The Bible, Douay Rheims, Book 12: 4 Kings

U >> Unknown >> The Bible, Douay Rheims, Book 12: 4 Kings

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

This eBook was produced by David Widger [widger@cecomet.net]
from etext #1581 prepared by Dennis McCarthy, Atlanta, Georgia
and Tad Book, student, Pontifical North American College, Rome.

THE HOLY BIBLE

Translated from the Latin Vulgate

Diligently Compared with the Hebrew, Greek,
and Other Editions in Divers Languages

THE OLD TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Douay
A.D. 1609 & 1610

and

THE NEW TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Rheims
A.D. 1582

With Annotations

The Whole Revised and Diligently Compared with
the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner
A.D. 1749-1752

THE FOURTH BOOK OF KINGS

4 Kings Chapter 1

Ochozias sendeth to consult Beelzebub: Elias foretelleth his death: and
causeth fire to come down from heaven, upon two captains and their
companies.

1:1. And Moab rebelled against Israel, after the death of Achab.

1:2. And Ochozias fell through the lattices of his upper chamber, which
he had in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, saying to them:
Go, consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron, whether I shall recover of
this my illness.

1:3. And an angel of the Lord spoke to Elias, the Thesbite, saying:
Arise, and go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say
to them: Is there not a God in Israel, that ye go to consult Beelzebub,
the god of Accaron?

1:4. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord: From the bed, on which thou art
gone up, thou shalt not come down, but thou shalt surely die. And Elias
went away.

1:5. And the messengers turned back to Ochozias. And he said to them:
Why are you come back?

1:6. But they answered him: A man met us, and said to us: Go, and return
to the king, that sent you, and you shall say to him: Thus saith the
Lord: Is it because there was no God in Israel, that thou sendest to
Beelzebub, the god of Accaron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from
the bed, on which thou art gone up, but thou shalt surely die.

1:7. And he said to them: What manner of man was he who met you, and
spoke these words?

1:8. But they said: A hairy man, with a girdle of leather about his
loins. And he said: It is Elias, the Thesbite.

1:9. And he sent to him a captain of fifty, and the fifty men that were
under him. And he went up to him, and as he was sitting on the top of a
hill, he said to him: Man of God, the king hath commanded that thou come
down.

1:10. And Elias answering, said to the captain of fifty: If I be a man
of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee, and thy fifty.
And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him, and the fifty
that were with him.

Let fire, etc... Elias was inspired to call for fire from heaven upon
these captains, who came to apprehend him; not out of a desire to
gratify any private passion; but to punish the insult offered to
religion, to confirm his mission, and to shew how vain are the efforts
of men against God, and his servants, whom he willeth to protect.

1:11. And he again sent to him another captain of fifty men, and his
fifty with him. And he said to him: Man of God: Thus saith the king:
Make haste and come down.

1:12. Elias answering, said: If I be a man of God, let fire come down
from heaven, and consume thee, and thy fifty. And fire came down from
heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

1:13. Again he sent a third captain of fifty men, and the fifty that
were with him. And when he was come, he fell upon his knees before
Elias, and besought him, and said: Man of God, despise not my life, and
the lives of thy servants that are with me.

1:14. Behold fire came down from heaven, and consumed the two first
captains of fifty men, and the fifties that were with them: but now I
beseech thee to spare my life.

1:15. And the angel of the Lord spoke to Elias, saying: Go down with
him, fear not. He arose therefore, and went down with him to the king,

1:16. And said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast sent
messengers to consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron, as though there
were not a God in Israel, of whom thou mightest inquire the word;
therefore, from the bed on which thou art gone up, thou shalt not come
down, but thou shalt surely die.

1:17. So he died, according to the word of the Lord, which Elias spoke;
and Joram, his brother, reigned in his stead, in the second year of
Joram, the son of Josaphat, king of Juda, because he had no son.

The second year of Joram, etc... Counted from the time that he was
associated to the throne by his father Josaphat.

1:18. But the rest of the acts of Ochozias, which he did, are they not
written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

4 Kings Chapter 2

Eliseus will not part from Elias. The water of the Jordan is divided by
Elias' cloak. Elias is taken up in a fiery chariot, and his double
spirit is given to Eliseus. Eliseus healeth the waters by casting in
salt. Boys are torn by bears for mocking Eliseus.

2:1. And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elias, into
heaven, by a whirlwind, that Elias and Eliseus were going from Galgal.

Heaven... By heaven here is meant the air, the lowest of the heavenly
regions.

2:2. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay thou here, because the Lord hath
sent me as far as Bethel. And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord liveth,
and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And when they were come
down to Bethel,

2:3. The sons of the prophets, that were at Bethel, came forth to
Eliseus, and said to him: Dost thou know that, this day, the Lord will
take away thy master from thee? And he answered: I also know it: hold
your peace.

The sons of the prophets... That is, the disciples of the prophets; who
seem to have had their schools, like colleges or communities, in Bethel,
Jericho, and other places in the days of Elias and Eliseus.

2:4. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay here, because the Lord hath sent me
to Jericho. And he said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I
will not leave thee. And when they were come to Jericho,

2:5. The sons of the prophets, that were at Jericho, came to Eliseus,
and said to him: Dost thou know that, this day, the Lord will take away
thy master from thee? And he said: I also know it: hold your peace.

2:6. And Elias said to him: Stay here, because the Lord hath sent me as
far as the Jordan. And he said: as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul
liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on together.

2:7. And fifty men, of the sons of the prophets, followed them, and
stood in sight, at a distance: but they two stood by the Jordan.

2:8. And Elias took his mantle, and folded it together, and struck the
waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and they both passed
over on dry ground.

2:9. And when they were gone over, Elias said to Eliseus: Ask what thou
wilt have me to do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And
Eliseus said: I beseech thee, that in me may be thy double spirit.

Double spirit... A double portion of thy spirit, as the eldest son and
heir: or thy spirit which is double in comparison of that which God
usually imparteth to his prophets.

2:10. And he answered: Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if
thou see me when I am taken from thee, thou shalt have what thou hast
asked: but if thou see me not, thou shalt not have it.

2:11. And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold, a fiery
chariot and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias went up by
a whirlwind into heaven.

2:12. And Eliseus saw him, and cried: My father, my father, the chariot
of Israel, and the driver thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took
hold of his own garments, and rent them in two pieces.

2:13. And he took up the mantle of Elias, that fell from him: and going
back, he stood on the bank of the Jordan;

2:14. And he struck the waters with the mantle of Elias, that had fallen
from him, and they were not divided. And he said: Where is now the God
of Elias? And he struck the waters, and they were divided hither and
thither, and Eliseus passed over.

2:15. And the sons of the prophets, at Jericho, who were over against
him, seeing it, said: The spirit of Elias hath rested upon Eliseus. And
coming to meet him, they worshipped him, falling to the ground.

They worshipped him... viz., with an inferior, yet religious veneration,
not for any temporal, but spiritual excellency.

2:16. And they said to him: Behold, there are with thy servants, fifty
strong men, that can go, and seek thy master, lest, perhaps, the spirit
of the Lord, hath taken him up and cast him upon some monntain, or into
some valley. And he said: Do not send.

2:17. But they pressed him, till he consented, and said: Send. And they
sent fifty men: and they sought three days, but found him not.

2:18. And they came back to him: for he abode at Jericho, and he said to
them: Did I not say to you? Do not send.

2:l9. And the men of the city, said to Eliseus: Behold the situation of
this city is very good, as thou, my lord, seest: but the waters are very
bad, and the ground barren.

2:20. And he said: Bring me a new vessel, and put salt into it. And when
they had brought it,

2:21. He went out to the spring of the waters, and cast the salt into
it, and said: Thus saith the Lord: I have healed these waters, and there
shall be no more in them death or barrenness.

2:22. And the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of
Eliseus, which he spoke.

2:23. And he went up from thence to Bethel: and as he was going up by
the way, little boys came out of the city and mocked him, saying: Go up,
thou bald head, go up, thou bald head.

2:24. And looking back, he saw them, and cursed them in the name of the
Lord: and there came forth two bears out of the forest, and tore of
them, two and forty boys.

Cursed them... This curse, which was followed by so visible a judgment
of God, was not the effect of passion, or of a desire of revenging
himself; but of zeal for religion, which was insulted by these boys, in
the person of the prophet; and of a divine inspiration: God punishing in
this manner the inhabitants of Bethel, (the chief seat of the calf
worship,) who had trained up their children in a prejudice against the
true religion and its ministers.

2:25. And from thence he went to mount Carmel, and from thence he
returned to Samaria.

4 Kings Chapter 3

The kings of Israel, Juda, and Edom, fight against the king of Moab.
They want water, which Eliseus procureth without rain: and prophesieth
victory. The king of Moab is overthrown, his city is besieged: he
sacrificeth his firstborn son: so the Israelites raise the siege.

3:1. And Joram the son of Achab, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, in the
eighteenth year of Josaphat, king of Juda. And he reigned twelve years.

3:2. And he did evil before the Lord, but not like his father and his
mother: for he took away the statues of Baal, which his father had made.

3:3. Nevertheless, he stuck to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat,
who made Israel to sin, nor did he depart from them.

3:4. Now Mesa, king of Moab, nourished many sheep, and he paid to the
king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams,
with their fleeces.

3:5. And when Achab was dead, he broke the league which he had made with
the king of Israel.

3:6. And king Joram went out that day from Samaria, and mustered all
Israel.

3:7. And he sent to Josaphat; king of Juda, saying: The king of Moab is
revolted from me: come with me against him to battle. And he answered: I
will come up: he that is mine, is thine: my people are thy people: and
my horses, thy horses.

3:8. And he said: Which way shall we go up? But he answered: By the
desert of Edom.

3:9. So the king of Israel, and the king of Juda, and the king of Edom,
went, and they fetched a compass of seven days journey, and there was no
water for the army, and for the beasts, that followed them.

3:10. And the king of Israel said: Alas, alas, alas, the Lord hath
gathered us three kings together, to deliver us into the hands of Moab.

3:11. And Josaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that
we may beseech the Lord by him? And one of the servants of the king of
Israel answered: Here is Eliseus, the son of Saphat, who poured water on
the hands of Elias.

3:12. And Josaphat said: The word of the Lord is with him. And the king
of Israel, and Josaphat, king of Juda, and the king of Edom, went down
to him.

3:13. And Eliseus said to the king of Israel: What have I to do with
thee? go to the prophets of thy father, and thy mother. And the king of
Israel said to him: Why hath the Lord gathered together these three
kings, to deliver them into the hands of Moab?

3:14. And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord of hosts liveth, in whose
sight I stand, if I did not reverence the face of Josaphat, king of
Juda, I would not have hearkened to thee, nor looked on thee.

3:15. But now bring me hither a minstrel. And when the minstrel played,
the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he said:

3:16. Thus saith the Lord: Make the channel of this torrent full of
ditches.

3:17. For thus saith the Lord: You shall not see wind, nor rain: and yet
this channel shall be filled with waters, and you shall drink, you and
your families, and your beasts.

3:18. And this is a small thing in the sight of the Lord: moreover, he
will deliver, also, Moab into your hands.

3:19. And you shall destroy every fenced city, and every choice city,
and shall cut down every fruitful tree, and shall stop up all the
springs of waters, and every goodly field you shall cover with stones.

3:20. And it came to pass, in the morning, when the sacrifices used to
be offered, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country
was filled with water.

3:21. And all the Moabites hearing that the kings were come up to fight
against them, gathered together all that were girded with a belt upon
them, and stood in the borders.

3:22. And they rose early in the morning, and the sun being now up, and
shining upon the waters, the Moabites saw the waters over against them
red, like blood,

3:23. And they said: It is the blood of the sword: the kings have fought
among themselves, and they have killed one another: go now, Moab, to the
spoils.

3:24. And they went into the camp of Israel: but Israel rising up,
defeated Moab, who fled before them. And they being conquerors, went and
smote Moab.

3:25. And they destroyed the cities: And they filled every goodly field,
every man casting his stone: and they stopt up all the springs of
waters: and cut down all the trees that bore fruit, so that brick walls
only remained: and the city was beset by the slingers, and a great part
thereof destroyed.

Brick walls only remained... It was the proper name of the capital city
of the Moabites. In Hebrew, Kir-Haraseth.

3:26. And when the king of Moab saw this, to wit, that the enemies had
prevailed, he took with him seven hundred men that drew the sword, to
break in upon the king of Edom: but they could not.

3:27. Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his
stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall: and there was
great indignation in Israel, and presently they departed from him, and
returned into their own country.

4 Kings Chapter 4

Miracles of Eliseus. He raiseth a dead child to life.

4:1. Now a certain woman of the wives of the prophets, cried to Eliseus,
saying: Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou knowest that thy
servant was one that feared God, and behold the creditor is come to take
away my two sons to serve him.

4:2. And Eliseus said to her: What wilt thou have me do for thee? Tell
me, what hast thou in thy house? And she answered: I, thy handmaid,
have nothing in my house but a little oil, to anoint me.

4:3. And he said to her: Go, borrow of all thy neighbours empty vessels,
not a few.

4:4. And go in, and shut thy door, when thou art within, and thy sons:
and pour out thereof into all those vessels: and when they are full,
take them away.

4:5. So the woman went, and shut the door upon her, and upon her sons:
they brought her the vessels, and she poured in.

4:6. And when the vessels were full, she said to her son: Bring me yet a
vessel. And he answered: I have no more. And the oil stood.

4:7. And she came, and told the man of God. And he said: Go, sell the
oil, and pay thy creditor: and thou and thy sons live of the rest.

4:8. And there was a day when Eliseus passed by Sunam: now there was a
great woman there, who detained him to eat bread: and as he passed often
that way, he turned into her house to eat bread.

4:9. And she said to her husband: I perceive that this is a holy man of
God, who often passeth by us.

4:10. Let us, therefore, make him a little chamber, and put a little bed
in it for him, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick, that when he
cometh to us he may abide there.

4:11. Now, there was a certain day, when he came, and turned into the
chamber, and rested there.

4:12. And he said to Giezi, his servant: Call this Sunamitess. And when
he had called her, and she stood before him,

4:13. He said to his servant: Say to her: Behold, thou hast diligently
served us in all things; what wilt thou have me to do for thee? Hast
thou any business, and wilt thou, that I speak to the king, or to the
general of the army? And she answered: I dwell in the midst of my own
people.

4:14. And he said: What will she then that I do for her? And Giezi said:
Do not ask, for she hath no son, and her husband is old.

4:15. Then he bid him call her. And when she was called, and stood
before the door,

4:16. He said to her: At this time, and this same hour, if life be in
company, thou shalt have a son in thy womb. But she answered: Do not, I
beseech thee, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie to thy handmaid.

4:17. And the woman conceived, and brought forth a son in the time, and
at the same hour that Eliseus had said.

4:18. And the child grew. And on a certain day, when he went out to his
father to the reapers,

4:19. He said to his father: My head acheth, my head acheth. But he said
to his servant. Take him, and carry him to his mother.

4:20. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, she sat
him on her knees, until noon, and then he died.

4:21. And she went up, and laid him upon the bed of the man of God, and
shut the door: and going out,

4:22. She called her husband, and said: Send with me, I beseech thee,
one of thy servants, and an ass, that I may run to the man of God, and
come again.

4:23. And he said to her: Why dost thou go to him? to day is neither
new moon nor sabbath. She answered: I will go.

4:24. And she saddled an ass, and commanded her servant: Drive, and make
haste, make no stay in going: And do that which I bid thee.

4:25. So she went forward, and came to the man of God, to mount Carmel:
and when the man of God saw her coming towards, he said to Giezi, his
servant: Behold that Sunamitess.

4:26. Go, therefore, to meet her, and say to her: Is all well with thee,
and with thy husband, and with thy son? And she answered: Well.

4:27. And when she came to the man of God, to the mount, she caught hold
on his feet: and Giezi came to remove her. And the man of God said: Let
her alone for her soul is in anguish, and the Lord hath hid it from me,
and hath not told me.

4:28. And she said to him: Did I ask a son of my lord? did I not say to
thee: Do not deceive me?

4:29. Then he said to Giezi: Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy
hand, and go. If any man meet thee, salute him not: and if any man
salute thee, answer him not: and lay my staff upon the face of the
child.

Salute him not... He that is sent to raise to life the sinner
spiritually dead, must not suffer himself to be called off, or diverted
from his enterprise, by the salutations or ceremonies of the world.

4:30. But the mother of the child said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy
soul liveth, I will not leave thee. He arose, therefore, and followed
her.

4:31. But Giezi was gone before them, and laid the staff upon the face
of the child, and there was no voice nor sense: and he returned to meet
him, and told him, saying: The child is not risen.

St. Augustine considers a great mystery in this miracle wrought by the
prophet Eliseus, thus: By the staff sent by his servant is figured the
rod of Moses, or the Old Law, which was not sufficient to bring mankind
to life then dead in sin. It was necessary that Christ himself should
come, and by taking on human nature, become flesh of our flesh, and
restore us to life. In this Eliseus was a figure of Christ, as it was
necessary that he should come himself to bring the dead child to life
and restore him to his mother, who is here, in a mystical sense, a
figure of the Church.

4:32. Eliseus, therefore, went into the house, and behold the child lay
dead on his bed:

4:33. And going in, he shut the door upon him, and upon the child, and
prayed to the Lord.

4:34. And he went up, and lay upon the child: and put his mouth upon his
mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he
bowed himself upon him, and the child's flesh grew warm.

4:35. Then he returned and walked in the house, once to and fro: and he
went up, and lay upon him: and the child gaped seven times, and opened
his eyes.

4:36. And he called Giezi, and said to him: Call this Sunamitess. And
she being called, went in to him: and he said: Take up thy son.

4:37. She came and fell at his feet, and worshipped upon the ground: and
took up her son, and went out.

4:38. And Eliseus returned to Galgal, and there was a famine in the
land, and the sons of the prophets dwelt before him: And he said to one
of his servants: Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of
the prophets.

4:39. And one went out into the field to gather wild herbs: and he found
something like a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds of the field,
and filled his mantle, and coming back, he shred them into the pot of
pottage; for he knew not what it was.

Wild gourds of the field... Colocynthidas. They are extremely bitter,
and therefore are called the gall of the earth; and are poisonous if
taken in a great quantity.

4:40. And they poured it out for their companions to eat: and when they
had tasted of the pottage, they cried out, saying: Death is in the pot,
O man of God. And they could not eat thereof.

4:41. But he said: Bring some meal. And when they had brought it, he
cast it into the pot, and said: Pour out for the people, that they may
eat. And there was now no bitterness in the pot.

4:42. And a certain man came from Baalsalisa, bringing to the man of
God, bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and new corn in
his scrip. And he said: Give to the people, that they may eat.

4:43. And his servant answered him: How much is this, that I should set
it before a hundred men? He said again: Give to the people, that they
may eat: for thus saith the Lord: They shall eat, and there shall be
left.

4:44. So he set it before them: and they ate, and there was left,
according to the word of the Lord.

4 Kings Chapter 5

Naaman the Syrian is cleansed of his leprosy. He professeth his belief
in one God, promising to serve him. Giezi taketh gifts of Naaman, and is
struck with leprosy.

5:1. Naaman, general of the army, of the king of Syria, was a great man
with his master, and honourable: for by him the Lord gave deliverance to
Syria: and he was a valiant man, and rich, but a leper.

5:2. Now there had gone out robbers from Syria, and had led away captive
out of the land of Israel, a little maid, and she waited upon Naaman's
wife.

5:3. And she said to her mistress: I wish my master had been with the
prophet that is in Samaria: he would certainly have healed him of the
leprosy which he hath.

5:4. Then Naaman went in to his lord, and told him, saying: Thus and
thus said the girl from the land of Israel.

5:5. And the king of Syria said to him: Go; and I will send a letter to
the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of
silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment;

5:6. And brought the letter to the king of Israel, in these words: When
thou shalt receive this letter, know that I have sent to thee Naaman, my
servant, that thou mayst heal him of his leprosy.

5:7. And when the king of Israel had read the letter, he rent his
garments, and said: Am I God, to be able to kill and give life, that
this man hath sent to me to heal a man of his leprosy? mark, and see how
he seeketh occasions against me.

5:8. And when Eliseus, the man of God, had heard this, to wit, that the
king of Israel had rent his garments, he sent to him, saying: Why hast
thou rent thy garments? let him come to me, and let him know that there
is a prophet in Israel.

5:9. So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and stood at the door
of the house of Eliseus:

5:10. And Eliseus sent a messenger to him, saying: Go, and wash seven
times in the Jordan, and thy flesh shall recover health, and thou shalt
be clean.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6