divining spirit at Endor. Then he disguised himself: and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night, and he said to her: Divine to me by thy divining spirit, and bring me up him whom I shall tell thee. And the woman said to him: Behold thou knowest all that Saul hath done, and how he hath rooted out the magicians and soothsayers from the land: why then dost thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to be put to death? And Saul swore unto her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord liveth there shall no evil happen to thee for this thing. And the woman said to him: Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said: Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and said to Saul: Why hast thou deceived me? For thou art Saul. And the king said to her: Fear not: what hast thou seen? And the woman said to Saul: I see a personage* ascending out of the earth. And he said to her: What form is he of? And she said: An old man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul understood that it was Samuel,† and he bowed himself with his face to the ground,

and adored.

And Samuel said to Saul: Why hast thou disturbed my rest, that I should be brought up? And Saul said: I am in great distress for the Philistines fight against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me not, neither by the hand of prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest show me what I shall do.

And Samuel said: Why askest thou me, seeing the Lord has departed from thee, and is gone over to thy rival? For the Lord will do to thee as He spoke by me, and He will rend thy kingdom out of thy hand, and will give it to thy neighbour David because thou didst not obey the voice of the Lord, neither didst thou execute the wrath of His indignation upon Amalec. Therefore hath the Lord done to thee what thou sufferest this day. And the Lord also will deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines: and to-morrow thou and thy sons shall be with me: and the Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.

And forthwith Saul fell all along on the ground, for he was frightened with the words of Samuel, and there was no strength

* A divine being.

It is the more common opinion of the holy fathers and interpreters that the soul of Samuel appeared indeed: and not, as some have imagined, an evil spirit in his shape. Not that the power of her magic could bring him thither, but that God was pleased, for the punishment of Saul, that Samuel himself should denounce unto him the evils that were falling upon him. DOUAY BIBLE,

1 Kings

in him, for he had eaten no bread all that day. And the
woman came to Saul (for he was very much troubled), and said
to him: Behold thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I
have put my life in my hand: and I hearkened unto the words
which thou spakest to me.
Now therefore hear thou also the
voice of thy handmaid, and let me set before thee a morsel of
bread, that thou mayest eat and recover strength, and be able to
go on thy journey. But he refused, and said: I will not eat.
But his servants and the woman forced him; and at length
hearkening to their voice, he arose from the ground, and sat
upon the bed. Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house,
and she made haste and killed it and taking meal kneaded it,
and baked some unleavened bread, and set it before Saul, and
before his servants. And when they had caten they rose up,
and walked all that night.

Saul's Death.-And the Philistines fought against Israel, XXXI. 1-13. and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gelboe. And the Philistines fell upon Saul, and upon his sons, and they slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchisua the sons of Saul. And the whole weight of the battle was turned upon Saul: and the archers overtook him, and he was grievously wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armour-bearer: Draw thy sword, and kill me, lest these uncircumcised come, and slay me, and mock at me. And his armour-bearer would not, for he was struck with exceeding great fear. Then Saul took his sword, and fell upon it. And when his armour-bearer saw this, to wit, that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword, and died with him.

So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer, and all his men that same day together.* And the men of Israel, that were beyond the valley, and beyond the Jordan, seeing that the Israelites were fled, and that Saul was dead, and his sons, forsook their cities and fled: and the Philistines came, and dwelt there. And on the morrow the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons lying in mount Gelboe. And they cut off Saul's head, and stripped him of his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the temples of their idols, and among their people. And they put his armour in the temple of Astaroth, but his body they hung on the wall of Bethsan.

*So Saul died for his iniquities, because he transgressed the commandment of the Lord, which He had commanded, and kept it not: and moreover consulted also a witch, and trusted not in the Lord: therefore He slew him, and transferred his kingdom to David the son of Jesse.' 1 Par x.

Now when the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad had heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, all the most valiant men aroɛe, and walked all the night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Bethsan: and they came to Jabes Galaad, and burnt them there: and they took their bones, and buried them in the wood of Jabes, and fasted seven days.

1-16.

Now it came to pass, after Saul was dead, that David re- 2 Kings 1. turned from the slaughter of the Amalekites,* and abode two days in Siceleg. And on the third day there appeared a man who came out of Saul's camp, with his garments rent, and dust strewed on his head: and when he came to David, he fell upon his face, and adored. And David said to him: From whence comest thou? And he said to him: I am fled out of the camp of Israel. And David said unto him: What is the matter that is come to pass? tell me. He said: The people are fled from the battle, and many of the people are fallen and dead moreover Saul and Jonathan his son are slain.

And David said to the young man that told him: How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead? And the young man that told him said: I came by chance upon mount Gelboe, and Saul leaned upon his spear: and the chariots and horsemen drew nigh unto him, and looking behind him, and seeing me, he called me. And I answered: Here am I. And he said to me: Who art thou? And I said to him: I am an Amalekite. And he said to me: Stand over me, and kill me, for anguish is come upon me, and as yet my whole life is in me. So standing over him, I killed him: for I knew that he could not live after the fall:+ and I took the diadem that was on his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither to thee, my lord. Then David took hold of his garments and rent them, and likewise all the men that were with him. And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword.

And David said to the young man that told him: Whence art thou? He answered: I am the son of a stranger of Amalec. David said to him: Why didst thou not fear to put out thy hand to kill the Lord's anointed? And David calling one of his

* While David was at Geth the Amalekites had attacked Siceleg, and carried off David's wives and those of his followers who were left there. But David pursued after them, and defeated them, recovering everything.

† He had fallen on his sword to kill himself.

servants, said: Go near and fall upon him. And he struck him so that he died. And David said to him: Thy blood be upon thy own head for thy own mouth hath spoken against thee, saying: I have slain the Lord's anointed.

2 Kings II. 1-11.

2 Kings

SECT. LXV. DAVID REIGNS AT HEBRON OVER THE TRIBE OF JUDA TILL
THE DEATH OF 1SBOSETH. HE TAKES JERUSALEM.

David reigns at Hebron.-And after these things David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go up into one of the cities of Juda? And the Lord said to him: Go up. And David said: Whither shall I go up? And He answered him: Into Hebron.

So David went up, and his two wives, Achinoam the Jezrahelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal of CarB.C. 1056. mel and the men also that were with him, David brought up every man with his household: and they abode in the towns of Hebron. And the men of Juda came, and anointed David there, to be king over the house of Juda.

And it was told David, that the men of Jabes Galaad had buried Saul. David therefore sent messengers to the men of Jabes Galaad, and said to them: Blessed be you of the Lord, who have shown this mercy to your master Saul, and have buried him. And now the Lord surely will render you mercy and truth, and I also will requite you for this good turn, because you have done this thing. Let your hands be strengthened, and be ye men of valour: for although your master Saul be dead, yet the house of Juda hath anointed me to be their king.

But Abner the son of Ner, general of Saul's army, took Isboseth the son of Saul, and led him about through the camp, and made him king over Galaad, and over Gessuri, and over Jezrahel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. Isboseth the son of Saul was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years and only the house of Juda followed David. And the number of the days that David abode, reigning in Hebron over the house of Juda, was seven years and six months.

Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and III. . the house of David: David prospering and growing always stronger and stronger, but the house of Saul decaying daily.

2 Kingsvi.

Murder of Isboseth.-And Isboseth the son of Saul heard 1-12. that Abner was slain in Hebron :* and his hands were weakened, and all Israel was troubled. Now the son of Saul had two men

* Abner had been killed by Joab, a captain of David's army.

captains of his bands, the name of the one was Baana, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Remmon a Berothite, of the children of Benjamin: for Beroth also was reckoned in Benjamin. And the Berothites fled into Gethaim, and were sojourners there until that time.

And Jonathan the son of Saul had a son that was lame of his feet: for he was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan from Jezrahel. And his nurse took him up and fled and as she made haste to flee, he fell and became lame : and his name was Miphiboseth. And the sons of Remmon the Berothite, Rechab and Baana, coming, went into the house of Isboseth in the heat of the day, and he was sleeping upon his bed at noon. And the door-keeper of the house, who was cleansing wheat, was fallen asleep. And they entered into the house secretly, taking ears of corn, and Rechab and Baana his brother stabbed him in the groin, and fled away. For when they came into the house, he was sleeping upon his bed in a parlour, and they struck him and killed him: and taking away his head they went off by the way of the wilderness, walking all night. And they brought the head of Isboseth to David to Hebron: and they said to the king: Behold the head of Isboseth the son of Saul thy enemy who sought thy life and the Lord hath revenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.

But David answered Rechab, and Baana his brother, the sons of Remmon the Berothite, and said to them: As the Lord liveth, who hath delivered my soul out of all distress, the man that told me, and said Saul is dead, who thought he brought good tidings, I apprehended, and slew him in Siceleg, who should have been rewarded for his news. How much more now, when wicked men have slain an innocent man in his own house, upon his bed, shall I not require his blood at your hand, and take you away from the earth? And David commanded his servants, and they slew them and cutting off their hands and feet, hanged them up over the pool in Hebron: but the head of Isboseth they took and buried in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.

1-10.

David takes Jerusalem.—Then all the tribes of Israel came 2 Kings v. to David in Hebron, saying: Behold we are thy bone and thy flesh. Moreover yesterday also and the day before, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that did lead out and bring in Israel: and the Lord said to thee: Thou shalt feed My people Israel, and thou shalt be prince over Israel. The ancients also of Israel came to the king to Hebron, and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David to be king over Israel.

R