The Bible, Douay Rheims, Book 12: 4 Kings

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14:22. He built Elath, and restored it to Juda, after that the king
slept with his fathers.

14:23. In the fifteenth year of Amasias, son of Joas, king of Juda,
reigned Jeroboam, the son of Joas, king of Israel, in Samaria, one and
forty years:

14:24. And he did that which is evil before the Lord. He departed not
from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.

14:25. He restored the borders of Israel from the entrance of Emath,
unto the sea of the wilderness, according to the word of the Lord, the
God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant, Jonas, the son of Amathi,
the prophet, who was of Geth, which is in Opher.

Opher... The tribe of Zabulon.

14:26. For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was
exceedingly bitter, and that they were consumed even to them that were
shut up in prison, and the lowest persons, and that there was no one to
help Israel.

14:27. And the Lord did not say that he would blot out the name of
Israel from under heaven; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the
son of Joas.

14:28. But the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and
his valour, wherewith he fought, and how he restored Damascus and Emath
to Juda, in Israel, are they not written in the book of the words of the
days of the kings of Israel?

14:29. And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel; and
Zacharias, his son, reigned in his stead.

4 Kings Chapter 15

The reign of Azarias, and Joatham in Juda: and of Zacharias, Sellum,
Manahem, Phaceia, and Phacee in Israel.

15:1. In the seven and twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel,
reigned Azarias, son of Amasias, king of Juda.

Azarias... Otherwise called Ozias.

15:2. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
two and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jechelia,
of Jerusalem.

15:3. And he did that which was pleasing before the Lord, according to
all that his father, Amasias, had done.

15:4. But the high places he did not destroy, for the people sacrificed,
and burnt incense in the high places.

15:5. And the Lord struck the king, so that he was a leper unto the day
of his death, and he dwelt in a free house apart: but Joatham, the
king's son, governed the palace, and judged the people of the land.

A leper... In punishment of his usurping the priestly function. 2 Par.
26.

15:6. And the rest of the acts of Azarias, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

15:7. And Azarias slept with his fathers: and they buried him with his
ancestors in the city of David, and Joatham, his son, reigned in his
stead.

15:8. In the eight and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned
Zacharias, son of Jeroboam, over Israel, in Samaria, six months:

15:9. And he did that which is evil before the Lord, as his fathers had
done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who
made Israel to sin.

15:10. And Sellum, the son of Jabes, conspired against him: and struck
him publicly, and killed him, and reigned in his place.

15:11. Now the rest of the acts of Zacharias, are they not written in
the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

15:12. This was the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Jehu, saying:
Thy children, to the fourth generation, shall sit upon the throne of
Israel. And so it came to pass.

15:13. Sellum, the son of Jabes, began to reign in the nine and
thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda: and reigned one month in
Samaria.

15:14. And Manahem, the son of Gadi, went up from Thersa, and he came
into Samaria, and struck Sellum, the son of Jabes, in Samaria, and slew
him, and reigned in his stead.

15:15. And the rest of the acts of Sellum, and his conspiracy which he
made, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the
kings of Israel?

15:16. Then Manahem destroyed Thapsa and all that were in it, and the
borders thereof from Thersa, because they would not open to him: and he
slew all the women thereof that were with child, and ripped them up.

15:17. In the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned
Manahem, son of Gadi, over Israel, ten years, in Samaria.

15:18. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not
from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, all
his days.

15:19. And Phul, king of the Assyrians, came into the land, and Manahem
gave Phul a thousand talents of silver to aid him and to establish him
in the kingdom.

15:20. And Manahem laid a tax upon Israel, on all that were mighty and
rich, to give the king of the Assyrians, each man fifty sicles of
silver: so the king of the Assyrians turned back, and did not stay in
the land.

15:21. And the rest of the acts of Manahem, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Israel?

15:22. And Manahem slept with his fathers: and Phaceia, his son, reigned
in his stead.

15:23. In the fiftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Phaceia,
the son of Manahem, over Israel, in Samaria, two years.

15:24. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not
from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.

15:25. And Phacee the son of Romelia, his captain, conspired against
him, and smote him in Samaria, in the tower of the king's house, near
Argob, and near Arie, and with him fifty men of the sons of the
Galaadites, and he slew him, and reigned in his stead.

15:26. And the rest of the acts of Phaceia, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Israel?

15:27. In the two and fiftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned
Phacee, the son of Romelia, over Israel, in Samaria, twenty years.

15:28. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not
from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.

15:29. In the days of Phacee, king of Israel, came Theglathphalasar,
king of Assyria, and took Aion, and Abel Domum Maacha, and Janoe, and
Cedes, and Asor, and Galaad, and Galilee, and all the land of Nephthali:
and carried them captives into Assyria.

15:30. Now Osee, son of Ela, conspired, and formed a plot against
Phacee, the son of Romelia, and struck him, and slew him: and reigned in
his stead in the twentieth year of Joatham, the son of Ozias.

In the twentieth year of Joatham... That is, in the twentieth year, from
the beginning of Joatham's reign. The sacred writer chooses rather to
follow here this date than to speak of the years of Achaz, who had not
yet been mentioned.

15:31. But the rest of the acts of Phacee, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

15:32. In the second year of Phacee, the son of Romelia king of Israel,
reigned Joatham, son of Ozias, king of Juda.

15:33. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jerusa,
the daughter of Sadoc.

15:34. And he did that which was right before the Lord: according to all
that his father Ozias had done, so did he.

15:35. But the high places he took not away: the people still
sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places: he built the highest
gate of the house of the Lord.

15:36. But the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Juda?

15:37. In those days the Lord began to send into Juda, Rasin king of
Syria, and Phacee the son of Romelia.

15:38. And Joatham slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in
the city of David, his father; and Achaz, his son, reigned in his stead.

4 Kings Chapter 16

The wicked reign of Achaz: the kings of Syria and Israel war against
him: he hireth the king of the Assyrians to assist him: he causeth an
altar to be made after the pattern of that of Damascus.

16:1. In the seventeenth year of Phacee, the son of Romelia reigned
Achaz, the son of Joatham, king of Juda.

16:2. Achaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did not that which was pleasing in the
sight of the Lord, his God, as David, his father.

16:3. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel: moreover, he
consecrated also his son, making him pass through the fire, according to
the idols of the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children of
Israel.

16:4. He sacrificed also, and burnt incense in the high places, and on
the hills, and under every green tree.

16:5. Then Rasin, king of Syria, and Phacee, son of Romelia, king of
Israel, came up to Jerusalem to fight: and they besieged Achaz, but were
not able to overcome him.

16:6. At that time Rasin, king of Syria, restored Aila to Syria, and
drove the men of Juda out of Aila: and the Edomites came into Aila, and
dwelt there unto this day.

16:7. And Achaz sent messengers to Theglathphalasar, king of the
Assyrians, saying: I am thy servant, and thy son: come up, and save me
out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of
Israel, who are risen up together against me.

16:8. And when he had gathered together the silver and gold that could
be found in the house of the Lord, and in the king's treasures, he sent
it for a present to the king of the Assyrians.

16:9. And he agreed to his desire: for the king of the Assyrians went up
against Damascus, and laid it waste: and he carried away the inhabitants
thereof to Cyrene; but Rasin he slew.

16:10. And king Achaz went to Damascus to meet Theglathphalasar, king of
the Assyrians, and when he had seen the altar of Damascus, king Achaz
sent to Urias, the priest, a pattern of it, and its likeness, according
to all the work thereof.

16:11. And Urias, the priest, built an altar according to all that king
Achaz had commanded from Damascus so did Urias, the priest, until king
Achaz came from Damascus.

16:12. And when the king was come from Damascus, he saw the altar and
worshipped it: and went up and offered holocausts, and his own
sacrifice;

16:13. And he offered libations, and poured the blood of the peace
offerings, which he had offered, upon the altar.

16:14. But the altar of brass that was before the Lord, he removed from
the face of the temple, and from the place of the altar, and from the
place of the temple of the Lord: and he set it at the side of the altar
towards the north.

16:15. And king Achaz commanded Urias, the priest, saying: Upon the
great altar offer the morning holocaust, and the evening sacrifice, and
the king's holocaust, and his sacrifice, and the holocaust of the whole
people of the land, and their sacrifices, and their libations: and all
the blood of the holocaust, and all the blood of the victim, thou shalt
pour out upon it: but the altar of brass shall be ready at my pleasure.

16:16. So Urias, the priest, did according to all that king Achaz had
commanded him.

16:17. And king Achaz took away the graven bases, and the laver that was
upon them: and he took down the sea from the brazen oxen that held it
up, and put it upon a pavement of stone.

16:18. The Musach also for the sabbath, which he had built in the
temple, and the king's entry from without, he turned into the temple of
the Lord, because of the king of the Assyrians.

Musach... The covert, or pavilion, or tribune, for the king.

16:19. Now the rest of the acts of Achaz which he did, are they not
written in the book of the words of the of the days of the kings of
Juda?

16:20. And Achaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the
city of David, and Ezechias, his son, reigned in his stead.

4 Kings Chapter 17

The reign of Osee. The Israelites for their sins are carried into
captivity: other inhabitants are sent to Samaria, who make a mixture of
religion.

17:1. In the twelfth year of Achaz king of Juda, Osee the son of Ela
reigned in Samaria, over Israel, nine years.

In the twelfth year of Achaz king of Juda... He began to reign before:
but was not in quiet possession of the kingdom to the twelfth year of
Achaz.

17:2. And he did evil before the Lord: but not as the kings of Israel
that had been before him.

17:3. Against him came up Salmanasar, king of the Assyrians; and Osee
became his servant, and paid him tribute.

17:4. And when the king of the Assyrians found that Osee, endeavouring
to rebel, had sent messengers to Sua, the king of Egypt, that he might
not pay tribute to the king of the Assyrians, as he had done every year,
he besieged him, bound him, and cast him into prison.

17:5. And he went through all the land: and going up to Samaria, he
besieged it three years.

17:6. And in the ninth year of Osee, the king of the Assyrians took
Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria: and he placed them in Hala,
and Habor, by the river of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes.

17:7. For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the
Lord, their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, from under
the hand of Pharao, king of Egypt; and they worshipped strange gods.

17:8. And they walked according to the way of the nations which the Lord
had destroyed in the sight of the children of Israel, and of the kings
of Israel: because they had done in like manner.

17:9. And the children of Israel offended the Lord, their God, with
things that were not right: and built them high places in all their
cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

17:10. And they made them statues and groves on every high hill, and
under every shady tree:

17:11. And they burnt incense there upon altars, after the manner of the
nations which the Lord had removed from their face: and they did wicked
things, provoking the Lord.

17:12. And they worshipped abominations, concerning which the Lord had
commanded them that they should not do this thing.

17:13. And the Lord testified to them in Israel, and in Juda, by the
hand of all the prophets and seers, saying: Return from your wicked
ways, and keep my precepts, and ceremonies, according to all the law
which I commanded your fathers: and as I have sent to you in the hand of
my servants the prophets.

17:14. And they hearkened not, but hardened their necks like to the neck
of their fathers, who would not obey the Lord, their God.

17:15. And they rejected his ordinances, and the covenant that he made
with their fathers, and the testimonies which he testified against them:
and they followed vanities, and acted vainly: and they followed the
nations that were round about them, concerning which the Lord had
commanded them that they should not do as they did.

17:16. And they forsook all the precepts of the Lord, their God: and
made to themselves two molten calves, and groves, and adored all the
host of heaven: and they served Baal,

17:17. And consecrated their sons, and their daughters, through fire:
and they gave themselves to divinations, and soothsayings: and they
delivered themselves up to do evil before the Lord, to provoke him.

17:18. And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from
his sight, and there remained only the tribe of Juda.

17:19. But neither did Juda itself keep the commandments of the Lord,
their God: but they walked in the errors of Israel, which they had
wrought.

17:20. And the Lord cast off all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them,
and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, till he cast them away
from his face:

17:21. Even from that time, when Israel was rent from the house of
David, and made Jeroboam, son of Nabat, their king: for Jeroboam
separated Israel from the Lord, and made them commit a great sin.

17:22. And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam,
which he had done: and they departed not from them,

17:23. Till the Lord removed Israel from his face, as he had spoken in
the hand of all his servants, the prophets: and Israel was carried away
out of their land to Assyria, unto this day.

17:24. And the king of the Assyrians brought people from Babylon, and
from Cutha, and from Avah, and from Emath, and from Sepharvaim: and
placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel:
and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

17:25. And when they began to dwell there, they feared not the Lord: and
the Lord sent lions among them, which killed them.

17:26. And it was told the king of the Assyrians, and it was said: The
nations which thou hast removed, and made to dwell in the cities of
Samaria, know not the ordinances of the God of the land: and the Lord
hath sent lions among them: and behold they kill them, because they know
not the manner of the God of the land.

17:27. And the king of the Assyrians commanded, saying: Carry thither
one of the priests whom you brought from thence captive, and let him go,
and dwell with them: and let him teach them the ordinances of the God of
the land.

17:28. So one of the priests, who had been carried away captive from
Samaria, came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should
worship the Lord.

17:29. And every nation made gods of their own and put them in the
temples of the high places, which the Samaritans had made, every nation
in their cities where they dwelt.

17:30. For the men of Babylon made Sochothbenoth: and the Cuthites made
Nergel: and the men of Emath made Asima.

17:31. And the Hevites made Nebahaz, and Tharthac. And they that were
of Sepharvaim burnt their children in fire, to Adramelech and Anamelech,
the gods of Sepharvaim.

17:32. And nevertheless they worshipped the Lord. And they made to
themselves, of the lowest of the people, priests of the high places, and
they placed them in the temples of the high places.

17:33. And when they worshipped the Lord, they served also their own
gods, according to the custom of the nations out of which they were
brought to Samaria:

17:34. Unto this day they follow the old manner: they fear not the Lord,
neither do they keep his ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and the
commandment, which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he
surnamed Israel:

17:35. With whom he made a covenant, and charged them, saying: You shall
not fear strange gods, nor shall you adore them, nor worship them, nor
sacrifice to them.

17:36. But the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
with great power, and a stretched out arm, him shall you fear, and him
shall you adore, and to him shall you sacrifice.

17:37. And the ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and the commandment,
which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do them always: and you
shall not fear strange gods.

17:38. And the covenant that he made with you, you shall not forget:
neither shall ye worship strange Gods,

17:39. But fear the Lord, your God, and he shall deliver you out of the
hand of all your enemies.

17:40. But they did not hearken to them, but did according to their old
custom.

17:41. So these nations feared the Lord, but nevertheless served also
their idols: their children also, and grandchildren, as their fathers
did, so do they unto this day.

4 Kings Chapter 18

The reign of Ezechias: he abolisheth idolatry and prospereth.
Sennacherib cometh up against him: Rabsaces soliciteth the people to
revolt; and blasphemeth the Lord.

18:1. In the third year of Osee, the son of Ela, king of Israel, reigned
Ezechias, the son of Achaz, king of Juda.

18:2. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he
reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was
Abi, the daughter of Zacharias.

18:3. And he did that which was good before the Lord, according to all
that David, his father, had done:

18:4. He destroyed the high places, and broke the statues in pieces, and
cut down the groves, and broke the brazen serpent, which Moses had made:
for till that time the children of Israel burnt incense to it: and he
called its name Nohestan.

And he called its name Noheston... That is, their brass; or a little
brass. So he called it in contempt, because they had made an idol of it.

18:5. He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel: so that after him there
was none like him among all the kings of Juda, nor any of them that were
before him:

18:6. And he stuck to the Lord, and departed not from his steps, but
kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.

18:7. Wherefore the Lord also was with him, and in all things, to which
he went forth, he behaved himself wisely. And he rebelled against the
king of the Assyrians, and served him not.

18:8. He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza, and all their borders,
from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

18:9. In the fourth year of king Ezechias, which was the seventh vear of
Osee, the son of Ela, king of Israel, Salmanasar, king of the Assyrians,
came up to Samaria, and besieged it,

18:10. And took it. For after three years, in the sixth year of
Ezechias, that is, in the ninth year of Osee, king of Israel, Samaria
was taken:

18:11. And the king of the Assyrians carried away Israel into Assyria,
and placed them in Hala, and in Habor, by the rivers of Gozan, in the
cities of the Medes.

18:12. Because they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord, their God,
but transgressed his covenant: all that Moses, the servant of the Lord,
commanded, they would not hear, nor do.

18:13. In the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, Sennacherib, king of the
Assyrians, came up against the fenced cities of Juda, and took them.

18:14. Then Ezechias, king of Juda, sent messengers to the king of the
Assyrians, to Lachis, saying: I have offended, depart from me: and all
that thou shalt put upon me, I will bear. And the king of the Assyrians
put a tax upon Ezechias, king of Juda, of three hundred talents of
silver, and thirty talents of gold.

18:15. And Ezechias gave all the silver that was found in the house of
the Lord, and in the king's treasures.

18:16. At that time Ezechias broke the doors of the temple of the Lord,
and the plates of gold which he had fastened on them, and gave them to
the king of the Assyrians.

18:17. And the king of the Assyrians sent Tharthan, and Rabsaris, and
Rabsaces, from Lachis, to king Ezechias, with a strong army, to
Jerusalem: and they went up and came to Jerusalem, and they stood by the
conduit of the upper pool, which is in the way of the fuller's field.

18:18. And they called for the king: and there went out to them Eliacim,
the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna, the scribe, and
Joahe, the son of Asaph, the recorder.

18:19. And Rabsaces said to them: Speak to Ezechias: Thus saith the
great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this confidence, wherein
thou trustest?

18:20. Perhaps thou hast taken counsel, to prepare thyself for battle.
On whom dost thou trust, that thou darest to rebel?

18:21. Dost thou trust in Egypt a staff of a broken reed, upon which if
a man lean, it will break and go into his hand, and pierce it? so is
Pharao, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him.

18:22. But if you say to me: We trust in the Lord, our God: is it not
he, whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away: and hath
commanded Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar in
Jerusalem?

18:23. Now therefore come over to my master, the king of the Assyrians,
and I will give you two thousand horses, and see whether you be able to
have riders for them.

18:24. And how can you stand against one lord of the least of my
master's servants? Dost thou trust in Egypt for chariots and for
horsemen?

18:25. Is it without the will of the Lord that I am come up to this
place to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up to this land, and
destroy it.

18:26. Then Eliacim, the son of Helcias, and Sobna, and Joahe, said to
Rabsaces: We pray thee, speak to us, thy servants, in Syriac: for we
understand that tongue: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in
the hearing of the people that are upon the wall.

18:27. And Rabsaces answered them, saying: Hath my master sent me to thy
master, and to thee, to speak these words, and not rather to the men
that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink
their urine with you?

18:28. Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews'
language, and said: Hear the word of the great king, the king of the
Assyrians.

18:29. Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you: for he shall
not be able to deliver you out of my hand.

18:30. Neither let him make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will
surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the
king of the Assyrians.

18:31. Do not hearken to Ezechias. For thus saith the king of the
Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out to
me: and every man of you shall eat of his own vineyard, and of his own
fig tree: and you shall drink water of your own cisterns,

18:32. Till I come, and take you away, to a land, like to your own land,
a fruitful land, and plentiful in wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a
land of olives, and oil, and honey, and you shall live, and not die.
Hearken not to Ezechias, who deceiveth you, saying: The Lord will
deliver us.

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