1 Then Benhadad, the king of Syria, gathered together his entire army. And there were thirty-two kings with him, with horses and chariots. And ascending, he fought against Samaria, and he besieged it.
2 And sending messengers into the city, to Ahab, the king of Israel,
3 he said: “Thus says Benhadad: Your silver and your gold is mine. And your wives and your best sons are mine.”
4 And the king of Israel responded, “In agreement with your word, my lord the king, I am yours, with all that is mine.”
5 And the messengers, returning, said: “Thus says Benhadad, who sent us to you: Your silver and your gold, and your wives and your sons, you shall give to me.
6 Therefore, tomorrow, at this same hour, I will send my servants to you, and they will search your house and the houses of your servants. And all that pleases them, they will put in their hands and take away.”
7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and he said: “Let your souls take heed, and see that he commits treachery against us. For he sent to me for my wives and sons, and for silver and gold. And I did not refuse.”
8 And all those greater by birth, with all the people, said to him, “You should neither listen, nor acquiesce to him.”
9 And so, he responded to the messengers of Benhadad: “Tell my lord the king: Everything about which you sent to me in the beginning, I your servant will do. But this thing, I am not able to do.”
10 And returning, the messengers took this to him, and he sent again and said, “May the gods do these things to me, and may they add these other things, if the dust of Samaria is enough to fill the hands of all the people who follow me.”
11 And responding, the king of Israel said, “Tell him that one who is girded should not boast the same as one who is ungirded.”
12 Then it happened that, when Benhadad had heard this word, he and the kings were drinking in a pavilion. And he said to his servants, “Encircle the city.” And they encircled it.
13 And behold, one prophet, drawing near to Ahab, the king of Israel, said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Certainly, you have seen this entire exceedingly great multitude? Behold, I will deliver them into your hand today, so that you may know that I am the Lord.”
14 And Ahab said, “By whom?” And he said to him: “Thus says the Lord: By the footmen of the leaders of the provinces.” And he said, “Who should begin to do battle?” And he said, “You should.”
15 Therefore, he took a count of the servants of the leaders of the provinces. And he found the number to be two hundred thirty-two. And he set them in order after the people, all the sons of Israel, who were seven thousand.
16 And they went out at midday. But Benhadad was drinking; he was inebriated in his pavilion, and the thirty-two kings with him, who had arrived in order to assist him.
17 Then the servants of the leaders of the provinces went out to the first place, at the front. And so, Benhadad sent, and they reported to him, saying: “Men have gone out from Samaria.”
18 And he said: “If they have arrived for peace, apprehend them alive; if to do battle, capture them alive.”
19 Therefore, the servants of the leaders of the provinces went out, and the remainder of the army was following.
20 And each one struck down the man who came against him. And the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. Also, Benhadad, the king of Syria, fled on a horse, with his horsemen.
21 But the king of Israel, going out, struck the horses and the chariots, and he struck the Syrians with a great slaughter.
22 Then a prophet, drawing near to the king of Israel, said to him: “Go and be strengthened. And know and see what you are doing. For in the following year, the king of Syria will rise up against you.”
23 Then truly, the servants of the king of Syria said to him: “Their gods are the gods of the mountains; because of this, they have overwhelmed us. But it is better that we fight against them in the plains, and then we will prevail over them.
24 Therefore, you should do this word: Remove each of the kings from your army, and set commanders in their place.
25 And replace the number of soldiers who have been cut down of yours, and the horses, in accord with the earlier number of horses, and the chariots, in accord with the number of chariots that you had before. And we will fight against them in the plains, and you will see that we will prevail over them.” And he trusted in their counsel, and he did so.
26 Therefore, after the passing of the year, Benhadad took a count of the Syrians, and he ascended to Aphek, so that he might fight against Israel.
27 Then the sons of Israel were numbered, and taking provisions, they set out to the opposite side. And they stretched out the camp facing them, like two little flocks of goats. But the Syrians filled the land.
28 And one man of God, drawing near, said to the king of Israel: “Thus says the Lord: Because the Syrians have said, ‘The Lord is the God of the mountains, but he is not the God of the valleys,’ I will deliver this entire great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
29 And for seven days, both sides arranged each of their battle lines. Then, on the seventh day, the war was undertaken. And the sons of Israel struck down, from the Syrians, one hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day.
30 Then those who had remained fled to Aphek, into the city. And the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand men of those who had remained. Then Benhadad, fleeing, entered the city, into a room that was inside another room.
31 And his servants said to him: “Behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel show clemency. And so, let us put sackcloth around our waists, and ropes on our heads, and let us go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will save our lives.”
32 So they wrapped sackcloth around their waists, and they placed ropes on their heads. And they went to the king of Israel, and they said to him: “Your servant, Benhadad, says: ‘I beg you to let my soul live.’ ” And he replied, “If he is still alive, he is my brother.”
33 The men accepted this as a good sign. And hastily, they took up the word from his mouth, and they said, “Benhadad is your brother.” And he said to them, “Go, and bring him to me.” Therefore, Benhadad went out to him, and he lifted him onto his chariot.
34 And he said to him: “The cities that my father took from your father, I will return. And you may make streets for yourself in Damascus, just as my father made in Samaria. And after we have made a pact, I will withdraw from you.” Therefore, he formed a pact with him, and he released him.
35 Then a certain man from the sons of the prophets said to his associate, by the word of the Lord, “Strike me.” But he was not willing to strike.
36 And he said to him: “Because you were not willing to heed the voice of the Lord, behold, you will depart from me, and a lion will slay you. And when he had departed a short distance from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
37 But upon finding another man, he said to him, “Strike me.” And he struck him, and wounded him.
38 Then the prophet departed. And he met the king along the way, and he changed his appearance by sprinkling dust around his mouth and eyes.
39 And when the king had passed by, he cried out to the king, and he said: “Your servant went out to do battle in close quarters. And when one man had fled, a certain person brought him to me, and he said: ‘Guard this man. For if he slips away, your life will take the place of his life, or you will weigh out one talent of silver.’
40 And while I was distracted, turning one way and another, suddenly, he was not to be seen.” And the king of Israel said to him, “This is your judgment, that which you yourself have decreed.”
41 Then immediately, he wiped away the dust from his face, and the king of Israel recognized him, that he was one of the prophets.
42 And he said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Because you have released from your hand a man worthy of death, your life will take the place of his life, and your people will take the place of his people.”
43 And so the king of Israel returned to his house, unwilling to listen, and a fury entered into Samaria.
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1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, set your face against mount Seir, and you shall prophesy about it, and you shall say to it:
3 Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, mount Seir, and I will extend my hand over you, and I will make you desolate and deserted.
4 I will tear down your cities, and you will be deserted. And you shall know that I am the Lord.
5 For you have been a continual adversary, and you have enclosed the sons of Israel, by the hands of the sword, in the time of their affliction, in the time of extreme iniquity.
6 Because of this, as I live, says the Lord God, I will hand you over to blood, and blood will pursue you. Even though you have hated blood, blood will pursue you.
7 And I will make mount Seir desolate and deserted. And I will take away from it the one who departs and the one who returns.
8 And I will fill up its mountains with its slain. In your hills, and in your valleys, as well as in your torrents, the slain will fall by the sword.
9 I will hand you over to everlasting desolations, and your cities will not be inhabited. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.
10 For you have said, ‘Two nations and two lands will be mine, and I will possess them as an inheritance,’ though the Lord was in that place.
11 Because of this, as I live, says the Lord God, I will act in accord with your own wrath, and in accord with your own zeal, by which you have acted with hatred toward them. And I will be made known by them, when I will have judged you.
12 And you shall know that I, the Lord, have heard all your disgraces, which you have spoken about the mountains of Israel, saying: ‘They are deserted. They have been given to us to devour.’
13 And you rose up against me with your mouth, and you disparaged against me with your words. I have heard.
14 Thus says the Lord God: When the whole earth will rejoice, I will reduce you to solitude.
15 Just as you have rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, when it was laid waste, so will I act toward you. You will be laid waste, O mount Seir, with all of Idumea. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”
1 But as for you, son of man, prophesy over the mountains of Israel, and you shall say: O mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord.
2 Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy has said about you: ‘It is well! The everlasting heights have been given to us as an inheritance!’
3 because of this, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God: Because you have been made desolate, and you have been trampled on every side, and you have been made into an inheritance for the remainder of the nations, and because you rose up, over the tip of the tongue and over the shame of the people,
4 because of this, O mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the torrents, and to the valleys, and to the deserts, and to the ruins, and to the forsaken cities, which have been depopulated and ridiculed by the remainder of the nations all around:
5 Because of this, thus says the Lord God: In the fire of my zeal, I have spoken about the remainder of the nations, and about all of Idumea, who have given my land to themselves, joyfully, as an inheritance, and with all the heart and mind, and who have cast it out, so that they may lay waste to it.
6 Therefore, prophesy over the soil of Israel, and you shall say to the mountains, and to the hills, to the ridges, and to the valleys: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I have spoken in my zeal and in my fury, because you have endured the shame of the Gentiles.
7 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I have lifted up my hand, so that the Gentiles, who are all around you, will themselves bear their shame.
8 But as for you, O mountains of Israel, spring forth your branches, and bear your fruit, to my people Israel. For they are close to their advent.
9 For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be plowed, and you will receive seed.
10 And I will multiply men among you and among all the house of Israel. And the cities shall be inhabited, and the ruinous places shall be restored.
11 And I will fill you again with men and with cattle. And they will be multiplied, and they will increase. And I will cause you to live as from the beginning, and I will give you even greater gifts than those you had from the start. And you shall know that I am the Lord.
12 And I will lead men over you, over my people Israel, and they will possess you as an inheritance. And you shall be to them as an inheritance. And you shall no longer be permitted to be without them.
1 A psalm for Asaph. God hath stood in the congregation of gods: and being in the midst of them he judgeth gods.
2 How long will you judge unjustly: and accept the persons of the wicked?
3 Judge for the needy and fatherless: do justice to the humble and the poor.
4 Rescue the poor; and deliver the needy out of the hand of the sinner.
5 They have not known nor understood: they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth shall be moved.
6 I have said: You are gods and all of you the sons of the most High.
7 But you like men shall die: and shall fall like one of the princes.
8 Arise, O God, judge thou the earth: for thou shalt inherit among all the nations.
12 Then the proconsul, when he had seen what was done, believed, being in wonder over the doctrine of the Lord.
13 And when Paul and those who were with him had sailed from Paphos, they arrived at Perga in Pamphylia. Then John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem.
14 Yet truly, they, traveling on from Perga, arrived at Antioch in Pisidia. And upon entering the synagogue on the Sabbath day, they sat down.
15 Then, after the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent to them, saying: “Noble brothers, if there is in you any word of exhortation to the people, speak.”
16 Then Paul, rising up and motioning for silence with his hand, said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen closely.
17 The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people, when they were settlers in the land of Egypt. And with an exalted arm, he led them away from there.
18 And throughout a time of forty years, he endured their behavior in the desert.
19 And by destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land among them by lot,
20 after about four hundred and fifty years. And after these things, he gave them judges, even until the prophet Samuel.
21 And later on, they petitioned for a king. And God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
22 And having removed him, he raised up for them king David. And offering testimony about him, he said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, to be a man according to my own heart, who will accomplish all that I will.’
23 From his offspring, according to the Promise, God has brought Jesus the Savior to Israel.
24 John was preaching, before the face of his advent, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
25 Then, when John completed his course, he was saying: ‘I am not the one you consider me to be. For behold, one arrives after me, the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to loosen.’
26 Noble brothers, sons of the stock of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, it is to you the Word of this salvation has been sent.
27 For those who were living in Jerusalem, and its rulers, heeding neither him, nor the voices of the Prophets that are read on every Sabbath, fulfilled these by judging him.
28 And although they found no case for death against him, they petitioned Pilate, so that they might put him to death.
29 And when they had fulfilled everything that had been written about him, taking him down from the tree, they placed him in a tomb.
30 Yet truly, God raised him up from the dead on the third day.
31 And he was seen for many days by those who went up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who even now are his witnesses to the people.
32 And we are announcing to you that the Promise, which was made to our fathers,
33 has been fulfilled by God for our children by raising up Jesus, just as it has been written in the second Psalm also: ‘You are my Son. This day I have begotten you.’
