Book 2

1. David had just returned from the slaughter of the foreigners when a man came to him bringing word of the defeat of the Israelites and the death of Saul and Jonathan. When David questioned him as to whether his report was true, the man said that Saul had been mortally wounded and, being too weak to take his own life, had begged him to lay the blow upon him as he fell upon his own sword, so that he might not be taken alive by the enemy; and that he had done as he was commanded and dispatched the king. To confirm his words he held out the royal crown from Saul's head and the gold from his arms, and offered them to David. David, then, and those with him mourned for Saul and Jonathan, but the man who had killed Saul he punished, because he had laid his hand upon the Lord's anointed. After this, at God's command, he went up to Hebron, a city of Judah, together with both his wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, and the men with him with all their households; and there he was chosen king by the tribe of Judah. David blessed the men of Jabesh for having buried the bodies of Saul and Jonathan.

But Abner, Saul's commander-in-chief, took the surviving son of his lord, Ishbosheth, and proclaimed him king over all Israel, apart from Judah. Ishbosheth was forty years old when he became king, and he held the kingship for two years. Abner was angry with the tribe of Judah for having made David king, and he marched against it. Joab, who was David's commander-in-chief, met him with a force. First twelve men from each army fought in single combat; and when all of these had fallen, the two armies engaged each other, and Abner's men were defeated. Abishai and Asahel were brothers of Joab. Asahel, who prided himself on the swiftness of his feet, pursued Abner from behind. Abner urged him to turn back, but when he could not persuade him, he struck him from behind and killed him with a mortal blow. The dead man's kinsmen, enraged at the slaying of their brother, pursued Abner. But he, standing on the top of one of the hills, cried out to Joab, saying, "Do not goad men of one nation into battle; for Asahel too was at fault in not heeding my advice to turn back, and from this he has been wounded and has died." Joab, taking these words as an appeal, ordered the trumpet to sound the recall and halted the pursuit. From that time civil war took its beginning among the Hebrews, and it continued for a very long while, with David's side growing stronger and Saul's side growing weaker.

To David, while he was in Hebron, there were born from different wives six sons, of whom the firstborn was Amnon. When Abner had lain with a concubine of Saul, Ishbosheth was indignant with him on account of his father's concubine. This became the cause of Abner's going over to David. David, sending to Ishbosheth, demanded his own wife Michal. Ishbosheth tore her away from the husband to whom Saul, after David's flight, had given her in marriage, and sent her to David. Then Abner, after conferring with the elders of the multitude of the Israelites and with the captains, persuaded them to go over to David, this being also the eager wish of all. Having done this, he came to David to receive sworn pledges. And when he had been gladly received, he departed to gather the multitude together, so that David might be proclaimed by all. But Joab, coming to Hebron and learning what concerned Abner, and fearing that he would surpass him, spoke much against the man to David; and when he could not persuade him, he sent secretly the man who should summon Abner as if from David, and Abner turned back. Joab, meeting him and pretending to confer with him on some more private matter, led him away from his own men and killed him, striking him with a sword beneath the flank. When David learned of this he grieved greatly, and cursed the man who had killed him, and mourned the dead and buried him with all honour. Ishbosheth, a little later, was treacherously slain while he slept. And those who killed him, being two men, took his head and brought it to David. But he not only judged that the men had done him no favour, but ordered that they be put to death, exacting the penalty for the murder. Then all Israel went to David, and they anointed him king over all the tribes. David was thirty years old when he became king over Judah, and he ruled in Hebron over the tribe of Judah alone for seven years, and over all Israel for thirty-three.

2. He set out from Hebron, he and those with him, and came to Jerusalem. At that time the city and that land were inhabited by the Jebusites, from whom the city was called Jebus; and they were related by descent to the Canaanites. They, setting the blind and the lame and others maimed upon the battlements by way of mockery, said that even these would not yield to David the entrance into the city. Angered at this, David took the city by siege, and having driven out the Jebusites from it and rebuilt it, he named it after himself the City of David, though in the time of Abraham it had been called Salem. And he dwelt in it, having built himself a palace. Still more children were born to him from many wives and concubines. The foreigners marched against David, but he, with God's assent, went out against them with his own army and conquered. Then they gathered in far greater numbers and came on again. When David again inquired of God, God commanded him to encamp with his army in the groves of the Place of Weeping, and not to attack the enemy until the groves should begin to shake. Doing so, he routed the enemy, and pursuing them to their own borders, slaughtered them. After this David summoned the priests and Levites and all the people to Kiriath-jearim. And the priests set the ark of the Lord upon a new cart, bringing it down to Jerusalem. The people and the king went singing before it as they marched. When the ark was in danger of overturning, Uzzah the son of Abinadab stretched out his hand and held it fast and steadied it so that it should not fall. He died at once, God being angered because he had touched the ark, since he was not a consecrated priest; and from this that place was called the Breach. David was afraid to bring the ark into the city, and set it in the house of Obed-edom, a man of the Levites; and it remained there three months, and the house of that man profited from much good. When David heard of this he brought the ark from there into his own city, seven choirs going before. He himself played upon the harp and danced in his rejoicing. But his wife Michal, seeing him dancing and leaping, reproached him as behaving unbecomingly; but he said that he felt no shame, since these acts, being done before God, were no unseemliness. They brought in the ark and set it in the tent that David had pitched for it. Then he wished to build a house for the ark. But God commanded the prophet Nathan to say to David, "You shall not build me a house, but your son, who after your death will succeed to your kingdom." When the prophet had reported this to David, he turned to giving thanks. After this he struck the foreigners and overcame them and their allies, and made Syria tributary, setting a garrison in Damascus. And on his return he struck Idumaea, and all the Idumaeans became servants to David. Remembering his covenant with Jonathan the son of Saul, David sought whether anyone of Saul's family was left; and learning that there survived a son of Jonathan, lamed in his feet, called Mephibosheth, he summoned him and gave the man all his grandfather's property, and commanded that he should always share his table, and assigned him his ancestral servants. To one of these, called Ziba, he entrusted the management of what had been given to his master, and the bringing in of the profit from it. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem and dined with the king.

3. About that time the king of the Ammonites died, who had been a friend to David, leaving his son Hanun, who succeeded to his father's rule. David therefore sent to Hanun men to comfort his grief for his father and to announce that David maintained their friendship with him. But Hanun, supposing those sent to be spies, shaved off half of their beards and cut away the lower halves of their cloaks, and sent the men away. When David saw them so disposed, he gave the choicest part of the army to his commander Joab and sent him against the Ammonites. Joab, engaging them, defeated both them and their allies the Syrians, and they turned to flight. But once more, taking on allies, they came to battle. David, engaging them with all his army, killed many; and Shobach, who led the army of the enemy, mortally wounded in the battle, died of his wound. The allies of the Ammonites, who were Syrians from Mesopotamia, surrendered themselves to David. Again he sent out Joab against the Ammonites, who shut them up in the mother-city of their land and laid siege to it.

David, passing his time in Jerusalem and seeing from the palace a woman bathing in her house, called Bathsheba, fell in love with her. He sent for the woman and lay with her. She conceived, and made the matter known to the king. He summoned her husband from the siege, a man named Uriah, and after asking about the army, and giving him a meal, bade him go off to his house. But Uriah did not go, saying that it was not right that the general and his fellow-soldiers should suffer hardship in the camp while he lay with his wife. When the king again urged him to go home, and received him with toasts, so that he was brought almost to drunkenness, Uriah slept before the gates of the palace. The king then sent Uriah back to the camp, putting into his hand a letter to Joab commanding him to set Uriah where the enemy was hardest to fight, and to draw back those with him, leaving him there alone, so that he might be killed. It happened according to the king's order, and Uriah died. His wife mourned for her husband, and when she had ceased from her mourning, David took her to wife; and she bore him a son. But God was angered, and sent Nathan to David. He came to the king and said, "There were two men, the one having flocks and herds, the other possessing a single ewe-lamb. When a stranger was a guest to the rich man, he did not sacrifice from his own, but taking the single ewe-lamb of the poor man slaughtered it and feasted his friend." And David condemned the man who had done this to repay the lamb fourfold, and to die himself. But Nathan said, "You have passed sentence against yourself, O king; for you are the man who has wrought this lawless deed." And he recounted to him the adultery and the murder, and the wrath of God on their account, and foretold what he would suffer, and that the son born to him of the adultery would die. But David cried out in deep feeling, "I have sinned against the Lord," and Nathan answered that the sin had been put aside for him by God. Afterward the child born of Bathsheba fell ill. And David grieved greatly, and for seven days he fasted and clothed himself in black, and lying upon sackcloth he begged God for the life of the child. On the seventh day the child died, but he, learning of it, rose up, and having washed and changed his clothes he gave thanks to God and ordered a table to be prepared for him. When the king's attendants marvelled at what had happened, he said, "While the child was still living I humbled myself and made supplication, hoping that God might be moved; but now that he is dead, grief and prayer for him are in vain." Bathsheba bore David yet another son, and he called him Solomon.

Joab, besieging the Ammonites, had the capture of the city very near at hand, and made this known to the king. He went there and took the city and gave it over to the army for plunder; and he took its king's crown for himself and wore it, a crown that drew a talent of gold and held a precious stone; and he destroyed the multitude of the city. So too he did with the other cities of the Ammonites, and returned to Jerusalem.

4. David had a daughter named Tamar, sister of Absalom by the same mother. Amnon, the firstborn son of David, was in love with her, and his love was so great that the lover fell sick. When his father came to visit him, he asked that Tamar might come to serve him; and his father consented. Tamar therefore came and prepared cakes for him. But he sent everyone away, and asked that his sister alone should serve him. When the girl was left alone, he forced her; and having violated her he straightway conceived a hatred opposite to his former love, and ordered her to leave at once, and commanded his servant to put her out. She, in great pain at the violence and the outrage, tore her tunic, and scattering ashes upon her head, went away weeping. Her brother Absalom counselled her to keep silent, but he was enraged against Amnon on his sister's account. When the king learned what had happened, he was grieved, but he was unwilling to pain Amnon, because he was his firstborn. After two years had passed, Absalom was about to shear his own flocks, and called his brothers to a feast. He commanded those who served him, as the feast went on, to strike Amnon and kill him. And the servants of Absalom did so. The rest of the king's sons, seeing what had happened, fled. When a report went abroad that Absalom had killed all the king's sons, David tore his garment and fell upon the ground, weeping. Meanwhile the king's sons came and announced the death of Amnon, mourning. Absalom fled to his grandfather on his mother's side, the king of Geshur, and spent three years there. When in time his anger had subsided, Joab devised a way to reconcile the king with Absalom. For he prepared a certain woman to come to the king in mourning and to lament that, having two sons, and one of them having killed the other, the kinsmen were seeking to destroy the survivor for the murder of his brother; and to beg the king to grant her the saving of her son's life. So she came to the king and said this with deep feeling, and the king promised to grant her the life of the son. The woman acknowledged her thanks to him, and said, "That I may have a pledge of what you have promised, first be reconciled yourself with your own son, and do not add a second, deliberate killing to the death of the son who died against your will." The king understood that the woman's words were a pretext, and that they had been devised by Joab, and gave him leave to bring back Absalom; and Joab went and brought him to Jerusalem, though it was not granted him to come into his father's sight.

After this the king was reconciled with Absalom, and calling him he forgave him when he asked pardon, and promised forgetfulness of his offence. Absalom acquired horses and chariots and many followers, and every day went up to the palace, and by conversing graciously with the multitudes he disposed many to favour him. Now when four years had slipped by since his return, he pretended to go off to Hebron for the sake of a sacrifice, as having made this a vow while in flight; and he was given leave by his father. Going there he sent to many, and very many flocked to him, and among the rest also Ahithophel, his father's counsellor. And he was proclaimed king by all. Learning this, David set out from Jerusalem with those about him; and the six hundred men who had been with him in Saul's time again set out with him. It was reported that Ahithophel too had gone over to Absalom, which made his fear the greater and his grief the more. He called upon God, and committed to him the judgement of all. Hushai, being a companion of David, by David's own design pretended to desert to Absalom. As David departed, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, came to him, leading a pair of asses laden with provisions, and accusing his master of having remained in Jerusalem and of expecting that the kingdom would come round to him, since the multitude would choose him. David was indignant at this, and gave to Ziba all that he had formerly given to Mephibosheth. Then on the road Shimei came upon him, a man of Saul's kindred, and threw stones at the king and cursed him and called him a man of blood and a transgressor. When those with David rushed to kill Shimei, the king would not allow it, saying, "The Lord has told him to do this; let him alone." And coming to the Jordan, he there refreshed those with him who had grown weary.

5. When Absalom had come to Jerusalem, he said to Hushai, who came to him, "Why, being a companion of my father, have you come to me, leaving him?" And he said, "I will be with him whom God has chosen, and I will follow him who has been chosen by all the people." Absalom asked Ahithophel what he should do. And he counselled him to lie with his father's concubines, so that thus all might know that the enmity between him and his father was irreconcilable. And Absalom did according to this counsel. When Ahithophel asked for ten thousand men, that he might at once pursue after King David and those with him, who were exhausted from their toil, and might strike David down and turn the rest back, Absalom asked Hushai concerning the counsel. He declared it not good, saying, "You are not ignorant of the valour and experience of your father and those with him. I think it necessary that you gather an army from the whole country, and so yourself march against your father and command the war in person, and you will certainly conquer, joining battle with few by means of many." And Absalom and those with him said, "The counsel of Hushai is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." Hushai charged Zadok and Abiathar the priests to make all this known to David. They sent to David men to inform him of what had happened. It was reported to Absalom about these men, and he pursued them. Knowing this, they took refuge in a certain house, and going down into a well they hid themselves and were not discovered, and coming out from there they reported to David what had been disclosed. He by night crossed the Jordan with those with him. Ahithophel, however, finding himself outdone, and knowing that ill would befall Absalom, went off to his house and hanged himself.

When David numbered those with him he found four thousand. And he divided the army into three parts, and set over each a general; but he himself was not permitted by his friends to march out with them, since they said that if they were routed with him present, they would fall from all hope, but if he were preserved, hope would still be left to them. He therefore sent his people out to fight, and exhorted them to spare Absalom if they should conquer. When the battle was joined, David's men prevailed, and they pursued Absalom as he fled. Carried upon a mule, and entering a thicket, his hair was caught in a great oak—for he wore his hair very long—and he was left hanging from the oak, while the mule went on. Someone, seeing Absalom hanging thus, informed Joab. He, striking him with three arrows in the heart, put him to death, and sent the man to announce the victory to the king. When the victory was reported to him, he asked whether his son was alive; and hearing that he was dead, he wept aloud. Joab, coming to the king, persuaded him by what he said to cease his mourning; and he ceased, and showing himself to the soldiers, praised them. And all submitted to him as before. He went off to Jerusalem; and as he went, Shimei met him, asking pardon for the wrongs he had committed. The king swore to remit the offence both to him and to all who had transgressed against him. Mephibosheth too met him. And the king asked why he had not shared in his flight. He said that Ziba was most to blame, in not having prepared for him what was needed for the departure; and that he himself, being lamed in his feet, was unable to follow; and that Ziba had also maliciously slandered him and lied against him. To this David granted him pardon and ordered that half of his estate be restored to him.

6. When the king came to Gilgal, all the people of Israel gathered there, accusing the tribe of Judah of having gone secretly to him. But they said that they ought not to be reproached for this, being kindred by descent to the king. This word seemed harsh to the people. And a certain Benjamite, a seditious and wicked man called Sheba, cried out, "We have no portion in David, nor inheritance in the son of Jesse," and sounding a horn he drew all away from David, only the tribe of Judah remaining with him. The king put forward Amasa as general and sent him to gather an army from the tribe of Judah, and to return within three days. But when Amasa delayed, Joab was ordered to take the force present there and march against Sheba, "so that," he said, "while we delay, the enemy may not the more prepare himself." And at once Joab went out to war. As he marched with a great force, Amasa met him; and Joab, as Amasa approached him, let the sword which he had girt on fall from its scabbard, and picked it up from the ground, and drawing near to greet Amasa thrust the blade into his belly and killed him. Taking over Amasa's people too, he pursued Sheba, who fled to a strong city. Joab besieged the city, and a wise woman from the wall cried out to him, "Why do you wish to overthrow a mother-city of Israel?" He answered, "Because of Sheba." She went to the citizens and persuaded them to cut off Sheba's head and throw it over the wall. When this had been done, Joab raised the siege and went off to Jerusalem, and was again appointed commander-in-chief of all the force.

After this there came a famine, and for three years it pressed upon the people. When the king inquired about this, God revealed that the famine came on account of the Gibeonites, and that they must receive satisfaction for those whom Saul had killed of them, in that he had not kept the oaths made to them by Joshua and the council of elders. The king therefore called the Gibeonites and asked what they would have done for them by way of atonement; and they asked that seven men be given them from the house of Saul. The king gave them the seven men as they asked, sparing Mephibosheth; and they, taking the men, killed them. And God brought rain down upon the land. After this, when there was a war against the foreigners, David with his own army pursued the enemy. And having become exhausted he was overcome with weakness; and one of the enemy, seeing him so disposed, rushed to strike him, but Abishai the brother of Joab, shielding the king, killed the foreigner. Because of this those about David swore that they would no longer allow him to go out to war. And again, when the foreigners marched out, the king sent an army against them and caused many to be slain, and the rest who were left to flee. After a short interval the foreigners came once more against the land of the Israelites. And there was among them a giant of a man, having six fingers on each hand and likewise on his feet; closing with him, Jonathan the nephew of David threw him down and stripped him, and gave the turn toward victory to his own people. From then on the foreigners no longer ventured to fight with the Hebrews.

7. Enjoying peace thereafter, David composed songs to God, and having fashioned instruments he taught the Levites to sing the hymns with them. The instruments were these: the harp had ten strings and was struck with a plectrum, while the lyre, having twelve notes, was plucked with the fingers; there were also cymbals of bronze, large and broad. About David too there was a company of noble men. The most distinguished of these were thirty-seven, who had often distinguished themselves in valour. Once, when the foreigners were encamped against Bethlehem, the king longed to drink water from the well in Bethlehem. And three of the brave men about him ran and passed through the middle of the enemy's camp and drew water from that well, and again passing through the enemy, who were astounded at their daring and stood still, brought the water to the king. But he said, "The Lord be merciful to me; I will not drink this, brought at the price of the men's blood and the peril of their lives." So he did not drink it, but poured it out as a libation to God.

Wishing to number all the people, he ordered Joab to make the counting. But when Joab did not approve the plan and said the act was not good, the king would not be persuaded. So Joab went and numbered the people, and the number of Israel was eight hundred thousand men of force drawing a sword, and five hundred thousand fighting men of the tribe of Judah. Then David repented and confessed that he had sinned. Gad the prophet, at God's command, went to David and said, "Choose one of these three, whichever is to your mind: whether you choose that there be famine in your land for seven years, or to be pursued by enemies for three months, or that death fall upon your people for three days." He said, "Things are narrow for me on every side, but it is better for me to fall into the hands of God." And death came upon the people from morning until the hour of the midday meal, and there died of all the people seventy thousand. And David supplicated God. The destroying angel stretched out his hand over Jerusalem. The king said therefore, "I have sinned, O Lord, I the shepherd; but the flock, the people, have not sinned. I am worthy of punishment, and not these." Moved by the king's contrition, God stayed the destruction, and through the prophet Gad commanded an altar to be set up on the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, and to sacrifice there. And David did so, having bought the threshing-floor from Ornan. As Josephus wrote, it is said that in that place Abraham brought Isaac to offer him as a whole burnt-offering. David also wished to build a temple to God there, but he was prevented by God.

When David had grown very old, he was sensitive to cold from his age. Therefore they chose a young girl—her name was Abishag—and the girl lay with the king and warmed him. But he did not know her, for through age he was unable for marital union. Adonijah, who was fourth among the king's sons and exceedingly handsome, seeing his father grown old, laid claim to the kingdom, with Joab the commander-in-chief and Abiathar the high priest supporting him. Once, having prepared a lavish sacrifice, he summoned his brothers and the leading men of the tribe of Judah and Abiathar and Joab; but Solomon and the prophet Nathan and Benaiah the commander of the bodyguard he did not call. Nathan therefore said to Bathsheba, "Have you heard that Adonijah has become king?" She went in to the king and said, "You swore, my lord the king, that Solomon your son should reign after you, and behold, Adonijah has become king, and you do not know it." While Bathsheba was still saying this, the prophet Nathan came in and asked the king whether Adonijah had become king with his consent. And the king swore by God that "this day Solomon shall be king." Calling the high priest Zadok and Benaiah, he ordered them to take with them the prophet and the men-at-arms of the royal court, and to set Solomon upon the king's mule, and leading him out beyond the city to the spring called Gihon, to anoint him with the holy oil, and to proclaim him king with trumpet-blasts upon the horns, and to escort him back through the middle of the city. And they at once did as they were ordered; and the proclamation of Solomon was noised abroad everywhere. When this became known to Adonijah and those feasting with him, the rest went off to their homes, but Adonijah, in great fear, took refuge at the altar and asked of Solomon pledges of his safety. Solomon forgave him his offence for the time, but said, "If hereafter he be found doing any evil, he shall be put to death."

Seeing his death drawing near, David summoned Solomon and charged him to keep the commandments of God and to govern according to his laws, "so that our seed," he said, "as the Lord promised me, may be upon my throne forever." And he added that he should not leave Joab unpunished, who had killed Abner and Amasa, nor indeed Shimei, who had cursed him as he fled. And after charging him with other things, and enjoining him to build a temple to the Lord, he gave him the plan of the temple's construction, and roused both him and the rulers and the tribe of Levi to the work with his words, saying that he was leaving much for the building of the temple—ten thousand talents of gold, a hundred thousand talents of silver, emerald and other precious stones, bronze and iron past counting, and other material in abundance; and that now he was adding to what had already been collected three thousand talents of pure gold for the inner sanctuary, and ten thousand staters, and ten thousand talents of silver. And if anyone had any precious stone, each brought it and gave it into the treasuries. A little later David died, having lived seventy years, having reigned in Hebron seven years and in Jerusalem thirty-three, a man who had achieved every virtue befitting a king. His son Solomon buried him royally in Jerusalem, and entombed abundant wealth with him.

8. When Solomon took over the kingdom he was very young, being in the twelfth year of his age. Now Adonijah went to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon and said, "You know that the kingdom belonged to me both by seniority of birth and by the choice of the people, but it passed to my brother Solomon, and I must love what has happened as having happened by the will of God. One request I ask: that the girl who lay with my father, Abishag, be given me in marriage, since my father, through age, never knew her, but she is still a virgin." Bathsheba undertook to convey his words to her son and to bring about the marriage for him most zealously. And going to her son she begged him to give Abishag to his brother Adonijah. But he, angered at the word, said he wondered whether she would not also think it right that he yield the kingdom to Adonijah as the elder. And at once he ordered Benaiah, the commander of the bodyguard, to kill Adonijah. He ordered Abiathar to go to his native place and to live in the fields, "for," he said, "all that you toiled together with my father saves you from death." So, as God had foretold to Eli, the honour of the priesthood was taken from the house of Ithamar and passed to Zadok, who was of the line of Phinehas. The general Joab, learning this and having become greatly afraid, took refuge at the altar, and when summoned said that he would never come out, but would die there and nowhere else. When this was reported to the king it persuaded him to send and kill Joab even there. From then on Benaiah was put forward as general of all the force, and Zadok was deemed worthy of the high priesthood. Shimei the king confined within Jerusalem, so as not to go out of it; otherwise he set death as the penalty for him. But after three years, when his servants had fled, he went out in search of them; and learning this, Solomon ordered the man to be put to death.

Solomon took to wife a daughter of Pharaoh, and raised the walls of Jerusalem higher and made them stronger. When God appeared to him in a dream, he told him to ask whatever he wished; and he asked that understanding and prudence be given to him. And God, accepting him for his request, promised to give him wisdom and a great mind such as no other before him nor any after him should have, and to add even what he had not asked—wealth and victory and renown—if he kept his commandments and his ordinances.

After this two women came to him; of whom the one said, "O king, we two dwelt together and no one was with us. We both bore a male child at the same time. And a little later this woman, lying upon her own son, found him dead when she awoke. And she put the dead child, while I slept, into my arms, and taking the living one from me made it her own. And when I perceived the deed I seek my child; but she does not give him to me." The other firmly maintained that the living child was her own, and the dead one her adversary's; and she swore she had not gone so far in wrongdoing. When those standing by were at a loss how the truth might be discerned, the king ordered the living child to be cut in two with a sword and a part given to each of the women. This the true mother of the infant took grievously, and refused the sentence, and begged that the child be given living to her adversary; but the false one, calling herself the mother of the child, both praised the judgement and urged on the division. And the king ordered the living child to be given to the woman who refused its division, saying, "This is its mother, who was in deep anguish when the child was about to be slaughtered." The whole people took this as a sure proof of the king's prudence.

He surpassed all who were before him in wisdom and prudence. He composed three thousand parables and five thousand songs, and he wrote on all things from the cedar to the hyssop, and he examined and philosophized concerning the nature of living creatures, the land-dwellers, the creatures of the air, and the swimmers, and their properties; and against demons he devised incantations for the cure of men, and left forms of exorcism by which the demons were driven out. And this remedy, Josephus says, was still in force down to his own day; and he relates a thing of this sort to confirm the account. One Eleazar of his own nation, he says, possessed a ring having beneath its seal a root such as Solomon had pointed out, and would bring it to the nostrils of the demoniac, and through the smelling, by the man's nostrils, the demon would be drawn out. Then, recalling Solomon, he would recite incantations such as Solomon had composed, and adjure the demon never to return into the man. He says that Eleazar did this in the presence of Vespasian and his sons; and to give proof of his power over the demons he would set a cup full of water and command the demon, as it went out of the sufferer, to overturn it; and the cup was overturned, none seeing him who overturned it.

9. He began the building of the temple in the fourth year of his reign, four hundred and forty years after the people's departure from Egypt. As to the measures of its height and length and the manner of its construction, the third book of Kings and Josephus, who writes of the temple in the eighth book of the Antiquities, do not agree, but in most points they differ. Whoever wishes to examine carefully the matters concerning the difference, and concerning the two cherubim of gold which he made and set in the inner sanctuary, and concerning the ark and the bronze sea and the lavers, and how great the bronze altar was, and what the golden table was like, and how many vessels of silver and of gold Solomon dedicated to the temple, and concerning the rest—the third book of Kings and Josephus the antiquarian will suffice to set out the exactness of each point. In seven years the king completed the temple and all that concerned it, and summoned the people to Jerusalem. And the priests took up the ark and the tabernacle which Moses had pitched and the vessels used in the sacrifices, and conveyed them to the temple, the king leading the way and all the multitude, and the Levites pouring libations and offering incense. And the ark was set in the inner sanctuary between the two cherubim, holding within it the two stone tablets. When the priests had come out from the inner sanctuary, the house was filled with the glory of the Lord, and a cloud was poured around the whole temple; from which they imagined that God had taken up his abode in the temple, having tabernacled in it. The king, rejoicing at this, gave thanks to God and blessed the people and supplicated that the deity might be attentive to all who prayed in it. Then he offered sacrifices upon the altar. And God, showing how graciously he had received them, caused fire to flash through the air and to be brought to the altar and to consume the whole sacrifice. Seeing this, the people blessed God, and the king gave thanks, and after a lavish festival they dismissed the assembly. A dream came to the king that God had heard his prayer, and that the temple would be preserved and he himself raised to the height of happiness, and that his descendants would rule the land, if he and they and the people did not transgress the divine commandments; but if not, God threatened to cut off his race root and branch, and to subject the people to slavery and countless afflictions, and to deliver the temple to burning and plunder, and the city to overthrow and pillage.

Thus then was the work of the temple completed by Solomon; and after this he built himself a costly and splendid palace, and he further repaired the walls of Jerusalem, and built other cities besides, and having subdued the Canaanites in Mount Lebanon, who had not before been subjected, he made them tributary. Hiram the king of the Tyrians sent him puzzles and riddling sayings, asking him to make them clear; and he solved them all and explained their meaning. Josephus records that these things are mentioned by ancient authors as well, by Dius and besides him Menander. When the wisdom and prudence of Solomon was noised abroad everywhere, a certain queen of Egypt and Ethiopia, who loved and sought wisdom, came to Jerusalem. The king received her with all honour, and the riddles which she set before him he readily solved, so that the queen was astounded and said she saw more than she had heard. She marvelled also at the palace and the lavishness of the banquets and the whole royal service, and the sacrifices in the temple and the good order of those who sacrificed. She presented the king with gold and precious stones and untold spices and balsam-roots, so that from her the balsam grew in Palestine. And Solomon in turn repaid the queen with many good things. And she returned to her own land.

10. But the king, who had become the most glorious of all before him and excelled in prudence and wealth, did not abide by the divine ordinances; falling sick with incontinence in matters of the flesh and maddened over women, he was not content with those of his own race, but married very many foreign women also, and to gratify them, through his love, he worshipped their gods as well. For he married seven hundred daughters of distinguished rulers and three hundred concubines, and the daughter of the king of the Egyptians. The Lord therefore said to Solomon, "Because you have not kept what I commanded you, I will tear apart your kingdom and give it to your servant. Yet I will not take the rule from you while you live, for your father's sake, but I will do this to your son when you are dead. And I will not take all the kingdom from him, but leaving him two tribes and Jerusalem for the sake of his grandfather David, I will give the ten to his servant."

Not much time had passed when Hadad too rose to war against Israel. This Hadad was an Idumaean of royal stock, who, when Joab subdued Idumaea in the days of David, being a small child, fled to Egypt, and being kindly received by Pharaoh was beloved and married the sister of Pharaoh's wife. Now this man, when he had grown to manhood and learned that David and Joab were dead, sought to return to his ancestral rule; but he was not permitted by Pharaoh. When, however, Solomon's affairs were now going badly, leave was granted to Hadad too, and he returned to Idumaea. But since that land was securely guarded, he went off to Syria, and getting a band of brigands about him he held it and plundered the land of the Hebrews.

Jeroboam, son of Nebat, while a small youth served the king. Solomon, seeing him noble in spirit, when he set a wall about Jerusalem appointed him overseer of the building. As Jeroboam was going somewhere, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him, and turning him aside from the road tore his own garment into twelve pieces and gave him ten, saying, "So shall the Lord tear apart the kingdom of Solomon, and to his son he will leave two tribes for the sake of his grandfather, but to you he will give the ten and will make you king over them. But do you hold fast to the laws of the Lord and be righteous." Greatly emboldened by this, Jeroboam attempted to make a revolt. And when the king learned of the matter he sought to kill him. But he fled to Egypt and lived there until Solomon died. King Solomon died, as the book of Kings records, having lived fifty-two years—for he is recorded to have come to the kingdom at twelve—and having reigned forty years; but as Josephus wrote, he lived ninety-four years and reigned eighty, living happily and gloriously, but transgressing in his old age, persuaded by foreign women through unholy loves and following their forms of worship.

11. He had as successor to the kingdom his son Rehoboam. And all the people gathered to him, and begged him to lighten for them the yoke of servitude which had been laid upon them by Solomon, and to show himself kinder than his father. He said that he would consider, and would speak after three days. Calling therefore the older of his father's servants, he inquired what answer he should give to the people; and they counselled him to speak to them more gently and not haughtily and with arrogance. But after the council of elders he shared his deliberation with the young men who had been brought up with him, telling them the counsel of the elders. They counselled him to speak more harshly to the people and to make his words proportionate to the dignity of his rule and to his royal worth. And he adhered to these; and when the multitude had again assembled he said, "If my father made your yoke hard, I myself will lay it on heavier; and if he used whips against you, I myself will chastise you with scorpions; and you will find my little finger thicker than my father's loins." When the multitude heard this they cried out, "What portion have we in David?" and in disgust they departed. When Rehoboam sent one of his men to speak to them and pacify them, they killed the man in their anger, stoning him to death.

Rehoboam, in fear, fled to Jerusalem, the tribe of Judah remaining with him and with it the tribe of Benjamin. But the rest, when Jeroboam had now returned from Egypt after Solomon's death, called him and chose him as king. Rehoboam prepared to fight for the kingdom against the Israelites and Jeroboam, but he was prevented by God through the prophet Shemaiah.

And Jeroboam, fearing that the multitude, going off to Jerusalem and mingling with those there, might turn back to their former king and forsake him, made two heifers of gold, and set the one in Bethel and the other in Dan. And assembling the multitude he said, "God is everywhere, O men, and not only in Jerusalem. Behold then, I have made two heifers in the name of God, and there is no longer any need for you to go to Jerusalem. Go to these and worship and sacrifice; for I will appoint priests too from among yourselves." Deceived by this, the people transgressed their ancestral customs and provoked God, so that Israel was even given over into captivity to foreigners. Having made priests and an altar, Jeroboam held a festival, and went up himself to the altar and the priests around it. And when he was now about to sacrifice, a prophet sent from God stood by and said, "Thus says the Lord: O altar, there shall be one from David called Josiah, who will sacrifice your priests upon you and burn their bones. And that it may be clear that my words are true, behold, the altar shall be rent, and the fatness upon it shall be poured out upon the ground." And at once the altar was rent and the fatness of the offerings was poured out. Jeroboam stretched out his hand, commanding the prophet to be seized. But it withered and remained motionless. When Jeroboam begged the prophet, he had his hand again moving and active. And he asked him to dine with him. But he would not consent, saying he had been forbidden by God to eat bread in that city or to drink water or to return by the way by which he had come into the city; and he went off, turning another way. Now there was a false prophet in that city who deceived Jeroboam and conversed with him to please him. This man, learning all that the prophet of God had said and done and that he was departing, pursued after him, and overtaking him asked him to turn back and be his guest. When the prophet refused, since God had forbidden it, "But I too am a prophet," said that wicked man, "and I have come by the command of God to bring you back to share my table." The prophet believed the words of the false prophet and returned. But when the prophet had been entertained there, a word of the Lord came that, because he had not kept what was commanded him, he would be killed on the way by a lion. And as he was returning a lion killed him and sat by, guarding the corpse and the beast of burden. Learning what had happened, the false prophet gathered the body of the dead man and buried it, and charged his own sons to bury him together with the prophet when he himself should die. Why did he contrive this? So that when, according to that prophecy, the altar should be overthrown, and the bones of the priests and false prophets given to the fire, he himself might escape the outrage, if he were laid together with the man of God.

12. So these things came about thus. But Jeroboam clung to the same impiety, which increased daily as he transgressed, and he sold the false priesthood of the high places to those who wished it for money. And this act was reckoned to him as sin, and it became the cause of the destruction and ruin of his house. But if the selling of that unholy priesthood for money was reckoned a sin, what would one say of those who sell and buy the truly divine priesthood, the priesthood that performs the awesome and bloodless sacrifice?

Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick; and the king sent his wife to Ahijah the prophet to ask whether he would live. She, having changed into the garb of a commoner, went off. But the prophet, knowing the deception, said, "Do not hide yourself, woman of Jeroboam; go and say to your husband that, since you have forsaken God and made for yourself molten gods, expect both that the kingdom will be taken away and that you yourself will be utterly destroyed with all your kin. And because, when you were impious, the multitude followed you, neither shall that go unpunished. But you, woman, go, and you will find your child dead, who will be buried with mourning; for this one alone of Jeroboam's house was good." The woman went off and found the child dead, and reported to her husband what came from the prophet. But he was in no way bettered by these things, being without understanding.

While Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, the priests and Levites among the Israelites, and all of the multitude who understood the good, departing from their own cities, came to Jerusalem; and from this the kingdom of Rehoboam grew. But he too became impious toward God, and all the house of Judah neglected the worship of God. Therefore Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem with a heavy force in the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign. When Rehoboam was shut up with the people in the city, he begged God to grant them deliverance, and they confessed how they had sinned against God. God, entreated, said he would not destroy them, but would give them as subjects to the Egyptian. When therefore Rehoboam received the Egyptian into the city upon terms, he broke the treaty and plundered the treasures of God and emptied the royal treasures, and took away the golden shields which Solomon had made and the golden spears which David had dedicated, all of them. Rehoboam died, having lived fifty-seven years, of which he reigned seventeen, leaving as successor his son Abijah, against whom Jeroboam was ever at war, as he was with Rehoboam too. Abijah did not cower before the assault, but drawing up his own men against him won a famous victory, so that Jeroboam no longer dared to draw up against him. Abijah died, having reigned in Jerusalem three years, doing what was wicked before the Lord. And his son Asa reigned, keeping the divine ordinances after the manner of David his own forefather.

Jeroboam too died, having completed twenty-two years in his rule. And his son Nadab succeeded him, who likewise became impious after his father. While besieging Gabathon, a city of the foreigners, he was plotted against by Baasha the son of Ahijah, and died after ruling two years. Baasha, having gained control of the kingdom of the ten tribes, utterly destroyed the whole race of Jeroboam. But he too, like Jeroboam, transgressed the law and likewise made the people sin. And God threatened him through Jehu the prophet that he would destroy his house as the house of Jeroboam. He too died, having reigned over Israel twenty-four years. And his son Elah became successor to his father's kingdom. Him Zimri, the commander of his cavalry, killed while he was drunk, after he had reigned two years, and took away both his kingdom and utterly destroyed the whole race of Baasha. But the army of the Israelites, which was besieging Gabathon, learning that Zimri had killed Elah and become king, proclaimed in the camp its own commander Omri, and, seizing beforehand with him the city Tirzah, took control of it. Zimri, the former king, slipping into the innermost part of the palace and setting it on fire, destroyed himself together with it, having held the rule seven days. Then the people were divided, and one part chose Zimri, and the other Tibni. But Omri's party prevailed, and having killed Tibni, secured for Omri an undisputed rule. He at first lived as king in Tirzah, and then on the mountain Mareon, on which he built a city which is called Samaria, he himself naming the mountain Samareus after the name of Shemer, from whom he had bought it. He became worse than those before him. And he ended his life in Samaria, having reigned twelve years. The kingdom passed to Ahab his son.

So the kings of the Israelites, one after another, were destroyed in a short time because of their transgression; but Asa the king of Jerusalem was beloved of God. In the tenth year of his reign the king of the Ethiopians marched against him with a heavy force. He called upon God as his ally; and engaging the Ethiopians he killed many, and pursued the rest who fled, and plundered their camp, and he and the people carried off much spoil. As the king and the army were returning, the prophet Azariah met them and said that God was the giver of the victory to him and to the people, since they cared for righteousness. And he promised happiness for the future to those who pursued virtue, but said that many sorrows would befall those who neglected God's commandments. Asa therefore, having lived his life in piety and come to a deep old age, died, having reigned forty-one years, leaving the rule to his own son Jehoshaphat.

13. Ahab had his palace in Samaria, having outrun those before him in impiety, and he was driven still further into wickedness by his wife Jezebel, who was the daughter of the king of Tyre and Sidon, a bold and reckless woman. She built a temple to her own god Baal, and planted a grove, and appointed priests and false prophets for him. But Elijah the prophet, from the city of Tishbe, in his zeal against the impieties of the king and the people, said to Ahab, "As the Lord lives, there shall be no rain except by my word." And having said this he went off to the brook Cherith at God's command; where he was fed by ravens, which brought him bread in the morning and meat in the evening, and the brook supplied him with drink. When the brook dried up, he went, obeying God, to Zarephath, a city between Sidon and Tyre. And before the city, meeting a certain woman, he begged her to bring him water. As the woman went, he asked her also to bring him bread. But she swore that she had only a single handful of flour and a very little oil, and that she was gathering sticks in order to go and make a little food for herself and her children, after which, when it was gone, they too would perish of hunger. But the prophet urged her to take courage; for neither would the flour fail from the vessel that held it, nor the oil from the cruse, until rain should come. She went, and fed the prophet, who was her guest, and herself and her children from that little flour, until the famine had passed. When the son of this woman fell sick and died, she blasphemed against the prophet. But he asked that the dead child be given to him. And taking it up to the upper chamber where he lived, he set it upon his bed; and supplicating God, he breathed three times upon the corpse, and it came to life. And he gave the child living to its mother; and she gave thanks.

After this God charged Elijah to go and foretell to Ahab that there would be rain. The famine had grown strong upon Samaria and the whole land. Ahab, taking with him his steward Obadiah, a good man, went out to see whether he might find fodder for the horses. He himself went one way, and Obadiah another, searching where they might find grass at springs or brooks. Elijah met Obadiah and asked him to announce him to the king. But he said that he was being sought eagerly by Ahab to kill him, if he should be found, and counselled him to hide himself; and he said that he himself was hiding and feeding and so saving a hundred prophets, since Jezebel had killed all the rest. But Elijah swore that he would appear to Ahab on that very day. Obadiah went off and told the king about Elijah. And when the king saw the prophet he asked whether he was the one who was troubling Israel. But Elijah said, "You rather, and your father's house, are troubling the people, having forsaken the Lord and honoured false gods. But gather to Carmel the people and your prophets and your wife's." When all had come together, Elijah said, "I alone am left a prophet of God, but the false prophets are very many. Give me therefore one bull for myself alone, and another for all of them, and having sacrificed the bulls let us lay the offerings upon wood, but let us bring no fire; and let each call upon his own god, and the one by whom fire of itself flashes out and consumes the wood and the offerings, let him be reckoned the true God." The multitude approved his words, and the priests of shame did so, and having sacrificed the calf and laid it upon wood without fire, they called upon Baal from morning until midday. Mocking them, the prophet counselled them to cry aloud, lest their god be asleep or busy about something. When nothing was accomplished though they begged much, the prophet took twelve stones according to each tribe and built an altar, dug a basin, piled the wood-splinters upon the altar, and laying the offerings upon them ordered water to be poured upon the altar, so that the basin too was filled. And upon this he called upon God, and fire was brought down from heaven upon the altar in the sight of all, and consumed the sacrifice and the wood and the stones, the water and the dust. The people, astounded, fell upon the ground, confessing him the true and great God. And seizing the false prophets they killed them at the prophet's command. He said to the king that God would soon send rain, and according to his prediction a violent downpour came. But when Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah, he was afraid and fled, and being in the wilderness he begged God in despair that he might die. Having fallen asleep, he was wakened by one who bade him rise and eat. And he saw there bread of barley-meal and water. Having eaten, he slept again, and again the angel bade him eat, since a long road lay before him. And again having eaten, and being strengthened by that food, he journeyed forty days. And coming to Mount Horeb he entered a cave, and heard a voice: "Why have you come here?" He said, "Because in my zeal I killed the prophets of Jezebel, and she seeks to kill me." And the divine voice said to him again, "Go out tomorrow and stand before the Lord." And he did so, and perceived a wind and an earthquake, and saw a burning fire. Then, a gentle breeze arising, he heard a voice from it commanding him to turn back and to anoint Hazael king of Syria, and Jehu king over Israel, and Elisha as prophet in his own stead, who would destroy the impious. Elijah, turning back as he was commanded, found Elisha ploughing, and cast his mantle upon him. And he, leaving all, followed him, having been deemed worthy to prophesy.

14. Naboth, who possessed a vineyard near the fields of king Ahab, was asked to sell it to the king or exchange it; but he would not consent. And the king was grieved at this. When Jezebel learned the cause of his grief, she made a writing as if from Ahab to the leading men of the country in which Naboth dwelt, commanding them to accuse the man of having blasphemed against God and the king, and to suborn certain witnesses against him, and to stone him. This writing, sealing it with the king's seal, she sent to the men. And when they had done as commanded, Naboth was stoned and died, and Jezebel charged Ahab to inherit the vineyard of Naboth now that he was dead. He was grieved at the murder, but made the vineyard his own. And Elijah, at God's command, went off to Ahab saying, "Because you have murdered Naboth in order to take his vineyard, therefore thus says the Lord: where the dogs licked his blood, there shall the dogs lick your blood too and that of your wife, and the harlots shall wash themselves in your blood, and your whole race shall be utterly destroyed." Ahab, stricken in conscience at this, wept and put on sackcloth and fasted, repenting of his deeds. And God, on account of his repentance, declared to the prophet that he would not bring upon him the things threatened, but would accomplish them in the days of his son.

The son of Hadad, king of Syria, marched against Samaria with a heavy force and many allies. And besieging it he sent to Ahab, saying, "Your wealth and your wives and your children are mine; for I will take them by war. But if you yield to me to take whatever I wish, I will raise the siege and depart." Ahab said, "I myself and all that is mine are yours." And gathering the elders of the land, he showed them all that the enemy had sent to him. But the multitude counselled him not to yield. So he said to the ambassadors of the enemy that he could not do what was demanded. When this was reported to the king of Syria it moved him to anger, and he ordered a rampart to be thrown up about the city and mounds to be raised. When a certain prophet told Ahab that God was delivering the enemy to him by means of the servant-lads of the commanders if he attacked them, he numbered the lads and found two hundred and thirty-two. While the enemy were feasting and drunk at midday, Ahab went out, taking the lads with him. The king of Syria, seeing them, ordered some of his men to bring those approaching to him bound. But the lads, falling upon those who came, killed many. And the whole force of Israel, following behind the lads, rushed suddenly upon the Syrians and turned them to flight, so that their own king barely escaped and was saved. Returning from the pursuit, Ahab plundered the enemy's camp and went back to Samaria. The prophet again foretold to him an attack of the Syrian. And when spring came on, the Syrian again marched against Israel and encamped in a plain; for those about him had said that the god of the Hebrews had his power in the mountains, but not also in the valleys. When the prophet promised Ahab victory, "so that," he said, "God may show his strength in the valleys also," the armies rested the other days, but on the seventh, when battle was joined, the Syrians fled; and Ahab pursued and killed them. Many who were saved, fleeing to Apheka the city, perished there when the wall fell upon them. The son of Hadad, fleeing with a few, hid himself. Those about him, putting on sackcloth and binding ropes about their heads, came to Ahab and begged him to spare their lord; and he consented. And they brought their leader to Ahab, who rode upon a chariot. He took him up onto the chariot and greeted him and bade him take courage. Then upon terms he let him go, having given him many gifts. But the prophet Micaiah asked one of his own nation to strike him on the head. When the man would not, he foretold that he would be struck by a lion; and the prediction came to pass. Then he made the same request of another; and when that man struck him, he bound up his head and came to Ahab, saying that he had received a prisoner from a captain to guard, and that when the prisoner had fled, the captain had ordered him to die. When Ahab said that this was just, that man, undoing his head, was recognized as the prophet Micaiah. And he said to Ahab, "Because you let go unpunished the king of Syria, a destructive man, you yourself shall die in his stead, and your people in the stead of his people." Ahab was grieved at hearing this. After keeping peace for three years, and then wishing to take from the Syrians the city Ramoth, as belonging to him, he asked the king of Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat, to march out with him. And he consented, and counselled him to ask God through a prophet whether he approved. Ahab, gathering his own prophets, asked whether he should go to war. When they promised victory, king Jehoshaphat sought a prophet of the Lord. Ahab said there was one, but that he was vexed with him for prophesying ill. And Jehoshaphat asked that he be summoned. When Micaiah had been summoned, Ahab asked whether he should fight or not. He said, "I have seen Israel scattered on the mountains like a flock without a shepherd. And the Lord told me that they would be saved and would return, but that you alone would fall at Ramoth." When Micaiah had said this, Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you that he ever prophesies evil to me?" And one Zedekiah, of the false prophets, struck Micaiah on the jaw. But he said to him, "After a little you will pass from chamber to chamber, hiding yourself." And king Ahab ordered him to be imprisoned until he himself should return. And Micaiah said, "If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken in me." When the kings had set out, the king of the Syrians drew up against them, charging his soldiers to fight with none of the others but with Ahab alone. But Ahab, exchanging his royal robe, put on a common one. When the Syrian commanders saw Jehoshaphat arrayed in royal fashion, they thought he was Ahab and surrounded him. But when they perceived that he was not the king of Israel, they withdrew. And one man, drawing his bow, struck Ahab. Knowing himself mortally wounded, he ordered the charioteer to drive the chariot out of the battle, and about sunset he expired. The Syrians, knowing that Ahab was dead, went off to their homes; and the king's corpse, conveyed to Samaria, was buried. The chariot, bloodied with the king's slaughter, they threw down at the spring of Samaria, and the dogs licked the blood, and the harlots bathed at the spring, as Elijah had foretold. Ahab died where Micaiah had predicted, not escaping the destruction that had been foretold him, having reigned twenty-two years. And his son Ahaziah took over the kingdom after him.

15. When Jehoshaphat the king of Jerusalem returned from his alliance with Ahab, Jehu the prophet reproached him for having allied himself with an impious man; but he said that he would be saved by God, although God was vexed at his deed. The king gave thanks. Then going about the land under his rule he charged that the laws be kept, and appointing judges everywhere he ordered them to judge justly. When the Moabites and Ammonites, taking the Arabs as allies, came against him, he called upon God for help. A certain prophet said that God would fight for him, and bade him lead out the army, but not to engage the enemy, but to stand and watch the help from heaven. At dawn the king went out with the army, and charged them to stand still, but ordered the priests to go before the army with the trumpets, and the Levites and singers to sing a thanksgiving to God. The enemy, stirred up against one another, killed one another, so that none was saved. Jehoshaphat gave the enemy's camp to his army to plunder. From then on, the foreigners, fearing him as having the deity for an ally, kept quiet.

Ahaziah the king of the Israelites was like his parents in wickedness. About the second year of his reign the Moabites withheld the tribute which they had paid to his father. Falling sick, he sent to the god of Ekron, called Fly, to ask whether he would recover. But Elijah, meeting those sent, ordered them to turn back and to say to the one who had sent them to the god of the foreigners—as though there were no God in Israel—that he would not rise from his bed. The men, returning, said what they had heard. Ahaziah asked who it was that had said these things. When they said they did not know, he demanded that they describe the appearance of that man. When they said that he was hairy and girt with a leather belt, he understood that it was Elijah. And sending a captain of fifty with those under him, he ordered the prophet to be brought. The one sent, finding him on the top of the mountain, bade him come to the king. But when Elijah prayed, fire flowing down from heaven destroyed the captain of fifty and those with him. And the king sent another captain of fifty with his fifty; and them too heavenly fire consumed. And again a third captain was sent with those under him. He, coming to the prophet, fell down and worshipped, and begged off the punishment from him, saying that he came unwillingly, persuaded by the royal command, and entreated him to go to the king. Elijah, when an angel told him to go and not to be afraid, came down from the mountain, and going to the king said, "Because you sent to a foreign god to ask whether you would live, know that you will not rise from your sickness, but will die." Ahaziah therefore died according to the prophet's prediction, leaving the kingdom to his brother Jehoram, who broke in pieces the pillars of Baal which Ahab his father had set up, but in other things was impious and wicked and like his parents.

When Elijah was about to be taken up, he went with Elisha. And coming to the Jordan he struck the water with his mantle, and the water was divided, and both passed over on dry land. Then he said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you." And he asked that a double share of the grace of the spirit that was in him might come upon him. Elijah said that the request was a hard one, "but if you see me taken up, it will be granted you." While they were still speaking, a fiery chariot with horses like it stood by and snatched up Elijah. As he was borne aloft he cast his mantle to Elisha. And he, taking it, no longer seeing Elijah, returned. And coming to the Jordan he made trial whether he had received the grace as he had asked, and struck the water with the mantle; but it was not divided. And he said, "Where is the God of Elijah?" And he struck again; and the water parted, and he passed over. Seeing him, fifty sons of the prophets said, "The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha," and they followed him. And they sought leave to go and search, lest perhaps the spirit of the Lord had taken Elijah and cast him upon one of the mountains or hills. Elisha would not permit it; but when they pressed him, he consented. And fifty men went and searched three days and did not find him. Elisha was in Jericho. And the men of the city came to him, asking that the waters of that place, which were bad and caused barrenness, might be changed by him. He asked that salt be brought to him in a new vessel, and when it was brought he cast the salt into the spring of the waters, calling upon God, and the waters were changed from bitterness to sweetness, and nothing harmful remained in them. As the prophet Elisha was going somewhere, some small children mocked him, crying, "Go up, baldhead." Grieved at this, he cursed them. And bears came out from the mountain and killed forty-two of the children.

When Jehoram the son of Ahab was about to march against the Moabites, he asked Jehoshaphat the king of Judah to be his ally. And he promised to take as ally also the king of Idumaea, who was subject to him. The three kings, united, went through the wilderness for seven days. And the water failed the armies. So the three kings came to Elisha and begged him to save them and the army. But he said to Jehoram, "Go to the prophets of your father and your mother," and swore that he would not have answered him save for Jehoshaphat. Then he ordered someone who could play music to be summoned. As the man played, the spirit of the Lord breathed upon the prophet, and he ordered many trenches to be dug along the brook; "for you will see," he said, "the brook full, though no wind has blown nor rain has come, and you will drink your fill, and will master your enemies." So he foretold; and at dawn on the morrow the brook was filled with waters, and when a flood arose the water covered the whole face of that land. When the sun rose fiery and struck upon the waters, they appeared red in the light of the sun. The Moabites, then, who were encamped in the mountains and were watching from above, supposing the water to be blood, and thinking that the kings had fought one another and that their soldiers had killed one another, rushed in disorder to plunder the spoils. And when the enemy surrounded them, some were killed and some fled. The Israelites, pursuing, burst into Moab, and tore down its cities and laid waste the land. The king of Moab, returning to the city, brought his firstborn son up onto the wall and in desperation sacrificed him as a whole burnt-offering to his god. When the kings saw this and pitied him for his despair, they raised the siege. Jehoshaphat, returning to Jerusalem, died, having lived sixty years, of which he reigned twenty-five, a man godly and just. Leaving many sons, he made the eldest his successor in the kingdom, called Jehoram, of the same name as the king of the Israelites, who was his maternal uncle.

16. While Elisha was in Samaria, a certain widow woman came to him, weeping that, being in debt and having nothing to repay it, the creditor was taking away her sons, who were to become his slaves. The prophet asked her what she had in the house; she said nothing except a very little oil. And he charged her to take many vessels and to pour out from the oil into all of them. The woman did as commanded, and all were filled with oil; and she reported to the prophet what had happened. And he counselled her to sell the oil and pay the debt and use the surplus for her keep. Being a guest of the Shunammite woman and resting in her house, when she had no child, he foretold to her that she would conceive and bear a son. And according to the prophet's prediction she bore. But when the child had grown it died; and the woman went off to Elisha at Carmel, and falling at his feet she bewailed her misfortune. He charged his disciple Gehazi to go, giving him his own staff, that he might lay it upon the dead child. But the woman swore that she would not return unless he himself would go with her. So the prophet was persuaded, and going off found the child laid upon his bed; and having prayed he went up onto the bed and lay down beside the child and breathed into it. And when the prophet had done this seven times, the dead child came to life, and he gave him living to his mother. From there he went off to Gilgal. And there was a famine, and the sons of the prophets came to him. He ordered his servant to prepare them a pottage. And the man gathered from the field herbs, among which a wild gourd was mixed; and the plant is poisonous; and having boiled it he set it before the men. As they ate they recognized the gourd, and cried out to the prophet that they would die. But he, ordering meal to be cast into the pot, gave them leave to eat, and nothing harmful came to anyone from the food. When someone brought him twenty loaves and dried figs, he charged his servant to set them before the people. When the servant said, "What will these be among a hundred men?" he said, "Give these, and they will be filled and will leave leftovers." And the word came to pass.

Naaman, who was great in the sight of the king of Syria, was a leper. When a young Israelite girl was taken captive, the wife of Naaman had her as a servant. She said to her mistress that if her master went to the prophet Elisha he would be rid of his disease. And the wife reported to her husband the words of the girl, and Naaman conveyed what had been said to the king of Syria. And the king sent a letter about the healing of Naaman to the king of Israel. Naaman, taking ten talents of silver and six thousand pieces of gold and ten changes of garments, went off to Samaria and handed the letter to the king. He, reading it, tore his garments, saying, "The king of Syria seeks a pretext against us." When Elisha learned this, he sent word to the king of Israel, "Let Naaman come to me." And when he came, Elisha sent and told him to go to the Jordan and to wash seven times, and so he would be rid of the leprosy. But Naaman was angry that the prophet did not come out to him and pray and lay his hand upon him, and went off in indignation, saying, "Are there not rivers with us beyond the Jordan? I will go and wash in them and be cleansed." As he withdrew, his servants said to him, "Do the prophet's word, since it is easy." And Naaman went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, and was cleansed; and returning he gave thanks to the prophet, and confessed that there was no other God than the one in Israel, and asked him to take something of what he had brought; but he refused. And Naaman departed. But Gehazi pursued after him and said, "The prophet has sent me to receive from you a talent of silver and two garments, to be given to certain needy men who have just now come to him." And Naaman gave them to him; and Gehazi returned to Elisha. But the prophet knew what Gehazi had done, and said to him, "Because you took the silver and the garments from Naaman, his leprosy will cleave to you and to your seed." And he went out a leper.

The sons of the prophets who were with Elisha went to the Jordan to cut wood, that they might make themselves dwellings; and Elisha went with them. As they were cutting the wood, the iron of one man's axe fell into the river. And the owner of the axe called upon the prophet, and showed him the place where the iron had sunk. He, taking a stick, threw it in there. And the iron rose up, and floating on the surface, the man who had lost it took it.

The king of Syria set an ambush to capture the king Jehoram. But the prophet sent to Jehoram, charging him to be on his guard and not to go out hunting. And so he did not go out; but Hadad, having failed in his plot, suspected that his own men were turning traitor to his designs. When they declared that not they but the prophet Elisha was revealing his secrets to the king, he sent an army to Dothan, that they might seize him. When the prophet's servant saw the host around the city, he came in great fear to him, reporting the matter. But he said, "Do not be afraid," and supplicated God to show his servant how he was guarded by him. And God gave to the prophet's servant the grace to see him surrounded with chariots and horses of fire. The prophet, praying, blinded the eyes of the enemy too, and going out to them said, "Follow me, and I will give you Elisha." And they followed, impaired both in sight and in mind. Leading them to Samaria, he charged the king to set his force about them. And he asked God to take away the mist from their eyes. When it was taken away, the Syrians saw themselves surrounded in the midst of the enemy. But Elisha allowed no one to attack them, and rather counselled the king to entertain them and let them go unharmed. So Jehoram, feasting them lavishly according to the prophet's word, let them go. And they departed and related to their king what had happened; and he was astounded.

17. After this the king of Syria, coming to Samaria with all his army, besieged it. And there was a most severe famine in it, so that an ass's head was sold for fifty pieces of silver, and a pint of dove's dung for five such pieces. As the king Jehoram was going about the wall, a woman cried out, "Save me, O king." Supposing that the woman was asking for food, he said, blaspheming her, "From where shall I save you, when I have neither threshing-floor nor wine-press?" When she said she was asking for judgement, he gave her leave to speak. And the woman said, "I made a compact with another woman, my neighbour, to sacrifice our children and to feed on each in turn on a single day. And I sacrificed mine, but she transgresses what was agreed." Hearing this the king was in deep anguish and tore his garment, and was enraged against the prophet, because he did not beg God to loose the affliction, and sent the man who should kill him. But Elisha, conversing with his disciples, foretold to them, "The son of the murderer has sent to kill me, but do you shut the door and prevent the slayer's entrance; for the king will follow, having repented." And they did according to the prophet's word, and Jehoram, having changed his mind, came hastening to the prophet and reproached him for not begging God to loose their sorrows. But he said, "Tomorrow two measures of barley will be sold for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel." And one of those attending the king said, "You speak incredible things, prophet." And he said, "You will see the things promised, but will not enjoy them, because of your unbelief." During that night God brought into the ears of the Syrians a din of chariots, of horses and of weapons, and the shouting of a multitude. And they, thinking that Jehoram had gathered a great force of allies and was coming upon them, left the camp and fled in great fear. Now there were four lepers outside the city, since the law commanded that lepers be cast out of the cities. These lepers, perishing now from the famine, resolved to go to the Syrian camp, saying, "Either they will spare us and, being fed, we shall live, or, being killed, we shall be rid of our miseries." So they came at dawn to the Syrian camp, and no one was to be seen by them. They entered one tent and found it empty of men; from that they passed to another, and found it deserted; and passing into more, when they met no one, they first ate and drank, and then taking gold and silver and garments from there hid them, and so coming into the city they proclaimed what had happened. But the king, hearing it, said this was an ambush of the enemy, and gave orders not to go forth, but sent men to spy it out. They, going off, met no one along the road, but found it full of garments and gear. Learning this, the king allowed the multitude to plunder the camp. From which there came so great an abundance of necessities that two measures of barley were sold for a shekel, and a measure also—and the measure is the Italic half-medimnus. Only the king's officer of rank did not enjoy that abundance, according to the prophet's word, because he had disbelieved his prediction; for when the multitude streamed to the gate of the city, he was trampled and died.

After this the king of Damascus fell sick. And Elisha at that time went to Damascus; and the sick man heard about the prophet, and sent Hazael, the most honoured of his servants, to him, to ask whether he would live. He sent him also many gifts. When the prophet was asked, he foretold that the sick king would die, but charged Hazael to tell him nothing of this; and he himself wept. And being asked by Hazael the cause of his weeping, he said that he wept, foreseeing how many dreadful things would befall the Israelites because of him; "for you will be king of Syria." Returning to his lord, Hazael reported that the prophet had said he would live. But on the next day, casting a wet net over him, he smothered him, and himself seized the kingdom.

18. The king of Judah, Jehoram—for both kings bore the same name—was rolled into impiety by his wife Athaliah, who was a daughter of Ahab; and he killed his brothers and his father's servants, and forced the people to share his impiety. As he so lived, the prophet sent to him, declaring to him the destruction that was to come, and the ruin of his wives and children, because of his impiety and the affliction of the people; which things came to pass when the Arabs marched against Judah, one of his sons being saved, Ahaziah. After this Jehoram fell sick, as the prophet had foretold, and died a violent death, having lived forty years and reigned eight. The rule passed to his son Ahaziah.

It happened that Jehoram the other, the king of the Israelites, when he had marched against the Syrians, was struck by an arrow in the battle. And he withdrew to be healed of his wound, leaving as commander of the army Jehu the son of Amasai. Elisha sent one of his disciples to anoint Jehu king, since God had chosen him. He, going and taking Jehu aside privately from the others, as if to tell him something more secret, slipping into an inner chamber poured the oil on his head, saying that God had chosen him as king, that he might destroy the race of Ahab. And he, having spoken, ran hastily out of the chamber; and when those with him asked what the man who had called him wanted, and likened him to a madman, Jehu said, "You judged rightly, since he reported to me words full of madness; for he said that God appoints me king." And the people, hearing this, with trumpets proclaimed Jehu king. He at once, taking the choice horsemen, set out, that he might fall suddenly upon those about Jehoram. When the watchman told Jehoram that horsemen were coming, he sent someone to ask what they wanted. But Jehu, answering nothing, urged him to follow him. Then he sent a second; and when that man too did not return, Jehoram himself, mounting his chariot, with Ahaziah, who had come to visit him, being his sister's son, met Jehu in the field of Naboth, and asked how matters stood with the army; but Jehu poured out blasphemies against him. Jehoram, turning, fled in fear. And Jehu, drawing his bow, struck him. And falling from the chariot he died, and was cast into the field of Naboth, according to the prediction of Elijah which he had made to Ahab. Jehu shot Ahaziah too as he fled, and a little later he died of the wound, having reigned one year. Jezebel, leaning out from the tower, adorned to make herself more enticing, said, "A good servant, who has killed his master." But Jehu ordered the eunuchs to throw her down from above. And as she was hurled down the wall was sprinkled with her blood; and she died. When Jehu ordered her to be buried because of her royal lineage, those commanded found nothing of her body but only bones; for she had been torn apart by dogs, as Elijah had prophesied.

There were in Samaria seventy sons of Ahab. Jehu therefore sent to the rulers of Samaria and to the guardians of Ahab's sons, declaring that they should make whichever of these was the best king over them. Testing the men, he wrote this. But they wrote back that they had him as lord. And again Jehu sent word that, if they acknowledged servitude to him, they should bring him the heads of all the sons of Ahab. And they did what was commanded. He ordered the heads to be set before the gate of the city in two heaps. And when this had been done he came forward and said, "I have killed the king, but these have perished according to the prophet's prediction." And Jehu, searching out all the kinsmen of Ahab, killed them. As he went off to Samaria, Jehonadab met him, and addressing him he blessed him for having utterly destroyed the race of Ahab.

Then, so that none of the false prophets and priests of Baal might escape notice, he proclaimed that he intended to offer a lavish sacrifice, and ordered all the priests and prophets of Baal to be present; and if any were absent, he said the penalty would be death. When they were gathered, he gave them garments, and going with them into the house of Baal, he ordered that no other be mingled among them. When they said that no other was present, he set soldiers about outside, ordering them to kill those within. They killed them all and burned the house of Baal and his pillar; but the golden heifers he did not take away. And God promised him, since he had destroyed the house of Ahab, that the kingdom would endure to the fourth generation of his sons.

19. So then the race of Ahab was utterly destroyed. But his daughter Athaliah, who had been wife to Ahaziah the king of Jerusalem, when he was dead and she had control of the kingdom of Judah, made it her own endeavour also to destroy the race of David. And she killed all save one. For the sister of Ahaziah, called Jehosheba, when her brother's sons were being killed, was able to hide one, an infant named Joash, and reared him secretly for six years. In the seventh year Jehoiada the high priest, with whom Jehosheba dwelt, summoning certain of the centurions, showed them Joash, and conferring with the men persuaded them to rise against Athaliah and to recover the ancestral kingdom for the child. And they, confirming their agreement with oaths, went off and gathered the priests and Levites and tribal leaders to Jehoiada. He showed them Joash, saying, "This is your king, of the seed of David." And he surrounded the temple with the people, and setting Joash in the midst he put a diadem upon him and pouring the oil of anointing on him appointed him king; and the people acclaimed him. When Athaliah heard the shouting, in alarm she rushed out from the palace, the army following her. As she came to the temple, the priests received her within, but the multitude barred the entrance to those with her. When she saw the child crowned, she threatened to kill those who had assailed her rule. But Jehoiada charged the centurions to drag Athaliah outside and kill her. And so they did, and Jehoiada made the king and the people swear to honour God and keep the laws. And going at once to the temple of Baal they razed it and broke to pieces the images of Baal and killed his priest. They established the king in the palace, then being seven years old. And the high priest Jehoiada took great care that faith toward the deity be maintained and the laws kept.

When the king had grown up he took two wives. Since the temple had been thrown down in some parts by Athaliah, Joash was eager to renew it. Calling the priest Jehoiada, he ordered that men be sent to ask from the whole country, for the repair of the temple, half a shekel of silver for each head. But Jehoiada, understanding that this would be reckoned burdensome by the people, went about the collection of the money another way. For he made a certain chest, closed on all sides, with a hole made in the top of it, and set it beside the temple, and asked that each cast in through the hole as much as he was minded for the renewal of the temple. Since therefore what was given was left to each one's free choice, they made their gift without resentment and vied with one another in laying down money, so that much gold was gathered and very much silver, from which the temple was repaired and many vessels for the sacrifices were made, the offerings which, as long as Jehoiada lived, were brought to God. But when he, having lived justly and according to the law a hundred and thirty years, had so departed from life, the king Joash became careless about the honour due to the deity, and the tribal leaders and others who led the multitude were corrupted with him; and though prophets testified to them about their impiety toward God, they did not cease. When Zechariah the son of the high priest Jehoiada prophesied and exhorted the king and the people to live according to the laws, Joash, in anger, ordered him to be stoned. As he was being killed, the prophet prayed that God would judge for what cause he was being deprived of life by the one whom his father had benefited. And indeed God judged swiftly; for Hazael the king of the Syrians came up and besieged Jerusalem. And Joash, taking away all the treasures, both the sacred and the royal, and whatever was in the votive offerings, gave them to Hazael; who, pleased with the multitude of the riches, refrained from the siege.

This Syrian, attacking the Israelites, afflicted them grievously. And Jehu the king of the Israelites, having become a transgressor of the divine commandments,

20. and having reigned twenty-seven years, died; and Jehoahaz his son took over the kingdom. While he reigned, the chief of the Syrians ravaged the country, and seizing many of its cities made his army the work of the sword. In this distress Jehoahaz, having begged God, found deliverance and a respite from his troubles. Having reigned seventeen years he died, with Joash his son as successor to the kingdom, of the same name as the one reigning over the tribe of Judah. But this Joash was not like his father, but good. He wept when Elisha fell sick and was dying, calling him his father and his weapon, since through him he prevailed over his enemies. The prophet comforted him; and bade him take a bow and shoot arrows. When the king had shot three times and stopped, Elisha said, "If you had shot more arrows, you would have cut up by the roots the rule of the Syrians; but now you will conquer them with victories equal in number to the arrows, and will recover for your rule the country which they took away." Then the prophet died and obtained a magnificent burial. Some robbers, having killed a man, threw him into the prophet's tomb; and the man thrown in came to life and rose up. Hazael too, the king of Syria, died, with his son Hadad as successor; with whom Joash the king of the Israelites engaged, and defeating him three times recovered for Israel the country and the cities which Hazael, the father of Hadad, had taken away.

Joash the king of Judah, being seven years old when he was proclaimed, and having reigned forty years, died, killed by his servants. And his son Amaziah girded on the kingdom of Jerusalem, having become pious, being twenty-five years old when he came to the rule, and having held the kingdom for twenty-nine years. Having punished those who had killed his father, he let their children go free as guiltless, according to the law which says, "Fathers shall not die for sons, nor sons for fathers." Marching against the Idumaeans and Amalekites, he hired allies from the Israelites. But a certain prophet counselled him to dismiss the allies and to conduct the war with only his own men. Persuaded by him, he released the Israelites, granting them their pay. Engaging the foreigners, then, he conquered. But the dismissed allies, in anger, overran the country of the Jews and killed many. Amaziah, made arrogant by his success and impious toward God, sent to Joash the king of Israel, demanding that he come to him, as being bound to be subject to him, since he was a descendant of David and Solomon. But Joash sent back word to him, saying, "The thistle asked the cedar to make a marriage-alliance for its children with the cedar's. Meanwhile the wild beasts of the field, passing by, trampled down the thistle, and it perished. Let this be a sufficient example to you; and because you have prospered in striking the foreigners, do not be high-minded, nor push your people and yourself into dangers." Angered at this, Amaziah marched against Joash. But fear fell upon his army, and it turned to flight; and Amaziah, left alone, was taken by the enemy and led off to Joash. He, leading him as a prisoner, came to Jerusalem, and tearing down a part of the wall drove through the breach into the city upon a chariot, and took away both the sacred treasures and whatever was stored in the palace. And releasing Amaziah, he returned to Samaria. And having reigned in all sixteen years he died. And Jeroboam his son reigned. Amaziah after this was plotted against and killed, having lived fifty-four years and reigned twenty-nine. And his son Uzziah was anointed king, being sixteen years old.

21. Jeroboam the son of Joash became impious and lawless. And though such a man, when God took pity on the humbled Israelite people, he made war on the Syrians and conquered, the prophet Jonah having foretold him the victory.

This prophet God sent to the city Nineveh to proclaim its overthrow and the destruction of the Ninevites. But he would not go, but fled, embarking on a ship. When a storm arose, the ship was in danger. And when those sailing tried by lot to learn the cause, the lot fell on Jonah. When he was examined as to who he was, he related his own circumstances, and urged them to throw him into the sea; "for not otherwise," he said, "will you escape the danger." So he was thrown out, and the storm abated. A sea-monster swallowed the prophet, and after three days and as many nights vomited him out alive and unharmed. He begged God's pardon for his disobedience, and was sent again to proclaim what had been commanded. Going off, he proclaimed that after three days Nineveh would be overthrown. But the king of the city and all the people, believing the prophet, turned to repentance and supplicated God to have mercy on them. And he, bent by the repentance of the multitude, turned the destruction away from them.

Jeroboam, having reigned forty-one years, died. And after him Azariah his son took control of the rule.

The king of Jerusalem, Uzziah, was pious toward God and just toward his subjects; therefore he conquered many of the foreigners and made them tributary. But growing prosperous and puffed up, he fell away from what was fitting. And, having robed himself as a priest, he attempted to offer incense to God upon the golden altar; and when the high priest Azariah and the priests prevented him and exhorted him not to transgress the law, he threatened them with death if they did not be quiet. Thereupon a kind of light flashing in the temple and striking the king's face caused leprosy to break out upon it. The priests showed the king his misfortune and counselled him to leave the city. And so, having lived some time, he died of despondency, having reigned fifty-two years and lived in all sixty-eight, handing over the rule to his son Jotham.

Azariah the son of Jeroboam, having reigned over the Israelites only six months, died, having lived impiously, treacherously slain by Shallum. Shallum, having reigned thirty days, was killed by Menahem, who reigned over Israel in his stead. When Pul the king of the Assyrians raised war against him, he gave him a thousand talents of silver, which he had collected from the people, and broke off the war. Having reigned ten years, Menahem, who was impious and harsh, died, passing the kingdom to his son Pekahiah. He too became impious and cruel, and was treacherously slain by Pekah the son of Remaliah, who reigned in the stead of the slain man, conducting his rule impiously and lawlessly. At that time Tiglath-pileser the king of the Assyrians, coming upon the land of the Israelites, overthrew many cities and led away into his own land a captivity beyond counting. But Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Jerusalem, being pious and just, took care of the city and the temple and made the Ammonites tributary, having conquered them in battle. Nahum then prophesying foretold the overthrow of [Nineveh]; and his prediction came to pass when a hundred and fifteen years had passed. Jotham's life failed him when he had lived forty-one years and reigned sixteen.

22. The rule of Jerusalem passed to his son, who became impious toward God and transgressed his laws; for he worshipped idols and set up an altar to them in Jerusalem and offered his own child to them as a whole burnt-offering. Against him Rezin who ruled the Syrians, and Pekah the king of the Israelites, conspiring together, besieged him in Jerusalem for a long time. And Rezin, having mastered other cities, killed their inhabitants and settled Syrians in them, and returned to Damascus; but Ahaz, when only Pekah was left, engaging him was defeated, losing a hundred and twenty thousand of the people and many of the notables and his son. Pekah withdrew to Samaria, he and his army, removing a great multitude of captives to their own land. But a certain prophet in Samaria, meeting them before the walls, reproached them for having taken kindred captive, and counselled them to set them free; and they, persuaded, released the captives. Ahaz asked the king of the Assyrians to help him against the Syrians and the Israelites. He came and ravaged the country of the Syrians and took Damascus and killed Rezin, and overrunning the land of the Israelites led away very many captives. And Ahaz, in return for this, gave Tiglath-pileser both the royal treasures and whatever was stored in the temple. And he became so impious that he not only worshipped the gods of the foreigners, but also shut up the temple and plundered its votive offerings. So living, he died, having lived thirty-six years and reigned sixteen, leaving the kingdom to his son Hezekiah. It happened that the king of the Israelites too died at that time by the plot of Hoshea. And he too was wicked; therefore, when the king of the Assyrians, Shalmaneser, marched against him, he was enslaved to him, being ordered to pay tribute yearly.

Hezekiah, being pious and just, gathered the priests and Levites and charged them to open the temple and to sacrifice as was their law, and ordered the people to prefer nothing to the honour of the deity. He sent throughout the whole country, summoning all to keep the feast of unleavened bread, which had long not been celebrated because of the lawlessness of the rulers. And he urged the Israelites to worship their ancestral God according to the old custom. But they were not persuaded; rather they even killed the prophets who urged the same. Some, however, being persuaded, were turned to piety and gathered at Jerusalem for the worship of God. And the king Hezekiah, going with the leaders of the people to the temple, offered through the priests lavish sacrifices, and shared with the people many animals for feasting, and charged the priests to go out into the country and to purify it. Then he raised war against the foreigners and took cities of theirs.

The king of the Israelites, Hoshea, summoned to alliance So the king of Egypt against the Assyrians. Learning this, Shalmaneser was angered; and for three years he besieged Samaria, and took the city and made an end of the kingdom, and taking the people captive removed them to his own land, and the king of the Israelites Hoshea himself. And removing other nations from a certain place called Cuthah, he settled them in Samaria and its territory. So the ten tribes of the Israelites were removed nine hundred and forty-seven years after they had left Egypt and gone out, and two hundred and forty years and seven months after they had forsaken Rehoboam and chosen Jeroboam for themselves as king. Those removed into Samaria, called Cuthaeans from the place where they had formerly dwelt in Persia, being five nations, again worshipped their own gods. As the fourth book of Kings says, God stirred up lions and destroyed many of them; but as Josephus relates, a plague fell upon them. Perceiving that the evils came upon them through the anger of God, they begged their own king to send them priests from among the Israelites, that these might initiate them into the worship of the Hebrews; and when this was done, the destruction ceased. They are called by the Hebrews Cuthaeans, but by the Greeks Samaritans.

23. In the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah the king of Jerusalem, Sennacherib who reigned over the Assyrians came against Judah and took all the cities of the two tribes. Fearing for Jerusalem, Hezekiah sent to him, promising to give whatever tribute he should impose. Sennacherib demanded three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold, and gave sworn pledges that he would indeed withdraw if he received these. Having received them, he himself marched against the Egyptians and Ethiopians, but left his commander-in-chief Rabshakeh with two other generals and a heavy force to sack Jerusalem. They, having thrown up a rampart before the walls, sought a meeting with Hezekiah. But he was too timid to go out, and sent three of his honoured men. And they said, "If Hezekiah trusts in the Egyptians, he is foolish, leaning upon a man as upon a reed staff, and one that is broken, which has defended none who held it, but has itself collapsed, and the reed has pierced the hand of him who held it. Such is Pharaoh the Egyptian." These things Rabshakeh said to those sent in Hebrew. But they asked him to speak with them in the language of the Syrians, so that the multitude might not understand what was said. He, rather raising his voice, said again in Hebrew, within hearing of all, "Let not Hezekiah deceive you, saying, the Lord will deliver us. Did he deliver Samaria?" And they reported this to Hezekiah. He, hearing it, tore his garments and put on sackcloth, and falling down begged God, asking help in things beyond hope; and sending the prophet Isaiah he asked him to beg God to be merciful to the people. He foretold that the enemy would be defeated without a battle, and that Sennacherib would be killed when he returned from Egypt with nothing accomplished. Sennacherib too sent word to Hezekiah, "Let not your God exalt you, in whom you trust that Jerusalem will not be given into my hands; consider where are the kings of the nations whom my fathers destroyed." Reading this letter, Hezekiah set it in the temple and supplicated God, saying, "Behold, O Lord, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent reproaching you the living God, and save us from his hand." And Isaiah encouraged the king, declaring that God had heard him. And in the night an angel killed in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand, and by day their corpses were found dead. And the remnant of the army departed from Jerusalem. Sennacherib, besieging Pelusium, raised the siege, mice in a single night having eaten the bowstrings of the Assyrians and the rest of their weapons. This is not recorded in the book of Kings, but Josephus relates it, having found it in Herodotus. And he says that Berossus, who wrote the Chaldaean history, states that Sennacherib, returning from the war with the Egyptians, found the army that was with Rabshakeh at Jerusalem; and when God sent a pestilential disease upon the Assyrians, in a single night a hundred and eighty-five thousand perished with their commanders and captains. Fearing therefore for the rest of his army, he departed from there with the surviving force and went off to Nineveh. And a little later, being plotted against by his elder sons, he was killed, those who killed him fleeing, while his son Nahordan succeeded to the rule.

Hezekiah, freed from his fear, gave thanks to God. And a little later, when he fell sick, Isaiah came to him by God's command and said, "Set your house in order; for you will not live." To him the expectation of death, and that, having no children, he was about to leave the kingdom desolate of a legitimate succession, made the misfortune the greater; and in despondency he wept, asking God to bestow life upon him. Isaiah, coming again, brought him good tidings of health on the third day and an addition of fifteen years to his life. He, reckoning the surpassing nature of the wonder, asked the prophet to show him a sign for the confirmation of what was promised. When the prophet supplicated God that a sign be given, the sun, which had already declined ten degrees and cast a shadow, turned back ten steps. Thereupon Hezekiah was freed from his sickness. The king of the Babylonians, Baladan, sending an embassy to Hezekiah and sending gifts, asked to have him as ally and friend. He showed the ambassadors his treasures and his weapons and all the royal magnificence, and sending gifts in return to the Babylonian, dismissed them. But Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Days will come, and the wealth which you displayed will be carried off to Babylon, and your sons will be eunuchs to the king of Babylon." And Hezekiah, since the word of God could not fail, said, "Let there be peace in my days." Living out the time added to him in peace, he died, having completed fifty-four years in life and having reigned twenty-nine.

His son Manasseh, succeeding to the rule, displayed every form of wickedness and impiety beyond his predecessor, defiling the temple and not even sparing the prophets. Angered at this, God stirred up the army of the Babylonians against Judah, which both plundered the country and subdued Manasseh. He, perceiving that he was himself the cause of the misfortune, turned to repentance and supplicated God to loose his hardships. And God, hearing him, both freed him from captivity and restored him to the kingdom. Returning, he himself pursued piety and persuaded the people to pursue it. So living, he became enviable for his piety, and died, having reigned fifty-five years and lived in all sixty-seven.

24. The kingdom passed to Amon his son, who imitated the deeds of his father's youth. He died, plotted against, having lived twenty-four years and reigned two. The multitude avenged those who had killed him and made his son Josiah king, who was completing his eighth year of age; he became pious and persuaded the people to be pious. Wishing to repair the temple, he exhorted those under him to give for the repair as much as each wished. When money had thus been gathered, the temple was renewed, and with the surplus he had cups and bowls and dishes made, the high priest Hilkiah supervising these things. He, in bringing out the silver from the sacred treasury, came upon the holy books of Moses, which were stored there, and sent them by the scribe to the king. When they had been read to him, he tore his garment and sent the high priest Hilkiah and others to the prophetess Huldah, the wife of Shallum, asking her to appease God. She said that the deity had already passed sentence against the country and the people for their impiety, but that, for the king's sake, since he was just, he would not bring the evils now, but they would come to pass after his passing. Hearing this, he gathered the people to Jerusalem, and caused the holy books to be read in the hearing of all. Then he demanded oaths from all to keep the laws and to worship God. And the people, sacrificing, propitiated the Lord. He burned the votive offerings of the idols, and killed their priests, and burned the bones of the false prophets upon the altar which Jeroboam had set up, according to the prophet's prediction, who came to him as he sacrificed and foretold that a descendant of David, Josiah, would do these things after three hundred and sixty-one years. Going also to the Israelites, as many as had escaped the captivity, Josiah exhorted them to worship the ancestral God and to live according to the laws. And having banished the idols from the whole country, he gathered the multitude to Jerusalem and celebrated the feast of unleavened bread, which they call the Passover. Having led a peaceful life, he ended it at last by being shot with an arrow. For the king of the Egyptians, Necho, was going off to make war on the Medes, but Josiah barred him from passing through his country. Necho made it clear to him that he was not marching against him. But Josiah would not give way. So they were now drawn up to fight, and as Josiah was arranging his own people, an Egyptian shot him with an arrow and broke off the battle. The king, withdrawing to Jerusalem, died, having reigned thirty-one years, and having lived eight years before his reign. In his time Jeremiah was the prophet, who foretold the dreadful things that would befall Jerusalem, and its capture by the Romans. Not only did he write beforehand of these things, but Ezekiel too was the first to leave two books concerning them. And both were of the priestly tribe.

When Josiah had died, Jehoahaz his son ruled, being twenty-three years old, having become impious; whom the king of the Egyptians, returning from the war, bound, and gave the kingdom to his elder brother Eliakim, renaming him Jehoiakim, and imposed upon the country a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and one of gold. He carried Jehoahaz off to Egypt, where he died. The time of his reign was three months and ten days.

Jehoiakim, who was impious and a wrongdoer, had now completed the fourth year of his reign when Nabuchodonosor girded on the rule of the Babylonians. He, having conquered the Egyptian Necho, tore away a large part of his country. In the eighth year of Jehoiakim's reign he marched against Judah with a heavy force. Jehoiakim, in fear, made his country tributary to the Babylonian. And for three years he brought the tribute, then, hearing that the Egyptians were advancing against the Babylonian, he held back the payment of the tribute, although the prophet Jeremiah foretold the capture of the city by the Babylonian and the death of king Jehoiakim, and not only spoke it, but wrote it and read the writing in the hearing of the multitude. The leaders, taking it, brought it to the king; but he, enraged at what was written, reduced the writing to ashes in the fire, and sought to punish the prophet and Baruch his scribe. But they, fleeing, escaped his anger. Not long after, the Babylonian marched against him, and Jehoiakim received him into the city without resistance. But he killed the better of the citizens and the king himself, and led away three thousand of the fairest as captives, among whom was the prophet Ezekiel, then a child; and he appointed king of Judah the son of the slain king, named Jehoiachin, also of the same name.

So ended Jehoiakim, having lived thirty-six years and reigned eleven. The Babylonian, suspecting that his son would bear a grudge for his father's death and would revolt, sent and besieged him. He, not wishing the city to be endangered for his sake, gave himself and his household over to the enemy on terms that they would do no harm to the city or to them; which terms the Babylonian transgressed, ordering all the youth in the city and the craftsmen to be carried off to him, who numbered ten thousand eight hundred and thirty-two. Jehoiachin and his mother and his friends he imprisoned and kept under guard, after Jehoiachin had reigned three months

25. and ten days. He gave over the kingdom of Jerusalem to Jehoiakim's uncle Zedekiah, who swore not to favour the Egyptians but to keep the country for him. But he, being young—for he was twenty-one years old when he took over the rule—and contemptuous of what was just and fitting, would not be persuaded by Jeremiah, who exhorted him to leave off his impieties and lawless deeds, nor did he believe him when he told of the calamities that were to come upon him and the people; which Ezekiel too foretold in Babylon and wrote and sent to Jerusalem. Zedekiah disbelieved both prophets, as though perhaps they disagreed. For about the other things they agreed, but concerning Zedekiah himself they seemed to contradict one another. For Ezekiel prophesied that he would not see Babylon, while Jeremiah foretold that he would be led off a prisoner to Babylon. But the events concerning him agreed with both prophets; for, being blinded in Judah and led off a prisoner, he did not behold Babylon.

This Zedekiah, having kept his faith to the Babylonian for eight years, inclined toward the Egyptians. Therefore Nabuchodonosor marched and besieged Jerusalem. When the Egyptians came to the alliance of the Jews, the Babylonian, going to meet them and routing them, pursued them. The false prophets said that the enemy would no longer besiege them; but Jeremiah foretold that they would return and take the city and raze it and burn the temple, and would lead away as spear-won captives the people who would for the present be left, to be enslaved for seventy years, until the Persians and Medes should overthrow the rule of the Babylonians; and that then they would be freed from captivity, and the temple and the city would be rebuilt. So Jeremiah said; but the king and those about him mocked his words. As the prophet was going off to Anathoth his native place, one of the rulers, meeting him and seizing him as a deserter, led him to the rulers; who, after maltreating him, kept him for punishment.

In the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign the Babylonian came a second time against Jerusalem, and for a year and a half mightily besieged the city. With the siege there came a famine, and upon this a plague. Jeremiah, imprisoned, exhorted the multitude to receive the Babylonian; for so they would be saved; but if not, remaining they would perish either by famine or by the sword; "but if anyone goes over to the enemy," he said, "he will escape death." Yet the prophet was reckoned trustworthy by no one, and the leaders even further provoked the king against him. He, to humour them for the time, gave them leave to treat the prophet as they wished. And they cast him into a miry pit. But Zedekiah, learning this, ordered him to be drawn up from there, and secretly summoning him asked what he said as to the present dangers. He counselled him to surrender the city to the Babylonian. Zedekiah said he was afraid of being killed. But the prophet maintained that, doing so, he would experience no hardship. The king released him, but the Babylonian besieged the city with a fierce assault, and took it in the eleventh year of Zedekiah's rule. Zedekiah, with his wives and children and kinsmen and friends, fled from the city. The enemy pursued him and took him, left alone; for his leaders and friends had been scattered. So, taking him alive, with his children and his wives, they brought him to the Babylonian. He reproached him for his ingratitude and faithlessness, and ordered his sons and his friends to be killed before his eyes; then, having blinded his eyes, he led him off a prisoner to Babylon. And then he understood that both prophets had spoken the truth. This was the end of those who had reigned of the seed of David. They were twenty-one in all, five hundred and fourteen years, six months, and sixteen days having passed from the time Saul came to the kingdom.

Nebuzaradan, the chief cook of the Babylonian, being sent, burned both the temple and the palace and razed the city and plundered all that was in the temple. The temple had been burned four hundred and seventy years, six months, and ten days from the time it was built; and one thousand and sixty-two years, six months, and ten days from the departure of the Hebrews out of Egypt; and one thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven years, six months, and ten days from the Flood; and from the production of the first man until then three thousand five hundred and thirteen years, six months, and ten days had passed.