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which he brought: as the Lord liveth, I will run after
him, and take something of him. And Giezi followed
after Naaman: and when he saw him running after
him, he leapt down from his chariot to meet him, and
said: Is all well? And he said: Well: my master
hath sent me to thee, saying: Just now there are come
to me from mount Ephraim, two young men of the sons
of the prophets give them a talent of silver, and two
changes of garments. And Naaman said: It is better
that thou take two talents. And he forced him, and
bound two talents of silver in two bags, and two changes
of garments; and laid them upon two of his servants :
and they carried them before him. And when he was
come, and now it was the evening, he took them from
their hands, and laid them up in the house, and sent
the men away; and they departed. But he went in,
and stood before his master. And Eliseus said: Whence
comest thou, Giezi? He answered: Thy servant went
no whither. But he said: Was not my heart present,
when the man turned back from his chariot to meet
thee? So now thou hast received money, and received
garments, to buy oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep,
and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants.
the leprosy of Naaman shall also stick to thee, and to
thy seed for ever. And he went out from him a leper
as white as snow.

CHAP. XXV. The Miracles of Eliseus at Samaria.

But

THE next miracle related of Eliseus was worked for a person who was hewing timber, and let his axe-head fall into the water. The man cried out to Eliseus, bemoaning his loss, because the axe was borrowed. And the man of God cast a piece of wood into the water where the iron had fallen in, and in a moment the axehead swam on the surface.

After this there was war again between the Syrians and the people of Israel; and the king of Syria, hearing that his stratagems were known to Eliseus, and that he revealed them to the king of Israel, sent a band of men

to seize the prophet. They came, and by night, and surrounded the city where Eliseus was living, and his servant, struck with terror, called to his master to know what to do. At the prophet's prayer, God then miraculously opened the servant's eyes, and he saw the angels of God, like horses and chariots of fire, filling the neighbouring mountain, to protect the man of God against his foes. Then Eliseus prayed again, and God smote the Syrian troops with blindness; so that when the prophet went to meet them they knew him not, and suffered themselves to be led by him into the very midst of the city of Samaria. There God opened their eyes, and they found themselves in the midst of their enemies. The prophet, however, would not suffer them to be illused, but induced the king of Israel to entertain them hospitably, and dismissed them in peace.

At a later period the Syrians besieged Samaria, and reduced it to such a terrible famine that a woman was driven to kill and eat her own child. The king of Israel was now filled with rage against Eliseus, believing that it was because he refused to exercise his power with God that the Israelites were thus beaten by their foes. He therefore sent a messenger to murder the prophet in his own house. But Eliseus met the king, and foretold to him that on the very next day the city should be supplied with an over-abundance of food. At this one of the nobles about the king derided the prophecy as an impossibility; and Eliseus replied that for his unbelief he should see the plenty that would pour upon the people, but should never taste of it. That night the Lord caused a supernatural noise, as of a numerous army advancing, to sound throughout the camp of the Syrians, who fled affrighted, and left their tents as they were, with all their possessions and provisions. The next morning four lepers wandering from the city, outcasts from their fellow-creatures, came into the Syrian camp, thinking the death they there might meet no worse than the misery they left behind them. Finding the tents deserted, they returned into Samaria, and brought the wonderful tidings. At first the Israel

ites accounted the desertion of the camp a snare of their enemies; but at length they found they were really fled, and according to the prophecy of Eliseus, before night the city overflowed with every species of wealth and food. And the king appointed that very nobleman who had derided the prophecy to take charge of the citygate; and the throng of people was so great that they pressed upon him, and trod him under foot, and he died, crushed beneath the multitude, never tasting the plenty which he beheld before him.

CHAP. XXVI. The Death of Joram and Jezabel.

AFTER these events a seven years' famine came upon the land of Israel; and when they were passed Eliseus foretold that Benadad, the Syrian monarch, would be murdered by his servant Hazael, who would seize the vacant throne; and he sent a messenger to anoint Jehu successor to Joram the king of Israel. And the young man, following the prophet's directions, went to Ramoth-Galaad, where Jehu was conferring with the chief officers of the army; and entering the assembly, he said: I have a word to thee, O prince. And Jehu said: Unto whom of us all? And he said: To thee, O prince. And he arose, and went into the chamber: and he poured the oil upon his head, and said: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: I have anointed thee king over Israel, the people of the Lord. And thou shalt cut off the house of Achab thy master: and I will revenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord at the hand of Jezabel. And the dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezrahel: and there shall be no one to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled. Then Jehu went forth to the servants of his lord and they said to him: Are all things well? why came this madman to thee? And he said to them: You know the man, and what he said. swered: It is false; but rather do thou he said to them: Thus and thus did he

But they antell us. And speak to me :

and he said: Thus saith the Lord: I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then they made haste, and taking every man his garment, laid it under his feet, after the manner of a judgment-seat: and they sounded the trumpet, and said: Jehu is king. So Jehu the son of Josaphat the son of Namsi conspired against Joram. Now Joram had besieged Ramoth-Galaad, he and all Israel fighting with Hazael king of Syria: and was returned to be healed in Jezrahel of his wounds; for the Syrians had wounded him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Jehu said: If it please you, let no man go forth or flee out of the city; lest he go, and tell in Jezrahel. And he got up, and went into Jezrahel: for Joram was sick there; and Ochozias king of Juda was come down to visit Joram. The watchman, therefore, that stood upon the tower of Jezrahel, saw the troop of Jehu coming, and said: I see a troop. And Joram said: Take a chariot, and send to meet them; and let him that goeth say: Is all well? So there went one in a chariot to meet him, and said: Thus saith the king: Are all things peaceable? And Jehu said: What hast thou to do with peace? go behind, and follow me. And the watchman told, saying: The messenger came to them; but he returneth not. And he sent a second chariot of horses: and he came to them, and said: Thus saith the king: Is there peace? And Jehu said: What hast thou to do with peace? pass, and follow me. And the watchman told, saying: He came even to them, but returneth not: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Namsi; for he drives furiously. And Joram said: Make ready the chariot. And they made ready his chariot: and Joram king of Israel, and Ochozias king of Juda went out, each in his chariot: and they went out to meet Jehu, and met him in the field of Naboth the Jezrahelite. And when Joram saw Jehu, he said: Is there peace, Jehu? And he answered. What peace? so long as the fornications of Jezabel thy mother, and her many sorceries are in their vigour. And Joram turned his hand, and fleeing, said to Ochozias: There is treachery, Ochozias. But Jehu

bent his bow with his hand, and shot Joram between the shoulders: and the arrow went out through his heart and immediately he fell in his chariot. And Jehu said to Badacer his captain: Take him, and cast him into the field of Naboth the Jezrahelite: for I remember, when I and thou sitting in a chariot followed Achab this man's father, that the Lord laid this burden upon him, saying: If I do not requite thee in this field, saith the Lord, for the blood of Naboth, and for the blood of his children, which I saw yesterday, saith the Lord. So now take him, and cast him into the field, according to the word of the Lord. But Ochozias king of Juda seeing this, fled by the way of the garden-house: and Jehu pursued him, and said: Strike him also in his chariot. And they struck him in the going up to Gaver, which is by Jeblaam: and he fled into Mageddo, and died there.

And Jehu came into Jezrahel. And Jezabel, hearing of his approach, decked herself with her ornaments, and painted her face, and looked out of a window to welcome him with pretended joy, at the same time warning him of the common fate of those who slew their sovereigns. But heeding her not, he called aloud to ask who was with her in the room. And two or three servants looked out, and he said to them: Throw her down headlong; and they threw her down; and the wall was sprinkled with her blood; and the hoofs of the horses trod upon her. And when he was come in, to eat and to drink, he said: Go, and see after that cursed woman, and bury her: because she is a king's daughter. And when they went to bury her, they found nothing but the skull and the feet, and the extremities of her hands. And coming back they told him. And Jehu said: It is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by his servant Elias the Thesbite, saying: In the field of Jezrahel, the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezabel: and the flesh of Jezabel shall be as dung upon the face of the earth in the field of Jezrahel; so that they who pass by shall say: Is this that same Jezabel?

Having thus executed the Divine vengeance on this

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