King James Version · Babylon and the exile
Susanna
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is.
1There dwelt a man in , called : 2And he took a wife, whose name was , the daughter of Chelcias, a very fair woman, and one that feared . 3Her parents also were , and taught their daughter according to of . 4Now was a great rich man, and had a fair garden joining unto his house: and to him resorted the ; because he was more honourable than all others. 5The same year were appointed two of the ancients of the people to be judges, such as spake of, that wickedness came from from ancient judges, who seemed to govern the people. 6These kept much at ’s house: and all that had any suits in law came unto them. 7Now when the people departed away at noon, went into her husband’s garden to walk. 8And the two saw her going in every day, and walking; so that their was inflamed toward her. 9And they perverted their own , and turned away their eyes, that they might not look unto , nor remember judgments. 10And albeit they both were wounded with her love, yet durst not one shew another his grief. 11For they were to declare their , that they to have to do with her. 12Yet they watched diligently from day to day to see her. 13And the one said to the other, Let us now go home: for it is dinner time. 14So when they were gone out, they parted the one from the other, and turning back again they came to the same place; and after that they had asked one another the cause, they acknowledged their : then appointed they a time both together, when they might find her alone. 15And it fell out, as they watched a fit time, she went in as before with two maids only, and she was desirous to wash herself in the garden: for it was hot. 16And there was no body there the two , that had hid themselves, and watched her. 17Then she said to her maids, Bring me oil and washing balls, and shut the garden doors, that I may wash me. 18And they did as she bade them, and shut the garden doors, and went out themselves at privy doors to fetch the things that she had commanded them: but they saw not the , because they were hid. 19Now when the maids were gone forth, the two rose up, and ran unto her, saying, 20Behold, the garden doors are shut, that no man can see us, and we are in love with thee; therefore consent unto us, and lie with us. 21If thou wilt not, we will bear against thee, that a young man was with thee: and therefore thou didst send away thy maids from thee. 22Then sighed, and said, I am straitened on every side: for if I do this thing, it is unto me: and if I do it not I cannot escape your hands. 23It is better for me to fall into your hands, and not do it, than to in the sight of . 24With that cried with a loud voice: and the two cried out against her. 25Then ran the one, and opened the garden door. 26So when the servants of the house heard the cry in the garden, they rushed in at the privy door, to see what was done unto her. 27But when the had declared their matter, the servants were greatly : for there was never such a report made of . 28And it came to pass the next day, when the people were assembled to her husband , the two came also full of mischievous imagination against to put her to ; 29And said before the people, Send for , the daughter of Chelcias, ’s wife. And so they sent. 30So she came with her and mother, her children, and all her kindred. 31Now was a very delicate woman, and beauteous to behold. 32And these men commanded to uncover her , (for she was covered) that they might be filled with her beauty. 33Therefore her friends and all that saw her wept. 34Then the two stood up in the midst of the people, and upon her head. 35And she weeping looked up toward : for her trusted in . 36And the said, As we walked in the garden alone, this woman came in with two maids, and shut the garden doors, and sent the maids away. 37Then a young man, who there was hid, came unto her, and lay with her. 38Then we that stood in a corner of the garden, seeing this wickedness, ran unto them. 39And when we saw them together, the man we could not hold: for he was stronger than we, and opened the door, and leaped out. 40But having taken this woman, we asked who the young man was, but she would not tell us: these things do we testify. 41Then them as those that were the and judges of the people: so they condemned her to . 42Then cried out with a loud voice, and said, O , that knowest the secrets, and knowest all things before they be: 43Thou knowest that they have borne false against me, and, behold, I must ; whereas I never did such things as these men have maliciously invented against me. 44And heard her voice. 45Therefore when she was led to be put to , up of a young youth whose name was : 46Who cried with a loud voice, I am clear from of this woman. 47Then all the people turned them toward him, and said, What mean these words that thou hast spoken? 48So he standing in the midst of them said, Are ye such fools, ye , that without examination or knowledge of the truth ye have condemned a daughter of Israel? 49Return again to the place of : for they have borne false against her. 50Wherefore all the people turned again in haste, and the said unto him, Come, sit down among us, and shew it us, seeing hath given thee the of an elder. 51Then said unto them, Put these two aside one far from another, and I will examine them. 52So when they were put asunder one from another, he called one of them, and said unto him, O thou that art waxen old in wickedness, now thy which thou hast committed aforetime are come to . 53For thou hast pronounced false and hast condemned the innocent and hast let the guilty go free; albeit saith, The innocent and shalt thou not . 54Now then, if thou hast seen her, tell me, Under what tree sawest thou them companying together? Who answered, Under a mastick tree. 55And said, Very well; thou hast lied against thine own head; for even now hath received the sentence of to cut thee in two. 56So he put him aside, and commanded to bring the other, and said unto him, O thou of , and not of , beauty hath deceived thee, and hath perverted thine . 57Thus have ye dealt with the daughters of Israel, and they for fear companied with you: but the daughter of would not your wickedness. 58Now therefore tell me, Under what tree didst thou take them companying together? Who answered, Under an holm tree. 59Then said unto him, Well; thou hast also lied against thine own head: for waiteth with to cut thee in two, that he may destroy you. 60With that all cried out with a loud voice, and praised , who saveth them that in him. 61And they arose against the two , for had convicted them of false by their own : 62And according to of they did unto them in such sort as they maliciously intended to do to their neighbour: and they put them to . Thus the innocent was the same day. 63Therefore Chelcias and his wife praised for their daughter , with her husband, and all the kindred, because there was no dishonesty found in her. 64From that day forth was had in great reputation in the sight of the people.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Babylon and the exile, 612 BC to 539 BC ›
Babylon replaces Assyria, Jerusalem and its temple are destroyed in 586 BC, and the leadership of Judah lives in Mesopotamia without a king, a temple, or a country.
- Babylon
- Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilds the city on a scale meant to be seen from a distance: the Ishtar Gate in glazed blue brick, the processional way, the ziggurat, and gardens later counted among the wonders of the world. Babylonian tablets record rations issued to the captive king Jehoiachin of Judah by name, which is one of the tidier points of contact between the Bible and the archives.
- Egypt
- Briefly resurgent. Pharaoh Neco marches north, kills King Josiah at Megiddo, and installs and deposes kings in Jerusalem, until Babylon beats him decisively at Carchemish in 605 BC. Jeremiah spends his career saying that betting on Egypt is suicide, and is proved right.
- Judah
- Deported in stages, then destroyed. The temple is burned, the walls broken, and the leadership marched to Mesopotamia. What happens next is one of the strangest survivals in history: a people keeps its identity without land, king, or sanctuary, and comes out of it with its scriptures more central than before.
- Further afield
- An extraordinary century for ideas everywhere at once. Thales and the first Greek philosophers, Solon's reforms at Athens, the Buddha in India, Confucius and Lao Tzu in China, and Zoroaster in Persia all fall within a few generations of the exile.
All of Susanna