁴ And the king of Israel answered and said, According to thy word, my Lord, O king, thine am I, and all that I have. ⁵ And the messengers returned, and said, Thus hath said Ben-hadad, to say to thee, I have indeed sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt give unto me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children; ⁶ Nevertheless, about this time tomorrow will I send my servants unto thee, and they shall search through thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thy eyes, they shall place it in their hand, and take it away. ⁷ Then did the king of Israel call for all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see that this man seeketh mischief; for he hath sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I have not refused them to him. ⁸ And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Thou must not hearken, nor consent. ⁹ Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben-hadad, Say to my lord the king, all that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first will I do; but this thing I am not able to do. And the messengers went away, and brought him word again. ¹⁰ And Ben-hadad then sent unto him, and said, May the gods do so unto me, and continue to do so, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that are in my train. ¹¹ And the king of Israel answered and said, Speak, Let him that girdeth on the armor not boast himself as he that putteth it off. ¹² And it came to pass, when he heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Get ready for the attack. And they got ready for the attack against the city. ¹³ And, behold, there approached a certain prophet unto Achab the king of Israel, and said, Thus hath said the Lord, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thy hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. ¹⁴ And Achab said, By whom? And he said, Thus hath said the Lord, By means of the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then said he, Who shall order the battle? And he said, Thou. ¹⁵ He then numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two: and after them he numbered all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand strong. ¹⁶ And they went out at midday; while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. ¹⁷ And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out at first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, Some men are come out of Samaria. ¹⁸ And he said, If they be come out for peace, catch them alive; and if they be come out for war, alive must ye catch them. ¹⁹ So these, the young men of the princes of the provinces, came out of the city, with the army which followed them. ²⁰ And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen. ²¹ And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and inflicted on the Syrians a great defeat. ²² And the prophet approached unto the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou hast to do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. ²³ And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Gods of the mountains are their gods; therefore they prevailed over us; but let us fight against them in the plain, and see whether we shall not prevail over them. ²⁴ But do this thing, Remove the kings, every one from his place, and appoint governors in their rooms; ²⁵ And thou, number for thyself an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, and see whether we shall prevail over them. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so. ²⁶ And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to the war with Israel. ²⁷ And the children of Israel were numbered, and provisioned, and went out against them: and the children of Israel encamped opposite to them like two little flocks of goats; but the Syrians filled the country. ²⁸ And there approached the man of God, and spoke unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus hath said the Lord, Forasmuch as the Syrians have said, “A God of the hills is the Lord, but he is not God of the valleys”: will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hand; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. ²⁹ And they encamped one opposite the other for seven days. And it happened, that on the seventh day the battle took place: and the children of Israel smote the Syrians a hundred thousand men on foot in one day. ³⁰ But those that were left fled to Aphek, into the city; but the city-wall fell upon the twenty and seven thousand men that had been left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an innermost chamber. ³¹ And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are kindly kings; let us, we pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; peradventure he may save thy life. ³² So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad hath said, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother. ³³ Now the men took it for a good sign, and hastened and caught at his word, whether it was his earnest; and they said, Thy brother Ben-hadad! But he said, Go ye, bring him. Then came Ben-hadad forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. ³⁴ And he said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, will I restore; and thou canst lay out for thyself streets in Damascus, as my father laid out in Samaria. “And I for my part will send thee away with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away. ³⁵ And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his companion, By the word of the Lord, smite me, I pray thee. But the man refused to smite him. ³⁶ Then said he unto him, Forasmuch as thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, when thou goest away from me, a lion shall slay thee. And he went away from him, when a lion found him, and slew him. ³⁷ Then he met with another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, smiting and wounding him. ³⁸ And the prophet then went, and placed himself before the king on the way, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹ And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king, and said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought unto me a man, and said, Guard this man; if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be forfeit for his life, or else thou shalt weigh me down a talent of silver. ⁴⁰ But it happened as thy servant was Busy here and there, that he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So is thy sentence: thou thyself hast decided it. ⁴¹ And he hastened, and removed the bandage from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized him that he was one of the prophets. ⁴² And he said unto him, Thus hath said the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man whom I had caught in my net, therefore shall thy life be the forfeit for his life, and thy people for his people. ⁴³ And the king of Israel went to his house low-spirited and displeased, and he came to Samaria.

¹ And it came to pass, in the day of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goyim; ² That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. ³ All these joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is now the salt sea. ⁴ Twelve years had they served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ And in the fourteenth year came Kedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and they smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnayim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathayim,

⁷ And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.

²⁵ And I will bring over you the sword, avenging the quarrel of my covenant, so that ye shall be gathered together within your cities; and then will I send the pestilence among you, that ye shall deliver yourselves into the hand of the enemy;

¹ When thou goest out to battle against thy enemies, and thou seest horse, and chariot, people more in number than thou: be not afraid of them; for the Lord thy God is with thee, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

⁵² And it will besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and strong walls come down, wherein thou trustest, throughout all thy land; and it will besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.

⁷ And Adoni-bezek said, Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered food under my table: as I have done, so hath God requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

³ And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he oppressed the children of Israel with might twenty years.

⁵ And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude; and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven.

¹⁸ Then did Assa take all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and gave them into the hand of his servants; and king Assa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Chesyon, the king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying,

²⁰ And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Assa, and sent the captains of the armies which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote ‘Iyon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-ma’achah, and the whole of Kinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.

²⁴ And he bought the mount Samaria, of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the mount, and called the name of the city which he had built, after the name of Shemer, the Lord of the mount, Samaria.

¹⁶ And they went out at midday; while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.

²⁴ But do this thing, Remove the kings, every one from his place, and appoint governors in their rooms;

³¹ And the king of Syria had commanded the captains over his chariots, thirty-two in number, saying, Fight neither with a small nor a great one, save only with the king of Israel alone.

²⁴ And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad the king of Syria assembled all his camp, and went up, and besieged Samaria. ²⁵ And there was a great famine in Samaria; and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. ²⁶ And it happened as the king of Israel was passing along upon the wall, that a woman cried unto him, saying, Help, my Lord, O king. ²⁷ And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? shall it be out of the threshing-floor, or out of the wine-press? ²⁸ And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she said, This woman said unto me, Give up thy son, that we may eat him today, and my son we will eat tomorrow. ²⁹ So we boiled my son, and ate him; but when I said unto her on the next day, Give up thy son, that we may eat him: she hid her son.

⁷ And Elisha’ came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come even hither. ⁸ And the king said unto Chazael, Take a present in thy hand, and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord from him, saying, Shall I recover from this sickness? ⁹ So Chazael went to meet him, and took a present in his hand, and all manner of good things of Damascus, a burden for forty camels, and he came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben-hadad the king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover from this sickness? ¹⁰ And Elisha’ said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover; nevertheless the Lord hath shown me that he shall surely die.

⁵ And the king of Assyria came up over all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. ⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea’ did the king of Assyria capture Samaria, and he led Israel away as exiles into Assyria, and settled them in Chalach and in Chabor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of Media.

² Then did Assa bring out silver and gold out of the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-hadad the king of Syria, who dwelt at Damascus, saying, ³ A covenant is between me and thee, as between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee silver and gold; go, break thy covenant with Ba’sha the king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me. ⁴ And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Assa, and sent the captains of the armies that he had against the cities of Israel, and they smote ‘Iyon, and Dan, and Abel-mayim, and all the treasure-cities of Naphtali.

¹² Artaxerxes, the king of kings, unto ‘Ezra the priest, the expounder of the law of the God of heaven, the perfect, and so forth.

⁸ For he saith, “Are not my princes altogether kings?

²⁴ Through thy servants hast thou blasphemed the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I indeed come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down its tall cedars, the choice of its fir-trees: and I will enter into the height of its summit, the forest of its fruitful soil.

²⁷ And I will kindle a fire on the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad.

⁷ For thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Behold, I will bring against Tyre Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, from the north, the king of kings, with horses, and with chariot’s, and with horsemen, and an assemblage, and a numerous people.

³⁷ Thou, O king, art a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven hath given kingdom, power, and strength, and honor:

⁴ And I will send a fire into the house of Chazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.

⁹ And he heard it said of Thirhakah the king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight with thee; and he again sent messengers unto Hezekiah, saying,

² And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to king Hezekiah with a strong army. And he halted by the aqueduct of the upper pool on the highway of the washer’s field. ³ Then came forth unto him Elyakim, the son of Chilkiyahu, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Yoach the son of Assaph, the recorder. ⁴ And Rabshakeh said unto them,—Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus hath said the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherewith thou hast trusted? ⁵ I have said, but it was only a word uttered with the lips, I have counsel and strength for the war. Now, on whom didst thou trust, that thou rebelledst against me? ⁶ Behold, thou trustedst on yon cracked reed-staff, on Egypt; which, if a man lean on it, will enter into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh the king of Egypt to all that trust on him. ⁷ But if thou shouldst say to me, In the Lord our God have we trusted: is he not the one whose high-places and whose altars Hezekiah hath removed, when he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar shall ye prostrate yourselves? ⁸ And now I pray thee, enter into a contest with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. ⁹ How then wilt thou turn back the face of a single chieftain of the least of my masters’ servants, while thou hast put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ¹⁰ And now am I come up without the Lord‘s will against this land to destroy it? The Lord hath said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. ¹¹ Then said Elyakim and Shebna and Yoach unto Rabshakeh, Speak, we pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jewish language, before the ears of the people that are on the wall. ¹² But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master then sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? is it not rather to the men who sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own excrements, and drink their own urine with you? ¹³ Then stood Rabshakeh up, and called out in a loud voice in the Jewish language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. ¹⁴ Thus hath said the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you; ¹⁵ Neither let Hezekiah induce you to trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given up into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹⁶ Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus hath said the king of Assyria, Make a treaty of peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern; ¹⁷ Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. ¹⁸ So that Hezekiah may not mislead you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Have the gods of the nations delivered each his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹ Where are the gods of Chamath and Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvayim? and have they then delivered Samaria out of my hand? ²⁰ Who are they among all the gods of these countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? ²¹ But they remained silent, and answered him not a word; for it was the king’s command, saying, Ye shall not answer him. ²² Then came Elyakim the son of Chilkiyahu, that was superintendent over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Yoach the son of Assaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent; and they told him the words of Rabshakeh.

⁹ And he heard it said of Thirhakah the king of Ethiopia, He is come out to fight with thee. And when he had heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ Thus shall ye say to Hezekiah the king of Judah, as followeth, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given up into the hand of the king of Assyria.

⁹ The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

¹³ For he hath said, “By the strength of my hand have I done it, and by my wisdom, for I have intelligence; and I have removed the boundaries of nations, and their laid-up treasures have I plundered, and brought down low those that were powerfully seated. ¹⁴ And my hand hath reached, as a bird’s nest, the wealth of the people: and as one gathereth up eggs that are forsaken, have I myself gathered up all the earth: and there was not one that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped.”

³⁶ And regarding those that are left of you, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a leaf shaken shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from the sword; and they shall fall with none pursuing.

⁴⁸ Therefore shalt thou serve thy enemies whom the Lord will send out against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of every thing; and they will put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until they have destroyed thee.

¹¹ Thereupon went three thousand men of Judah down to the cleft of the rock ‘Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines rule over us? and what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. ¹² And they said unto him, To bind thee are we come down, to deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not assail me yourselves. ¹³ And they said unto him, thus, No; for we will only bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand; but we will in no-wise kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

⁶ And when the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, for the people were oppressed, then did the people hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in strongholds, and in pits. ⁷ And some of the Hebrews passed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gil’ad. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him hastily.

¹⁴ And Hezekiah the king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have sinned; retire from me: what thou wilt impose on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah the king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah gave up all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house. ¹⁶ At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the door-sills which Hezekiah the king of Judah had overlaid, and gave the same to the king of Assyria.

¹⁵ And Rebekah took the goodly garments of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and clothed therewith Jacob her younger son;

¹⁹ Now there was no smith to be found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, So that the Hebrews shall not make themselves swords or spears. ²⁰ But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his plough-share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock. ²¹ And they used a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the three-pronged forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads.

¹⁴ And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall then into the hand of the Lord,—for his mercies are great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.

³¹ Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus hath said the king of Assyria, Make a treaty of peace with me, and come out to me, and eat ye every man of his own vine, and every man of his fig-tree, and drink ye every man the waters of his cistern; ³² Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil-olive trees, and of honey, that ye may live, and not die; and hearken not unto Hezekiah; for he will mislead you, saying, The Lord will deliver us.

²⁷ Also twenty cups of gold, of a thousand drachms; and two vessels of fine polished copper, valuable as gold.

⁹ The makers of graven images are all vanity; and their costly idols cannot profit; and they are their own witnesses, that they see not and know not, in order that they may be ashamed.

³⁴ Wail, ye shepherds, and cry; and roll yourselves about in the dust, ye leaders of the flocks; for full are your days for you to be slaughtered, and I will scatter you; and you shall fall like a costly vessel.

⁷ Jerusalem remembereth in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her magnificent things which have been in the days of old: when her people fell into the hand of the adversary, with none to help her, the adversaries looked at her, they laughed at the cessation of her glory.

¹⁰ His hand hath the adversary spread out over all her magnificent things; for she hath seen nations entering into her sanctuary, of whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.

¹⁵ Though he grow luxuriantly in the green meadows, the east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord, rising up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: the same shall plunder the treasure of all precious vessels.

^{5 (4:5)} Because my silver and my gold have ye taken, and the handsomest of my precious things have ye carried into your temples;

¹ Then did Solomon assemble the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the divisions of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.

⁷ And it came to pass, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this one doth send unto me to heal a man of his leprosy? for know to a certainty, I pray you, and see that he but seeketh a quarrel against me.

¹ And David consulted with the officers of the thousands and hundreds, and with every leader.

¹ And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the divisions that ministered to the king, and the captains of the thousands, and the captains of the hundreds, and the rulers of all the property and the cattle of the king and of his sons, with the court-servants, and the mighty men, and with all the valiant men of the army, unto Jerusalem.

³⁵ They conceive trouble, and bring forth wrong-doing, and their body prepareth deceit.

^{14 (7:15)} Behold, he travaileth with wrong doing; but he hath conceived mischief, and bringeth forth falsehood.

^{4 (36:5)} He deviseth wickedness upon his couch; he placeth himself on a way that is not good; evil he despiseth not.

^{3 (62:4)} How long will ye devise mischief against a man? will ye all assault him murderously, as though he were a falling wall, a tottering fence?

^{2 (140:3)} Who think over evil resolves in their heart, who every day are gathered together for war.

¹⁴ Perverseness is in his heart, he contriveth evil at all times; he scattereth abroad discord.

¹⁴ Where there is no wise guidance, a people must fall: but it will obtain help through the multitude of counsellors.

²⁷ He that diligently searcheth after good seeketh favor; but if one inquireth after evil, it will come unto him.

² For their heart meditateth destruction, and of mischief do their lips speak.

²⁷ And as for both these kings, their heart is bent on mischief, and at one table will they speak lies; but it shall not prosper; for the end is yet for the time appointed.

⁸ And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow themselves down unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that followeth thee; and after that I will go out: and he went out from Pharaoh in a burning anger.

¹⁰ And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and there went up in his train ten thousand men; also Deborah went up with him.

¹² And when we come upon him in some one of the places where he may be found, we will encamp around him as the dew falleth on the earth: and there shall not be left of him and of all the men that are with him so much as one. ¹³ And if he should withdraw into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the stream, until there be not found there even one small stone.

² Then sent Izebel a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So may the gods do to me, and may they thus continue, if about this time tomorrow I do not render thy life as the life of any one of them.

²³ By thy messengers thou hast blasphemed the Lord and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I indeed come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars, the choice of its fir-trees: and I will enter into the lodgings on its summit, the forest of its fruitful soil. ²⁴ I have dug and drunk strange waters, and I will dry up with the sole of my feet all the streams of besieged places.

²⁴ Through thy servants hast thou blasphemed the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I indeed come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down its tall cedars, the choice of its fir-trees: and I will enter into the height of its summit, the forest of its fruitful soil. ²⁵ I have dug, and drunk water; and I will dry up with the sole of my feet all the streams of besieged places.

⁶ And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armor, Come, and let us go over unto the outpost of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us; for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by means of many or by means of few.

¹² And the men of the outpost addressed Jonathan and his armor-bearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will let you know something. Then said Jonathan unto his armor-bearer, Come up after me; for the Lord hath given them up into the hand of Israel. ¹³ And Jonathan then ascended upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armor-bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer was killing after him.

⁴⁴ And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the heavens, and to the beasts of the field. ⁴⁵ Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest unto me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the arrays of Israel, that thou hast defied. ⁴⁶ This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand; and I will smite thee, and remove thy head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the army of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; and all the earth shall know that there is a God for Israel. ⁴⁷ And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not through sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you up into our hand.

¹ Make no boast for thyself of the coming day; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

¹¹ I turned about, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the mighty; and that also the wise have no bread, nor yet the men of understanding riches, nor yet men of knowledge favor; but time and fate will overtake them all.

¹⁵ Shall the axe boast itself over him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that swingeth it? as if the rod should swing about those that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up him who is no wood. ¹⁶ Therefore will the Lord, the Eternal of hosts, send forth among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory shall be kindled a burning like the burning of a fire.

³⁶ And Abigayil came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, and he was exceedingly drunken; wherefore she told him not a word, either little or great, until the morning-light.

²⁸ Now Abshalom commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye, I pray you, when Annon’s heart is merry with wine, and I say unto you, Smite Amnon: then kill him, fear not; behold, it is I who command it you; be firm and show yourselves men of valor.

⁹ And there conspired against him his servant Zimri, captain of half the chariots, as he was in Thirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was set over the house in Thirzah.

⁴ Not for kings, O Lemoel, not for kings it is fitting to drink wine, nor for princes, strong drink: ⁵ Lest either might drink, and forget what is written in the law, and pervert the cause of all the afflicted.

¹⁰ And thou shalt say unto them, Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will send for and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.

² Belshazzar ordered, through the counsel of the wine, to bring in the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken away out of the temple which was in Jerusalem: that the king, and his lords, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therefrom.

³⁰ In that very night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

¹⁸ And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have got myself honor on Pharaoh, on his chariots, and on his horsemen.

¹² I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, Toward evening ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Eternal your God.

³⁶ And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening-sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, O Lord, God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, this day let it be known that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that at thy word I have done all these things. ³⁷ Answer me, O Lord, answer me, and let all this people know that thou, O Lord, art the true God, and thou wilt then have turned their heart back again.

²⁸ And there approached the man of God, and spoke unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus hath said the Lord, Forasmuch as the Syrians have said, “A God of the hills is the Lord, but he is not God of the valleys”: will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hand; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

⁸ And the king of Syria made war against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. ⁹ And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not that place; for thither the Syrians are come down. ¹⁰ And the king of Israel sent to the place, which the man of God had told him and warned him of, and he took care of himself there: not once nor twice. ¹¹ Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sorely troubled concerning this thing; and he called for his servants, and said unto them, Can ye not tell me who of us is for the king of Israel? ¹² And one of his servants said, Not so, my Lord, O king; but Elisha’, the prophet that is in Israel, can tell unto the king of Israel the words that thou mayest speak in thy sleeping-chamber.

¹ Then said Elisha’, Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus hath said the Lord, About this time tomorrow a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.

²³ And the Lord became gracious unto them, and had mercy on them, and turned his regard unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, and he cast them not off from his presence even until now.

^{18 (83:19)} That they may know that thou, whose name is the Eternal, art by thyself alone, the Most High over all the earth.

¹ And it came to pass in the days of Achaz the son of Jotham, the son of ‘Uzziyahu, the king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekach the son of Remalyahu, the king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it; but were not able to make an attack upon it. ² And it was told unto the house of David, saying, Syria is encamped with Ephraim; and his heart trembled, with the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest are shaken before the wind. ³ And the Lord said unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Achaz, thou with Shear-yashub thy son, to the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the highway of the washer’s field; ⁴ And thou shalt say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, and let thy heart not become faint because of these two stumps of smoking firebrands, before the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remalyahu. ⁵ Forasmuch as Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remalyahu, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, ⁶ Let us go up against Judah, and besiege it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set up as king in the midst of it the son of Tabeal: ⁷ Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, It shall not succeed, and it shall not come to pass. ⁸ For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin: and within sixty and five years shall Ephraim be broken, to be no more a people. ⁹ And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remalyahu’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not have permanence.

²⁰ And now, O Lord our God, save us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, thou alone.

⁷ And the slain shall fall in the midst of you: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁴ But I acted for the sake of my name, so as not to profane it before the eyes of the nations, before whose eyes I had brought them forth.

²² But I withdrew my hand, and acted for the sake of my name, so as not to profane it before the eyes of the nations, before whose eyes I had brought them forth.

^{17 (4:17)} So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling on Zion, my holy mount: and Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall not pass through her any more.

¹⁴ And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants; born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them into Dan. ¹⁵ And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. ¹⁶ And he brought back all the goods; and he also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and also the women, and the people.

¹⁶ And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put cornets in the hand of all of them, with empty pitchers, and torches in the pitchers. ¹⁷ And he said unto them, What you see me do, do ye likewise; and, behold, when I am come to the edge of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. ¹⁸ When I blow the cornet, I and all that are with me, then shall ye blow the cornets also on every side of all the camp, and say, For the Lord, and for Gid’on. ¹⁹ And Gid’on, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the edge of the camp in the bcginning of the middle watch; when they had but newly set the sentinels: and they blew the cornets, and broke the pitchers that were in their hand. ²⁰ And the three companies blew the cornets, and broke the pitchers, and seized with their left hand the torches, and with their right hand the cornets to blow; and they cried, The sword for the Lord, and for Gid’on.

⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and with the stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

⁴⁴ And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there is a little cloud like a man’s hand arising out of the sea. And he said, Go up, say unto Achab, Harness up thy chariot, and come down, that the rain may not detain thee.

⁷ And the Lord said unto Gid’on, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thy hand; and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

¹⁶ And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put cornets in the hand of all of them, with empty pitchers, and torches in the pitchers.

² And Saul tarried in the lower part of Gib’ah under the pomegranate tree which is by Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men.

¹⁸ And I will leave in Israel seven thousand, all the knees which have not been bent unto Ba’al, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

⁷ For he had left of people to Jehoachaz none but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand men on foot; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust at threshing.

^{11 (14:10)} And Assa called unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, nothing can hinder thee to help, whether it be the mighty, or those that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for on thee do we rely, and in thy name are we come against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God! no mortal can place a restraint against thee.

⁴⁰ therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, and be felt disgust for his own inheritance. ⁴¹ And he gave them up into the hand of the nations: and there ruled over them those that hated them. ⁴² And their enemies also oppressed them: and they were subdued under their hand. ⁴³ Many times did he deliver them; but they rebelled with their counsel, and they were brought low through their iniquity.

⁷ And also by the hand of Jehu the son of Chanani, the prophet, came the word of the Lord against Ba’sha, and against his house, both for all the evil that he did in the eyes of the Lord, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, thus being like the house of Jerobo’am; and because he had killed him.

¹¹ And the king of Israel answered and said, Speak, Let him that girdeth on the armor not boast himself as he that putteth it off. ¹² And it came to pass, when he heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Get ready for the attack. And they got ready for the attack against the city.

²⁹ Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath quarrels? who hath complaints? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? ³⁰ They that tarry late over the wine: they that come to seek for mixed drink. ³¹ Do not look on the wine when it looketh red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it glideth down so readily. ³² At the last it will bite like a serpent, and like a basilisk will it sting.

¹⁶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is lowminded, and when thy princes eat in the morning! ¹⁷ Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is noble-spirited, and thy princes eat in proper time, for strengthening, and not for gluttony!—

¹⁵ Behold, they that assemble together, are nothing without me: whatsoever assembleth together against thee shall fall under thy power.

¹¹ Lewdness and wine and new wine take away the heart.

¹⁴ And Achab said, By whom? And he said, Thus hath said the Lord, By means of the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then said he, Who shall order the battle? And he said, Thou. ¹⁵ He then numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two: and after them he numbered all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand strong.

¹⁹ So these, the young men of the princes of the provinces, came out of the city, with the army which followed them.

³ Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth; for a God of knowledge is the Lord, and by him are actions weighed. ⁴ The bow of the mighty is broken, and those that stumbled are girded with strength.

¹¹ And when both of them showed themselves unto the outpost of the Philistines, the Philistines said, Behold, Hebrews are coming forth out of the holes wherein they have hidden themselves. ¹² And the men of the outpost addressed Jonathan and his armor-bearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will let you know something. Then said Jonathan unto his armor-bearer, Come up after me; for the Lord hath given them up into the hand of Israel.

⁴⁴ And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the heavens, and to the beasts of the field.

⁸ Then sent Amazyah messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoachaz the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. ⁹ And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amazyahu the king of Judah, saying, The thornbush that was in the Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in the Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son for wife. And there passed along the wild beasts that were in Lebanon, and trod down the thornbush. ¹⁰ Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thy heart hath lifted thee up: keep thy glory and stay in thy house; and why wilt thou meddle with misfortune, that thou mayest fall, thou, and Judah with thee? ¹¹ But Amazyahu would not hear. Therefore Jehoash the king of Israel went up; and he and Amazyahu the king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah. ¹² And Judah was defeated before Israel; and they fled every man to his tents.

¹² Before downfall the heart of man becometh haughty, and before honor goeth humility.

⁸ And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

²⁰ And the three companies blew the cornets, and broke the pitchers, and seized with their left hand the torches, and with their right hand the cornets to blow; and they cried, The sword for the Lord, and for Gid’on. ²¹ And they remained standing every man in his place round about the camp; and all in the camp ran, and shouted, and fled. ²² And as the three hundred cornets sounded, the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the camp; and those in the camp fled as far as Beth-hashittah to Zererah, up to the border of Abelmecholah, near Tabbath.

¹³ And Jonathan then ascended upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armor-bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer was killing after him. ¹⁴ And that first defeat, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer caused, was about twenty men, within about the half of a field, which a yoke of oxen might plough. ¹⁵ And there arose a terror in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the outposts, and the free-booters, they also were terrified, and the earth quaked; and it became a very great terror.

¹⁶ And he brought him down; and behold, they were scattered over the face of all the country, eating and drinking, and dancing for joy, because of all the great spoil which they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. ¹⁷ And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day; and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels, and fled.

¹⁶ And they grasped every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow’s side; and they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Chelkath-hazzurim, which is by Gib’on.

⁶ For the Lord had caused the camp of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, the noise of a large army: and they said one to the other, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. ⁷ And they were arisen and fled in the twilight, and had left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

³⁶ And Sennacherib the king of Assyria then departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

¹⁶ The king is not saved by the multitude of an army: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.

^{6 (46:7)} Nations rage, kingdoms are moved: he letteth his voice be heard, the earth melteth away.

²⁸ And he said unto them, Pursue after me; for the Lord hath delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand. And they went down after him, and seized on the fords of the Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over.

²³ And the men of Israel were called together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Menasseh, and they pursued after the Midianites. ²⁴ And Gid’on sent messengers throughout all the mountain of Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. And all the men of Ephraim assembled themselves, and seized on the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. ²⁵ And they captured two princes of the Midianites, ‘Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew ‘Oreb upon the rock ‘Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued the Midianites; and the heads of ‘Oreb and Zeeb they brought to Gid’on from the other side of the Jordan.

²⁰ And Saul and all the people that were with him were called together, and they came to the battle; and, behold, the sword of every man was against his fellow, the disorder being very great. ²¹ And the Hebrews that were with the Philistines as before that time, those namely who had gone up with them, were in the camp round about; but these also resolved to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan. ²² And all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves on the mountain of Ephraim, heard that the Philistines had fled; and they also followed hard after them in the battle.

⁵² And then arose the men of Israel and of Judah, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou comest to the valley, and to the gates of ‘Ekron. And the slain of the Philistines fell down by the way to Sha’arayim, even as far as Gath, and up to ‘Ekron.

¹⁸ And this is yet too light a thing in the eyes of the Lord; and he will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

²⁴ But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they smote the Moabites completely, even in their own country.

¹ And it came to pass, at the return of the same season of the year, at the time when kings go forth, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of ‘Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained behind at Jerusalem.

¹⁰ And he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thy altars have they thrown down, and thy prophets have they slain with the sword: and I am left by myself alone, and they have sought my life, to take it away.

¹³ And, behold, there approached a certain prophet unto Achab the king of Israel, and said, Thus hath said the Lord, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thy hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

²⁶ And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to the war with Israel.

³⁸ And the prophet then went, and placed himself before the king on the way, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes.

⁸ And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we might inquire of the Lord; but I hate him; for he will never prophesy good concerning me, but evil: it is Michayhu the son of Yimlah. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

¹² And one of his servants said, Not so, my Lord, O king; but Elisha’, the prophet that is in Israel, can tell unto the king of Israel the words that thou mayest speak in thy sleeping-chamber.

¹ And it came to pass, at the time of the return of the same season of the year, at the time when kings go forth, that Joab led out the power of the army, and destroyed the country of the children of ‘Ammon, and he came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained behind at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and pulled it down.

⁸ But if thou wilt go, and be ever so active and strong for the battle: God will cause thee to stumble before the enemy; for there is power with God to help, and to cause to stumble.

¹¹ And Amazyahu strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the Valley of Salt, and smote of the children of Se’ir ten thousand men.

¹⁴ Wait on the Lord; be strong, and let thy heart be of good courage; and only wait on the Lord.

² Wherefore should the nations say, Where now is their God? ³ Whereas our God is in the heavens: whatsoever he desireth hath he done.

¹⁰ The name of the Lord is a strong tower, whereunto the righteous runneth, and is placed in safety.

¹⁸ Plans are established by counsel; and with wise reflection conduct war.

⁹ Associate yourselves, O ye people, yet shall ye be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of the far portions of the earth: gird yourselves, yet shall ye be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, yet shall ye be broken in pieces.

¹¹ Lord, thy hand was raised high, but they would not see: oh that they might see, and be ashamed, thy zeal for the people; yea, the fire which shall devour them—thy enemies.

⁸ I am the Everlasting One, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to any other, nor my praise to graven images.

^{9 (4:9)} Proclaim ye this among the nations, Prepare war, wake up the mighty men; let them draw near; let them come up—all the men of war. ^{10 (4:10)} Beat your plough-shares into swords, and your pruning-knives into spears: let the weak say, I am a hero.

⁸ Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness.

²³ And they also built themselves high-places, and standing images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.

¹² Have the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed delivered them; as Gozan, and Charan, and Rezeph, and the children of ‘Eden, who were in Thelassar?

¹³ Know ye not what I have done, I and my fathers, unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their land out of my hand? ¹⁴ Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, was it, that was able to deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand? ¹⁵ And now let not Hezekiah deceive you, and let him not mislead you in this manner, nor believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom whatever was able to deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less will you Gods, deliver you out of my hand! ¹⁶ And yet more did his servants speak against the Lord God, and against his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ He wrote also letters to blaspheme against the Lord the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands, who have not delivered their people out of my hand, so will the God of Hezekiah not deliver his people out of my hand. ¹⁸ Then did they call out with a loud voice in the Jewish language unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to frighten them, and to terrify them: in order that they might capture the city. ¹⁹ And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem, as concerning the gods of the nations of the earth, the work of the hands of man.

²¹ These things hast thou done, and I kept silence: thou didst ween that I am like thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set it in order before thy eyes.” ²² Do but reflect on this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, with none to deliver.

¹ A song for the degrees. I lift up my eyes unto the mountains: whence shall come my help? ² My help is from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

¹ And Ben-hadad the king of Syria assembled all his host together: and thirty and two kings were with him, and horses, and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and made war against it.

³⁰ There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord.

³ For the wicked boasteth of the longing of his soul, and the robber blesseth himself when he hath despised the Lord.

⁴ On the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Me’arah that belongeth to the Zidonians, up to Aphek, up to the border of the Emorites;

³⁰ And ‘Ummah and Aphek, and Rechob: twenty and two cities with their villages.

³¹ Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of ‘Akko, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Achlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Chelbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rechob;

¹ And the word of Samuel became known to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Eben-ha’ezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.

¹ Now the Philistines assembled together all their camps at Aphek: and the Israelites encamped by the spring which is by Yizre’el.

²² And the prophet approached unto the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou hast to do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.

³⁰ But those that were left fled to Aphek, into the city; but the city-wall fell upon the twenty and seven thousand men that had been left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an innermost chamber.

¹⁷ And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then said Elisha’, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of victory from the Lord, and the arrow of victory over Syria; and thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till they be consumed.

³⁰ How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had delivered them up?

¹¹ Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare yourselves provisions; for after only three days more ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth you, to possess it.

⁵ For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and came as locusts in multitude; and both they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land to destroy it.

⁸ And they took the provision of the people in their hand, and their cornets; and all the rest of Israel he dismissed, every man unto his tent; but those three hundred men he retained: and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

⁵ And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude; and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven. ⁶ And when the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, for the people were oppressed, then did the people hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in strongholds, and in pits. ⁷ And some of the Hebrews passed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gil’ad. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him hastily. ⁸ And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed; but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattering themselves from him.

⁷ Be strong and of good courage, do not fear and be not dismayed because of the king of Assyria, and because of all the multitude that is with him; for with us there is One greater than with him: ⁸ With him there is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people relied upon the words of Hezekiah the king of Judah.

⁷ And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you for a God; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, who bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

⁵ And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth my hand over Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from the midst of them.

^{22 (8:18)} And I will distinguish on that day the land of Goshen, in which my people abideth, so that no wild beasts shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

^{6 (29:5)} Bread have ye not eaten, and wine or strong drink have ye not drunk; in order that ye might understand that I am the Lord your God.

²⁷ Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their oppressors should mistake the truth, lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not wrought all this.

⁸ I pray thee, O Lord, what shall I say, since Israel have turned their back before their enemies! ⁹ And when the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, they will environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth; and what wilt thou do for thy great name?

¹ And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: while Jerobo’am was standing upon the altar to burn incense.

¹⁸ And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O man of God? thou art come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son!

²² And the prophet approached unto the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou hast to do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. ²³ And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Gods of the mountains are their gods; therefore they prevailed over us; but let us fight against them in the plain, and see whether we shall not prevail over them.

¹⁴ And upon Jachaziel the son of Zecharyahu, the son of Benayah, the son of Je’iel, the son of Matthanyah, the Levite, of the sons of Assaph, came the spirit of the Lord in the midst of the assembly; ¹⁵ And he said, Listen ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus hath said the Lord unto you, Be ye not afraid and be not dismayed because of this great multitude; for not unto you belongeth the battle, but unto God. ¹⁶ Tomorrow go ye down against them behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and ye will find them at the end of the valley, in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ Ye shall not need to fight in this place: stand firmly, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, and be not dismayed; tomorrow go out to meet them, and the Lord will be with you. ¹⁸ And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, to prostrate themselves unto the Lord. ¹⁹ And then arose the Levites, of the children of the Kehathites, and of the children of the Korehites, to praise the Lord the God of Israel with a very loud voice. ²⁰ And they rose up early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Thekoa’: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood forward and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; believe in the Lord your God, and ye will have permanence; believe his prophets, and ye will prosper.

¹⁶ With him are strength and counsel: his are the deceived and the deceiver. ¹⁷ He leadeth counsellors away bereft of sense, and maketh the judges fools. ¹⁸ He looseth the bond of kings, and bindeth a girdle around their loins. ¹⁹ He leadeth priests away bereft of sense, and the powerful he causeth to walk on crooked paths.

^{10 (58:11)} The righteous will rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he will bathe his steps in the blood of the wicked. ^{11 (58:12)} So that a man shall say, Verily fruit will come for the righteous: verily there is a God that judgeth on the earth.

¹⁰ Wherefore shall the nations say, Where is their God? let there be made known among the nations before our eyes, the vengeance for the blood of thy servants which hath been shed.

²⁹ Because of thy raging against me, and thy tumult, that is come up into my ears, will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle between thy lips, and I will cause thee to turn back on the way by which thou camest. ³⁰ And this shall be unto thee the sign, Ye shall eat this year what groweth of itself, and in the second year what springeth after the same; and in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ³¹ And the remnant of the house of Judah that is escaped shall yet strike root downward, and bear fruit upward. ³² For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and that which escapeth out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. ³³ Therefore thus hath said the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, and he shall not shoot an arrow thereon, nor come before it with shields, nor cast up an embankment against it. ³⁴ On the way by which he came, by the same shall he return, and into this city shall he not come, saith the Lord. ³⁵ And I will shield this city to save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant. ³⁶ Then went out an angel of the Lord, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty and five thousand men; and when people arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. ³⁷ And Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

⁷ If our iniquities testify against us, O Lord, do thou act for the sake of thy name; for our backslidings are many; against thee have we sinned.

¹⁴ And I will stretch out my hand over them, and I will render the land desolate and waste, more than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

¹² And ye shall know that I am the Lord: because in my statutes have ye not walked, and my ordinances have ye not executed; but ye have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you.

¹⁶ But I will leave of them men few in number from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence: in order that they may relate all their abominations among the nations whither they shall have come; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

⁹ But I acted for the sake of my name, so as not to profane it before the eyes of the nations, in the midst of whom they were; because I had made myself known unto them before their eyes, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt.

²¹ But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they were gone. ²² Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Not for your sake do I this, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations, whither ye are gone. ²³ And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord Eternal, when I will be sanctified through you before your eyes.

³² Not for your sake do I this, saith the Lord Eternal, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded because of your ways, O house of Israel.

⁷ And my holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not permit my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, Holy in Israel.

¹⁵ And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after this manner seven times; only on that day they compassed the city seven times.

¹⁶ And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

¹⁸ And the Syrians fled from before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians the men of seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen; and Shobach also the captain of their army he smote, and he died there.

¹⁷ And Abiyah and his people smote them with a great defeat, and there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.

²³ And the children of ‘Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Se’ir, utterly to annihilate and to destroy them; and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Se’ir, they helped to destroy one another. ²⁴ And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none had escaped. ²⁵ And then came Jehoshaphat and his people to plunder their booty, and they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies, and costly vessels, which they stript off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in plundering the booty, for it was so much.

⁶ And Pekach the son of Remalyahu slew in Judah one hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all being valiant men; because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers.

¹⁶ The Lord is King for ever and ever: nations are perished out of his land.

³⁶ Then went out an angel of the Lord, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty and five thousand men; and when people arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

¹⁰ And Ben-hadad then sent unto him, and said, May the gods do so unto me, and continue to do so, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that are in my train.

²⁰ And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen.

²⁵ And Michayhu said, Behold, thou shalt see it on that day, when thou shalt go into the innermost chamber to hide thyself.

²⁴ And Michayhu said, Behold, thou shalt see it on that day when thou shalt go into the innermost chamber to hide thyself. ^{25 (18:26)} With the kind thou wilt show thyself kind; with the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright;

¹⁸ And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the call of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare; for the windows from on high are opened, and there quaked the foundations of the earth.

⁴⁴ He that fleeth from the terror shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be caught in the snare; for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.

^{37 (4:34)} Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and glorify the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and whose ways are justice; and who is able to bring low those that walk in pride.

¹⁴ And refuge shall vanish from the swift, and the strong shall not make use of his force, neither shall the mighty man escape with his life. ¹⁵ And he that handleth the bow shall not be able to stand; and he that is swift of foot shall not escape: neither shall he that rideth the horse escape with his life.

¹⁹ As if a man were to flee from a lion, and a bear should meet him; and he enter into the house, and lean his hand against the wall, and a serpent should bite him.

³ And though they were to hide themselves on the top of Carmel, thence would I search and take them out; and though they were to conceal themselves from before my eyes in the bottom of the sea, thence would I command the serpent, that he should bite them;

³⁴ And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

³¹ And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird yourselves with sackcloth, and go mourning before Abner. And king David walked behind the bier.

² Then sent Joab to Tekoa’, and he fetched thence a wise woman, and said to her, Feign. I pray thee, as though thou mournest, and do put on mourning garments, and anoint thyself not with oil; but be as a woman that hath these many days been mourning for the dead.

²³ And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Gods of the mountains are their gods; therefore they prevailed over us; but let us fight against them in the plain, and see whether we shall not prevail over them.

²⁷ And it came to pass, when Achab heard these words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and slept in the sackcloth, and walked about barefooted. ²⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹ Hast thou seen how Achab hath humbled himself before me? therefore, because he hath humbled himself before me, will I not bring the evil in his days: in the days of his son will I bring the evil upon his house.

¹³ And his servants came near, and spoke unto him, and they said, My father, if the prophet had bidden thee a great thing, wouldst thou not do it? how much rather then, when he hath said to thee, Bathe, and become clean?

⁴ If we say, We will enter into the city, then is the famine in the city, and we shall die there; and if we remain here, we die also: now therefore come, and let us go over unto the camp of the Syrians; if they will let us live, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

¹ And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. ² And he sent Elyakim, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebnah the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

¹ When Mordecai ascertained all that had been done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth strewed with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry; ² And thus he came up to the front of the king’s gate; for none dared to enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. ³ And in each and every province, in every place whither the king’s decree and his law had reached, there was great mourning for the Jews, with fasting and weeping and wailing; and a sackcloth strewed with ashes became the bed of the great.

¹⁶ Go, assemble together all the Jews who are now present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, so that ye neither eat nor drink three days, either night or day; also I myself with my maidens will fast in like manner; and then will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I then perish, I perish.

⁴ Then answered the Accuser the Lord, and said, Skin for skin: yea, all that a man hath will he give in behalf of his life.

²⁸ Kindness and truth will watch over a king, and he will prop up through kindness his throne.

⁵ And there shall be founded through kindness a throne; and there shall sit upon it in truthfulness in the tent of David a judge who seeketh justice, and is quick in righteousness.

¹² And the Lord Eternal of hosts called on that day for weeping, and for mourning, and for baldness, and for girding with sackcloth.

¹ And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

⁵ And the men of Nineveh believed in God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. ⁶ For when the matter was come unto the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, and put off his mantle from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat down on ashes.

⁸ And he caught Agag the king of the ‘Amalekites alive, and all the people he devoted to the edge of the sword. ⁹ But Saul together with the people had pity on Agag, and on the best of the flocks, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the fat lambs, and all that was good, and they would not destroy them; but all the cattle that was of little value and weak, that they destroyed. ¹⁰ And the word of the Lord came unto Samuel, saying, ¹¹ I repent that I have set up Saul as king; for he hath turned back from following me, and my word hath he not performed: and it displeased Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all the night. ¹² And Samuel rose up early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told to Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set himself up a monument, and then went about, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal. ¹³ And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou unto the Lord, I have performed the word of the Lord. ¹⁴ And Samuel said, What is then this bleating of the flocks in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? ¹⁵ And Saul said, From the ‘Amalekites have they brought them; because the people had pity on the best of the flocks and of the oxen, in order to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest have we destroyed. ¹⁶ And Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord said to me this night: and he said unto him, Speak. ¹⁷ And Samuel said, Is it not that, however little thou wast in thy own eyes, thou art the head of the tribes of Israel? and the Lord anointed thee as king over Israel? ¹⁸ And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and destroy the sinners, the ‘Amalekites, and thou shalt fight against them until they be consumed. ¹⁹ Wherefore then didst thou not hearken unto the voice of the Lord, and didst fly upon the spoil, and didst the evil in the eyes of the Lord? ²⁰ And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have fully hearkened unto the voice of the Lord; and I went on the way which the Lord had sent me; and I have brought Agag the king of ‘Amalek; and the ‘Amalekites have I destroyed.

³ And he said unto him, Thus hath said Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold are mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the best, are mine. ⁴ And the king of Israel answered and said, According to thy word, my Lord, O king, thine am I, and all that I have. ⁵ And the messengers returned, and said, Thus hath said Ben-hadad, to say to thee, I have indeed sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt give unto me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children; ⁶ Nevertheless, about this time tomorrow will I send my servants unto thee, and they shall search through thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thy eyes, they shall place it in their hand, and take it away.

³¹ And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are kindly kings; let us, we pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; peradventure he may save thy life.

⁴² And he said unto him, Thus hath said the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man whom I had caught in my net, therefore shall thy life be the forfeit for his life, and thy people for his people.

¹⁷ He leadeth counsellors away bereft of sense, and maketh the judges fools. ¹⁸ He looseth the bond of kings, and bindeth a girdle around their loins.

¹¹ Scatter abroad the ragings of thy wrath, and look on every proud one, and humble him. ¹² Look on every proud one, and bend him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.

¹¹ The looks of human pride shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bent down: and exalted shall be the Lord alone on that day. ¹² For there is a day of judgment unto the Lord of hosts over every proud and lofty one; and over every exalted one, that he be brought low;

¹² Wherefore shall it come to pass, that when the Lord hath completed all his work on mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the haughtiness of the king of Asshur, and the vain-glory of his proud looks.

²⁰ But, when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit hardened to deal presumptuously, he was cast down from the throne of his kingdom, and his dignity did they take from him; ²¹ And from the sons of men was he driven forth, and his heart became equal with that of the beasts, and with the wild asses was his dwelling; they suffered him to eat herbs like oxen, and with the dew of heaven was his body made wet: till he acknowledged that the most high God ruleth over the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he pleaseth. ²² And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this; ²³ But against the Lord of heaven hast thou lifted thyself up; and the vessels of his house have they brought before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine from them; and the gods of silver, and gold, of copper, iron, wood, and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor know, hast thou praised; and the God in whose hand thy soul is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:

³ The presumption of thy heart hath beguiled thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? ⁴ Though thou wert to rise as high as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.

¹⁵ And he went away thence, and met Yehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is all right in thy heart, as my heart is with thy heart? And Yehonadab answered, It is; it is: give me thy hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.

¹³ As the cooling of snow on a harvest-day, so is a faithful messenger to those that send him; for he refresheth the soul of his master.

⁴ And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Assa, and sent the captains of the armies that he had against the cities of Israel, and they smote ‘Iyon, and Dan, and Abel-mayim, and all the treasure-cities of Naphtali.

³⁰ And the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots that he had, saying, Fight ye not with the small or with the great, save only with the king of Israel alone.

¹² Call ye not a conspiracy all that this people may call a conspiracy, and what it feareth shall ye not fear, and be not terrified thereat.

¹⁰ If favor be shown to the wicked, he will not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not regard the majesty of the Lord.

¹² And one of that place answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

¹ And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: while Jerobo’am was standing upon the altar to burn incense. ² And he called out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and he said, O altar, altar, thus hath said the Lord, Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice upon thee the priests of the high-places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.

¹⁷ For a command came to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt not eat bread nor drink water there; thou shalt not return to go by the way also by which thou camest. ¹⁸ And he said unto him, I also am a prophet like thee; and an angel spoke unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee unto thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.

³⁷ Then he met with another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, smiting and wounding him. ³⁸ And the prophet then went, and placed himself before the king on the way, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes.

³ And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha’, and said unto him, Knowest thou that today the Lord will take away thy master from thy head? And he said, I also know it; be still. ⁴ And Elijah said unto him, Elisha’, remain, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. But he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. ⁵ And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came near to Elisha’, and said unto him, Knowest thou that today the Lord will take away thy master from thy head? And he said, I also know it; be still. ⁶ And Elijah said unto him, Remain, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to the Jordan. But he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So these two went on. ⁷ And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood opposite to them afar off: and those two stood by the Jordan.

¹⁵ And when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho, at a distance, saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah Doth rest on Elisha’. And they came forth to meet him, and bowed themselves unto him to the ground.

¹ And a certain woman, of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried unto Elisha’, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou well knowest that thy servant was one who feared the Lord: and now the creditor is come to take my two sons unto himself for servants.

³⁸ And Elisha’ returned to Gilgal; and there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the large pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.

¹⁸ Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for tokens in Israel, from the Lord of hosts who dwelleth on mount Zion.

² At the same time spoke the Lord by means of Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loosen the sackcloth from off thy loins, and thy shoe shalt thou pull off from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. ³ And the Lord said, Just as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years as a sign and token for Egypt and for Cush:

² Thus said the Lord to me, Make for thyself bands and yoke-bars, and put them around thy neck, ³ And send such to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of ‘Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Zidon, by means of the messengers who come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah the king of Judah;

³ Moreover take thou unto thyself an iron pan, and set it up as a wall of iron between thee and the city: and direct thy face against it, that it may be placed in a state of siege, and lay siege against it. This shall be a sign for the house of Israel.

¹⁴ Then answered ‘Amos, and said to Amazyah, I am no prophet, nor am I a prophet’s son; but I am a herdman, and a gatherer of wild figs;

²² And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as much delight in burnt-offerings and in sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to attend more than the fat of the rams. ²³ For the sin of witchcraft is rebellion, and idolatry and image-worship, stubbornness; inasmuch as thou hast despised the word of the Lord, he hath also despised thee that thou shalt not be king.

²¹ And he called unto the man of God that was come from Judah, saying, Thus hath said the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the order of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God had commanded thee; ²² But didst return, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of which he had spoken to thee, Thou shalt not eat bread, nor drink water: thy dead body shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. ²³ And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ And when he was gone, a lion met him on the way, and slew him; and his corpse remained cast down on the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the corpse.

²⁶ And when the prophet that had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, It is the man of God who was disobedient unto the order of the Lord; wherefore the Lord hath given him up unto the lion, who hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him.

¹² He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall surely be put to death.

³⁵ And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his companion, By the word of the Lord, smite me, I pray thee. But the man refused to smite him.

² And Jerobo’am said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that people may not know that thou art the wife of Jerobo’am; and go to Shiloh: behold, there is Achiyahu the prophet, who spoke of me that I should become king over this people.

³⁰ And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but do thou put on thy regal garments. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.

³⁰ But there shall be laid on him a sum of money in atonement, and he shall give the ransom of his life whatsoever may be laid upon him.

⁷ And they told it to Yotham; and he went and stood on the top of mount Gerizzim, and he lifted up his voice, and cried; and he said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, so that God may hearken unto you. ⁸ The trees went once forth to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive-tree, Reign thou over us. ⁹ But the olive-tree said unto them, Should I give up my fatness, wherewith through me they honor God and men, and shall I go to be promoted over the trees! ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig-tree, Come thou, reign over us. ¹¹ But the fig-tree said unto them, Should I give up my sweetness, and my good productiveness, and go to be promoted over the trees? ¹² Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, reign over us. ¹³ But the vine said unto them, Should I give up my fresh wine, which rejoiceth God and men, and go to be promoted over the trees! ¹⁴ Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, reign over us. ¹⁵ And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me as king over you, then come seek protection in my shadow; and if not, then let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of the Lebanon. ¹⁶ And now, if ye have acted in truth and sincerity, when ye made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Yerubba’al and his house, and have done unto him according to the merit of his hands; ¹⁷ (In that my father fought for you, and cast his life far away, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian; ¹⁸ While ye are risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;) ¹⁹ If ye have thus acted in truth and sincerity with Yerubba’al and with his house this day: then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from Beth-millo, and devour Abimelech.

¹ And the Lord sent Nathan unto David, and he came unto him and said to him, Two men were once in one city, the one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had flocks and herds, in great abundance. ³ But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe, which he had bought; and he nourished it, and it grew up with him and with his children together; of his bread it used to eat, and out of his cup it used to drink, and in his bosom it used to lie, and it was to him as a daughter. ⁴ And there came a traveler unto the rich man; and he felt compunction to take from his own flocks and from his own herds to dress for the wayfarer that was come to him; but he took the ewe of the poor man, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. ⁵ And the anger of David was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, surely the man that hath done this deserveth to die; ⁶ And the ewe he shall pay fourfold, for punishment that he hath done this thing, and because he had no compassion. ⁷ Then said Nathan to David, Thou art the man! Thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, It is I who anointed thee as king over Israel, and it is I who delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

⁵ And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she said, Truly, I am a widow-woman; since my husband is dead. ⁶ And thy hand-maid had two sons, and they two quarreled together in the field, and there was no one between them to help either; so the one smote the other, and slew him. ⁷ And, behold, the whole family is risen up against thy handmaid, and they said, Give up the slayer of his brother, that we may have him put to death, for the life of his brother whom he hath killed; and we will destroy also the heir: and thus they will quench my coal which is remaining, so as not to allow to my husband either name or remainder upon the face of the earth.

²⁴ And they went in to prepare sacrifices and burnt-offerings; but Jehu had set for himself without eighty men, and said, If there be a man that escapeth from the men whom I deliver into your hands, there shall be given life for his life.

¹⁸ For there would be fury, If aught were to incite thee to utter an abundance of rebellious words; and the greatness of the infliction must not mislead thee.

^{7 (49:8)} No one can in any wise redeem his brother, nor can he give to God redemption money for himself;

³⁵ He will not regard the appearance of any ransom; and he will not be content, though thou give ever so many bribes.

⁸ As the ransom of a man’s life hath he often to give his riches; but the poor heareth no threat.

⁶ Thy own mouth must condemn thee, but not I: yea, thy own lips will testify against thee.

¹⁹ And Thamar put ashes on her head, and the garment of divers colors which was on her she rent: and she placed her hand on her head, and went away and cried as she went along.

⁸ And Job took himself a potsherd to scrape himself there with, while he was sitting down among the ashes.

²⁶ O daughter of my people, gird thyself with sackcloth, and roll thyself in the ashes: a mourning as for an only son prepare unto thee, a most bitter lamentation; for suddenly will the destroyer come over us.

⁹ But Saul together with the people had pity on Agag, and on the best of the flocks, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the fat lambs, and all that was good, and they would not destroy them; but all the cattle that was of little value and weak, that they destroyed. ¹⁰ And the word of the Lord came unto Samuel, saying, ¹¹ I repent that I have set up Saul as king; for he hath turned back from following me, and my word hath he not performed: and it displeased Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all the night.

³⁴ And he said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, will I restore; and thou canst lay out for thyself streets in Damascus, as my father laid out in Samaria. “And I for my part will send thee away with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.

³⁹ And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king, and said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought unto me a man, and said, Guard this man; if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be forfeit for his life, or else thou shalt weigh me down a talent of silver.

³¹ And the king of Syria had commanded the captains over his chariots, thirty-two in number, saying, Fight neither with a small nor a great one, save only with the king of Israel alone. ³² And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely this is the king of Israel. And they turned aside against him to fight: and Jehoshaphat cried out. ³³ And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from following him. ³⁴ But a man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the joints and the armor; wherefore he said unto his chariot-driver. Turn about, and carry me out of the camp; for I am wounded. ³⁵ And the battle increased on that day; and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians; but he died in the evening: and the blood of the wound flowed down into the hollow of the chariot. ³⁶ And there went a proclamation throughout the camp at the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own land. ³⁷ So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.

²⁴ And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad the king of Syria assembled all his camp, and went up, and besieged Samaria.

¹² And Chazael said, Why doth my Lord weep? And he said, Because I know what evil thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong-holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and their children wilt thou dash, and their pregnant women wilt thou rip up.

³³ But a certain man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the joints and the armor: wherefore he said to the chariot-driver, Turn about, and carry me out of the camp; for I am wounded. ³⁴ And the battle increased on that day: and the king of Israel stayed himself up in the chariot against the Syrians until the evening, and he died at the time of the sun’s going down.

⁴ And Achab came into his house low-spirited and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Yizre’elite had spoken to him, when he said, I will not give unto thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid himself down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food.

¹³ Yet all this profiteth me nothing, every time that I see Mordecai the Jew sitting in the king’s gate.

¹² And Mordecai thereupon returned to the king’s gate; but Haman hastened to his house, mourning, and having his head covered. ¹³ And Haman related to Zeresh his wife and to all his friends all that had befallen him: then said unto him his wise men and Zeresh his wife, If Mordecai, before whom thou hast begun to fall, be of the seed of the Jews, thou wilt not prevail against him, but thou wilt surely fall before him.

² For vexation will prove death to a foolish man, and jealousy will slay the simple.

³ The folly of a man perverteth his way, and against the Lord will his heart rage.