Chapter 58

18:18. Now Absalom had reared up for himself, in his lifetime, a pillar, which is in the king's valley: for he said: I have no son, and this shall be the monument of my name. And he called the pillar by his own name, and it is called the hand of Absalom, to this day.

No son. . .The sons mentioned above, chap. 14.27, were dead when this pillar was erected: unless we suppose he raised this pillar before they were born.

18:19. And Achimaas the son of Sadoc said: I will run and tell the king, that the Lord hath done judgment for him from the hand of his enemies.

18:20. And Joab said to him: Thou shalt not be the messenger this day, but shalt bear tidings another day: this day I will not have thee bear tidings, because the king's son is dead.

18:21. And Joab said to Chusai: Go, and tell the king what thou hast seen. Chusai bowed down to Joab, and ran.

18:22. Then Achimaas the son of Sadoc said to Joab again: Why might not I also run after Chusai? And Joab said to him: Why wilt thou run, my son? thou wilt not be the bearer of good tidings.

18:23. He answered: But what if I run? And he said to him: Run. Then Achimaas running by a nearer way passed Chusai.

18:24. And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman that was on the top of the gate upon the wall, lifting up his eyes, saw a man running alone.

18:25. And crying out he told the king: and the king said: If he be alone, there are good tidings in his mouth. And as he was coming apace, and drawing nearer,

18:26. The watchman saw another man running, and crying aloud from above, he said: I see another man running alone. And the king said: He also is a good messenger.

18:27. And the watchman said: The running of the foremost seemeth to me like the running of Achimaas the son of Sadoc. And the king said: He is a good man: and cometh with good news.

18:28. And Achimaas crying out, said to the king: God save thee, O king. And falling down before the king with his face to the ground, he said: Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath shut up the men that have lifted up their hands against the lord my king.

18:29. And the king said: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Achimaas said: I saw a great tumult, O king, when thy servant Joab sent me thy servant: I know nothing else.

18:30. And the king said to him: Pass, and stand here.

18:31. And when he had passed, and stood still, Chusai appeared and coming up he said: I bring good tidings, my lord, the king, for the Lord hath judged for thee this day from the hand of all that have risen up against thee.

18:32. And the king said to Chusai: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Chusai answering him, said: Let the enemies of my lord, the king, and all that rise against him unto evil, be as the young man is.

18:33. The king therefore being much moved, went up to the high chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went he spoke in this manner: My son Absalom, Absalom my son: would to God that I might die for thee, Absalom my son, my son Absalom.

Would to God. . .David lamented the death of Absalom, because of the wretched state in which he died: and therefore would have been glad to have saved his life, even by dying for him. In which he was a figure of Christ weeping, praying and dying for his rebellious children, and even for them that crucified him.

2 Kings Chapter 19

David, at the remonstrances of Joab, ceaseth his mourning. He is invited back and met by Semei and Miphiboseth: a strife between the men of Juda and the men of Israel.

19:1. And it was told Joab, that the king wept and mourned for his son:

19:2. And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day: The king grieveth for his son.

19:3. And the people shunned the going into the city that day as a people would do that hath turned their backs, and fled away from the battle.

19:4. And the king covered his head, and cried with a loud voice: O my son Absalom, O Absalom my son, O my son.

19:5. Then Joab going into the house to the king, said: Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, that have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons, and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines.

19:6. Thou lovest them that hate thee, and thou hatest them that love thee: and thou hast shewn this day that thou carest not for thy nobles, nor for thy servants: and I now plainly perceive that if Absalom had lived, and all we had been slain, then it would have pleased thee.

19:7. Now therefore arise, and go out, and speak to the satisfaction of thy servants: for I swear to thee by the Lord, that if thou wilt not go forth, there will not tarry with thee so much as one this night: and that will be worse to thee, than all the evils that have befallen thee from thy youth until now.

19:8. Then the king arose and sat in the gate: and it was told to all the people that the king sat in the gate: and all the people came before the king, but Israel fled to their own dwellings.

19:9. And all the people were at strife in all the tribes of Israel, saying: The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines: and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.

19:10. But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in the battle: how long are you silent, and bring not back the king?

19:11. And king David sent to Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests, saying: Speak to the ancients of Juda, saying: Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? (For the talk of all Israel was come to the king in his house.)

19:12. You are my brethren, you are my bone, and my flesh, why are you the last to bring back the king?

19:13. And say ye to Amasa: Art not thou my bone, and my flesh? So do God to me and add more, if thou be not the chief captain of the army before me always in the place of Joab.

19:14. And he inclined the heart of all the men of Juda, as it were of one man: and they sent to the king, saying: Return thou, and all thy servants.

19:15. And the king returned and came as far as the Jordan, and all Juda came as far as Galgal to meet the king, and to bring him over the Jordan.

19:16. And Semei the son of Gera the son of Jemini of Bahurim, made haste and went down with the men of Juda to meet king David,

19:17. With a thousand men of Benjamin, and Siba the servant of the house of Saul: and his fifteen sons, and twenty servants were with him: and going over the Jordan,

19:18.They passed the fords before the king, that they might help over the king's household, and do according to his commandment. And Semei the son of Gera falling down before the king, when he was come over the Jordan,

19:19. Said to him: Impute not to me, my lord, the iniquity, nor remember the injuries of thy servant on the day that thou, my lord, the king, wentest out of Jerusalem, nor lay it up in thy heart, O king.

19:20. For I thy servant acknowledge my sin: and therefore I am come this day the first of all the house of Joseph, and am come down to meet my lord the king.

19:21. But Abisai the son of Sarvia answering, said: Shall Semei for these words not be put to death, because he cursed the Lord's anointed?

19:22. And David said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of Sarvia? why are you a satan this day to me? shall there any man be killed this day in Israel? do not I know that this day I am made king over Israel?

19:23. And the king said to Semei: Thou shalt not die. And he swore unto him.

19:24. And Miphiboseth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and he had neither washed his feet, nor trimmed his beard: nor washed his garments from the day that the king went out, until the day of his return in peace.

19:25. And when he met the king at Jerusalem, the king said to him: Why camest thou not with me, Miphiboseth?

19:26. And he answering, said: My lord, O king, my servant despised me: for I thy servant spoke to him to saddle me an ass, that I might get on and go with the king: for I thy servant am lame.

19:27. Moreover he hath also accused me thy servant to thee, my lord the king: but thou my lord the king art as an angel of God, do what pleaseth thee.

19:28. For all of my father's house were no better than worthy of death before my lord the king; and thou hast set me thy servant among the guests of thy table: what just complaint therefore have I? or what right to cry any more to the king?

19:29. Then the king said to him: Why speakest thou any more? what I have said is determined: thou and Siba divide the possessions.

19:30. And Miphiboseth answered the king: Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is returned peaceably into his house.

19:31. Berzellai also the Galaadite coming down from Rogelim, brought the king over the Jordan, being ready also to wait on him beyond the river.

19:32. Now Berzellai the Galaadite was of a great age, that is to say, fourscore years old, and he provided the king with sustenance when he abode in the camp: for he was a man exceeding rich.

19:33. And the king said to Berzellai: Come with me that thou mayest rest secure with me in Jerusalem.

19:34. And Berzellai said to the king: How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

19:35. I am this day fourscore years old, are my senses quick to discern sweet and bitter? or can meat or drink delight thy servant? or can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why should thy servant be a burden to my lord, the king?

19:36. I thy servant will go on a little way from the Jordan with thee: I need not this recompense.

19:37. But I beseech thee let thy servant return, and die in my own city, and be buried by the sepulchre of my father, and of my mother. But there is thy servant Chamaam, let him go with thee, my lord, the king, and do to him whatsoever seemeth good to thee.

19:38. Then the king said to him: Let Chamaam go over with me, and I will do for him whatsoever shall please thee, and all that thou shalt ask of me, thou shalt obtain.

19:39. And when all the people and the king had passed over the Jordan, the king kissed Berzellai, and blessed him: and he returned to his own place.

19:40. So the king went on to Galgal, and Chamaam with him. Now all the people of Juda had brought the king over, and only half of the people of Israel were there.

19:41. Therefore all the men of Israel running together to the king, said to him: Why have our brethren the men of Juda stolen thee away, and have brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all the men of David with him?

19:42. And all the men of Juda answered the men of Israel: Because the king is nearer to me: why art thou angry for this matter? have we eaten any thing of the king's, or have any gifts been given us?

19:43. And the men of Israel answered the men of Juda, and said: I have ten parts in the king more than thou, and David belongeth to me more than to thee: why hast thou done me a wrong, and why was it not told me first, that I might bring back my king? And the men of Juda answered more harshly than the men of Israel.

2 Kings Chapter 20

Seba's rebellion. Amasa is slain by Joab. Abela is besieged, but upon the citizens casting over the wall the head of Seba, Joab departeth with all his army.

20:1. And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Seba, the son of Bochri, a man of Jemini: and he sounded the trumpet, and said: We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Isai: return to thy dwellings, O Israel.

20:2. And all Israel departed from David, and followed Seba the son of Bochri: but the men of Juda stuck to their king from the Jordan unto Jerusalem.

20:3. And when the king was come into his house at Jerusalem, he took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them inward, allowing them provisions: and he went not in unto them, but they were shut up unto the day of their death living in widowhood.

20:4. And the king said to Amasa: Assemble to me all the men of Juda against the third day, and be thou here present.

20:5. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Juda, but he tarried beyond the set time which the king had appointed him.

20:6. And David said to Abisai: Now will Seba the son of Bochri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou therefore the servants of thy lord, and pursue after him, lest he find fenced cities, and escape us.

20:7. So Joab's men went out with him, and the Cerethi and the Phelethi: and all the valiant men went out of Jerusalem to pursue after Seba the son of Bochri.

20:8. And when they were at the great stone which is in Gabaon, Amasa coming met them. And Joab had on a close coat of equal length with his habit, and over it was girded with a sword hanging down to his flank, in a scabbard, made in such manner as to come out with the least motion and strike.

20:9. And Joab said to Amasa: God save thee, my brother. And he took Amasa by the chin with his right hand to kiss him.

20:10. But Amasa did not take notice of the sword, which Joab had, and he struck him in the side, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and gave him not a second wound, and he died. And Joab, and Abisai his brother pursued after Seba the son of Bochri.

20:11. In the mean time some men of Joab's company stopping at the dead body of Amasa, said: Behold he that would have been in Joab's stead the companion of David.

20:12. And Amasa imbrued with blood, lay in the midst of the way. A certain man saw this that all the people stood still to look upon him, so he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and covered him with a garment, that they who passed might, not stop on his account.

20:13. And when he was removed out of the way, all the people went on following Joab to pursue after Seba the son of Bochri.

20:14. Now he had passed through all the tribes of Israel unto Abela and Bethmaacha: and all the chosen men were gathered together unto him.

Abela and Bethmaacha. . .Cities of the tribe of Nephtali.

20:15. And they came, and besieged him in Abela, and in Bethmaacha, and they cast up works round the city, and the city was besieged: and all the people that were with Joab, laboured to throw down the walls.

20:16. And a wise woman cried out from the city: Hear, hear, and say to Joab: Come near hither, and I will speak with thee.

20:17. And when he was come near to her, she said to him: Art thou Joab? And he answered: I am. And she spoke thus to him: Hear the words of thy handmaid. He answered: I do hear.

20:18. And she again said: A saying was used in the old proverb: They that inquire, let them inquire in Abela: and so they made an end.

20:19. Am not I she that answer truth in Israel, and thou seekest to destroy the city, and to overthrow a mother in Israel? Why wilt thou throw down the inheritance of the Lord?

20:20. And Joab answering said: God forbid, God forbid that I should, I do not throw down, nor destroy.

20:21. The matter is not so, but a man of mount Ephraim, Seba the son of Bochri by name, hath lifted up his hand against king David: deliver him only, and we will depart from the city. And the woman said to Joab: Behold his head shall be thrown to thee from the wall.

20:22. So she went to all the people, and spoke to them wisely: and they cut off the head of Seba the son of Bochri, and cast it out to Joab. And he sounded the trumpet, and they departed from the city, every one to their home: and Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

20:23. So Joab was over all the army of Israel: and Banaias the son of Joiada was over the Cerethites and Phelethites,

20:24. But Aduram over the tributes: and Josaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder.

20:25. And Siva was scribe: and Sadoc and Abiathar, priests.

20:26. And Ira the Jairite was the priest of David.

2 Kings Chapter 21

A famine of three years, for the sin of Saul against the Gabaonites, at whose desire seven of Saul's race are crucified. War again with the Philistines.

21:1. And there was a famine in the days of David for three years successively: and David consulted the oracle of the Lord. And the Lord said: It is for Saul, and his bloody house, because he slow the Gabaonites.

21:2. Then the king, calling for the Gabaonites, said to them: (Now the Gabaonites were not of the children of Israel, but the remains of the Amorrhites: and the children of Israel had sworn to them, and Saul sought to slay them out of zeal, as it were for the children of Israel and Juda:)

21:3. David therefore said to the Gabaonites: What shall I do for you? and what shall be the atonement or you, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?

21:4. And the Gabaonites said to him: We have no contest about silver and gold, but against Saul and against his house: neither do we desire that any man be slain of Israel. And the king said to them: What will you then that I should do for you?

21:5. And they said to the king: The man that crushed us and oppressed us unjustly, we must destroy in such manner that there be not so much as one left of his stock in all the coasts of Israel.

21:6. Let seven men of his children be delivered unto us, that we may crucify them to the Lord in Gabaa of Saul, once the chosen of the Lord. And the king said: I will give them.

21:7. And the king spared Miphiboseth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord, that had been between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

21:8. So the king took the two sons of Respha the daughter of Aia, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni, and Miphiboseth: and the five sons of Michol the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Hadriel the son of Berzellai, that was of Molathi:

Of Michol. . .They were the sons of Merob, who was married to Hadriel: but they are here called the sons of Michol, because she adopted them, and brought them up as her own.

21:9. And gave them into the hands of the Gabaonites: and they crucified them on a hill before the Lord: and these seven died together in the first days of the harvest, when the barley began to be reaped.

21:10. And Respha the daughter of Aia took haircloth, and spread it under her upon the rock from the beginning of the harvest, till water dropped upon them out of heaven: and suffered neither the birds to tear them by day, nor the beasts by night.

21:11. And it was told David, what Respha the daughter of Aia, the concubine of Saul, had done.

21:12. And David went, and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabes Galaad, who had stolen them from the street of Bethsan, where the Philistines had hanged them when they had slain Saul in Gelboe.

21:13. And he brought from thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, and they gathered up the bones of them that were crucified,

21:14. And they buried them with the bones of Saul, and of Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin, in the side, in the sepulchre of Cis his father: and they did all that the king had commanded, and God shewed mercy again to the land after these things.

21:15. And the Philistines made war again against Israel, and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. And David growing faint,

21:16. Jesbibenob, who was of the race of Arapha, the iron of whose spear weighed three hundred ounces, being girded with a new sword, attempted to kill David.

21:17. And Abisai the son of Sarvia rescued him, and striking the Philistine killed him. Then David's men swore unto him saying: Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, lest thou put out the lamp of Israel.

21:18. There was also a second battle in Gob against the Philistines: then Sobochai of Husathi slew Saph of the race of Arapha of the family of the giants.

21:19. And there was a third battle in Gob against the Philistines, in which Adeodatus the son of the Forrest an embroiderer of Bethlehem slew Goliath the Gethite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.

Adeodatus the son of the Forrest. . .So it is rendered in the Latin Vulgate, by giving the interpretation of the Hebrew names, which are Elhanan the son of Jaare.

21:20. A fourth battle was in Geth: where there was a man of great stature, that had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, four and twenty in all, and he was of the race of Arapha.

21:21. And he reproached Israel: and Jonathan the son of Samae the brother of David slew him.

21:22. These four were born of Arapha in Geth, and they fell by the hand of David, and of his servants.

2 Kings Chapter 22

King David's psalm of thanksgiving for his deliverance from all his enemies.

22:1. And David spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul,

22:2. And he said: The Lord is my rock, and my strength, and my saviour.

22:3. God is my strong one, in him will I trust: my shield, and the horn of my salvation: he lifteth me up, and is my refuge: my saviour, thou wilt deliver me from iniquity.

22:4. I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised: and I shall be saved from my enemies.

22:5. For the pangs of death have surrounded me: the floods of Belial have made me afraid.

22:6. The cords of hell compassed me: the snares of death prevented me.

22:7. In my distress I will call upon the Lord, and I will cry to my God: and he will hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry shall come to his ears.

22:8. The earth shook and trembled, the foundations of the mountains were moved, and shaken, because he was angry with them.

22:9. A smoke went up from his nostrils, and a devouring fire out of his mouth: coals were kindled by it.

22:10. He bowed the heavens, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

22:11. And he rode upon the cherubims, and flew: and slid upon the wings of the wind.

22:12. He made darkness a covering round about him: dropping waters out of the clouds of the heavens.

22:13. By the brightness before him, the coals of fire were kindled.

22:14. The Lord shall thunder from heaven: and the most high shall give forth his voice.

22:15. He shot arrows and scattered them: lightning, and consumed them.

22:16. And the overflowings of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid open at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the spirit of his wrath.

22:17. He sent from on high, and took me, and drew me out of many waters.

22:18. He delivered me from my most mighty enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.

22:19. He prevented me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my stay.

22:20. And he brought me forth into a large place, he delivered me, because I pleased him.

22:21. The Lord will reward me according to my justice: and according to the cleanness of my hands he will render to me.

22:22. Because I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22:23. For all his judgments are in my sight: and his precepts I have not removed from me.

22:24. And I shall be perfect with him: and shall keep myself from my iniquity.

22:25. And the Lord will recompense me according to my justice: and according to the cleanness of my hands in the sight of his eyes.

22:26. With the holy one thou wilt be holy: and with the valiant perfect.

22:27. With the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted.

22:28. And the poor people thou wilt save: and with thy eyes thou shalt humble the haughty.

22:29. For thou art my lamp O Lord: and thou, O Lord, wilt enlighten my darkness.

22:30. For in thee I will run girded: in my God I will leap over the wall.

22:31. God, his way is immaculate, the word of the Lord is tried by fire: he is the shield of all that trust in him.