The .iiii. Chapter.
1 The Israelites were afrayde and defended their countrey. 5 Eliacim the priest wry∣teth to Bethulia, that they shoulde fortifie them selues. 8 They cried to the Lorde, and humbled them selues before hym.
[unspec A] 1 WHen the children of Is∣rael that dwelt in Iurie heard this, they were sore afrayde of him.
2 There came such trembling also & feare vpon them, lest he shoulde do vnto the citie of Hierusalem and the temple of the Lord, as he had done to other cities and their temples.
3 So they sent into all Samaria rounde about vnto Iericho, [toke in] and occupi∣ed all the toppes of the mountaynes:
4 And made fast the townes with walles, and prepared corne for them against the battayle.
5 Eliacim also the priest wrote vnto all them that dwelt towarde Esdrelon, which lieth ouer against the great fielde by Dothain, & vnto all those by whom men might haue passage vnto them,
6 That they shoulde take in the wayes of the mountaynes, whereby there might be any way and passage to Hieru∣salem, and that they shoulde holde dili∣gent watch where any strayte was be∣twixte the mountaynes.
[unspec B] 7 And the children of Israel dyd as E∣liacim the priest of the Lorde had com∣maunded them.
8 And all the people cryed vnto the Lord earnestly, and humbled their soules with fasting and prayers, they & their wiues:
9 The priestes put on heery clothes, and layed the young babes before the temple of the Lord, and couered the aul∣ter of the Lorde with an heery cloth:
10 And with one accorde they cryed vnto the Lorde God of Israel, that their chil∣dren should not be geuen into a pray, and their wiues into a spoyle, that their ci∣ties should not be layed waste, and that their “ sanctuarie shoulde not be vnha∣lowed, and so they to be a shame and re∣buke vnto the heathen.
11 Then Eliacim the hye priest of the Lord, went rounde about al Israel, and spake vnto them,
12 Saying: Be ye sure that the Lord will heare your petitions, if ye continue sted∣fast in fastinges and prayers in the sight of the Lorde.
13 Remember Moyses the seruaunt of the Lorde, which ouerthrewe the Amale∣chites that trusted in their might and power, in their hoast, in their shieldes, in their charets and horsemen, not with weapons, but with holy prayers.
14 Euen so shall all the enemies of Israel [unspec C] be, if ye continue in this worke that ye haue begun.