Beginning

15 Therefore in the eighteenth year of the realm of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam reigned upon Judah. (And so in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign upon Judah.)

² Three years he reigned in Jerusalem (He reigned for three years in Jerusalem); the name of his mother was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

³ And he went in all the sins of his father, which he did before him; and his heart was not perfect with his Lord God, as the heart of David, his father, was perfect.

⁴ But for David, his Lord God gave to him a lantern in Jerusalem, that he should raise (up) his son after him, and that he should stand in Jerusalem; (But for David’s sake, the Lord his God gave him a light, or a flame, in Jerusalem, so that he would raise up his son after him, and keep Jerusalem secure;)

⁵ for David had done rightfulness in the eyes of the Lord, and had not bowed [away] from all things that the Lord had commanded to him, in all the days of his life, except the word of Uriah (the) Hittite^[a]. (for David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned away from all the things that the Lord had commanded to him, in all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.)

⁶ Nevertheless battle was betwixt Abijam and Jeroboam, in all the time of his life. (And there was always battle between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, in all the time of Abijam’s life.)

⁷ Soothly the residue of the words of Abijam, and all things that he did, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Judah? And battle was betwixt Abijam and Jeroboam (And there was always battle between Abijam and Jeroboam).

⁸ And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa, his son, reigned for him.

⁹ And Asa, king of Judah, reigned in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel; (And Asa, the king of Judah, began to reign in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, the king of Israel;)

¹⁰ and Asa reigned one and forty years in Jerusalem. The name of his (grand)mother was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

¹¹ And Asa did rightfulness in the sight of the Lord, as David, his father, did;

¹² and he took away from the land men of women’s conditions, and he purged all the filths of idols, which his fathers (had) made.

¹³ Furthermore and he removed Maachah, his (grand)mother, that she should not be princess in the solemn things of the idol Priapus, and in his maumet wood that she had hallowed; and he destroyed the den of him, and he brake the foulest simulacrum, and burnt it in the strand of Kidron; (And furthermore he removed Maachah, his grandmother, so that she would no longer be the queen mother, for she had erected an idol of Priapus in a grove, and worshipped it/for she had made an obscene idol for the worship of Asherah; and he broke up, and destroyed, that most foul idol, and burned it by the Kidron Stream/and burned it in the Kidron Gorge;)

¹⁴ soothly he did not (do) away the high things^[b] (but he did not do away the hill shrines); nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with his Lord God, in all his days.

¹⁵ And he brought into the house of the Lord those things, which his father had hallowed, and avowed, (the) silver, and gold, and vessels.

¹⁶ Forsooth battle was betwixt Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, in all the days of them.

¹⁷ And Baasha, king of Israel, went up into Judah, and builded Ramah, that no man of the part of Asa, king of Judah, might go out, either go in. (And Baasha, the king of Israel, went up to Judah, and fortified Ramah, so that no man of Asa, the king of Judah, could come in, or go out.)

¹⁸ Therefore Asa took all the silver and gold, that (were) left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and gave it into the hands of his servants; and he sent it to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimon, son of Hezion, the king of Syria, that dwelled in Damascus (who lived in Damascus), and said,

¹⁹ A bond of peace is betwixt me and thee, and betwixt my father and thy father, and therefore I sent to thee gifts, gold, and silver; and I ask, that thou come, and make void the bond of peace, that thou hast with Baasha, king of Israel, and that he go away from me. (There is a covenant between me and thee, and between my father and thy father, and so I sent gifts of gold and silver to thee; and I ask that thou come, and dissolve the covenant, that thou hast with Baasha, the king of Israel, so that then he shall go away from me.)

²⁰ Benhadad assented to king Asa, and sent the princes of his host into the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel, the house of Maachah (and Abelbethmaachah), and all Cinneroth, that is, all the land of Naphtali.

²¹ And when Baasha had heard this thing, he left (off) to build Ramah, and turned again into Tirzah. (And when Baasha had heard of this thing, he stopped fortifying Ramah, and returned to Tirzah.)

²² Forsooth king Asa sent [a] message into all Judah, and said, No man be excused. And (so) they (all came, and) took (away) the stones of Ramah, and the trees thereof, by which Baasha had builded (it); and king Asa builded of the same stones and trees Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah. (And King Asa sent a message to all Judah, and said, No man shall be excused. And so they all came, and took away the stones, and the timber, from Ramah, with which Baasha had fortified it; and King Asa used these same stones and timber to fortify Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.)

²³ Soothly the residue of all the words of Asa, and of all his strength, and all things that he did, and the cities which he builded, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of [the] kings of Judah? Nevertheless Asa had (an) ache in his feet, in the time of his eld (age).

²⁴ And Asa slept with his fathers, and he was buried with them in the city of David, his father; and Jehoshaphat, his son, reigned for him.

²⁵ Forsooth Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, reigned on Israel, in the second year of Asa, king of Judah; and he reigned on Israel two years. (And Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, began to reign upon Israel in the second year of Asa, the king of Judah; and he reigned upon Israel for two years.)

²⁶ And he did that, that was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he went in the ways of his father, and in the sins of him, in which he made Israel to do sin.

²⁷ And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, setted treason to him, and he smote him in Gibbethon^[c], which is a city of Philistines; and Nadab and all Israel besieged Gibbethon. (And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, set treason for him, and he struck him down in Gibbethon, which is a city of the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel besieged Gibbethon.)

²⁸ Therefore Baasha killed him, in the third year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned for him.

²⁹ And when he had reigned, he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not one man of his seed, till he did away him, by the word of the Lord, which he spake in the hand of his servant, Ahijah of Shiloh, a prophet, (And once he began to reign, he struck down all the house of Jeroboam; he left not one of his descendants, until he had done away all of them, by the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant, the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh,)

³⁰ for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and in which he made Israel to do sin, and for the trespass, by which he wrathed the Lord God of Israel (and for the trespass by which he stirred the Lord God of Israel to anger).

³¹ Soothly the residue of the words of Nadab, and all things which he wrought, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Israel?

³² And battle was betwixt Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, in all the days of them.

³³ In the third year of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha, the son of Ahijah, reigned upon all Israel, in Tirzah, four and twenty years. (In the third year of Asa, the king of Judah, Baasha, the son of Ahijah, began to reign upon all Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years.)

³⁴ And he did evil before the Lord, and he went in the ways of Jeroboam, and in his sins, by which he made Israel to do sin.

16 Forsooth the word of the Lord was made to Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha, and said,

² For that that I raised thee from dust, and setted thee duke on Israel, my people; soothly thou wentest in the way of Jeroboam, and thou hast made my people Israel to do sin, that thou shouldest stir me to ire, in the sins of them; (For though I raised thee up out of the dust, and made thee the leader of my people Israel; yet thou wentest in the way of Jeroboam, and thou hast made my people Israel to do sin, so that thou stirrest me to anger with their sins;)

³ lo! I shall cut away the hinder things of Baasha, and the hinder things of his house, and I shall make thine house as the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. (lo! I shall cut away the posterity, or the descendants, of Baasha, and of his household, or of his family, and I shall make thy house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.)

⁴ Dogs shall eat that man of Baasha, that shall be dead in the city, and [the] birds of the air shall eat that man of Baasha, that shall die in the field. (The dogs shall eat those of Baasha’s family, who shall die in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat those of Baasha’s family, who shall die in the field.)

⁵ Soothly the residue of the words of Baasha, and whatever things he did, and his battles, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Israel?

⁶ And so Baasha slept with his fathers, and he was buried in Tirzah; and Elah, his son, reigned for him.

⁷ Forsooth when the word of the Lord was made in the hand of Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha, and against his house, and against all the evil which he did before the Lord, to stir him to ire in the works of his hands, that he should be as the house of Jeroboam, for this cause he killed him^[d]. (And the word of the Lord was made to Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha, and against his house, and against all the evil which he did before the Lord, to stir him to anger with the works of his hands, because he sinned like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he killed them.)

⁸ In the six and twentieth year of Asa, king of Judah, Elah, the son of Baasha, reigned upon Israel, in Tirzah, two years. (In the twenty-sixth year of Asa, the king of Judah, Elah, the son of Baasha, began to reign upon Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned for two years.)

⁹ And Zimri, his servant, duke of the half part of his knights, rebelled against him; soothly Elah was in Tirzah, and drank and was drunken in the house of Arza, prefect of Tirzah. (And Zimri, his officer, the leader of half of his horsemen, rebelled against him; and Elah was in Tirzah, and drank until he was drunk in the house of Arza, the prefect of Tirzah.)

¹⁰ Therefore Zimri felled in, and smote Elah, and killed him, in the seven and twentieth year of Asa, king of Judah; and [he] reigned for him.

¹¹ And when he had reigned, and sat upon his throne, he smote all the house of Baasha, and he left not thereof a pisser to the wall, and his kinsmen, and friends. (And once he began to reign, and sat on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha, and he left not of it a pisser on the wall, nor any of his kinsmen, nor any of his friends.)

¹² And Zimri did away all the house of Baasha, by the word of the Lord, which he spake to Baasha, in the hand of Jehu, the prophet (which he spoke to Baasha, by the prophet Jehu),

¹³ for all the sins of Baasha, and for the sins of Elah, his son, which sinned, and made Israel to do sin, and wrathed the Lord God of Israel in their vanities. (for all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of his son Elah, both of whom sinned, and made Israel to do sin, and stirred the Lord God of Israel to anger with their worthless idols.)

¹⁴ Soothly the residue of the words of Elah, and all things which he did, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Israel?

¹⁵ In the seven and twentieth year of Asa, king of Judah, Zimri reigned (for) seven days in Tirzah (In the twenty-seventh year of Asa, the king of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days); forsooth the host of Israel besieged Gibbethon, the city of (the) Philistines.

¹⁶ And when it had heard, that Zimri had rebelled, and had slain the king, all Israel made Omri king to them, that was prince of the chivalry, on Israel, in that day, in their tents. (And when they had heard that Zimri had rebelled, and had killed the king, all Israel made Omri, who was the leader of the cavalry, or of the army, king upon Israel, that very day, in the camp.)

¹⁷ Therefore Omri went up, and all Israel with him, from Gibbethon, and besieged Tirzah. (And then Omri, and all Israel with him, went up from Gibbethon, and besieged Tirzah.)

¹⁸ And Zimri saw, that the city should be overcome, and he entered into the palace, and burnt himself with the king’s house; and he was dead (And Zimri saw that the city would be overcome, and so he entered into the palace, and burned himself up, along with the palace; and so he died)

¹⁹ in his sins which he sinned, doing evil before the Lord, and going in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sins, by which he made Israel to do sin.

²⁰ Soothly the residue of the words of Zimri, and of his treasons, and tyranny, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Israel?

²¹ Then the people of Israel was parted into two parts; the half part of the people followed Tibni, the son of Ginath, to make him king, and the other half part followed Omri.

²² And the people that was with Omri, had the mastery over the people that followed Tibni, the son of Ginath; and Tibni was dead, and Omri reigned. (And the people who were with Omri, had the mastery over the people who followed Tibni, the son of Ginath; and so Tibni was killed, and Omri reigned.)

²³ In the one and thirtieth year of Asa, king of Judah, Omri reigned upon Israel, twelve years; in Tirzah, he reigned six years. (In the one and thirtieth year of Asa, the king of Judah, Omri began to reign upon Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; the first six years he reigned in Tirzah.)

²⁴ And he bought of Shemer, for two talents of silver, the hill of Samaria, and builded (on) that hill; and he called the name of the city, which he had builded, by the name of Shemer, [the] lord of the hill of Samaria. (And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer, for two talents of silver, and built a city on that hill; and he called the name of the city, which he built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the former lord of that hill.)

²⁵ Forsooth Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and wrought waywardly, or wickedly, over all men that were before him. (But Omri did evil before the Lord, and acted more wickedly than all the kings who were before him.)

²⁶ And he went in all the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and in his sins, by which he made Israel to do sin, that he should stir to ire, in his vanities, the Lord God of Israel. (And he went in all the ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and in his sins, by which he made Israel to do sin, so that they stirred the Lord God of Israel to anger with their worthless idols.)

²⁷ Forsooth the residue of the words of Omri, and his battles, which he did, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Israel?

²⁸ And Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab, his son, reigned for him.

²⁹ Forsooth Ahab, the son of Omri, reigned upon Israel, in the eight and thirtieth year of Asa, king of Judah; and Ahab, the son of Omri, reigned upon Israel, in Samaria, two and twenty years. (Then Ahab, the son of Omri, began to reign upon Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa, the king of Judah; and Ahab, the son of Omri, reigned upon Israel, in Samaria, for twenty-two years.)

³⁰ And Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the Lord, over all men that were before him; (And Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil before the Lord, more than all the kings who were before him;)

³¹ and it sufficed not to him that he went in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, furthermore and he wedded a wife, Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidonians; and he went and served Baal, and worshipped him. (and it was not sufficient for him that he merely went in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, but moreover he wedded Jezebel for a wife, Ethbaal’s daughter, the king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal, and worshipped him.)

³² And he set up an altar to Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had builded in Samaria,

³³ and he planted a maumet wood; and Ahab added to (that) in his work, and stirred to ire the Lord God of Israel, more than all [the] kings of Israel that were before him. (and he planted an idol grove/and he put up a sacred pole; and Ahab did more with his deeds, to stir the Lord God of Israel to anger, than all the kings of Israel who were before him.)

³⁴ Forsooth in his days Hiel of Bethel builded Jericho; in Abiram, his first son, he founded it^[e], and in Segub, his last son, he setted the gates thereof, by the word of the Lord, which he had spoken in the hand of Joshua, the son of Nun. (And in his days Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho; he lost Abiram, his first son, at the time that he founded it, and he lost Segub, his last son, when he put up its gates, by the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by Joshua, the son of Nun.)

17 And Elijah (the) Tishbite, of the dwellers of Gilead, said to Ahab, (As) The Lord God of Israel liveth, in whose sight I stand, dew and rain shall not be in these years, no but by the words of my mouth.

² And the word of the Lord was made to him, and said,

³ Go thou away from hence, and go against the east, and be thou hid in the strand of Cherith, that is against Jordan, (Go thou away from here, and go toward the east, and be thou hid by the Cherith Stream/by the Cherith Gorge, that is east of the Jordan River,)

⁴ and there thou shalt drink of the strand (and there thou shalt drink out of the stream); and I have commanded to [the] crows, that they feed thee there.

⁵ Therefore he went, and did by the word of the Lord; and when he had gone, he sat in the strand of Cherith, that is against Jordan. (And so he went, and did by the word of the Lord; and when he had gone forth, he sat by the Cherith Stream/he sat by the Cherith Gorge, that is east of the Jordan River.)

⁶ And [the] crows bare to him bread and flesh early; and in like manner in the eventide; and he drank of the strand. (And each morning the crows brought him bread and meat; and likewise in the evening; and he drank from the stream.)

⁷ And after some days the strand was dried (And after some days the stream dried up); for it had not rained on the earth.

⁸ Therefore the word of the Lord was made to him, and said,

⁹ Rise thou (up), and go into Zarephath of (the) Sidonians, and thou shalt dwell there; for I have commanded to a woman widow there, that she feed thee (for I have commanded to a widow woman there, that she should feed thee).

¹⁰ He rose, and went into Zarephath of Sidonians; and when he had come to the gate of the city, a woman widow gathering sticks appeared to him; and he called her, and said to her, Give thou to me a little of water in a vessel, that I drink. (He rose up, and went to Zarephath of the Sidonians; and when he had come to the city gate, a widow woman gathering sticks appeared before him; and he called to her, and said to her, Give thou to me a little water in a vessel, so that I can have a drink.)

¹¹ And when she went to bring it, he cried behind her back, and said, I beseech, bring thou to me also a morsel of bread in thine hand.

¹² And she answered, (As) Thy Lord God liveth, for I have no bread, no but as much of meal in a pot, as a fist[ful] may take, and a little of oil in a vessel; lo! I gather two sticks, that I enter, and make it to me, and to my son, that we eat, and die (lo! I am gathering only two sticks, so that I can go in, and make it up for me, and my son, so that we can eat, and then die).

¹³ And Elijah said to her, Do not thou dread, but go, and make as thou saidest; nevertheless make thou first to me of that little meal a little loaf, baken under ashes, and bring thou it to me; soothly thou shalt make afterward to thee and to thy son. (And Elijah said to her, Do not thou fear, but go, and make as thou saidest; but first make thou for me a small loaf from that little amount of meal, baked under ashes, and bring thou it to me; then afterward thou shalt make some for thee and thy son.)

¹⁴ Forsooth the Lord God of Israel saith these things (to you), The pot of meal shall not fail, and the vessel of oil shall not be abated, till to the day in which the Lord shall give rain on the face of the earth.

¹⁵ And she went, and did by the word of Elijah; and he ate, and she, and her house (and he, and she, and all of her household, or her family, ate for many days).

¹⁶ And from that day the pot of meal failed not, and the vessel of oil was not abated, by the word of the Lord, which he had spoken in the hand of Elijah (which he had spoken by Elijah).

¹⁷ Forsooth it was done after these words, (that) the son of a woman housewife, was sick, and the sickness was full strong, so that breath dwelled not in him. (And it was done after these things, that the son of that woman housewife, was sick, and the sickness grew very strong, so that finally no breath remained in him.)

¹⁸ Therefore she said to Elijah, What to me and to thee, thou man of God? Enteredest thou to me, that my wickedness should be remembered, and that thou shouldest slay my son?

¹⁹ And Elijah said to her, Give thy son to me. And he took that son from her bosom, and bare into the solar, where he dwelled; and he put him on his bed. (And he took her son from her bosom, and carried him up to the solarium, where he stayed; and he put him on his bed.)

²⁰ And he cried to the Lord, and said, My Lord God, whether thou hast tormented also the widow (hast thou tormented this widow), with whom I am sustained in all manner, (so) that thou killedest her son?

²¹ He spread abroad himself, and was meted upon the child by three times; and he cried to the Lord, and said, My Lord God, I beseech, the soul of this child turn again into the entrails of him. (Then he stretched himself over, or above, the child three times; and he cried to the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I beseech thee, let the soul of this child return to his entrails.)

²² The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child turned again within him, and he lived again.

²³ And Elijah took the child, and put him down of the solar into the lower house (and took him down from the solarium to the lower part of the house), and betook him to his mother; and he said to her, Lo! thy son liveth.

²⁴ And the woman said to Elijah, Now in this I have known, that thou art a man of God, and the word of the Lord is sooth in thy mouth. (And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know, that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord from thy mouth is truth.)