The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 186

9:10. Thou therefore and the sons and thy servants shall till the land for him: and thou shalt bring in food for thy master's son, that he may be maintained: and Miphiboseth the son of thy master shall always eat bread at my table. And Siba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

9:11. And Siba said to the king: As thou my lord the hast commanded thy servant, so will thy servant do: and Miphiboseth shall eat at my table, as one of the sons of the King.

9:12. And Miphiboseth had a young son whose name was Micha: and all that kindred of the house of Siba served Miphiboseth.

9:13. But Miphiboseth dwelt in Jerusalem: because he ate always of the king's table: and he was lame of both feet.

2 Kings Chapter 10

The Ammonites shamefully abuse the amba.s.sadors of David: they hire the Syrians to the their a.s.sistance: but are overthrown with their allies.

10:1. And it came to pa.s.s after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanon his son reigned in his stead.

10:2. And David said: I will shew kindness to Hanon the son of Daas, as his father shewed kindness to me. So David sent his servants to comfort him for the death of his father. But when the servants of David were come into the land of the children of Ammon,

10:3. The princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanon their lord: Thinkest thou that for the honour of thy father, David hath sent comforters to thee, and hath not David rather sent his servants to thee to search, and spy into the city, and overthrow it?

10:4. Wherefore Hanon took the servants of David, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut away half of their garments even to the b.u.t.tocks, and sent them away.

10:5. When this was told David, he sent to meet them: for the men were sadly put to confusion, and David commanded them, saying: Stay at Jericho, till your beards be grown, and then return.

10:6. And the children of Ammon seeing that they had done an injury to David, sent and hired the Syrians of Rohob, and the Syrians of Soba, twenty thousand footmen, and of the king of Maacha a thousand men, and of Istob twelve thousand men.

10:7. And when David heard this, he sent Joab and the whole army of warriors.

10:8. And the children of Ammon came out, and set their men in array at the entering in of the gate: but the Syrians of Soba, and of Rohob, and of Istob, and of Maacha were by themselves in the field.

10:9. Then Joab seeing that the battle was prepared against him, both before and behind, chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians:

10:10. And the rest of the people he delivered to Abisai his brother, who set them in array against the children of Ammon.

10:11. And Joab said: If the Syrians are too strong for me, then thou shalt help me, but if the children of Ammon are too strong for thee, then I will help thee.

10:12. Be of good courage, and let us fight for our people, and for the city of our G.o.d: and the Lord will do what is good in his sight.

10:13. And Joab and the people that were with him, began to fight against the Syrians: and they immediately fled before him.

10:14. And the children of Ammon seeing that the Syrians were fled, they fled also before Abisai, and entered into the city: and Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.

10:15. Then the Syrians seeing that they had fallen before Israel, gathered themselves together.

10:16. And Adarezer sent and fetched the Syrians, that were beyond the river, and brought over their army: and Sobach, the captain of the host of Adarezer, was their general.

10:17. And when this was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and pa.s.sed over the Jordan, and came to Helam: and the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought against him.

10:18. And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David slew of the Syrians the men of seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand hors.e.m.e.n: and smote Sobach the captain of the army, who presently died.

10:19. And all the kings that were auxiliaries of Adarezer, seeing themselves overcome by Israel, were afraid and fled away, eight and fifty thousand men before Israel. And they made peace with Israel: and served them, and all the Syrians were afraid to help the children of Ammon any more.

2 Kings Chapter 11

David falleth into the crime of adultery with Bethsabee: and not finding other means to conceal it, causeth her husband Urias to be slain. Then marrieth her, who beareth him a son.

11:1. And it came to pa.s.s at the return of the year, at the time when kings go forth to war, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they spoiled the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabba: but David remained in Jerusalem.

11:2. In the mean time it happened that David arose from his bed after noon, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: And he saw from the roof of his house a woman was.h.i.+ng herself, over against him: and the woman was very beautiful.

11:3. And the king sent, and inquired who the woman was. And it was told him, that she was Bethsabee the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Urias the Hethite.

11:4. And David sent messengers, and took her, and she came in to him, and he slept with her: and presently she was purified from her uncleanness:

11:5. And she returned to her house having conceived. And she sent and told David, and said: I have conceived.

11:6. And David sent to Joab, saying: Send me Urias the Hethite. And Joab sent Urias to David.

11:7. And Urias came to David. And David asked how Joab did, and the people, and how the war was carried on.

11:8. And David said to Urias: Go into thy house, and wash thy feet. And Urias went out from the king's house, and there went out after him a mess of meat from the king.

11:9. But Urias slept before the gate of the king's house, with the other servants of his lord, and went not down to his own house.

11:10. And it was told David by some that said: Urias went not to his house. And David said to Urias: Didst thou not come from thy journey?

why didst thou not go down to thy house?

11:11. And Urias said to David: The ark of G.o.d and Israel and Juda dwell in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord abide upon the face of the earth: and shall I go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to sleep with my wife? By thy welfare and by the welfare of thy soul I will not do this thing.

11:12. Then David said to Urias: Tarry here to day, and to morrow I will send thee away. Urias tarried in Jerusalem that day and the next.

11:13. And David called him to eat and to drink before him, and he made him drunk: and he went out in the evening, and slept on his couch with the servants of his lord, and went not down into his house.

11:14. And when the morning was come, David wrote a letter to Joab: and sent it by the hand of Urias,

11:15. Writing in the letter: Set ye Urias in the front of the battle, where the fight is strongest: and leave ye him, that he may be wounded and die.

11:16. Wherefore as Joab was besieging the city, he put Urias in the place where he knew the bravest men were.

11:17. And the men coming out of the city, fought against Joab, and there fell some of the people of the servants of David, and Urias the Hethite was killed also.

11:18. Then Joab sent, and told David all things concerning the battle.

11:19. And he charged the messenger, saying: When thou hast told all the words of the battle to the king,

11:20. If thou see him to be angry, and he shall say: Why did you approach so near to the wall to fight? knew you not that many darts are thrown from above off the wall?

11:21. Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerobaal? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall and slew him in Thebes? Why did you go near the wall? Thou shalt say: Thy servant Urias the Hethite is also slain.

11:22. So the messenger departed, and came and told David all that Joab had commanded him.

11:23. And the messenger said to David: The men prevailed against us, and they came out to us into the field: and we vigorously charged and pursued them even to the gate of the city.