The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 213

20:40. And whilst I, in the hurry, turned this way and that, on a sudden he was not to be seen. And the king of Israel said to him: This is thy judgment, which thyself hast decreed.

20:41. But he forthwith wiped off the dust from his face, and the king of Israel knew him, that he was one of the prophets.

20:42. And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord. Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man worthy of death, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people.

20:43. And the king of Israel returned to his house, slighting to hear, and raging came into Samaria.

3 Kings Chapter 21

Naboth, for denying his vineyard to king Achab, is by Jezabel's commandment, falsely accused and stoned to death. For which crime Elias denounceth to Achab the judgments of G.o.d: upon his humbling himself the sentence is mitigated.

21:1. And after these things, Naboth the Jezrahelite, who was in Jezrahel, had at that time a vineyard, near the palace of Achab, king of Samaria.

21:2. And Achab spoke to Naboth, saying: Give me thy vineyard, that I may make me a garden of herbs, because it is nigh, and adjoining to my house; and I will give thee for it a better vineyard: or if thou think it more convenient for thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

21:3. Naboth answered him: The Lord be merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of my fathers.

21:4. And Achab came into his house angry and fretting, because of the word that Naboth, the Jezrahelite, had spoken to him, saying: I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And casting himself upon his bed, he turned away his face to the wall, and would eat no bread.

21:5. And Jezabel, his wife, went in to him, and said to him: What is the matter that thy soul is so grieved? and why eatest thou no bread?

21:6. And he answered her: I spoke to Naboth, the Jezrahelite, and said to him: Give me thy vineyard, and take money for it: or if it please thee, I will give thee a better vineyard for it. And he said: I will not give thee my vineyard.

21:7. Then Jezabel, his wife, said to him. Thou art of great authority indeed, and governest well the kingdom of Israel. Arise, and eat bread, and be of good cheer; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite.

21:8. So she wrote letters in Achab's name, and sealed them with his ring, and sent them to the ancients, and the chief men that were in his city, and that dwelt with Naboth.

21:9. And this was the tenor of the letters: Proclaim a fast, and make Naboth sit among the chief of the people;

21:10. And suborn two men, sons of Belial, against him and let them bear false witness; that he hath blasphemed G.o.d and the king: and then carry him out, and stone him, and so let him die.

21:11. And the men of his city, the ancients and n.o.bles, that dwelt with him in the city, did as Jezabel had commanded them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them;

21:12. They proclaimed a fast, and made Naboth sit among the chief of the people.

21:13. And bringing two men, sons of the devil, they made them sit against him: and they, like men of the devil, bore witness against him before the people: saying: Naboth hath blasphemed G.o.d and the king.

Wherefore they brought him forth without the city, and stoned him to death.

21:14. And they sent to Jezabel, saying: Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

21:15. And it came to pa.s.s, when Jezabel heard that Naboth was stoned, and dead, that she said to Achab: Arise, and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, who would not agree with thee, and give it thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

21:16. And when Achab heard this, to wit, that Naboth was dead, he arose, and went down into the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, to take possession of it.

21:17. And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying:

21:18. Arise, and go down to meet Achab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria: behold he is going down to the vineyard of Naboth, to take possession of it:

21:19. And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast slain: moreover also thou hast taken possession. And after these words thou shalt add: Thus saith the Lord: In this place, wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also.

21:20. And Achab said to Elias: Hast thou found me thy enemy? He said: I have found thee because thou art sold, to do evil in the sight of the Lord.

Sold, to do evil in the sight, etc... That is, so addicted to evil, as if thou hadst sold thyself to the devil, to be his slave to work all kinds of evil.

21:21. Behold I will bring evil upon thee, and I will cut down thy posterity, and I will kill of Achab him that p.i.s.seth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel.

21:22. And I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahias: for what thou hast done to provoke me to anger, and for making Israel to sin.

21:23. And of Jezabel also, the Lord spoke, saying: The dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezrahel.

21:24. If Achab die in the city, the dogs shall eat him: but if he die in the field, the birds of the air shall eat him.

21:25. Now, there was not such another as Achab, who was sold to do evil in the sight of the Lord: for his wife, Jezabel, set him on,

21:26. And he became abominable, insomuch that he followed the idols which the Amorrhites had made, whom the Lord destroyed before the face of the children of Israel.

21:27. And when Achab had heard these words, he rent his garments, and put haircloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and slept in sackcloth, and walked with his head cast down.

21:28. And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying:

21:29. Hast thou not seen Achab humbled before me? therefore, because he hath humbled himself, for my sake, I will not bring the evil in his days, but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.

3 Kings Chapter 22

Achab believing his false prophets, rather than Micheas, is slain in Ramoth Galaad. Ochozias succeedeth him. Good king Josaphat dieth, and his son Joram succeedeth him.

22:1. And there pa.s.sed three years without war between Syria and Israel.

22:2. And in the third year, Josaphat, king of Juda, came down to the king of Israel.

22:3. (And the king of Israel said to his servants: Know ye not that Ramoth Galaad is ours, and we neglect to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?)

22:4. And he said to Josaphat: Wilt thou come with me to battle to Ramoth Galaad?

22:5. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: As I am, so art thou: my people and thy people are one: and my hors.e.m.e.n are thy hors.e.m.e.n. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: Inquire, I beseech thee, this day the word of the Lord.

22:6. Then the king of Israel a.s.sembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and he said to them: Shall I go to Ramoth Galaad to fight, or shall I forbear? They answered: Go up, and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.

22:7. And Josaphat said: Is there not here some prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire by him?

22:8. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat. There is one man left, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; Micheas, the son of Jemla: but I hate him, for he doth not prophecy good to me, but evil. And Josaphat said: Speak not so, O king.

22:9. Then the king of Israel called an eunuch, and said to him: Make haste, and bring hither Micheas, the son of Jemla.

22:10. And the king of Israel, and Josaphat, king of Juda, sat each on his throne, clothed with royal robes, in a court, by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them.

22:11. And Sedecias, thc son of Chanaana, made himself horns of iron, and said: Thus saith the Lord: With these shalt thou push Syria, till thou destroy it.