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andrewmoocow · 3 years

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Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 4: Bluebird (originally published on December 28, 2020)

Author's note: We're at the halfway point of Part 1 here, two antagonists return for vengeance on Steven, but is there more to this than just screwing with him? We'll just have to wait and see!

Synopsis: A pair of old foes return, and Steven learns that he can't change everyone.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Larissa Gallagher as Bluebird Azurite

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball

Shelby Rabara as Peridot

Jennifer Paz as Lapis Lazuli

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Tom Scharpling as Greg

Michelle Maryk as Larimar

Kimberly Brooks as Cherry Quartz

Martha Higerada as Topaz

Ted Leo as Steg

"Hello there, all you Gems out there in the universe!" Steven announced as he warped into Little Homeworld as part of a commercial for Little Homeschool. "Has this new era for our universe gotten you all lost and confused? Well, come on down to Little Homeschool!"

"Are you used to destroying things?" Steven continued speaking as he walked in on Lapis making a sculpture, and Lapis just turned her head to him. "Then try learning to be constructive instead!"

Next, Steven stood with Peridot in a cornfield. "Are you used to plotting? Then come tend to this big plot of land!"

Finally, the camera closed in on Steven's face. "Feeling lost without the Diamonds telling you what to do?" he asked as the camera zoomed out to show him doing a yoga pose with Garnet. "Then we can help you find your inner center!"

As the ad concluded, Steven posed with Peridot, Little Larimar, and Angel Aura Quartz at Little Homeworld. "Everyone deserves an opportunity to grow, so come on down to Little Homeschool today!" he exclaimed. "And cut! Thanks for helping out everyone."

"I'm an actor." Larimar said.

"I'll get home and get some editing done." Steven said, preparing to walk away with the camera when Peridot stepped up from behind. "Anything you need now, Peri?"

"Steven, you smell good." Peridot innocently complimented Steven with two thumbs up, much to his confusion.

"I'm sorry, what?" Steven asked the green Gem.

"That's what your back told me to do." Peridot explained before she took a crudely written note with that exact message off Steven's back. "See, you wrote this yourself!"

"No, I didn't." Steven claimed as he took a sip from a box, but realized too late what he was drinking. "Tomato soup?!" he gagged.

"I thought you loved that stuff!" Peridot assumed.

"Yeah but, where did my juice go?" Steven wondered. Suddenly, a roll of toilet paper rolled away from the Dondai Supremo, and it was covered in more rolls. "Oh no!" Steven yelled in surprise. "The Dondai's been….covered in toilet paper?"

The mystery prankster was nowhere to be seen, with only their cheeky laughter as a calling card.

"Okay, whoever's pranking me, you got a really weird idea of how to do it!" Steven called out for his new opponent. "Where did they even get this much toilet paper?"

A little while later, Steven drove his now toilet paper-free car back home, where he noticed the front porch all decorated and music coming from inside.

"Another welcome party?" Steven muttered while noticing the welcome banner above his front door. "Oh, a new Gem must've come!"

As Steven walked inside, another banner saying 'Welcome Bluebird' hung over him and a piñata in his image were not too far away. Speaking with Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl was an unknown Gem with a burgundy bowl-cut, four legs, a pair of wings, and a suit jacket that was red on one side & blue on the other.

"Oh, hello Steven, our new friend here really wants to meet you." Pearl greeted Steven.

"Yeah, come over here and introduce yourself!" Amethyst added.

"Welcome to Earth." Steven greeted the new Gem politely. "My name's-"

"Of course I know who you are. Everyone does!" the new Gem interrupted him in a Cockney accent as she turned around to reveal that she was a fusion and had both her components' gems on her face. But they were two Gems that Steven recognized a little too well. In place of the fusion's left eye was a Ruby, and beneath it was an Aquamarine. "The old Gem savior himself, Steven Universe. Bluebird Azurite at your service." she declared before hugging him. "Come on now, give us a hug!"

"Cute." Garnet grinned.

"Oh, you like food, yes?" Bluebird asked a very unnerved Steven.

"Uh, yeah?" Steven replied sheepishly.

"Well sit tight then, I'll be right back!" Bluebird said before she flew away.

"What?!" Steven yelled.

"Yeah, she's just got here and already knows what she wants to do in life." Topaz said as she appeared next to Steven. "Isn't that great?"

"Don't you find this weird that the Gem who treated you like trash is suddenly all nice now?" Steven asked the big yellow fusion. "Why are you so chill?!"

"That was the past, Steven." Topaz assured Steven. "This is now, all thanks to you."

Just then, Bluebird returned to Steven with a plate of food. However, all of them were known to cause allergic reactions in people, as he observed.

"What's all this?" Steven asked.

"Why, it's food, of course!" Bluebird said as she presented the platter. "Clams, peanut butter, with a side of grass! Go on, try it."

"Yeah, don't wanna keep her waiting." Amethyst convinced Steven to try the dish.

"S-sure, I'll just dip this here." Steven reluctantly obliged, and took a bite of the grass. "Mmm!"

"Is it good?" Bluebird asked him.

"Yeah, I love it!" Steven fibbed in an attempt to keep their guest happy.

"Brilliant." Bluebird added with a cheeky grin.

"Can I see you guys in the bathroom?" Steven asked the Crystal Gems.

Greg was busy combing his hair in the bathroom when his son knocked on the door.

"Dad, it's Steven." Steven called for his dad. "We're gonna need you to let us in, emergency meeting."

After Greg let his son and friends in, Steven sat the Gems down to tell them what he thought of Bluebird. "Gems, I don't want to alarm you, but I think Bluebird may be a fusion of Aquamarine and Eyeball!"

"Uh, duh!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"It was incredibly obvious." Garnet added.

"Well, why are you guys so blasé about this?" Steven asked his guardians. "Did you suddenly forget when Aquamarine & Topaz came down to capture all my friends, and I had to surrender myself to save them? Or what about when Eyeball tried to kill me when we were stuck in space together? She also ratted me out during my trial!"

"Like Topaz said, that was then, and this is now." Pearl calmly assured him. "Besides, aren't you contradicting yourself a bit right now? I mean-"

"But I'm pretty sure they pranked me earlier at Little Homeworld." Steven explained. "They put a sign on my back saying I smelled good, switched my drink with tomato soup, and covered my car with neatly-stacked toilet paper."

"None of that seems particularly malicious," Garnet said. "Heck, Amethyst probably did one of those things at some point."

"It's true!" Amethyst responded. "There was this one time before you were born where Rose and I threw toilet paper all over town because Greg told us about it!"

"Besides, don't you like tomato soup?" Greg asked his son.

"Yeah, but don't you find it weird that she knew where I lived?" Steven asked.

"Steven, you've literally invited all problematic Gems across the universe to come to Earth and learn a better way of living." Pearl bluntly said.

"Listen Schtu-ball, if you don't like this new Gem, that's perfectly okay." Greg stated. "Just don't be so upfront about it and hurt her feelings."

"No, you're right guys." Steven agreed. "Everyone deserves a second chance."

"But if she really is more than she seems," Garnet declared. "we'll come in and squash her!"

"Thanks Garnet." Steven smiled at his favorite fusion before returning to the living room.

As Steven walked out of the bathroom, while the other Gems and Greg poked their heads outside, he found Bluebird chatting it up with Topaz by the couch. "Hey Bluebird!"

"Oh, hello Steven!" Bluebird cheerfully greeted him. "I was just reconnecting with an old chum and thought 'Hey, I should've given him something to wash all that food down with!' Want a drink?" she asked, offering him a soda.

"I'd love one." Steven accepted Bluebird's offer. "Y'know, maybe you two have changed." Just as Steven opened the can, soda squirted back in his face.

"Oh my, how did that happen?" Bluebird cheekily asked.

"YOU obviously shook it!" Steven accused the fusion of his old foes, when Garnet cleared her throat behind him.

"Chance to change." Garnet told Steven.

"You obviously shook it," Steven grumpily corrected himself. "By accident."

A while later, the party was over and everyone had left the beach house. As Steven walked downstairs to the living room, he discovered Bluebird holding a knife while Pearl was looking for something in the fridge.

"Pearl, watch out!" Steven cautioned Pearl. "Bluebird's got a knife!"

"Of course I did." Bluebird menacingly answered, but then immediately changed her tune. "Because I wanted to help cut this cake Pearl made for you!"

"Surprise!" Pearl exclaimed, presenting a cake with vanilla frosting that she got out of the fridge. On top of the cake was Steven's portrait, but his facial features were replaced with a butt. "Bluebird chose the design for me. You like it?"

Steven glared suspiciously at Bluebird as he stuck his finger in the cake, and licked the frosting off it.

Later on at Little Homeworld, Steven walked around to collect his thoughts when he discovered Bluebird grabbing Garnet and putting her in a wrestling hold. "Oh no, someone help! Bluebird's got Garnet!" he shrieked. "You let Garnet go this instant!"

"Don't fret Steven." Garnet calmed Steven's nerves as she was let go. "Bluebird was helping me do some stretches before I could teach her some yoga."

"Always important to stretch." The other fusion informed, eliciting an angry moan from Steven.

Back at home; Steven was angrily eating some Chaaaaps when he felt something that wasn't a chip inside the bag in his lap. In the bag, Steven discovered a poorly-drawn purple sketch of him with stink-lines surrounding him. "Ugh."

"What's up dude?" Amethyst asked him.

"Bluebird's really getting to me!" Steven complained as he showed the drawing to Amethyst. "I mean, look at this terrible drawing of me!"

"Steven, I-" Amethyst recognized the drawing as Steven scooped out more of them from his jacket.

"All of these too!" Steven cut Amethyst off. "I've been finding these awful scribbles all over!"

"Steven, these were all my drawings of you!" Amethyst began sobbing, and she ran away in tears.

"Amethyst, I'm sorry!" Steven tried apologizing to his Gem sister when Bluebird walked into the house.

"Aw, dry those tears, love, and tell me what's wrong." Bluebird comforted the bawling Quartz.

"Steven killed my art career before I could even get it off the ground!" Amethyst cried while Bluebird picked up her drawings.

"I don't know what art is," Bluebird said as she examined Amethyst's art. "but these are really good! They do need a little work, but I can help."

"Awww, thanks Bluebird!" Amethyst immediately cheered up. "In fact, I'm gonna do some more art right now! Wanna come?"

"Lead the way Amethyst!" Bluebird agreed, and the two left the house while Steven dropped his bag of Chaaaaps to the floor and angrily crushed it flat.

"Come on you flying rat; you can't be far." Steven growled as he searched Beach City for Bluebird, looking for something that would expose her components for being more than they seem, when he came across his father's car wash. "Oh, hey Dad!"

"AAAAAH!" Greg screamed from his Mister Universe van, catching Steven off-guard as he raced to the van.

"Dad, are you okay?!" Steven cried, finding the source of Greg's screaming to be him and Bluebird watching movies together.

"Hey Steven." Greg calmly greeted him. "I was just showing Bluebird my old-timey sci-fi horror flick collection."

"It's hilarious how poorly made they are!" Bluebird cackled at the flick she was currently watching. "Some of these 'special effects,' as he calls them, are so old-fashioned!"

"So what's going on, son?" Greg asked Steven, who forced a fake smile on his face. "And what's with your face? You're kind of creeping me out."

"I'm fine, Dad." Steven assured him as he walked away with creepy fake smile and all. "Everything's fine."

"And to make matters worse, they think those two have changed even after all the horrible things they did to us!" Steven later vented his feelings on Bluebird to Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth at Little Homeworld. "Please, you guys, I need someone to be on my side for once!"

"Oh, we're on your side Steven." Lapis assured her half-human pal, much to his relief. "After what Navy pulled, I don't really trust those Rubies all that much, especially her and Eyeball! Those other three working for the mayor, they're just meh."

"I don't trust Aquamarine either." Peridot added. "That blue runt's high and mighty attitude just keeps rubbing me incorrectly!"

"Don't you also hate Aquamarine because it's basically because of her we separated for a bit?" Lapis asked Peridot, who was just silent as she nervously looked away. "It's okay, you can open up to me."

"No way, she's not that petty!" Peridot said as she tried to hide her distress. Despite what the little Gem was saying, her body language told a whole different story.

"I just find Bluebird really creepy." Bismuth stated. "There's just something about that voice combined with her facial expressions that really give me chills."

Just then, a very loud clanging came straight from Bismuth's forge, and Cherry Quartz rushed out to see the four. "Bismuth, it's your forge! Someone's made a huge mess of the place!"

"Oh no!" Bismuth cried as she rushed to her forge to discover that the whole floor was now covered in all the weapons she helped build. "How could this have happened?! I was so careful to organize everything today!"

"Maybe Bluebird didn't like that you called her creepy." Peridot guessed.

"Well, I know something I hope they really won't like." Bismuth growled with determination. "Of course those little runts realize, this means war!"

Later that day, Bluebird had returned to Little Homeworld and was currently being given a tour of the town by Lapis, yet the fusion was unaware she was being led into a trap.

"Y'know, I'm feeling pretty parched." Lapis remarked sneakily. "You want a drink too?"

"Golly, I thought Gems didn't need sustenance." Bluebird wondered aloud.

"They don't really need to, but some Gems on Earth just like to eat." Lapis answered as they walked up to a conspicuous cooler filled with soft drinks. "Now then, which would you like? We got soda, OJ, purple stuff, two kinds of this other type of orange juice."

"I'll have the purple stuff!" Bluebird cheerily answered. Lapis took a purple soda can from the cooler and gave it a good shake, giggling all the way, before handing it to Bluebird and then turning away from her while plugging her ears.

After a few seconds, nothing happened, and Bluebird didn't drink the purple stuff. "Where's the kaboom?" Lapis wondered as she turned back to Bluebird. "There was supposed to be a big carbonated kaboom!"

"Oh, there seems to be something wrong." Bluebird observed the can slyly before handing it back to the terraformer. "Do you think you can help?"

But as Lapis realized, Bluebird didn't even open the can at all. "What the?!" she stuttered while taking the can from the small fusion. "You didn't even open-" When Lapis opened the can of purple stuff herself; she got a face full of the drink squirting directly in her face instead. As Bluebird laughed heartily, Lapis angrily crushed the can and glared back as Bluebird flew away.

"I already tried that trick Lazuli!" Bluebird cackled. "Try something original next time!"

Lapis's eye began to twitch as she dropped the can to the ground, fighting the urge to just launch Bluebird into space with a water fist.

"This is something humans like to do with their disposal units." Peridot explained to Bluebird as they stood by a metal trashcan atop the hill where the lighthouse sat. "You just insert yourself into the unit and just roll it down this hill. Now then, would you like to go first?"

"No, maybe you should go first." Bluebird suggested while offering Peridot a pair of rather unusual looking gloves from one of her gemstones. "And take these too. Safety first!"

"Where did you get these gloves?" Peridot asked as she put the gloves on. "They seem like old Homeworld equipment."

"Just found them lying around one day, nothing too important." Bluebird fibbed just as Peridot entered the trashcan. "Okay, are you ready chum?"

"Let 'er rip!" Peridot yelled from within the can before Bluebird kicked it, and it rolled down the hill with Peridot inside it. "ISN'T THIS FUN BLUEBIRD?!"

"Oh yes, plenty of fun." Bluebird snickered and walked away backwards from where the trashcan once stood.

"Wait, where are you going?" Peridot called as the can continued rolling. She tried to stop it with her ferrokinesis, but they didn't seem to work. "My stars, these old gloves are nullifying my powers!" she realized, and turned her attention to Bluebird in anger. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS YOU CLO-"

However, Peridot couldn't finish when the can finally collided with a wall, and her head poked out in a daze. "You're despicable." She hissed hatefully while stars danced around her head.

"Well, guess it's all up to me now." Bismuth declared to herself with Lapis and Peridot's failures to prank Bluebird. She now stood alone at the Warp Pad at the center of Little Homeworld where the barn once stood, in front of a mixer filled with lava. "She ain't ever gonna know what hit her."

"Who isn't going to know what hit her?" Bluebird asked rhetorically before she poured the lava in the mixer on Bismuth, though Bismuth barely felt a thing.

"You know this literally does nothing to Bismuths, right?" Bismuth asked as Bluebird took her leave.

"What happened to you guys?" Steven asked the soaked Lapis, dizzy Peridot, and mildly irritated Bismuth as they reported back to him on their efforts in the prank war.

"Bluebird saw my prank coming since she already tried it herself." Lapis answered.

"My mental powers were nullified by these old Homeworld gloves." Peridot added as she presented the gloves. "I think I'll keep them for further study."

"I barely got to do anything before Bluebird turned my own prank against me!" Bismuth whined in defeat.

"Oh, come now, put a smile on your face." Bluebird said as she landed behind the four. Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth turned around to see the little fusion before them, and immediately dropped to their knees with hands out and heads bowed. "Now, what's all this for?"

"We now recognize you as a superior prankster." Lapis declared.

"And now we must grovel in your presence!" Peridot theatrically added.

"We shall concede from this prank war, in recognition of the superior tricker." Bismuth stated.

"Guys, you can't just give up this easily!" Steven yelled angrily before he noticed his body taking on a slight pink hue. "That's four times now." He said to himself. "This can't be healthy."

"Oh, well, thank you all for the compliments!" Bluebird thanked the other three Gems. "Hopefully we can get up to more mischief together someday!"

As Bluebird flew away, Steven stomped to the Warp Pad and used it to return home with barely a word.

"Steven wait, we're sorry!" Peridot cried as Steven vanished from Little Homeworld.

"He's right. We gave up a little too easily." Lapis agreed with her Beach Summer Fun Buddy. "Maybe we should go apologize to him in the morning. You wanna come with Bismuth?"

"Sorry, I got a whole day of cleaning up the forge ahead of me." Bismuth rejected the chance. "But be sure to tell me if things turn out okay."

The next morning, Steven woke up in his room, the events of yesterday still fresh in his mind. From Bluebird's arrival, to almost no one believing him when he claimed that she was up to no good, and finally the help of the B-team proving pretty much useless, it was a very hectic day for him.

When Steven went downstairs to the bathroom, he discovered Bluebird's gemstones drawn on his face in the mirror. "Oh, haha." He muttered. "Very funny Bluebird."

Just then, the Warp Pad activated, followed by the sound of tires screeching. As Steven rushed out of the bathroom, he found Greg's van somehow in his living room, a trail of tire tracks left behind in its wake. "How did the van?" Steven asked himself in sheer confusion. "Oh, gotcha. I guess Bluebird and Dad must be having a ball." Just then, he heard someone cry out. "I guess they're watching another of his horror movies. I'm sure everything's fine."

Greg's cries for help proved otherwise, and Steven bolted outside to search for his human father. "It's okay Steven. Bluebird is cool." Steven assured himself. "Dad?"

"Up here son!" Greg screamed as Bluebird dangled him by the ankle on the roof.

"Are those screams of fun?!" Steven called.

"No they ain't!" Greg exclaimed. "Please help me, you were right!"

"An era ago, there were two Gems worshipped on Homeworld for their attempts on the life of their greatest traitor!" Bluebird declared. "But when he brainwashed everyone into worshipping him, those two were cast out and now have come to Earth for revenge!"

As Bluebird leaped into the air, she began to unfuse. "And now he shall rue the day he ever crossed-" To cap off her speech, Bluebird's components finally revealed herself.

"Aquamarine!"

"And Ruby!"

Steven and Greg didn't have anything to say to the two old foes.

"Well, it's us!" Aquamarine cried impatiently.

"Yeah, it was us all along, and no one ever knew!" Eyeball added.

"I always knew. Everybody knew." Steven replied. "You were really poor at hiding it."

"Well if you knew, why was everyone so nice to us?!" Eyeball yelled.

"Because we're nice!" Steven argued. "Something you don't know about!"

"Nice people, my facet!" Eyeball shouted. "You left me to rot in space!"

"And it's because of you that I'm a disgrace to our kind!" Aquamarine agreed. "Ugh, enough of this!" she groaned angrily before grabbing Greg again, this time by the hair, while Eyeball pulled her chisel from her gem.

"Hey, careful with my dad!" Steven cautioned the pair of angry Gems as he summoned his shield. "If this is another one of your pranks, then I'm not laughing, so you better cut it out!"

"That was just something to soften you up." Eyeball declared menacingly. "Now, the real torture begins!"

"We learned so much about you and your life Steven," Aquamarine taunted. "especially how you love My-Dad so much! But if you want him alive, you'll have to agree to our demands. Like destroying your home!"

"Yeah!" Eyeball added.

"Bubbling your friends and handing them over to us!" Aquamarine continued.

"YEAH!" Eyeball began getting more sadistically pumped up.

"And burning that silly Little Homeworld to ashes!" the little blue Gem stated.

"DO IT!" Eyeball shouted.

While Aquamarine and Eyeball were threatening Greg's life, they were caught off-guard by a few water droplets from above, coming from Lapis's wings as she and Peridot flew to see Steven.

"Oh crack, those two." Eyeball growled at the barn-mates while Lapis touched down to where Steven was standing.

"Hey Steven, we wanted to stop by because we didn't get a chance to apologize for yester-" Lapis began explaining to Steven, but immediately got distracted by the current situation. "Um, did we miss something?"

"It's Aquamarine and Eyeball!" Steven panicked. "They're out for revenge and they want me to do horrible things or else Dad gets killed!"

"Of course you'd sink that low, you filthy outcasts!" Peridot snarled at the other short Gems. "First, you took Steven away Aquamarine, and that led to some of the worst days of my life! Now, I'm gonna make you pay dearly!"

"Oh, here are some friends you can poof boy." Aquamarine told Steven. "Go on, listen to us for once."

"Never!" Steven rejected.

"Then My-Dad gets it!" Aquamarine threatened, but Eyeball was a little confused.

"Gets what?" the Ruby asked quizzically.

"Gets it!" Aquamarine scolded her partner. "It's like in those movies he showed us."

"Oh right!" Eyeball realized with a malicious laugh, and prepared to kill their human captive. However, Greg wasn't going to take this lying down.

"That's enough!" Greg yelled as he snatched Eyeball's chisel from her hand and used it to free himself by cutting his hair short, causing him to fall from Aquamarine's grasp.

"No!" Steven yelled.

"I got you!" Lapis exclaimed, summoning forth a water hand to catch Mr. Universe with. "Are you alright?"

"Just bereft of my glorious locks." Greg said mournfully when Aquamarine dropped the remainder of his hair next to him. "Oh my baby!" he cried before rushing to comfort the clump of hair.

"How could you let this happen, you meager soldier?!" Aquamarine yelled at Eyeball.

"You were distracting me!" Eyeball argued.

"I was directing you, My-Dad just caught us by surprise!" Aquamarine talked back.

As Steven, Peridot and Lapis watched the two enemy Gems bicker, Steven turned to his mourning dad. "Father, get inside."

"I'm sorry, Steven." Greg said boldly. "But after how they dangled me off the roof and made me lose my hair, I want in!" Just then, he got an idea. "In fact."

After whispering something into his son's ear, Greg fist bumped Steven, and it caused the two to glow right before everyone else's eyes. And as a result, the father and son fusion Steg was reborn, this time with a mullet in addition to his massive pompadour.

"He can fuse with humans?!" Aquamarine shrieked in surprise. "We were never told this!"

"Oh my stars!" Lapis and Peridot gasped in unison.

"This one goes out to all awesome hair across the stars." Steg boomed while summoning a double-necked guitar that he began playing. "I call this one, 'We Ain't Gonna Let You Get Away With This!'"

"Three against two?" Eyeball said nervously. "Y'know, I think maybe it's time we-" She was cut off by Steg braining her with his guitar while he turned pink.

"If you're saying we should run or surrender, you are sorely mistaken!" Aquamarine yelled while dodging attacks from Lapis. "They fused just now, somehow, so we must fuse in order to win!"

"Fine, whatever." Eyeball groaned as she noticed Peridot scampering into the house and racing back out with a kitchen knife to match the Ruby's chisel.

Eyeball raced away from the green Gem in fright and grabbed onto the fleeing Aquamarine's hand in an attempt to fuse, but it was cut short by the combined forces of their disharmony and Steg throwing Steven's shield between them that sent them flying face-first into the sand.

"What was that?" Eyeball asked.

"That was bad form you corun-dummy!" Aquamarine insulted. "Try again!"

The two of them attempted to fuse again, and again, and again, but every time resulted in failure. "That's it!" Eyeball yelled. "I've had it with you!"

"Tsk tsk tsk." Steg tutted smugly as he returned to his normal self and approached the arguing duo. "You guys only fused to get revenge on me, didn't you?"

"Yes, that's exactly it!" Aquamarine replied. "The only problem is she's too much of a moron to keep us together!"

"Me the moron?!" Eyeball shouted. "You're way too much of a bossy-boots!"

"If that's the reason, then I can see why you can't keep it together." Lapis stated from experience.

"What are you three talking about?!" Aquamarine asked scornfully.

"There are so many other reasons to fuse." Steg explained. "Like friendship, responsibility, maybe even love."

"Imagine how much better your lives would be if you fused to support each other instead of wanting to ruin someone's life." Peridot agreed with the massive fusion.

"She's right." Steg continued. "Your life would be filled with so much love and joy and friendship and warmth and-"

"Yes yes, blah blah blah!" Aquamarine rudely cut Steg off. "Ugh, love is so annoying!"

"I hate it as much as I hate Steven!" Eyeball agreed, but then the two realized something they had in common.

"Yeah, me too!" Aquamarine and Eyeball declared to each other as they fused back into Bluebird, much to Steg's irritation.

"This is bad comedy." Steg facepalmed as Bluebird triumphantly returned.

"Ah-ha, back in business!" Bluebird announced before summoning a cutlass made out of ice to attack Steg with, but he blocked the sword with his shield.

"En garde!" Bluebird cackled with a swing of her sword, spawning ice projectiles that turned into smaller cutlasses landing on the ground.

"Steven, why is the van inside the house?" Pearl asked while she, Garnet, and Amethyst emerged from the beach house as the fusion fight went on.

"Whatever Greg did, can you tell him to stop?" Amethyst asked before she let out a loud scream at what they were seeing. "Hey, is that Steg?!"

"We can explain everything, honest!" Peridot tried to apologize for everything that's happened.

"No need." Garnet boomed stoically while glaring daggers at Bluebird, continuing to swipe at Steg's shield.

"DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!" Bluebird shrieked violently when she noticed a certain group of three angry Gems. "Oh, if it isn't my favorite trio!" she exclaimed while innocently hiding her cutlass behind her back.

The Crystal Gems responded by fusing together into a very grouchy Alexandrite who towered over Bluebird Azurite and raised one hand forward.

"Oh no." the rogue fusion whimpered before she was squashed flat by Alexandrite. As Alexandrite un-fused back into Garnet, Amethyst & Pearl, Steven & Greg un-fused and gazed at the groaning Aquamarine & Ruby.

"Are you two okay?" Steven asked while Greg raced to collect his cut hair.

"Oh no, we have been defeated!" Aquamarine theatrically declared. "Now we'll be forcibly indoctrinated into your lifestyle like every Gem before us!"

"Yep." Eyeball replied as she rubbed her head.

"I've completely learned my lesson." Aquamarine stated. "I'm sorry Steven. Please accept my apology so that we may become defenseless pacifists just like you." When she extended a hand to Steven, Steven brought his out too, expecting to give her a handshake, but she childishly snatched her gloved hand away. "GOTCHA!"

"Don't you run away you runts!" Peridot yelled while Aquamarine took Eyeball's hand and they flew away.

"You rebels may have gotten us this time, but we'll be out there!" Aquamarine declared haughtily.

"Hating you!" her Ruby partner added.

"Forever!" Aquamarine concluded as they flew far away from the Gems, presumably never to be seen for a long time.

"You smell!" Eyeball jeered as loud as she could.

"Think we'll really see them again?" Lapis wondered.

"Who knows Lapis?" Garnet replied. "But if they pull off what they did just now, we'll be there."

"I guess there are Gems out there who still hate your guts." Amethyst contemplated.

"Well, I'm not the only one they wanted to hurt." Steven replied while looking at Greg, sitting by the ocean with his hair in his arms. "I'm really sorry, Dad." Steven apologized to his father while sitting by him. "I never should've given Bluebird a chance."

"I love how you believe in everyone." Greg sighed to his son while drying his tears. "You stuck to your principles, and that made me proud. But sometimes, some people don't want to change."

"Yeah." Steven sighed as well, before Greg let his hair drift in the water.

"See you around, old friend." Greg bid farewell to his locks. "You're finally free."

Later that day, Aquamarine and Eyeball continued giggling as they found somewhere safe to hide in the woods close to Beach City.

"You have to admit, it was hilarious how that My-Dad was so attached to his hair." Eyeball admitted to her blue cohort.

"I mean, it's just hair!" Aquamarine agreed. "But enough about mocking others' misfortune, give me the communicator."

"You got it." Eyeball obeyed and began searching around her person for what her new friend requested. "Uh, where is it again?"

"In your gem you dolt!" Aquamarine yelled.

"Oh, right." Eyeball realized, pulling a black, octahedral object from her gemstone and handing it to Aquamarine. After Aquamarine gave it a few turns, the object slowly rose above the two and transformed into a screen displaying a coded message.

"Your clarity, we have garnered some minor success on our espionage mission." Aquamarine announced to the screen while positing her arms in a rectangular salute. "Though our cover was blown, we now know that he can somehow perform fusion with humans. Tell us, do you have any further orders?"

The screen replied by giving a coded message to Aquamarine that Eyeball couldn't understand. "Uh, what's it saying?" Eyeball asked.

"It's saying we must return to headquarters and await further instructions." Aquamarine translated the message. "A craft is being sent to our current location to bring us back."

As Aquamarine declared, a small, orb-like white space pod with a single red window at the entrance instantly warped to Earth via lightspeed and opened its door for the two Gems to board.

"Haha, just you wait Steven!" Eyeball shouted to the sky. "Your precious little family will soon be done for!"

The two little Gems cackled evilly as they entered the pod, and it blasted off back into space. But they didn't realize that a certain orange Gem was watching close by, and had a disgruntled look on her face all the while.

And so ends Bluebird. Fun fact, Steg was completely last minute as I thought it would be cool if he fought Aquamarine and Eyeball. Speaking of which, if you couldn't tell by now, Aquamarine & Eyeball will have a much bigger role than in Regular Future going forward as they now answer directly to our mystery villain from Cracks and Buds. So first we had Holly Blue Agate, and now these two? What could this ne'er-do-well have planned with these old villains? We'll just have to wait and see. Speaking of which, I should really get back to a certain other Steven Universe fanfiction.

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #steven quartz universe #garnet #amethyst #pearl #bluebird azurite #eyeball ruby #aquamarine #lapis lazuli #peridot #bismuth #greg universe #steg

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raindrop-on-a-spiderweb · 4 years

Text

Thank you for this incredible story. - Z ♡

youtube

***

First off.

The fact that you seamlessly had the dialogue match the story. This had to have taken so long, and much effort. Every movement, every eye contact, and every conversation flows into each other heartbreakingly and stunningly professionally.

The spidering cobweb at first was so darkly intimate and foretelling. The solo shots of Leo on his own with his false artificiality... the undertone was chilling. The explosion with him roughing his face with makeup. It all gets back into his psychology.

Patience's incredible explosion and her brave railings, and the seamless transition to her weakening.

And that ring scene. That fucking ring scene obliterated me. It is purely and terrifyingly Leonardo. And his terrifying domination afterward.

And Salvatore's dialogue. God damn and I'm not afraid to curse. "THEY CALL THEM EX WIVES."

The ATMOSPHERE.

The SCENERY and CROSSDRESSING PATIENCE. MAY THE BEST MAN WIN. I'M FINALLY GOING TO COURT TOMORROW. I…

Marie making her appearance damn near gave me a heart attack. You chose the absolute best actress with her cool manner and HOW did you get this dialogue so perfect? "You've got his letters. You've got his witnesses." "I DON'T NEED COUNSELING." You have these characters down so amazingly.

Sal bulling his way through the courtroom. Patience and Turner. The shot of the sweeping Garland City Courthouse.

The court scenes, her manner… Salvatore's guilty plea and Leo posing outside the courthouse… Patience breaking down and Salvatore's flashback… literal tears. Literal tears, Zella.

The media circus, Sal's confidence that his men wouldn't betray him.

And fucking Leonardo. Manipulative til the end.

The "do you always smile at people that way" broke my heart.

The scenes and dynamics of the 4 bosses together were fantastic. God DAMN did you put your work in.

Man those flashbacks. Y'all breaking my heart without a modicum of sarcasm. The way it fades to Patience and Sal's last longing look… I can't say any more. I am losing it.

AND ANDREA AND LEONARDO AND PATIENCE and their eyes meeting you are DESTROYING me. I genuinely shed tears. This is how good and talented you are. those scenes. ANDREA.

Their last scene together. I… I am at a loss for words. The way their eyes locked, the birth certificate, the crowd, the futility. I hope you know I have sobbed as hard as you did during chapter 53. That whole sequence just ruined me. Jesus Christ.

"I hope you're happy." "It's over. You'll never have to be afraid again."

Legitimately crying.

You manage to perfectly capture the feelings and emotions with Leonardo and Patience; you strike so deep into their core. The emotions just in their eyes are simply heartbreaking. They pierce the soul. That last scene will stay in my mind forever. The spiderweb that she was caught in, and never broke free of. 1

I am going to repeat this over and over. But the dialogue. The way you incorporated it. I mean, this is a real movie. It is mind blowing. I am as stunned as anything that my writing has managed to inspire this amazing work of art.

The EDITING. Zella I've said this before but you NEED to get an editing job because this is a masterpiece. How can you be so multitalented?

And also I leapt cause I Can Make You Love Me is one of of my favorite lifetime movies and the fact that you include it I am FANGIRLING. Just the cover of the video is amazing (yay you used the tumblr background!) I don't know how you can juggle this while studying for these incredibly hard degrees and still having the time to be wonderful, kind and supportive friend. But I know that it's hard, and me and ALL of us are here for you, always.

To everyone reading this I have to say and I will say this forever: If any of you haven't read Iridium, please so now and please do soon. Zella is an amazing author, with a talent for intergenerational mystery sagas and sweeping geopolitical epics. And her characters. You will hate them and fall in love with them all the same. It is a masterpiece.

I love you so much Zella, and I am so eternally lucky that you decided to read Ragnatela and bestowed your talents on this. This had to have taken so long and so much toil, from every frame and every line of dialogue. God bless you to the bottom of my heart, and thank you from here to heaven.

#Youtube #submission #fancast #bonus material #fanart

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let-it-raines · 5 years

Text

Catch Me If You Can (3/?)

298 days. That’s how long Killian Jones was away from a baseball field. It’s less than a year, only part of a season for him, but it might as well have lasted a decade as he alternated between physical therapy and spending an excessive amount of time sitting on his couch.

But then he came back and won the World Series.

It’s something no one saw coming, and it’s certainly not something anyone who knows about his arm would predict. Now it’s a new season with new possibilities, and anything could happen. On-field reporter Emma Swan will be there to cover it all even if she is not his biggest fan right now.

Asking her out live on-air will do that.

Rating: Mature

A/N: Shoutout to my spectacular beta @resident-of-storybrooke 🧡 I’m the worst writer and send her multiple chapters at a time instead of just the one, and she gets things back to me in record time!

We get some background information on Emma in this chapter to further set up the story, and I thank you for reading! I’m really, really excited about a lot of the things I have planned for this story!

I promise they interact in all chapters after this

Found on AO3: Beginning | Current

Tumblr: 1 | 2 | 3 |

Tag list: @sals86 @iam2307 @ashley-knightingale @snowbellewells @karenfrommisthaven @skyewardolicitycloisdelena91 @scientificapricot @captswanis4vr @emmas-storybook @ultimiflos @jamif @idristardis @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @tiganasummertree @wellhellotragic @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @mayquita @captainsjedi @teamhook @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog @ultraluckycatnd @cs-forlife @andiirivera @jonirobinson64 @mariakov81 @galaxyzxstark @qualitycoffeethings @thejollyroger-writer

-/-

“What are you getting David for his birthday?”

Emma looks to her right where Ruby is stretched out on her yoga mat, doing a stretch that definitely isn’t anything that’s taught in a certified class. She can’t tell if she’s gotten stuck that way or if she’s simply given up on getting some early morning exercise. They really have to start going back to spin class sometime soon. Maybe tomorrow.

“I bought him some new dress shirts.”

“That’s boring.”

“Have you not gotten him anything, Rubes?” She swipes her blush against her cheek waiting for Ruby to answer. She doesn’t. “The party is tonight. You know that, right? And we’re about to be at work all day editing.”

“Why do you think I’m asking so that I have time to get Graham to go get something on his lunch break?”

“You have no shame.”

Ruby falls onto her mat, star fishing out on the floor before propping herself up on her elbows, her bun coming undone so that it hangs messily on her shoulders. “I know. So, what should I buy him? He’s turning forty. Is he having a midlife crisis? Should I get him some hair dye?”

“Only if you want to be murdered.”

Ruby grunts before rising from her mat and stretching out. “Eh, it might be worth it. I think I’ll just get him a Shake Shack gift card. I’m not his sister. I can get away with a semi-shitty gift.”

She chuckles as she grabs her brush for her bronzer and runs it across her cheekbone, blending it in. “It’s not semi-shitty if he takes us to lunch with it.”

“True. Alright,” Ruby claps, picking her mat up, “I’m going to go shower, and then we can go to work. Ten minutes tops.”

It’s twenty minutes, which is actually less time than Emma was expecting, before she and Ruby walk out of their apartment, walking the three blocks to their train station and swiping their metro cards to get through the gate so they can take the ten-minute ride to the studios. They rarely have to go into the actual offices before ten. The only time they have to be at work earlier than that is when there’s an early game and they have to make their way across Manhattan to get to the fields. That’s a bit of a bigger commute. But this morning the weather is relatively nice, the trains aren’t crowded or full of people in T-rex costumes, and she and Ruby get to the office and through security before they have to be there.

She leaves Ruby on the seventh floor before going up to the tenth to the editing room, her eyes having to adjust from the brightness outside to the dim lights inside the room that’s really only lit by screens.

“Anton, how the hell do you live in the sunlight after staying in here all day?”

Anton twists in his chair to look at her before turning back to the screen that he’s working on, clicking on a few keys as he speaks. “It’s only dark right now because I’m trying to get the lighting right on this edit. Something is wrong with the shadows. Get Ash to set you up. You’ve got over eight hours of footage to go through, so this probably isn’t going to get finished today.”

“He’s only talking in about an hour and a half of that.”

“Yeah, but you’ve got to get the filler and then your notes. It’s a whole thing when you have a big segment like this. You’ll get used to it.”

She nods even though Anton isn’t paying any attention to her, before stepping into the room and around some of the editors she’s never worked with until she’s sitting down at Ashley’s workstation, picking up the pair of headphones that she uses and rolling up to the screen as she watches Ashely piece together several clips to promote whatever tennis tournament is going on right now. She thinks it’s the one in Palm Springs, but she hasn’t really been able to keep up with things lately.

“Sorry about that,” Ashley apologizes, flashing her a smile. “Alexandria had a late night last night, and I didn’t get into work in time to finish this up until you got here. But now my attention is all yours.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. She’s teething is all. It’s miserable for all of us.”

“I bet. I remember when Leo was teething. David aged about fifteen years.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Sorry, sorry,” she laughs, patting Ashley’s arm. “I won’t tell you any other stories about miserable babies. Let’s talk the interview.”

Ashley nods and clicks around on her computer until she’s pulling up Emma’s file, all of the hours of footage broken down. Emma has a basic understanding of how all of this works, but it’s mostly above her knowledge and paygrade. That’s why she’s glad to have people like Ashley and Anton, especially when they can easily throw out shaky or unusable footage to narrow things down even more. She tells Ashley that she wants to work on the main interview first, to make sure she can show all of the pieces she wants, and then they’ll work on finding the filler footage and the music to be played in the background. This is the first time Emma has ever worked on an edited segment that’s more than one minute, so it’s all a whole new world to her.

“This is good,” Ashley murmurs, her voice a small whisper outside of the headphones. “Like, really good. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him be this open before.”

“Jones? Jones is an open book.”

Her brows raise before settling back down at a regular height. “You are literally the most knowledgeable person on this subject in this building, and you think that Jones is an open book?”

“I mean, yeah. He’s baseball player, first and foremost. He’s young, hot, likes to spend his money and go out with every woman with big boobs and a pulse.”

Ashley actually laughs at that, rolling back in her chair before rewinding the video to a part where Killian is talking about his nieces and how they collect bobble heads, particularly his, and scatter them throughout their house for their parents to have to pick up. Emma remembers laughing at that, remembers thinking it’s sweet, but she’s not entirely sure why Ashley is showing it to her again.

“I know you probably hate him for asking you out like that, which was kind of a dick move, but anyone with eyes can tell he’s a sweet guy. I mean, he spent his injury break learning how to bake and sitting with his nieces so that they didn’t have to go to daycare. Yeah, he kind of had a period where he was pictured with a lot of girls, but that was when he was twenty-four and on top of the world. I mean, when you were twenty-four, you’re telling me you wouldn’t have been all over a pretty baseball player if you met him in a bar?”

“I hated all men at twenty-four.”

Ashely shakes her head from side to side, chuckling at her again. Emma hates to admit it, but Ashley is right. She knows that he’s not a bad guy, that’s not some sleazy player. No, he did not make the best decisions in asking her out last year, but in a move that surprised her, he very kindly apologized. And she really should not judge him over that time when he was pictured with girls all the time. For one, he probably dates as much as every other guy, but his dates happen to be publicized. She hates when women are shamed for dating, and here she is judging someone else.

His incessant flirting in all of his interviews and him asking her out have likely framed her view on him when she should know better than to judge by what appears on the surface.

She should also know better than to let a few pretty words make her trust someone.

“I met Sean at twenty-four.”

Emma sighs, curving her lips into a smile before patting Ashely’s arm. “And you two are wonderful. Let’s keep editing before we get distracted by you showing me a million baby pictures.”

“Dammit, Emma,” Anton groans from his seat, “the first rule of the editing room is that you don’t talk about baby pictures.”

After letting Ashley show her new pictures of Alexandra and those adorable chubby cheeks, they finally get around to some more editing, cutting questions that have repeated answers and editing out Emma’s laugh or weird coughing sounds so that she doesn’t look like a total maniac. There’s this part in the film where Killian is standing with his back to the camera and in front of a large set of windows that show off the field, and it looks like it could be a part of the Hall of Fame. It’s a gorgeous shot, and it’s where he’s talking about his hopes and dreams for baseball as well as wanting to get to live a normal life full of everything that his brother has.

Frankly, it’s beautiful enough to make her tear up.

They may just be her, though. As much as sports are about the statistics, about the executions, it’s also about the emotions. In the grand scheme of life, a baseball game doesn’t matter. These men getting paid millions of dollars to play a game don’t change the world. Except that they do. People live and die by the game, by the unpredictability, by the fact that it’s human beings out there pushing their bodies to limits that most people can’t reach. It takes everyone away from the world for a bit, lets them cheer for a happy ending, and even though the losses can be crushing, for just that little while, people feel hope.

Killian Jones coming back from injury, no matter how minor, to win the World Series, gave people hope.

It’s that thought process that guides her in helping Ashley and Anton edit the segment, and even though they only get about halfway through editing, they stop for the day so that Ashley can go home to her family and Anton to his while she walks down three flights of stairs to get to her office shoved into the corner of the corporate floor. There’s literally not even room in there for her to have an extra chair for someone to sit with her, but considering how little time she spends there now, that doesn’t matter. And it’s a step up from the cubicles.

Damn, her segment is going to be good.

This is…she knows she complained about it, and for the right reasons, but this is huge for her career. Right now, she’s more than happy doing post-game interviews and the occasional mid-game updates, but one day she might want to commentate or have her own show. One day she might want to move onto things other than sports. She’s getting ahead of herself, she knows. She simply can’t help it.

She’s excited, and she actually can’t wait to come into work tomorrow to get it all finished.

After sending a text to Ruby asking her if she’s almost ready to go, she logs into her computer and waits for her email to load, figuring she might as well get some more work done while she waits. Ruby’s timing at work is always so unpredictable when they’re not working together, so she has absolutely no idea when they’ll be able to leave to get on the train to Astoria. If only David was in the office today.

She doesn’t have much to sort through, just a few emails asking about the segment, another few talking about food that’s available in the office (she really hates that she missed those), and then another two from Walsh that she immediately deletes. They could be work related, but they’re most likely not.

Dating someone she works with was an absolutely horrible idea that she’ll probably never do again. Walsh is definitely an asshole, one that’s worse than all of the others, but he kind of ruined that workplace peace that she had for awhile. They’d both been stat checkers together, spent their days going blind reading spreadsheets and becoming friends, and when they both got promotions to journalists (ones who actually got to write articles) at the same time, she was pretty sure that it was fate or something crazy like that. They got to have the same job, the same schedule, and she was in that phase of infatuation in a new relationship that it made her stomach constantly feel like it was in those pleasantly painful knots.

Then she interviewed and auditioned for the on-air job to work with the Yankees.

It’s a moment that’s changed her life in an immeasurable amount of ways, but the first and most obvious – before Killian Jones 2k18 – was that her boyfriend of over a year resented her. He resented her, belittled her for what she did for a living, and it all felt so painstakingly familiar that she had to break up with him before he damaged her beyond repair too.

The fact that he was cheating definitely helped that decision.

So for him to still work under one hundred feet away from her in the office and still send her emails on a regular basis is a pretty big sting.

There is no one who got more enjoyment out of her being asked out on live television than Walsh Osborne.

Ruby: I am in the bathroom curling my hair. Meet you by the seventh floor receptionist desk in ten.

Emma: Where did you get a curling iron?

Ruby: The makeup room in the studio.

Of course she did.

Closing out her computer and slipping her booties back on, she leaves her office and locks it up before making her way through the cubicles, specifically going out of her way to avoid Walsh’s desk since she knows he’s still in the office, and waits by the receptionist area with David’s present in her hand. There’s no one sitting there, all of the calls being forwarded through the machine, and she idly wonders where in the world Jacob is.

“We have got to get whatever curling iron it is they use in hair and makeup,” Ruby sighs as she walks into the room, heels that she was not wearing this morning now on her feet and her hair curled into perfectly styled waves. “Seriously, it’s fantastic.”

“It’s, like, over three hundred dollars.”

“We can split it. You ready to go? Graham is going to meet us there.”

“Does he have David’s present?”

“Yep.” Ruby loops her arm through Emma’s elbow, pulling her closer, before walking toward the elevators. “He wins the award for the best boyfriend today.”

“Who is he in competition with?”

“Your non-existent boyfriend.”

She pinches Ruby’s arm, but she doesn’t say anything as the elevator opens and they walk inside. It’s always such a pain to go to David and Mary Margaret’s townhome from the office, if only because of the amount of times they have to switch trains, but it gives she and Ruby time to talk about their days and scroll through their phone, checking up on everything that they’ve missed while working.

(She usually finds time to look while at work. Knowing what’s happening in baseball players’ lives is important to her job, right? It doesn’t make her creepy if they put it online.)

Plus, it’s a Friday afternoon, and that’s always the best time to see people dressed in odd costumes and eating full on turkeys on the subway.

Seriously. That happened once. It wasn’t even Thanksgiving.

By the time they get to the townhouse, it’s past six, and she can see cars parked up and down the street, Mary Margaret’s SUV sitting right in front of their home. She insists on driving everywhere, even when she comes into Manhattan, and Emma will never understand that. But she guesses that they live a bit outside of the most crowded parts of the city and the Mary Margaret is always toting Leo around to school and soccer practice or moving all of her crafts that she takes to her classroom. Emma loves her sister-in-law (it’s easier to say than foster mom’s son’s wife), but she is one of those people whose entire life could be found on a Pinterest board where Emma is more thrift store mashup even with her life being more established lately.

Not that there’s anything wrong with living life like that. It’s simply not Emma’s cup of tea.

“So, how many fortieth birthday themed things do you think Mary Margaret has in their house?”

“I mean, obviously forty.”

“Obviously.”

Graham is sitting on the front steps when they walk up, a small envelope in his hand as he stares down at his phone, and Ruby whistles, making him actually jump from his seat.

“What the hell?” he grumbles, clutching his hand and the envelope over his heart. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“It depends. Am I the beneficiary of your life insurance plan?”

“Oh my God,” Emma chuckles, shaking her head from side to side as she adjusts the box underneath her arm. “You two are disturbed.”

“Only my girlfriend is.” He stands from the steps and moves closer to quickly press his lips against Ruby’s. “You two ready to go inside?”

“Were you too scared to go inside without us, babe?”

“If I’m honest, yes. I’m not entirely sure what kind of party awaits us.”

“You and me both.”

Emma steps up the stairs and opens the door, knowing that it’s unlocked and that she can just let herself in. She immediately hears the sound of people talking, most noticeably Leo in his high-pitched voice, but everything looks as normal as it always does. The living room is still neatly arranged, a mixture of white and gray furniture, most of it antique, all scattered throughout. The dining room has place settings arranged, but no one sitting there, so she walks to the back of the home where the kitchen is to find everyone all standing around the island eating off of the veggie place that’s set out.

Huh. So maybe David turning forty means that everything is low-key. That’s a refreshing change of pace.

“Emma,” Leo screeches when he sees her, hopping down from the countertop and running toward her, pushing her back with the force of his hug.

“Hey, kid,” she laughs as she moves David’s present so that she can hug Leo back. He’s getting so big, is nearly as tall as she is now, and he’s only ten. She can’t imagine what he’s going to be like when he gets older. She doesn’t really want to. She’s that aunt who gushes about remembering the day that her nephew was born and grossing him out by talking about it. “Why are you letting all of these people eat my food?”

“Because you don’t like vegetables.”

“I definitely do.”

“You never eat collards, and I always have to.”

“Well, that’s because I don’t like collards.”

Leo scrunches up his nose, his face twisted in disgust like he’s eating those collards, before he grabs her hand and starts trying to tug her back to the entryway. “Come on, Emma, I want to show you my new Captain America shield.”

“I’ve got to go say hi to your parents, but why don’t you go get it and bring it down to show me?”

“Okay.”

He nods his head and then runs upstairs, his footsteps loud, and she turns back toward the kitchen to start talking to people who most likely don’t have Captain America shields in their bedroom. Well, they could. He’s kind of a big deal.

America’s ass and all that.

David is swiping a carrot through a bit of dip, and she takes the opportunity to put her present on the table before wrapping her arms around David’s stomach. He’s so incredibly warm, as always, and she appreciates the solid nature of him as his hand comes up to cup the back of her head, his lips pressing into her hairline.

“Happy birthday, old man.”

“Excuse me. I am in the prime of my life.”

She rolls her eyes, unable to help herself before pulling back and patting his chest. “Sure, if you think so.”

“I do. I’m glad you made it today.”

“And miss your birthday so that I have to hear it every day at work? Never.”

“That wouldn’t happen.”

“It would,” Ruby adds in. “It would be one of those things that you’d bring up every opportunity you get. You’d feed it into her earpiece while she was on air so that she’d do that thing with her nose where it scrunches up all weird to make her look like a mouse.”

“I do not do that.”

“You do, sweetie,” Mary Margaret adds in, opening up the refrigerator and grabbing a bowl of what Emma sincerely hopes is Mary Margaret’s pasta salad. “It’s so, but it does make you look like a mouse. Or like you smelled something bad.”

“Well, I am next to a bunch of sweaty men. I could smell something bad.”

“True.”

“And Ruby, you can’t say anything. You talk in my earpiece all of the time.”

“That’s my job.”

“It’s not your job to talk about assess in pinstripes.”

“Eh,” she protests, clicking her tongue and tilting her head to the side. “I think it might be.”

“I’m sorry,” a woman Emma doesn’t know says, breaking Emma out of their little bubble to remember that there are other people in this house. “What is it that you do?”

“Oh,” she sighs, her mouth suddenly dry. She’s not conceited, she doesn’t think, but it’s been awhile since she met someone who wasn’t in her circle and didn’t know about her job. “I’m a reporter for the Yankees. Emma Swan. It’s nice to meet you – ”

“Jasmine Anwar. I teach with Mary Margaret.”

“She’s my teacher,” Leo adds in, running back in the room with a shield that’s nearly bigger than his body. “But I get to call her Miss Jasmine when she’s here, which is super cool because my friends don’t get to do that.”

“That’s our secret, though, Leo.”

“I know, I know. Emma, look at my shield.”

“Leo, it’s time to eat,” Mary Margaret says. “You can show off your shield afterwards, okay?”

“I thought we were eating cake afterwards.”

“We are.”

“So, when can I show off my shield?”

“After the cake, Leo,” David sighs before clapping his hands together. “Let’s eat.”

Inside the bowl was, indeed, Mary Margaret’s pasta salad, and in the oven was a tray of baked chicken, rolls, and macaroni and cheese. It’s the kind of meal that Ruth would make on the weekend or whenever David came home for a holiday, and for someone who eats cereal and Chinese takeout when Graham doesn’t feel like cooking, this is absolutely the best case scenario for her.

Thank goodness for David turning forty and Mary Margaret deciding to keep it low key with just a few friends instead of everyone from both of their offices.

(His thirtieth birthday was insane, especially when she thinks about the fact that Mary Margaret planned it while seven months pregnant.)

Most of the conversation halts with everyone eating, just a few murmurs here and there, but then Ruby gets a glass of wine in here – possibly two – and while Ruby can deal with liquor no problem, red wine gets to her. It’s the strangest thing, but Ruby’s already loose filter becomes, well, looser.

“No, do you guys remember the time,” Ruby hiccups, sipping on her drink while Emma very gracefully shovels more macaroni and cheese into her mouth, “that we were out in LA for work, and David nearly got arrested for walking out of a Walmart with a boxed fan because he threw away the receipt at self-checkout and they checked him at the door?”

“This is not that great of a story, Ruby,” David huffs, crossing his arms over his chest and tipping his beer bottle up to his lips.

“But it is,” Graham protests. “It was a twenty-dollar fan, man. All you had to do was pay for it again, but instead you were one more protest away from getting taken off to jail.”

“I paid for the damn fan. It was on the security video.”

“Yeah,” Emma sighs as she slides her plate onto the coffee table, “but we only know that because you literally demanded to speak to the manager, had to sweet talk your way into the security office, and we spent three hours inside that building all because you can’t sleep without a fan in the room.”

“To be fair, you and I did have a great time while we were waiting. We bought that purple hair dye and streaked your hair.”

“Which was really dumb because I had to be on camera the next day.”

“It washed out.”

“Really? Because I swear I still have purple in my hair if it’s in the right light.”

She tugs at strands of her hair to prove a point while laughter bubbles in her stomach. God, she loves her friends. They’re the actual best. She doesn’t know how she got lucky enough to have them in her life.

“Your purple streaks are probably what made Jones ask you out. He saw that you had a wild side and couldn’t pass that opportunity up.”

She takes that thing about loving her friends back.

She groans, sinking down further into the couch and wishing that she had Leo’s Captain America shield to hide her face so that no one can see the blush that’s rising from her cheeks. Today is apparently a day to bring this up once every hour. It might as well go on her grave stone at this point.

Okay, that’s a little dramatic.

It can at least go in her obituary.

That doesn’t make it any better.

“Emma, can you get me Killian Jones’s autograph?” Leo questions, looking up at her from where he’s very enthusiastically scarfing down another plate of macaroni. He’s not going to have any room for cake at this rate.

“I’m not sure if I can, kid.”

“But you know him! He asked you on a date!”

She’s going to dye all of her hair purple, change her name, and move countries. That’s even more dramatic, but she seems to be on a role with being dramatic tonight.

Italy would be nice. There’s lots of pasta there.

“I’ll ask, kid.”

“I want it on a hat.”

“Leo,” Mary Margaret scolds, “use your manners.”

“I want it on a hat please,” he corrects before shoveling more food in his mouth. “Can we have cake now?”

#catch me if you can #cs fic #cs ff #Captain Swan #captain swan fic

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astrogeoguy · 6 years

Text

– Venus after Sunset, and the Old Moon Hangs Out at Dawn – Leaving Dark Sky Delights for April Evenings!

(Above: Galaxies exhibit a wide range of shapes and structures. This is a sampling of them - many of which are visible in binoculars and telescopes during April evenings, under dark sky conditions.)

Astronomy Skylights for this week (from April 8th, 2018) by Chris Vaughan. (Feel free to pass this along to friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics.) I post these with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory, or another in your area, visit www.astrogeo.ca.

If you’d like me to bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event, visit DiscoveryPlantarium.com and request me. We’ll tour the Universe together!

Public Events

On Monday evenings, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday evenings after dark, they offer free public viewing through their telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here.

At 7:30 pm on Wednesday evening, April 11 the public are invited to attend a free RASC Toronto Centre Speaker’s Night Meeting at the Ontario Science Centre (Room TBD, just follow the signs). The speaker is Jake Kloos, PhD Candidate, Earth and Space Science and Engineering, York University, presenting The Search for Water in the Solar System. Details are on the RASC website here.

On Friday, April 13 at 7:30 pm in the Hamilton spectator building, the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers will present a free public talk entitled The Astronomy of Civilizations Past. Details are here.

On Friday, April 13, starting at 7 pm, the U of T AstroTour will present their planetarium show entitled The Life and Death of Stars. Tickets and details are here.

On Friday, April 13, starting at 7 pm in Sydney Smith Hall, U of T, the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities (SSEA) ~ Toronto Chapter will present a talk by Professor Sarah Symons entitled Shadows and Droplets: Timekeeping Instruments in Ancient Egypt. Details are here.

Next week is Astronomy Week. Stay tuned for events.

Seeing Stars

If you missed last week’s discussion about easy-to-see stars in the April evening sky, it’s here.

The Moon and Planets

The moon starts this week as an elderly crescent that rises in the wee hours and lingers into the morning sky. By mid-week, it will appear as a very slim crescent hovering over the eastern horizon before dawn. And, on Sunday night, the moon will reach its new moon phase, when it is hidden from our view beside the sun’s glare, and illuminated only on the hemisphere we never see. The moon’s absence this week will provide us with night skies dark enough for viewing dim, deep sky objects.

(Above: This week, Venus climbs the western evening sky, shown here at 9 pm local time.)

Meanwhile, our views of Venus continue to get better and better as it swings away from the sun and climbs higher in the western sky. Look for the extremely bright planet in the western sky for about two hours after sunset. It sets just before 10 pm local time.

About 30 minutes after Venus sets, mighty Jupiter will rise in the east. The extremely bright planet is dominating the southern overnight sky now. It reaches its highest elevation (about three fist diameters) above the southern horizon around 3:30 am local time, and then descends into the southwestern sky as the sun rises.

Reddish Mars and yellowish Saturn will still be relatively close to one another this week in the pre-dawn eastern sky. Saturn rises first shortly after 2 am. Mars, sitting about three finger widths to its lower left, rises soon afterwards. Mars will continue to draw away eastward from Saturn this week.

(Above: The eastern pre-dawn sky, shown here for 5:30 am local time, features many of the bright planets. )

Spring Galaxy Week

Every spring in the Northern Hemisphere, the obscuring stars, gas and dust of our own Milky Way galaxy vacate the night sky, leaving a literal window of opportunity for observers to see distant galaxies. This week’s new moon will provide us with especially dark skies for hunting these faint but majestic objects.

(Above: The green ovals and the red labels identify the many galaxies located in the eastern evening sky this spring, shown for 9:30 pm local time. The constellation of Coma Berenices, near the centre of the chart, hosts the north galactic pole - the point in the sky that is directly out of our Milky Way galaxy’s plane of rotation.)

On the next clear evening this week, head outside and find a spot away from city lights and look east. About halfway up the sky, to the upper right of the bright star Arcturus, is the constellation of Coma Berenices, or "Bernice's Hair." This patch of sky contains the north galactic pole and therefore far fewer stars than the rest of the sky. It's more or less overhead during late evening in April (and mid-evening in May) – perfect for viewing distant galaxies through the least amount of Earth’s distorting atmosphere. Coma Berenices and the constellations around it — Virgo, Leo, Ursa Major (The Big Dipper's home) and Canes Venatici — all host a great many galaxies.

Space.com has posted a column I’ve written about classifying and viewing spring galaxies. You can find it here.

Keep looking up to enjoy the sky! I love getting questions so, if you have any, send me a note.

#space #astronomy #stars #galaxies #Milky Way #Jupiter #Venus #Coma Berenices #Leo

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topmixtrends · 6 years

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BEFORE HER 2016 novel Chanson douce won the prestigious Prix Goncourt, Leïla Slimani had already made a splash with her 2014 debut Dans le jardin de l’ogre, about a young mother caught between her bourgeois marriage and her sex addiction. These two novels, published by the prestigious press Gallimard, have earned Slimani a reputation as one of France’s brightest young literary talents, a writer whose work attends to the plight of young women struggling to conform to the competing demands of modern urban life. Slimani’s astute sociological gaze was refined through her work as a journalist covering her native Morocco, writing primarily for the online newspaper Jeune Afrique; three volumes of her journalism have been published in Paris in the last year. Recently, she was selected by President Macron to serve as his personal representative to promote French in the Francophone world. Chanson douce, meanwhile, is slated to appear in translation in over 35 languages, and has just been released in the United States as The Perfect Nanny.

The Perfect Nanny is inspired by a notorious 2012 murder case, in which Lucia and Leo Krim, only six and two years old, were stabbed to death in a Manhattan apartment by their nanny, Yoselyn Ortega, who then attempted, unsuccessfully, to take her own life. The question at the heart of the novel is one that journalists reporting on that crime also sought to answer: what could possibly motivate a caregiver to kill the children in her charge? After opening with a scene of the murders, the novel flashes back in time, to the moment when Myriam and Paul Massé hire Louise to watch their children, Mila and Adam, and then charts their path back to the present. A wonder-nanny, Louise cooks like a first-rate chef and brings order and calm to the couple’s chaotic work lives, but her troubled past is glimpsed in snatches, suggesting a basis — if not a motive — for the crime she will commit.

Though we know how the story ends, the novel remains primarily focused on the mundane daily rhythms that structure the Massé household. Louise arrives early and leaves late. She transports the children to school and to various outings, hosts their birthday parties, and regales them with fanciful stories and games. “You’re part of the family,” Myriam tells Louise as she mounts her framed photo on a bookshelf in the living room. Within their family unit, Louise occupies the role not of a replacement mother but of a third child whose presence, repeatedly described by Paul as “doll-like,” becomes a fixture in their home.

Most of the novel takes place within the small Massé apartment in the gentrified 10th arrondissement of Paris, a confined space that is exceedingly quotidian but never boring. Paul and Myriam aspire to a conventional upper-middle-class life, where she can escape from the claustrophobia of full-time parenting while he guiltily embraces urban amenities, rejecting the austerity of his own childhood. They celebrate their career successes — Paul is a music producer, Myriam a trial attorney — and their fancy dinner parties, replete with cooking by Louise, make them the envy of their social circle. Their main worry is keeping Louise happy at work: without someone to take care of their kids, the rest of their carefully curated lives wouldn’t be possible. The novel’s insistence on their professional success, and the general sense of plenitude in their work-life balance, augur all the more sharply the downfall that awaits them.

As a fiction writer, Slimani seems most at home in the present tense. Her first novel was told almost exclusively in clipped sentences that dramatized the urgency of the protagonist Adele’s physical needs and gnawing inner voice. In The Perfect Nanny, a similar prose style evokes the repetitive cycle of daily existence. There is something disquieting in Slimani’s present tense, which seems always about to rupture the veneer of equanimity. Occasionally the narrative breaks away from the everyday, splicing in chapters that transport us to scenes from Louise’s past, to her eventual trial, or to a hypothetical future envisioned by one of the characters. Anxious to see her children after a busy week, Myriam imagines that tonight:

she would devote herself entirely to them. Together, they would slip into the big bed. She would tickle them and kiss them, she would squeeze them against her until they were dizzy. Until they struggled.

It’s when the novel ventures out of its comfort zone of the present that it inclines too strongly toward such melodramatic flourishes that forebode a tragic ending.

Although Slimani has said that her work “never meant to describe any true or real event,” The Perfect Nanny tracks the well-known Krim case from New York, even while relocating the story to Paris. Mila and Adam are the same ages as the Krim children were at their deaths and are similarly discovered by their mother in the bathtub, with a kitchen knife in the hands of the nanny. Descriptions of her “scream from deep within” echo the initial news reports of the case. Kevin Krim, the children’s father, was met at JFK airport by policemen to break the news of the murder, just as, in the novel’s closing pages, Lieutenant Verdier awaits Paul Massé at the Eurostar section of the Gare du Nord.

References to Louise’s increasingly unhealthy physical appearance, troubles with her landlord, and history of mental illness all echo news coverage of the Krims’ nanny. One article from The Daily Beast, for instance, describes how Ortega had “continued hearing voices, male and female, speaking in Spanish but still unintelligible to her save for when they urged her to hurt others.” Likewise, in the novel, a voice speaks to Louise:

Someone has to die. Someone has to die for us to be happy. Morbid refrains echo inside Louise’s head when she walks. Phrases that she didn’t invent — and whose meaning she is not sure she fully grasps — fill her mind.

There’s nothing new about a novelist drawing on sensational newspaper reports; that’s been common practice in US fiction since at least Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy (1925). In France, the faits divers tradition popularized by Victor Hugo, Guy de Maupassant, Paul Bourget, and others in the 19th century pursued a similar topical strategy, and the success of Emmanuel Carrère’s L’Adversaire (2000) attests that this tradition is alive and well. But in its translation into a Paris-based literary thriller, the Krim case has undergone one noteworthy transformation: the novel both flips and elides the dynamics of ethnicity from the news story, with the Dominican New York nanny becoming a white Parisian, while the white employer turns Maghrebi.

This inversion is signaled very subtly — you could almost miss the fact that Myriam Massé, née Charfa, is ethnically Arab, or that Louise is white. Indeed, Louise bears no trace of ethnic origin for half of the narrative. Only when she is firmly anchored within the Massé family, accompanying them on their summer vacations, do we glimpse a few strands of blonde hair peeking out from underneath her swim cap — a suggestive metaphor for the ways that markers of ethnicity unwittingly escape from the novel’s efforts to contain them.

Sam Taylor’s confident English translation retains all French place-markers and cultural signposts. It carefully adapts the pleasing simplicity of Slimani’s prose and adheres to her rigorous resistance to making ethnicity a centerpiece of the story. The book’s paratexts, however, tellingly contravene this thematic reluctance. The English title — itself sensationalistic in tone, and nothing like the original, which literally translates as “sweet song” — is plastered over the image of a woman’s torso, dutifully dressed in a British-style nanny uniform, her pale neck prominently exposed. Meanwhile, Myriam is identified in the back cover copy as a “French-Moroccan lawyer,” and Slimani’s author bio refers to her as the “first Moroccan woman to win France’s most prestigious literary prize.”

In other words, where the Gallimard edition makes no reference to the ethnic identity of either the characters or the author, the English translation places this issue front and center. The two versions conform almost too neatly to their cultural contexts: the French political project of laïcité systematically rests on a refusal to acknowledge or privilege forms of identity, while in the United States, race becomes the book’s raison d’être.

As intriguing as The Perfect Nanny is for its translation of an American crime into a French context, it is most compelling as a reflection on how we consume the media today. The novel brims over with visual references to media technologies and texts: Louise leaves the television on all day long, watching “apocalyptic news reports” with the children “in rapt silence” by her side. Slimani describes photographs of the crime scene and of the children taken before their deaths — photos matching those that appeared in newspapers and magazines in the wake of the New York case (such as one of the “bouquets of flowers and children’s drawings” littering the entrance to the couple’s apartment building). She even references pictures from the Krims’s personal blog. “Just uploaded photos from my iPhone,” Marina Krim wrote in one of her last blog posts before the murders, and some of the images of her children — wearing a white dress, lying on the ground half-naked, visiting a friend’s farm — emerge in the novel, recast as Massé family snapshots taken on Myriam’s iPhone.

All of Slimani’s characters, in the end, are stuck behind screens, and if Louise’s crime is figured, at least in part, as a result of our apocalypse-focused news culture, so too does Slimani register her own position as a media consumer, transfixed by images of the event, molding them into literary form.

The novel in that sense can be read not only as an obsessive account of a crime, but also as a meta-story about the ways in which we obsess about crimes today. It bespeaks our era of easy and unfettered access to online media and compulsive news cycling. The Perfect Nanny offers a window onto the experience of being immersed in someone else’s tragedy, all the while expressing deep ambivalence about the contemporary media culture from which such stories emerge.

Sara Kippur is associate professor of French at Trinity College in Hartford and the author of Writing It Twice: Self-translation and the Making of a World Literature in French.

The post An American Tragedy by Way of France appeared first on Los Angeles Review of Books.

from Los Angeles Review of Books http://ift.tt/2nzbSM5

#Los Angeles Review of Books #topmixtrends

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pamphletstoinspire · 6 years

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THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS OR EZRA - From The Douay-Rheims Bible - Latin Vulgate

Chapter 6

INTRODUCTION.

This Book taketh its name from the writer, who was a holy priest and doctor of the law. He is called by the Hebrews Ezra, (Ch.) and was son, (T.) or rather, unless he lived above 150 years, a descendant of Saraias. 4 K. xxv. 18. It is thought that he returned first with Zorobabel; and again, at the head of other captives, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, with ample authority. Esdras spent the latter part of his life in exhorting the people, and in explaining to them the law of God. He appeared with great dignity at the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem. 2 Esd. xii. 26. 35. We have four books which bear his name. C. --- This and the following book of Nehemias, originally made but one in Heb. (S. Jerom, &c.) as the transactions of both those great men are recorded. The third and fourth are not in Heb. nor received into the canon of the Holy Scriptures, though the Greek Church hold the third as canonical, and place it first; (W.) and Genebrard would assert that both ought to be received, as they were by several Fathers. But they contain many thing which appear to be erroneous, and have been rejected by others of great authority, and particularly by S. Jerom. The third book seems to have been written very early, by some Hellenist Jew, who was desirous of embellishing the history of Zorobabel; and the fourth was probably composed by some person of the same nation, who had been converted to Christianity, before the end of the second century; and who injudiciously attempted to convert his brethren, by assuming the name of a man who was so much respected. Many things have been falsely attributed to Esdras, on the same account. It is said that he invented the Masora; restored the Scriptures, which had been lost; fixed the canon of twenty-two books; substituted the Chaldaic characters instead of the ancient Hebrew, Samaritan, or Phœnician. But though Esdras might sanction the latter, now become common, the characters might vary insensibly, (Bianconi. Kennicott, Dis. ii.) as those of other languages have done, (H.) and the sacred books never perished wholly; nor could the canon be determined in the time of Esdras. C. --- As for the Masoretic observations and points, they are too modern an invention. Elias Levita, Capel. Houbigant, &c. --- What we know more positively of Esdras, is, (W.) that he was empowered by Artaxerxes to bring back the Jews, and that he acted with great zeal. H. --- This book contains the transactions of 82 years, till A. 3550. The letter of Reum, and the king's answer, (C. iv. 7. till C. vi. 19. and well as C. vii. 12, 27.) are in Chaldee; the rest of the work is in Hebrew. C. --- We may discover various mysteries concealed under the literal sense of this and the following book. S. Jer. ep. ad Paulin. W. --- Esdras is supposed by this holy doctor, as well as by some of the Rabbins, &c. to have been the same person with the prophet Malachy; (Button) and several reasons seems to support this conjecture, though it must still remain very uncertain. C. --- Some think that (H.) Esdras wrote only the four last chapters, and the author of Paral. the six preceding ones. D. --- But it is most probable that he compiled both from authentic documents. H. --- Some few additions may have been inserted since, by divine authority. 2 Esd. xii. 11, 22. T.

The additional Notes in this Edition of the New Testament will be marked with the letter A. Such as are taken from various Interpreters and Commentators, will be marked as in the Old Testament. B. Bristow, C. Calmet, Ch. Challoner, D. Du Hamel, E. Estius, J. Jansenius, M. Menochius, Po. Polus, P. Pastorini, T. Tirinus, V. Bible de Vence, W. Worthington, Wi. Witham. — The names of other authors, who may be occasionally consulted, will be given at full length.

Verses are in English and Latin. HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY

This Catholic commentary on the Old Testament, following the Douay-Rheims Bible text, was originally compiled by Catholic priest and biblical scholar Rev. George Leo Haydock (1774-1849). This transcription is based on Haydock's notes as they appear in the 1859 edition of Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary printed by Edward Dunigan and Brother, New York, New York.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:

Greek letters. The original text sometimes includes Greek expressions spelled out in Greek letters. In this transcription, those expressions have been transliterated from Greek letters to English letters, put in italics, and underlined. The following substitution scheme has been used: A for Alpha; B for Beta; G for Gamma; D for Delta; E for Epsilon; Z for Zeta; E for Eta; Th for Theta; I for Iota; K for Kappa; L for Lamda; M for Mu; N for Nu; X for Xi; O for Omicron; P for Pi; R for Rho; S for Sigma; T for Tau; U for Upsilon; Ph for Phi; Ch for Chi; Ps for Psi; O for Omega. For example, where the name, Jesus, is spelled out in the original text in Greek letters, Iota-eta-sigma-omicron-upsilon-sigma, it is transliterated in this transcription as, Iesous. Greek diacritical marks have not been represented in this transcription.

Footnotes. The original text indicates footnotes with special characters, including the astrisk (*) and printers' marks, such as the dagger mark, the double dagger mark, the section mark, the parallels mark, and the paragraph mark. In this transcription all these special characters have been replaced by numbers in square brackets, such as [1], [2], [3], etc.

Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.

Other special characters.

Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as ---.

Ligatures, single characters containing two letters united, in the original text in some Latin expressions have been represented in this transcription as separate letters. The ligature formed by uniting A and E is represented as Ae, that of a and e as ae, that of O and E as Oe, and that of o and e as oe.

Monetary sums in the original text represented with a preceding British pound sterling symbol (a stylized L, transected by a short horizontal line) are represented in this transcription with a following pound symbol, l.

The half symbol (1/2) and three-quarters symbol (3/4) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.

Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber's copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].

Chapter 6

King Darius favoureth the building and contributeth to it.

[1] Then king Darius gave orders, and they searched in the library of the books that were laid up in Babylon,

Tunc Darius rex praecepit : et recensuerunt in bibliotheca librorum, qui erant repositi in Babylone,

[2] And there was found in Ecbatana, which is a castle in the province of Media, a book in which this record was written.

et inventum est in Ecbatanis, quod est castrum in Medena provincia volumen unum, talisque scriptus erat in eo commentarius :

[3] In the first year of Cyrus the king: Cyrus the king decreed, that the house of God should be built, which is in Jerusalem, in the place where they may offer sacrifices, and that they lay the foundations that may support the height of threescore cubits, and the breadth of threescore cubits,

Anno primo Cyri regis, Cyrus rex decrevit ut domus Dei aedificaretur, quae est in Jerusalem, in loco ubi immolent hostias, et ut ponant fundamenta supportantia altitudinem cubitorum sexaginta, et latitudinem cubitorum sexaginta,

[4] Three rows of unpolished stones, and so rows of new timber: and the charges shall be given out of the king's house.

ordines de lapidibus impolitis tres, et sic ordines de lignis novis : sumptus autem de domo regis dabuntur.

[5] And also let the golden and silver vessels of the temple of God, which Nabuchodonosor took out of the temple of Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be restored, and carried back to the temple of Jerusalem to their place, which also were placed in the temple of God.

Sed et vasa templi Dei aurea et argentea, quae Nabuchodonosor tulerat de templo Jerusalem, et attulerat ea in Babylonem, reddantur, et referantur in templum in Jerusalem in locum suum, quae et posita sunt in templo Dei.

[6] Now therefore Thathanai, governor of the country beyond the river, Stharbuzanai, and your counsellors the Apharsachites, who are beyond the river, depart far from them,

Nunc ergo Thathanai dux regionis, quae est trans flumen, Stharbuzanai, et consiliarii vestri Apharsachaei, qui estis trans flumen, procul recedite ab illis,

[7] And let that temple of God be built by the governor of the Jews, and by their ancients, that they may build that house of God in its place.

et dimittite fieri templum Dei illud a duce Judaeorum, et a senioribus eorum, ut domum Dei illam aedificent in loco suo.

[8] I also have commanded what must be done by those ancients of the Jews, that the house of God may be built, to wit, that of the king's chest, that is, of the tribute that is paid out of the country beyond the river, the charges be diligently given to those men, lest the work be hindered.

Sed et a me praeceptum est quid oporteat fieri a presbyteris Judaeorum illis ut aedificetur domus Dei, scilicet ut de arca regis, id est, de tributis, quae dantur de regione trans flumen, studiose sumptus dentur viris illis, ne impediatur opus.

[9] And if it shall be necessary, let calves also, and lambs, and kids, for holocausts to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the custom of the priests that are in Jerusalem, be given them day by day, that there be no complaint in any thing.

Quod si necesse fuerit, et vitulos, et agnos, et haedos in holocaustum Deo caeli, frumentum, sal, vinum, et oleum, secundum ritum sacerdotum, qui sunt in Jerusalem, detur eis per singulos dies, ne sit in aliquo querimonia.

[10] And let them offer oblations to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his children.

Et offerant oblationes Deo caeli, orentque pro vita regis, et filiorum ejus.

[11] And I have made a decree: That if any whosoever, shall alter this commandment, a beam be taken from his house. and set up, and he be nailed upon it, and his house be confiscated.

A me ergo positum est decretum : ut omnis homo qui hanc mutaverit jussionem, tollatur lignum de domum ipsius, et erigatur, et configatur in eo, domus autem ejus publicetur.

[12] And may the God, that hath caused his name to dwell there, destroy all kingdoms, and the people that shall put out their hand to resist, and to destroy the house of God, that is in Jerusalem. I Darius have made the decree, which I will have diligently complied with.

Deus autem, qui habitare fecit nomen suum ibi, dissipet omnia regna, et populum qui extenderit manum suam ut repugnet, et dissipet domum Dei illam, quae est in Jerusalem. Ego Darius statui decretum, quod studiose impleri volo.

[13] So then Thathanai, governor of the country beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and his counsellors diligently executed what Darius the king had commanded.

Igitur Thathanai dux regionis trans flumen, et Stharbuzanai, et consiliarii ejus, secundum quod praeceperat Darius rex, sic diligenter executi sunt.

[14] And the ancients of the Jews built and prospered according to the prophecy of Aggeus the prophet, and of Zacharias the son of Addo: and they built and finished, by the commandment of the God of Israel, and by the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes kings of the Persians.

Seniores autem Judaeorum aedificabant, et prosperabantur juxta prophetiam Aggaei prophetae, et Zachariae filii Addo : et aedificaverunt et construxerunt, jubente Deo Israel, et jubente Cyro, et Dario, et Artaxerxe regibus Persarum :

[15] And they were finishing this house of God, until the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of king Darius.

et compleverunt domum Dei istam, usque ad diem terium mensis Adar, qui est annus sextus regni Darii regis.

[16] And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity kept the dedication of the house of God with joy.

Fecerunt autem filii Israel sacerdotes et Levitae, et reliqui filiorum transmigrationis, dedicationem domus Dei in gaudio.

[17] And they offered at the dedication of the house of God, a, hundred calves, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and for a sin offering for all Israel twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

Et obtulerunt in dedicationem domus Dei, vitulos centum, arietes ducentos, agnos quadringentos, hircos caprarum pro peccato totius Israel duodecim, juxta numerum tribuum Israel.

[18] And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses over the works of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

Et statuerunt sacerdotes in ordinibus suis, et Levitas in vicibus suis, super opera Dei in Jerusalem, sicut scriptum est in libro Moysi.

[19] And the children of Israel of the captivity kept the phase, on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Fecerunt autem filii Israel transmigrationis Pascha, quartadecima die mensis primi.

[20] For all the priests and the Levites were purified as one man: all were clear to kill the phase for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and themselves.

Purificati enim fuerant sacerdotes et Levitae quasi unus : omnes mundi ad immolandum Pascha universis filiis transmigrationis, et fratribus suis sacerdotibus, et sibi.

[21] And the children of Israel that were returned from captivity, and all that had separated themselves from the filthiness of the nations of the earth to them, to seek the Lord the God of Israel, did eat.

Et comederunt filii Israel, qui reversi fuerant de transmigratione, et omnes qui se separaverant a coinquinatione gentium terrae ad eos, ut quaererent Dominum Deum Israel.

[22] And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, that he should help their hands in the work of the house of the Lord the God of Israel.

Et fecerunt solemnitatem azymorum septem diebus in laetitia, quoniam laetificaverat eos Dominus, et converterat cor regis Assur ad eos, ut adjuvaret manus eorum in opere domus Domini Dei Israel.

Commentary:

Ver. 1. Library. Prot. "house of the rolls, where the treasures were," &c. --- Babylon. In the city, the search was fruitless: (Vatab.) but in the kingdom, the record was discovered. M.

Ver. 2. Ecbatana. Chal. achmetha, signifies "a jug, or chest." C. --- "They found in the chest of the palace, under the inscription of Media." Munster. Pagnin. --- "And a roll was found (some add, in Amatha) in the city, in a chest, (or tower; Barei) and this memorial was written in it." (Sept.) Prot. style the place, "Achmetha." H. --- Arab. "Athana." Syr. "Ahmathane." The memoirs of Cyrus had probably been conveyed to Ecbatana, which was built by Dejoces, the first king of the Medes, and greatly enlarged by his successor, Phraortes. C. --- Province. Media now only formed a province of the empire. T.

Ver. 3. And...foundations is not found in Sept. Syr. and Arab. but it is in Chald. The temple was thus of larger dimensions than that of Solomon, which was only 30 cubits high, and 20 broad inside. 3 K. vi. 2. The Rabbins assign 100 for each, (Tr. Middot. iv. 6.) speaking perhaps of the temple rebuilt by Herod, with still greater magnificence. Josephus allows 100 in height, and 60 in breadth. But the Scripture only speaks of 54 cubits breadeth, and 99 in length including the adjoining edifices. C. --- Breadth, from the front to the end of the holy of holies, which we should call the length. T. --- This temple was lower than Solomon's by one half, (2 Par. iii. 4. M.) unless those 120 cubits refer only to a tower. H.

Ver. 4. Unpolished, to correspond with the polished stones and cedar employed by Solomon. 3 K. vi. 36. M. --- Prot. "great stones." See C. v. 8. --- Charges. It appears that the Jews furnished money and meat to pay for the wood. C. i. 4. and iii. 7. Some annual sum might be assigned by Cyrus, either for the building, or for the daily holocausts. C.

Ver. 5. Placed formerly, before the destruction of the temple. Prot. "and place them in the house of God."

Ver. 8. Hindered. Thus Darius trod in the footsteps, or perhaps exceeded the liberality of Cyrus. H.

Ver. 9. Complaint. Prot. "without fail," (H.) or "delay." Mont. C.

Ver. 11. Nailed. Prot. "hanged." Sept. "covered with wounds, or fastened on it." H. --- Some think that the criminal was to be scourged. De Dieu. --- "Let him be hanged on the wood, which shall stand upright, after his house shall have been demolished." Vatable. --- Such was the custom of the Persians. Grot. --- Aman perished on the gallows, which he had erected in his own house for Mardocheus. Est. vii. 9. --- Confiscated. Prot. "be made a dunghill for this." H. Syr. &c. --- We find some examples of such a treatment. 4 K. x. 27. Dan. iii. 5, and ix. 6. The effects of those who were condemned to die, in Persia, were generally confiscated. Est.iii. 13. and viii. 11. and ix. 14.

Ver. 14. Artaxerxes, one of the seven who overturned the power of the magi; (Usher, A. 3483) or rather the king of Persia, who lived some time after this, and was very favourable to the Jews. He sent Esdras (A. 3537) and Nehemias (A. 3550) with great powers into the country. C.

Ver. 15. Adar, corresponding with our Feb. and March. M. --- In the latter month they celebrated the Passover, v. 19. --- Darius. Hence twenty years had elapsed from the first foundation. They might continue to embellish the temple other twenty-seven years, as the Jews assert; (Jo. ii. 20,) unless they speak of the repairs made by Herod, (Baronius. T.) or exaggerate, (Grot.) being under a mistake. Salien, A. 3537.

Ver. 17. Goats, which had not left off sucking. M. Numb. vii. 87. --- Israel. The Sam. Chronicles assert that the tribes returned, as the prophets had foretold, and the sacred history seems to suppose: (C.) which may be true of many, (H.) though the greatest part remained in captivity. C.

Ver. 18. Moses. Num. iii. 8. David had perfected the plan, 1 Par. xxiii. &c. H.

Ver. 19. And. Here the author resumes the Heb. language. C. - Captivity, from which they were released, v. 17. H.

Ver. 20. One man, with zeal and unanimity; so that a second Phase was not to be celebrated. 2 Par. xxx. 3.

Ver. 21. To them, becoming proselytes, and receiving circumcision. Ex. xii. 48.

Ver. 22. Assyria. The successors of Cyrus now ruled over those countries, (C.) which had belonged to the most potent Assyrian and Chaldean monarchs; and therefore the titles are given to them indiscriminately. T.

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THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS OR EZRA - From The Douay-Rheims Bible - Latin Vulgate

Chapter 5

INTRODUCTION.

Verses are in English and Latin. HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:

Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.

Other special characters.

Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as ---.

The half symbol (1/2) and three-quarters symbol (3/4) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.

Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber's copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].

Chapter 5

By the exhortation of Aggeus, and Zacharias, the people proceed in building the temple. Which their enemies strive in vain to hinder.

[1] Now Aggeus the prophet, and Zacharias the son of Addo, prophesied to the Jews that were in Judea and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel.

Prophetaverunt autem Aggaeus propheta, et Zacharias filius Addo, prophetantes ad Judaeos, qui erant in Judaea et Jerusalem, in nomine Dei Israel.

[2] Then rose up Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue the son of Josedec, and began to build the temple of God in Jerusalem, and with them were the prophets of God helping them.

Tunc surrexerunt Zorobabel filius Salathiel, et Josue filius Josedec, et coeperunt aedificare templum Dei in Jerusalem, et cum eis prophetae Dei adjuvantes eos.

[3] And at the same time came to them Thathanai, who was governor beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and their counsellors: and said thus to them: Who hath given you counsel to build this house, and to repair the walls thereof?

In ipso autem tempore venit ad eos Thathanai, qui erat dux trans flumen, et Stharbuzanai, et consiliarii eorum : sicque dixerunt eis : Quis dedit vobis consilium ut domum hanc aedificaretis, et muros ejus instauraretis?

[4] In answer to which we gave them the names of the men who were the promoters of that building.

Ad quod respondimus eis, quae essent nomina hominum auctorum aedificationis illius.

[5] But the eye of their God was upon the ancients of the Jews, and they could not hinder them. And it was agreed that the matter should be referred to Darius, and then they should give satisfaction concerning that accusation.

Oculus autem Dei eorum factus est super senes Judaeorum, et non potuerunt inhibere eos. Placuique ut res ad Darium referretur, et tunc satisfacerent adversus accusationem illam.

[6] The copy of the letter that Thathanai governor of the country beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and his counsellors the Arphasachites, who dwelt beyond the river, sent to Darius the king.

Exemplar epistolae, quam misit Thathanai dux regionis trans flumen, et Stharbuzanai, et consiliatores ejus Arphasachaei, qui erant trans flumen, ad Darium regem.

[7] The letter which they sent him, was written thus: To Darius the king all peace.

Sermo, quem miserant ei, sic scriptus erat : Dario regi pax omnis.

[8] Be it known to the king, that we went to the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which they are building with unpolished stones, and timber is laid in the walls: and this work is carried on diligently, and advanceth in their hands.

Notum sit regi, isse nos ad Judaeam provinciam, ad domum Dei magni, quae aedificatur lapide impolito, et ligna ponuntur in parietibus : opusque illud diligenter exstruitur, et crescit in manibus eorum.

[9] And we asked those ancients, and said to them thus: Who hath given you authority to build this house, and to repair these walls?

Interrogavimus ergo senes illos, et ita diximus eis : Quis dedit vobis potestatem ut domum hanc aedificaretis, et muros hos instauraretis?

[10] We asked also of them their names, that we might give thee notice: and we have written the names of the men that are the chief among them.

Sed et nomina eorum quaesivimus ab eis, ut nuntiaremus tibi : scripsimusque nomina eorum virorum, qui sunt principes in eis.

[11] And they answered us in these words, saying: We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are building a temple that was built these many years ago, and which a great king of Israel built and set up.

Hujuscemodi autem sermonem responderunt nobis dicentes : Nos sumus servi Dei caeli et terrae, et aedificamus templum, quod erat exstructum ante hos annos multos, quodque rex Israel magnus aedificaverat, et exstruxerat.

[12] But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he delivered them into the hands of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon the Chaldean: and he destroyed this house, and carried away the people to Babylon.

Postquam autem ad iracundiam provocaverunt patres nostri Deum caeli, tradidit eos in manus Nabuchodonosor regis Babylonis Chaldaei, domum quoque hanc destruxit, et populum ejus transtulit in Babylonem.

[13] But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon, king Cyrus set forth a decree, that this house of God should be built.

Anno autem primo Cyri regis Babylonis, Cyrus rex proposuit edictum ut domus Dei haec aedificaretur.

[14] And the vessels also of gold and silver of the temple of God, which Nabuchodonosor had taken out of the temple, that was in Jerusalem, and had brought them to the temple of Babylon, king Cyrus brought out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one Sassabasar, whom also he appointed governor,

Nam et vasa templi Dei aurea et argentea, quae Nabuchodonosor tulerat de templo, quod erat in Jerusalem, et asportaverat ea in templum Babylonis, protulit Cyrus rex de templo Babylonis, et data sunt Sassabasar vocabulo, quem et principem constituit,

[15] And said to him: Take these vessels, and go, and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its place.

dixitque ei : Haec vasa tolle, et vade, et pone ea in templo, quod est in Jerusalem, et domus Dei aedificetur in loco suo.

[16] Then came this same Sassabasar, and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it is in building, and is not yet finished.

Tunc itaque Sassabasar ille venit et posuit fundamenta templi Dei in Jerusalem, et ex eo tempore usque nunc aedificatur, et necdum completum est.

[17] Now therefore if it seem good to the king, let him search in the king's library, which is in Babylon, whether it hath been decreed by Cyrus the king, that the house of God in Jerusalem should be built, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.

Nunc ergo, si videtur regi bonum recenseat in bibliotheca regis, quae est in Babylone, utrumnam a Cyro rege jussum fuerit ut aedificaretur domus Dei in Jerusalem, et voluntatem regis super hac re mittat ad nos.

Commentary:

Ver. 1. Addo was grand-father of the prophet, whose writings are extant. C. --- Both prophesied in the second year of Darius. M.

Ver. 2. Them. Aggeus had rebuked the people for building houses for themselves, while they neglected the temple. The work was hereupon resumed without any fresh order from the king; as the edicts of the usurper, Oropastes, were considered as null, and the Jews only answer the governor, that they had been authorized by Cyrus, v. 13. 17. Josephus, and 3 Esd. iii. and iv. 47. assert that Darius had given leave. C. M.

Ver. 3. River, over all Syria, &c. This man had not been bribed, but acted with great moderation, and in compliance with his duty. C. --- Counsel. Chal. "order...to make up this wall."

Ver. 4. In. Sept. "Then I (or they; eipon. The Syr. and Arab. declare for the latter) said thus to them: What," &c. --- We gave. Chal. "what are the names?" H. --- It seems Thathanai asked this question, v. 10. The Jews might give in the names of Zorobabel, Josue, Aggeus, &c. C.

Ver. 5. Ancients. Sept. "captivity of Juda." H. --- Divine Providence favoured the undertaking. Delrio adag. 216. M. Ps. xxxii. 18. --- His eye sometimes threatens ruin. Amos ix. 8. C. --- God did both on this occasion. W. --- Hinder. Chal. "cause them to leave off, till the matter came to Darius, (H.) and his decision was brought back;" (C.) or Prot. "and then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter." Sept. "and they did not molest them, till the sentence should be brought to (or from) Darius; and then it (word) was sent to the tax-gatherer, concerning this affair."

Ver. 8. Unpolished. Prot. "great." H. --- Heb. "to be rolled." See Vitruv. x. 6. Sept. "choice stones." Kimchi, &c. "marble." C. --- 3 Esd. "polished and precious stones." H. --- Yet the Vulg. seems more conformable to C. vi. 4. and Agg. ii. 2. M. Ribera. --- Walls, every fourth course. 3 K. vi. 36. C.

Ver. 13. Built. It did not appear that this edict had been revoked; (C.) nor could it be changed, if it had been passed by the advice of the Lord. H.

Ver. 14. Governor. Sept. "over the treasury."

Ver. 16. In building, being pretty far advanced, though for some time past it had been at a stand. H. --- It is not probable that Zorobabel said this, but the author of the letter added it, as he supposed the Jews continued to do some little. C. - He desired to favour their cause, yet so as not to irritate the Samaritans. M.

Ver. 17. Library. Sept. "treasury-house." Arab. "for the archives." It is called "the house of books." C. vi. 1. C.

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THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS OR EZRA - From The Douay-Rheims Bible - Latin Vulgate

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION.

Verses are in English and Latin. HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:

Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.

Other special characters.

Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as ---.

The half symbol (1/2) and three-quarters symbol (3/4) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.

Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber's copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].

Chapter 1

Cyrus king of Persia releaseth God's people from their captivity, with license to return and build the temple in Jerusalem: and restoreth the holy vessels which Nabuchodonosor had taken from thence.

[1] In the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians: and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and in writing also, saying:

In anno primo Cyri regis Persarum, ut compleretur verbum Domini ex ore Jeremiae, suscitavit Dominus spiritum Cyri regis Persarum : et traduxit vocem in omni regno suo, etiam per scripturam, dicens :

[2] Thus saith Cyrus king of the Persians: The Lord the God of heaven hath given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea.

Haec dicit Cyrus rex Persarum : Omnia regna terrae dedit mihi Dominus Deus caeli, et ipse praecepit mihi ut aedificarem ei domum in Jerusalem, quae est in Judaea.

[3] Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and build the house of the Lord the God of Israel: he is the God that is in Jerusalem.

Quis est in vobis de universo populo ejus? Sit Deus illius cum ipso. Ascendat in Jerusalem, quae est in Judaea, et aedificet domum Domini Dei Israel : ipse est Deus qui est in Jerusalem.

[4] And let all the rest in all places wheresoever they dwell, help him every man from his place. with silver and gold, and goods, and cattle, besides that which they offer freely to the temple of God, which is in Jerusalem.

Et omnes reliqui in cunctis locis ubicumque habitant, adjuvent eum viri de loco suo argento et auro, et substantia, et pecoribus, excepto quod voluntarie offerunt templo Dei, quod est in Jerusalem.

[5] Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Juda and Benjamin, and the priests, and Levites, and every one whose spirit God had raised up, to go up to build the temple of the Lord, which was in Jerusalem.

Et surrexerunt principes patrum de Juda, et Benjamin, et sacerdotes, et Levitae, et omnis cujus Deus suscitavit spiritum, ut ascenderent ad aedificandum templum Domini, quod erat in Jerusalem.

[6] And all they that were round about, helped their hands with vessels of silver, and gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with furniture, besides what they had offered on their own accord.

Universique qui erant in circuitu, adjuverunt manus eorum in vasis argenteis et aureis, in substantia et jumentis in supellectili, exceptis his quae sponte obtulerant.

[7] And king Cyrus brought forth the vessels of the temple of the Lord, which Nabuchodonosor had taken from Jerusalem, and had put them in the temple of his god.

Rex quoque Cyrus protulit vasa templi Domini, quae tulerat Nabuchodonosor de Jerusalem, et posuerat ea in templo dei sui.

[8] Now Cyrus king of Persia brought them forth by the hand of Mithridates the son of Gazabar, and numbered them to Sassabasar the prince of Juda.

Protulit autem ea Cyrus rex Persarum per manum Mithridatis filii Gazabar, et annumeravit ea Sassabasar principi Juda.

[9] And this is the number of them: thirty bowls of gold, a thousand bowls of silver, nine and twenty knives, thirty cups of gold,

Et hic est numerus eorum : phialae aureae triginta, phialae argenteae mille, cultri viginti novem, scyphi aurei triginta,

[10] Silver cups of a second sort, four hundred and ten: other vessels a thousand.

scyphi argentei secundi quadringenti decem : vasa alia mille.

[11] All the vessels of gold and silver, five thousand four hundred: all these Sassabasar brought with them that came up from the captivity of Babylon to Jerusalem.

Omnia vasa aurea et argentea quinque millia quadringenta : universa tulit Sassabasar cum his qui ascendebant de transmigratione Babylonis in Jerusalem.

Commentary:

Ver. 1. In. Heb. "And (C.) or But in," as 2 Par. xxxvi. 22. H. --- Thus the historical works are connected. Spinosa infers, from this book being inserted after Daniel in the Heb. Bible, that the same author wrote both. But the order of the books in the Sept. and Vulg. is far more natural, (C.) and this has often varied in Hebrew, &c. Kennicott. See 2 Par. xxxvi. 23. H. --- First. The design was only put in execution the following year. A. 3468. --- Cyrus (Heb. coresh, (H.) or Koresch) means "the sun," according to Ctesias and Plutarch. Josephus (xi. 1.) informs us that this prince became a friend of the Jews, in consequence of having seen the prediction of Isaias (xliv. 28. and xlv. 1.) fulfilled in his own person. He took Babylon, A. 3466, and established the Persian empire, which was subverted by Alexander. C. --- he had before ruled over Persia 27 years, and only reigned three as sole monarch at Babylon. T. --- The Lord; every good notion, even in infidels, proceeds from him. D. --- Cyrus was one of the best and greatest conquerors of antiquity. He was the son of Cambyses, by Mandane, princess of Media. Xenophon informs us that he died in his bed; (H.) and had been lately conquered. T.

Ver. 2. Earth, which had belonged to the king of Babylon. H. --- This may be an hyperbole, or allusion to Isai. xlv. 1. M. --- The dominions of Cyrus were very extensive, (Xenophon, Cyrop. i. and viii.) reaching from Ethiopia to the Euxine sea, &c. He acknowledges that he received all from the hand of God. Nabuchodonosor makes a similar confession of his supreme dominion; (Dan. ii. 47.) and the potentates of Egypt and of Rome, procured sacrifices to be offered to him. But what advantage did they derive from this sterile knowledge of his divinity? since they did not honour him accordingly, but wished to join his worship with that of idols; though the force of miracles and of reason must have convinced them that there is but one God. C. --- House, or temple. Isai. xliv. 28. --- Judea. So the Sept. read, but the Heb. has "Juda," all along. The whole country now began to be know by the former name. H.

Ver. 3. He is the God, is placed within a parenthesis, by the Prot. But the pagans might suppose that God was attached to this city, like their idols; and the temple was not yet begun. H.

Ver. 4. Rest, who do not please to return. The Jews went at different times, and under the different leaders, Zorobabel, Esdras, and Nehemias. Many did not return at all. Cyrus allowed them full liberty. He permits money to be exported, particularly the half sicle, required Ex. xxx. 13, and all voluntary contributions for the temple. Grotius. C. --- He also enjoins the prefects of the provinces, (v. 6, and C. iii. 7.) whom Josephus styles "the king's friends," to forward this work; and he even designed to perfect it at his own expence. C. vi. 4.

Ver. 8. Gazabar means, "the treasurer." Heb. Syr. C. Prot. 3 Esd. ii. 19. H. --- Son is not in Heb. &c. (M.) and must be omitted. T. --- Sassabasar. This was another name for Zorobabel, (Ch.) given by the Chaldees, as they changed the name of Daniel into Baltassar. Euseb. Præp. Evan. xi. 3. T. --- But others think that this was the Persian "governor (Junius) of Judea," (3 Esd.) as one reside at Jerusalem, till the days of Nehemias. 2 Esd. v. 14. It does not appear that Zorobabel was invested with this dignity, before the reign of Darius Hystaspes. Agg. ii. 24. C.

Ver. 9. Knives. Sept. &c. "changes" of garments. C.

Ver. 10. Sort. Sept. and Syr. "double;" yet of less value. C. --- As no first sort had been mentioned, and some Latin MSS. read 2410, agreeably to 3 Esd. ii. 12, and the truth, (Hallet) it may be inferred that "thousands were expressed anciently by single letters, with a dot...over them." Afterwards, when numbers were expressed by words at length, the b being thus reduced to signify "two," was, of course, written shnim; but this word making nonsense with the following, has been changed into mishnim, a word not very agreeable to the sense here, and which leaves the sum total, now specified in the Heb. text, very deficient for want of the 2000, thus omitted. Kennicott, Dis. ii. --- Josephus has, "30 golden cups, 2400 of silver." H.

Ver. 11. Hundred. Only 2499 are specified. 3 Esd. reads, 5469. Josephus (xi. 1.) differs from all, reading 5210; which shews that the copies have varied, and that the Heb. is incorrect. C. - The use of number letters might cause this confusion. H. Capel. iii. 20. 13.

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THE PROPHECY OF Zacharias - From The Douay-Rheims Bible - Latin Vulgate

Chapter 2

INTRODUCTION.

Zacharias or Zachariah began to prophesy in the same year as Aggeus, and upon the same occasion. His prophecy is full of mysterious figures and promises of blessings, partly relating to the synagogue and partly to the Church of Christ. Ch. --- He is the "most obscure and longest of the twelve;" (S. Jer.) though Osee wrote the same number of chapters. H. --- Zacharias has been confounded with many others of the same name. Little is known concerning his life. Some have asserted that the ninth and two following chapters were written by Jeremias, in whose name C. xi. 12. is quoted Mat. xxvii. 9. But that is more probably a mistake of transcribers. Zacharias speaks more plainly of the Messias and of the last siege of Jerusalem than the rest, as he live nearer those times. C. --- His name signifies, "the memory of the Lord." S. Jer. --- He appeared only two months after Aggeus, and shewed that the Church should flourish in the synagogue, and much more after the coming of Christ, who would select his first preachers from among the Jews. Yet few of them shall embrace the gospel, in comparison with the Gentiles, though they shall at last be converted. S. Jer. ad Paulin. W.

Verses are in English and Latin.

HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:

Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.

Other special characters.

Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as ---.

The half symbol (1/2) and three-quarters symbol (3/4) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.

Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber's copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].

Chapter 2

Under the name of Jerusalem, he prophesieth the progress of the church of Christ, by the conversion of some Jews and many Gentiles.

[1] And I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold a man, with a measuring line in his hand.

Et levavi oculos meos, et vidi, et ecce vir, et in manu ejus funiculus mensorum.

[2] And I said: Whither goest thou? and he said to me: To measure Jerusalem, and to see how great is the breadth thereof, and how great the length thereof.

Et dixi : Quo tu vadis? Et dixit ad me : Ut metiar Jerusalem, et videam quanta sit latitudo ejus, et quanta longitudo ejus.

[3] And behold the angel that spoke in me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him.

Et ecce angelus qui loquebatur in me egrediebatur, et angelus alius egrediebatur in occursum ejus :

[4] And he said to him: Run, speak to this young man, saying: Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls, by reason of the multitude of men, and of the beasts in the midst thereof.

et dixit ad eum : Curre, loquere ad puerum istum, dicens : Absque muro habitabitur Jerusalem, prae multitudine hominum et jumentorum in medio ejus.

[5] And I will be to it, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about: and I will be in glory in the midst thereof.

Et ego ero ei, ait Dominus, murus ignis in circuitu, et in gloria ero in medio ejus.

[6] O, O flee ye out of the land of the north, saith the Lord, for I have scattered you into the four winds of heaven, saith the Lord.

O, o, fugite de terra aquilonis, dicit Dominus, quoniam in quatuor ventos caeli dispersi vos, dicit Dominus.

[7] O Sion, flee, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon:

O Sion! fuge, quae habitas apud filiam Babylonis :

[8] For thus saith the Lord of hosts: After the glory he hath sent me to the nations that have robbed you: for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye:

quia haec dicit Dominus exercituum : Post gloriam misit me ad gentes quae spoliaverunt vos : qui enim tetigerit vos, tangit pupillam oculi mei :

[9] For behold I lift up my hand upon them, and they shall be a prey to those that served them: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts sent me.

quia ecce ego levo manum meam super eos, et erunt praedae his qui serviebant sibi : et cognoscetis quia Dominus exercituum misit me.

[10] Sing praise, and rejoice, O daughter of Sion: for behold I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee: saith the Lord.

Lauda et laetare, filia Sion, quia ecce ego venio, et habitabo in medio tui, ait Dominus.

[11] And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of thee: and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me to thee.

Et applicabuntur gentes multae ad Dominum in die illa, et erunt mihi in populum, et habitabo in medio tui : et scies quia Dominus exercituum misit me ad te.

[12] And the Lord shall possess Juda his portion in the sanctified land: and he shall yet choose Jerusalem.

Et possidebit Dominus Judam partem suam in terra sanctificata, et eliget adhuc Jerusalem.

[13] Let all flesh be silent at the presence of the Lord: for he is risen up out of his. holy habitation.

Sileat omnis caro a facie Domini, quia consurrexit de habitaculo sancto suo.

Commentary:

Ver. 3. Another. The angel who measured spoke to Michael. C.

Ver. 4. Walls. This must be understood of the spiritual Jerusalem, the Church of Christ. Ch. --- According to S. Aug. (in Ps. lxxi.) when the literal sense cannot be verified, we must have recourse to the thing prefigured; and thus what is here written, must be explained of the Church rather than of Jerusalem. W. --- A little before the fall of the latter, it was become so populous that the houses which had been built without the walls were enclosed. Jos. Bel. vi. 6. --- this multitude was a sort of pledge or figure of the crowds which should embrace the gospel.

Ver. 5. Fire, to enlighten and protect it. Arms will be unnecessary. Mic. v. 10. Is. ii. 4. The Church shall enjoy peace.

Ver. 6. North. Many Jews had not yet returned, Esther, &c. --- Winds. Ezec. v. 2, 12. C. --- Gentiles, and ye children of Sion, flee from Babylon and from sin into the true Church. W.

Ver. 8. Glory. After restoring you to your own country, and rebuilding your cities, I will punish your enemies. C. --- After they have enjoyed prosperity, they shall feel the reverse. Heb. Cabod, (H.) means also "a burden."

Ver. 9. Prey. Two years after this (C.) the Assyrians revolted, and seized Babylon. Justin i. --- They slew the useless women: but Zopyrus betrayed the place to Darius, who hung 3,000 of the principal inhabitants, and demolished the walls. Herod. iii. 150. Usher, A. 3489.

Ver. 11. Nations. We know of none who embrace the Jewish law. But both the old and the new world submits to Christ. --- Dwell. S. Michael represents the Messias. The latter preached and wrought miracles among the Jews, which rendered them inexcusable. John xv. 24. C.

Ver. 13. Silent: obey with reverence. H. See Hab. ii. 20. and 1 Mac. i. 3. C. - Habitation, becoming man. M.

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THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS OR EZRA - From The Douay-Rheims Bible - Latin Vulgate

Chapter 8

INTRODUCTION.

Verses are in English and Latin. HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:

Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.

Other special characters.

Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as ---.

The half symbol (1/2) and three-quarters symbol (3/4) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.

Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber's copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].

Chapter 8

The companions of Esdras. The fast which he appointed. They bring the holy vessels into the temple.

[1] Now these are the chiefs of families, and the genealogy of them, who came up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.

Hi sunt ergo principes familiarum, et genealogia eorum, qui ascenderunt mecum in regno Artaxerxis regis de Babylone.

[2] Of the sons of Phinees, Gersom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattus.

De filiis Phinees, Gersom. De filiis Ithamar, Daniel. De filiis David, Hattus.

[3] Of the sons of Sechenias, the son of Pharos, Zacharias, and with him were numbered a hundred and fifty men.

De filiis Secheniae, filiis Pharos, Zacharias : et cum eo numerati sunt viri centum quinquaginta.

[4] Of the sons of Phahath Moab, Eleoenai the son of Zareha, and with him two hundred men.

De filiis Phahath Moab, Elioenai filius Zarehe, et cum eo ducenti viri.

[5] Of the sons of Sechenias, the son of Ezechiel, and with him three hundred men.

De filiis Secheniae, filius Ezechiel, et cum eo trecenti viri.

[6] Of the sons of Adan, Abed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty men.

De filiis Adan, Abed filius Jonathan, et cum eo quinquaginta viri.

[7] Of the sons of Alam, Isaias the son of Athalias, and with him seventy men.

De filiis Alam, Isaias filius Athaliae, et cum eo septuaginta viri.

[8] Of the sons of Saphatia: Zebodia the son of Michael, and with him eighty men.

De filiis Saphatiae, Zebedia filius Michael, et cum eo octoginta viri.

[9] Of the sons of Joab, Obedia the son of Jahiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen men.

De filiis Joab, Obedia filius Jahiel, et cum eo ducenti decem et octo viri.

[10] Of the sons of Selomith, the son of Josphia, and with him a hundred and sixty men.

De filiis Selomith, filius Josphiae, et cum eo centum sexaginta viri.

[11] Of the sons of Bebai, Zacharias the son of Bebai: and with him eight and twenty men.

De filiis Bebai, Zacharias filius Bebai, et cum eo viginti octo viri.

[12] Of the sons of Azgad, Joanan the son of Eccetan, and with him a hundred and ten men.

De filiis Azgad, Johanan filius Eccetan, et cum eo centum et decem viri.

[13] Of the sons of Adonicam, who were the last: and these are their names: Eliphelet, and Jehiel, and Samaias, and with them sixty men.

De filiis Adonicam, qui erant novissimi : et haec nomina eorum : Elipheleth, et Jehiel, et Samaias, et cum eis sexaginta viri.

[14] Of the sons of Begui, Uthai and Zachur, and with them seventy men.

De filii Begui, Uthai et Zachur, et cum eis septuaginta viri.

[15] And I gathered them together to the river, which runneth down to Ahava, and we stayed there three days: and I sought among the people and among the priests for the sons of Levi, and found none there.

Congregavi autem eos ad fluvium, qui decurrit ad Ahava, et mansimus ibi tribus diebus : quaesivique in populo et in sacerdotibus de filiis Levi, et non inveni ibi.

[16] So I sent Eliezer, and Ariel, and Semeias, and Elnathan, and Jarib, and another Elnathan, and Nathan, and Zacharias, and Mosollam, chief men: and Joiarib, and Elnathan, wise men.

Itaque misi Eliezer, et Ariel, et Semeiam, et Elnathan, et Jarib, et alterum Elnathan, et Nathan, et Zachariam, et Mosollam principes : et Joiarib, et Elnathan sapientes.

[17] And I sent them to Eddo, who is chief in the place of Chasphia, and I put in their mouth the words that they should speak to Eddo, and his brethren the Nathinites in the place of Chasphia, that they should bring us ministers of the house of our God.

Et misi eos ad Eddo, qui est primus in Chasphiae loco, et posui in ore eorum verba, quae loquerentur ad Eddo, et fratres ejus Nathinaeos in loco Chasphiae, ut adducerent nobis ministros domus Dei nostri.

[18] And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a most learned man of the sons of Moholi the son of Levi the son of Israel, and Sarabias and his sons, and his brethren eighteen,

Et adduxerunt nobis per manum Dei nostri bonam super nos, virum doctissimum de filiis Moholi filii Levi, filii Israel, et Sarabiam et filios ejus et fratres ejus decem et octo,

[19] And Hasabias, and with him Isaias of the sons of Merari, and his brethren, and his sons twenty.

et Hasabiam, et cum eo Isaiam de filiis Merari, fratresque ejus, et filios ejus viginti :

[20] And of the Nathinites, whom David, and the princes gave for the service of the Levites, Nathinites two hundred and twenty: all these were called by their names.

et de Nathinaeis, quos dederat David et principes ad ministeria Levitarum, Nathinaeos ducentos viginti : omnes hi suis nominibus vocabantur.

[21] And I proclaimed there a fast by the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before the Lord our God, and might ask of him a right way for us and for our children, and for all our substance.

Et praedicavi ibi jejunium juxta fluvium Ahava ut affligeremur coram Domino Deo nostro, et peteremus ab eo viam rectam nobis et filiis nostris, universaeque substantiae nostrae.

[22] For I was ashamed to ask the king for aid and for horsemen, to defend us from the enemy in the way: because we had said to the king: The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him in goodness: and his power and strength, and wrath upon all them that forsake him.

Erubui enim petere a rege auxilium et equites, qui defenderent nos ab inimico in via : quia dixeramus regi : Manus Dei nostri est super omnes, qui quaerunt eum in bonitates : et imperium ejus et fortitudo ejus, et furor super omnes, qui derelinquunt eum.

[23] And we fasted, and besought our God for this: and it fell out prosperously unto us.

Jejunavimus autem, et rogavimus Deum nostrum per hoc : et evenit nobis prospere.

[24] And I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sarabias, and Hasabias, and with them ten of their brethren,

Et separavi de principibus sacerdotum duodecim, Sarabiam, et Hasabiam, et cum eis de fratribus eorum decem :

[25] And I weighed unto them the silver and gold, and the vessels consecrated for the house of our God, which the king and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel, that were found had offered.

appendique eis argentum et aurum, et vasa consecrata domus Dei nostri, quae obtulerat rex et consiliatores ejus, et principes ejus, universusque Israel eorum, qui inventi fuerant :

[26] And I weighed to their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and a hundred vessels of silver, and a hundred talents of gold,

et appendi in manibus eorum argenti talenta sexcenta quinquaginta, et vasa argentea centum, auri centum talenta :

[27] And twenty cups of gold, of a thousand solids, and two vessels of the best shining brass, beautiful as gold.

et crateres aureos viginti, qui habebant solidos millenos, et vasa aeris fulgentis optimi duo, pulchra, ut aurum.

[28] And I said to them: You are the holy ones of the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and gold, that is freely offered to the Lord the God of our fathers.

Et dixi eis : Vos sancti Domini, et vasa sancta, et argentum et aurum, quod sponte oblatum est Domino Deo patrum nostrorum :

[29] Watch ye and keep them, till you deliver them by weight before the chief of the priests, and of the Levites, and the heads of the families of Israel in Jerusalem, into the treasure of the house of the Lord.

vigilate et custodite, donec appendatis coram principibus sacerdotum, et Levitarum, et ducibus familiarum Israel in Jerusalem, in thesaurum domus Domini.

[30] And the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and gold, and the vessels, to carry them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

Susceperunt autem sacerdotes et Levitae pondus argenti, et auri, et vasorum, ut deferrent Jerusalem in domum Dei nostri.

[31] Then we set forward from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.

Promovimus ergo a flumine Ahava duodecimo die mensis primi ut pergeremus Jerusalem : et manus Dei nostri fuit super nos, et liberavit nos de manu inimici et insidiatoris in via.

[32] And we came to Jerusalem, and we stayed there three days.

Et venimus Jerusalem, et mansimus ibi tribus diebus.

[33] And on the fourth day the silver and the gold, and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Urias the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinees, and with them Jozabad the son of Josue, and Noadaia the son of Benoi, Levites.

Die autem quarta appensum est argentum, et aurum, et vasa in domo Dei nostri per manum Meremoth filii Uriae sacerdotis, et cum eo Eleazar filius Phinees, cumque eis Jozabed filius Josue, et Noadaia filius Bennoi Levitae,

[34] According to the number and weight of every thing: and all the weight was written at that time.

juxta numerum et pondus omnium : descriptumque est omne pondus in tempore illo.

[35] Moreover the children of them that had been carried away that were come out of the captivity, offered holocausts to the God of Israel, twelve calves for all the people of Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve he goats for sin: all for a holocaust to the Lord.

Sed et qui venerant de captivitate filii transmigrationis, obtulerunt holocautomata Deo Israel, vitulos duodecim pro omni populo Israel, arietes nonaginta sex, agnos septuaginta septem, hircos pro peccato duodecim : omnia in holocaustum Domino.

[36] And they gave the king's edicts to the lords that were from the king's court, and the governors beyond the river, and they furthered the people and the house of God.

Dederunt autem edicta regis satrapis, qui erant de conspectu regis et ducibus trans flumen, et elevaverunt populum et domum Dei.

Commentary:

Ver. 2. Hattus. He was of the royal family, (H.) as the former were descendants of the two sons of Aaron. C. --- The great numbers which were persuaded to return from Babylon, signify the conversions made by holy preachers. V. Bede. W.

Ver. 5. Sons. Sept. and Arab. add, "of Zathoe, Sechenias, the son of Aziel." The Syr. supplies the name of "Gabo, the son of Nahzael," which seems to have been lost. C. --- Junius translates, "of the descendants Sechenias N. son of Jahaziel."

Ver. 10. Sons of. Sept. supply "Baani," whose name occurs, C. ii. 10, and is here visibly wanting. C.

Ver. 13. Last. Coming after their brethren. C. ii. 13.

Ver. 14. Zachur. Heb. and Sept. "Zabud." C. --- Two letters have been mistaken. H.

Ver. 15. Ahava. This river (v. 21. and 31.) runs through the territory of the same name, called Hava; (4 K. xvii. 24.) the people of which exchanged places with the Israelites. Esdras makes a circuit to prevail on some of the latter to return with him, unless he began his journey from Susa. Babylon comprises all that country. C. --- None there, who were not priests, v. 2. Lyran. M.

Ver. 16. Sent. Sept. "&c. "to Eliezer," &c. in order to give them his orders what to say to Eddo, who presided at Chasphia, as the sequel shews. --- Wise men, instructors of the people, (2 Par. xxxv. 3. C.) Levites. M.

Ver. 17. Chasphia. The Caspian mountains, between Media and Hyrcania. Here the Nathinites were forced to labour, under Eddo. The service of the temple would be far more eligible. C.

Ver. 21. Fast it seems for eight days, so that they departed on the 12th, v. 31. M. --- It will not suffice to leave sin, we must also do works of satisfaction. W.

Ver. 22. Forsake him. Apostates are treated with the greatest severity. M. --- Esdras thought that the glory of God was at stake, and he would not shew any diffidence in Providence, or scandalize the infidels. C. --- We ought not to ask princes for what we should despise. D.

Ver. 26. A hundred. Heb. adds, "talents," vessels of silver. H. --- Some Rabbins suppose there were only 100, each of this weight, which is not probable. All the silver vessels, of different sizes, weighed 100 talents. There was the same quantity of golden vessels. C.

Ver. 27. Solids. Heb. adarconim. Darics, equivalent to the golden sicle. C. 1 Par. xxix. 7. --- Best. Prot. "of fine copper, precious as gold." It might resemble the Corinthian brass, or aurichalcum, (H.) composed of gold, silver, and brass melted together, in the burning of Corinth, by L. Mummius. Pliny xxxiv. 2. --- Yet no such Corinthian vessels have come down to us; so that the account seems fabulous; and, at any rate, the city was not taken in the days of Esdras, but A. 608 of Rome. We cannot say whether he speaks of copper, brass, &c. C.

Ver. 35. Israel. Some of the different tribes certainly returned. C. vi. 17.

Ver. 36. Lords, (satrapis.) 3 Esd. "to the royal officers and governors of Cœlosyria and Phenicia; and they glorified," &c. - Furthered, by their assistance (H.) and praise. They formed their sentiments, as is usual, by those of the king. C.

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THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS OR EZRA - From The Douay-Rheims Bible - Latin Vulgate

Chapter 2

INTRODUCTION.

Verses are in English and Latin. HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:

Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.

Other special characters.

Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as ---.

The half symbol (1/2) and three-quarters symbol (3/4) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.

Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber's copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].

Chapter 2

The number of them that returned to Judea: their oblations.

[1] Now these are the children of the province, that went out of the captivity, which Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Juda, every man to his city.

Hi sunt autem provinciae filii, qui ascenderunt de captivitate, quam transtulerat Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis in Babylonem, et reversi sunt in Jerusalem et Judam, unusquisque in civitatem suam.

[2] Who came with Zorobabel, Josue, Nehemia, Saraia, Rahelaia, Mardochai, Belsan, Mesphar, Beguai, Rehum, Baana. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

Qui venerunt cum Zorobabel, Josue, Nehemia, Saraia, Rahelaia, Mardochai, Belsan, Mesphar, Beguai, Rehum, Baana. Numerus virorum populi Israel :

[3] The children of Pharos two thousand one hundred seventy-two.

Filii Pharos duo millia centum septuaginta duo.

[4] The children of Sephatia, three hundred seventy-two.

Filii Sephatia, trecenti septuaginta duo.

[5] The children of Area, seven hundred seventy-five.

Filii Area, septingenti septuaginta quinque.

[6] The children of Phahath Moab, of the children of Josue: Joab, two thousand eight hundred twelve.

Filii Phahath Moab, filiorum Josue : Joab, duo millia octingenti duodecim.

[7] The children of Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty-four.

Filii Aelam, mille ducenti quinquaginta quatuor.

[8] The children of Zethua, nine hundred forty-five.

Filii Zethua, nongenti quadraginta quinque.

[9] The children of Zachai, seven hundred sixty.

Filii Zachai, septingenti sexaginta.

[10] The children of Bani, six hundred forty-two.

Filii Bani, sexcenti quadraginta duo.

[11] The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty-three.

Filii Bebai, sexcenti viginti tres.

[12] The children of Azgad, a thousand two hundred twenty-two.

Filii Azgad, mille ducenti viginti duo.

[13] The children of Adonicam, six hundred sixty-six.

Filii Adonicam, sexcenti sexaginta sex.

[14] The children of Beguai, two thousand fifty-six.

Filii Beguai, duo millia quinquaginta sex.

[15] The children of Adin, four hundred fifty-four.

Filii Adin, quadringenti quinquaginta quatuor.

[16] The children of Ather, who were of Ezechias, ninety-eight.

Filii Ather, qui erant ex Ezechia, nonaginta octo.

[17] The children of Besai, three hundred and twenty-three.

Filii Besai, trecenti viginti tres.

[18] The children of Jora, a hundred and twelve.

Filii Jora, centum duodecim.

[19] The children of Hasum, two hundred twenty-three.

Filii Hasum, ducenti viginti tres.

[20] The children of Gebbar, ninety-five.

Filii Gebbar, nonaginta quinque.

[21] The children of Bethlehem, a hundred twenty-three.

Filii Bethlehem, centum viginti tres.

[22] The men of Netupha, fifty-six.

Viri Netupha, quinquaginta sex.

[23] The men of Anathoth, a hundred twenty-eight.

Viri Anathoth, centum viginti octo.

[24] The children of Azmaveth, forty-two.

Filii Azmaveth, quadraginta duo.

[25] The children of Cariathiarim, Cephira, and Beroth, seven hundred forty-three.

Filii Cariathiarim, Cephira et Beroth, septingenti quadraginta tres.

[26] The children of Rama and Gabaa, six hundred twenty-one.

Filii Rama et Gabaa, sexcenti viginti unus.

[27] The men of Machmas, a hundred twenty-two.

Viri Machmas, centum viginti duo.

[28] The men of Bethel and Hai, two hundred twenty-three.

Viri Bethel et Hai, ducenti viginti tres.

[29] The children of Nebo, fifty-two.

Filii Nebo, quinquaginta duo.

[30] The children of Megbis, a hundred fifty-six.

Filii Megbis, centum quinquaginta sex.

[31] The children of the other Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty-four.

Filii Aelam alterius, mille ducenti quinquaginta quatuor.

[32] The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty.

Filii Harim, trecenti viginti.

[33] The children of Lod, Hadid and One, seven hundred twenty-five.

Filii Lod Hadid, et Ono, septingenti viginti quinque.

[34] The children of Jericho, three hundred forty-five.

Filii Jericho, trecenti quadraginta quinque.

[35] The children of Senaa, three thousand six hundred thirty.

Filii Senaa, tria millia sexcenti triginta.

[36] The priests: the children of Jadaia of the house of Josue, nine hundred seventy-three.

Sacerdotes : filii Jadaia in domo Josue, nongenti septuaginta tres.

[37] The children of Emmer, a thousand fifty-two.

Filii Emmer, mille quinquaginta duo.

[38] The children of Pheshur, a thousand two hundred forty-seven.

Filii Pheshur, mille ducenti quadraginta septem.

[39] The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen.

Filii Harim, mille decem et septem.

[40] The Levites: the children of Josue and of Cedmihel, the children of Odovia, seventy-four.

Levitae : filii Josue et Cedmihel filiorum Odoviae, septuaginta quatuor.

[41] The singing men: the children of Asaph, a hundred twenty-eight.

Cantores : filii Asaph, centum viginti octo.

[42] The children of the porters: the children of Sellum, the children of Ater, the children of Telmon, the children of Accub, the children of Hatita, the children of Sobai: in all a hundred thirty-nine.

Filii janitorum : filii Sellum, filii Ater, filii Telmon, filii Accub, filii Hatitha, filii Sobai : universi centum triginta novem.

[43] The Nathinites: the children of Siha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth,

Nathinaei : filii Siha, filii Hasupha, filii Tabbaoth,

[44] The children of Ceros, the children of Sia, the children of Phadon,

filii Ceros, filii Siaa, filii Phadon,

[45] The children of Lebana, the children of Hegaba, the children of Accub,

filii Lebana, filii Hagaba, filii Accub,

[46] The children of Hagab, the children of Semlai, the children of Hanan,

filii Hagab, filii Semlai, filii Hanan,

[47] The children of Gaddel, the children of Gaher, the children of Raaia,

filii Gaddel, filii Gaher, filii Raaia,

[48] The children of Basin, the children of Necoda, the children of Gazam,

filii Rasin, filii Necoda, filii Gazam,

[49] The children of Asa, the children of Phasea, the children of Besee,

filii Aza, filii Phasea, filii Besee,

[50] The children of Asena, the children of Munim, the children of Nephusim,

filii Asena, filii Munim, filii Nephusim,

[51] The children of Bacbuc, the children of Hacupha, the children of Harhur,

filii Bacbuc, filii Hacupha, filii Harhur,

[52] The children of Besluth, the children of Mahida, the children of Harsa,

filii Besluth, filii Mahida, filii Harsa,

[53] The children of Bercos, the children of Sisara, the children of Thema,

filii Bercos, filii Sisara, filii Thema,

[54] The children of Nasia, the children of Hatipha,

filii Nasia, filii Hatipha,

[55] The children of the servants of Solomon, the children of Sotai, the children of Sopheret, the children of Pharuda,

filii servorum Salomonis, filii Sotai, filii Sophereth, filii Pharuda,

[56] The children of Jala, the children of Dercon, the children of Geddel,

filii Jala, filii Dercon, filii Geddel,

[57] The children of Saphatia, the children of Hatil, the children of Phochereth, which were of Asebaim, the children of Ami,

filii Saphatia, filii Hatil, filii Phochereth, qui erant de Asebaim, filii Ami :

[58] All the Nathinites, and the children of the servants of Solomon, three hundred ninety-two.

omnes Nathinaei, et filii servorum Salomonis, trecenti nonaginta duo.

[59] And these are they that came up from Thelmela, Thelharsa, Cherub, and Adon, and Emer. And they could not shew the house of their fathers and their seed, whether they were of Israel.

Et hi qui ascenderunt de Thelmala, Thelharsa, Cherub, et Adon, et Emer : et non potuerunt indicare domum patrum suorum et semen suum, utrum ex Israel essent.

[60] The children of Dalaia, the children of Tobia, the children of Necoda, six hundred fifty-two.

Filii Dalaia, filii Tobia, filii Necoda, sexcenti quinquaginta duo.

[61] And of the children of the priests: the children of Hobia, the children of Accos, the children of Berzellai, who took a wife of the daughters of Berzellai, the Galaadite, and was called by their name:

Et de filiis sacerdotum : filii Hobia, filii Accos, filii Berzellai, qui accepit de filiabus Berzellai Galaaditis, uxorem, et vocatus est nomine eorum :

[62] These sought the writing of their genealogy, and found it not, and they were cast out of the priesthood.

hi quaesierunt scripturam genealogiae suae, et non invenerunt, et ejecti sunt de sacerdotio.

[63] And Athersatha said to them, that they should not eat of the holy of holies, till there arose a priest learned and perfect.

Et dixit Athersatha eis ut non comederent de Sancto sanctorum, donec surgeret sacerdos doctus atque perfectus.

[64] All the multitudes as one man, were forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty:

Omnis multitudo quasi unus, quadraginta duo millia trecenti sexaginta :

[65] Besides their menservants, and womenservants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven: and among them singing men, and singing women two hundred.

exceptis servis eorum, et ancillis, qui erant septem millia trecenti triginta septem : et in ipsis cantores atque cantatrices ducenti.

[66] Their horses seven hundred thirty-six, their mules two hundred forty-five,

Equi eorum septingenti triginta sex, muli eorum, ducenti quadraginta quinque,

[67] Their camels four hundred thirty-five, their asses six thousand seven hundred and twenty.

cameli eorum, quadringenti triginta quinque, asini eorum, sex millia septingenti viginti.

[68] And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the temple of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem, offered freely to the house of the Lord to build it in its place.

Et de principibus patrum, cum ingrederentur templum Domini, quod est in Jerusalem, sponte obtulerunt in domum Dei ad exstruendam eam in loco suo.

[69] According to their ability, they gave towards the expenses of the work, sixty-one thousand solids of gold, five thousand pounds of silver, and a hundred garments for the priests.

Secundum vires suas dederunt impensas operis, auri solidos sexaginta millia et mille, argenti mnas quinque millia, et vestes sacerdotales centum.

[70] So the priests and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singing men, and the porters, and the Nathinites dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.

Habitaverunt ergo sacerdotes, et Levitae, et de populo, et cantores, et janitores, et Nathinaei, in urbibus suis, universusque Israel in civitatibus suis.

Commentary:

Ver. 1. Now. This catalogue is given again, 2 Esd. vii. 6. and 3 Esdras v. 7. immediately (H.) after the long interpolated story (Kennicott) of the three guards, concerning the superior strength of wine, the king, women or truth, in which Zorobabel gains the victory, in favour of the latter. H. --- The rest of the book is taken from other inspired writings; (Sandford) and this story may be borrowed Josephus: so that there is no reason for asserting "that one whole book is now lost out of the sacred canon." Kennicott. --- Yet this argument is by no means conclusive, as the Paral. consists of such supplements, &c. These three catalogues very considerably, not only in the proper names, but also in the numbers, (H.) though they must have been the same originally, and still give the same total, 42,360. We cannot find that number at present, by above 8,400. In many cases, the disagreement consists of a single unit, hundred, &c. which may lead us to suspect that the Palmyrene, or the more ancient Sidonian notation, may have been adopted in some Heb. MSS. being used about the time of Christ. See Swinton's tables, (Phil. Trans. xlviii. and l.) where the Sidonian coins express the units by small perpendicular strokes; and the Palmyrene inscriptions only admit four of these together, having an arbitrary mark for 5: "the hundreds and units after the tens, are expressed in both, in the same manner as the single units." Kennicott, 2 Diss. --- Cordell (MS. note on this author) disapproves of this mode of correcting, and says that the females are included in the total sum, being 12,542, not recorded in the separate sums. But this number seems too small, as there are generally as many of that sex as of the other. H. --- Some find the total 31,583, which leaves 10,777 wanting to complete 42,360, as these could not make out their genealogies, or were of the ten tribes. In this chapter only 29,818 are specified, whereas 2 Esdras vii. has 31,089; the latter reckons 1765 unnoticed by Esdras, who has 494 not specified in Nehemias. The difference, that seems to make a reconciliation impossible, is what make these authors agree; for, if you add the surplus of each to the other, the same total, 31,583, will arise. Alting. ep. 59. This solution, though ingenious, is not solid or satisfactory. Rondet, t. v. p. 176. --- De Vence rather thinks that the difference is to be laid to the charge of transcribers, or that some people enrolled themselves after the registers had been made up; so that they are only included in the general sum. H. --- Some things may have been inserted from 2 Esdras, though here out of place, (Grot.) as we find similar anachronisms, 1 Par. ix. 2, and perhaps Gen. xxxvi. 31. Nehemias may also have included those whom he brought back along with these; unless we allow that some one, by attempting to reconcile the two, has thrown all into confusion. It seems undeniable, that some additions have been made to the latter book. C. xii. 11. and 22. The list given 1 Par. ix. 4, comprises only those who came first from Babylon. C. --- After this remark, it will hardly be requisite to specify all the variations of names and numbers. H. --- "For what can be hence inferred, but that there are some arithmetical mistakes in Scripture, which no one denies?" Huet. --- "Almost all who are conversant with ancient copies, agree in the decision of S. Jerom, as they cannot but perceive that some variations have crept in, particularly with respect to numbers and proper names." Walton. --- Province, born in Chaldea, (M.) or rather belonging to Judea, which was now considered as a province of the empire, (C.) and paid tribute. C. iv. 13. 2 Esd. ix. 36. T. --- In 3 Esd. we read, "These are they of Judea." --- Nabuchodonosor had taken some of these; the rest were chiefly their descendants. --- Juda now is used to denote Judea. H.

Ver. 2. Zorobabel was the prince, Josue the high priest. C. --- There are 12 mentioned in 2 and 3 Esd. But here the sixth Nahamani, or Enenion, is omitted. H. --- There represent the 12 tribes, (Kennicott) and were chiefs. M. --- It is wonderful that Esdras is not here mentioned, as well as Nehemias, who led a company after him, many of whom are here recorded. C. --- They might come to take care of their patrimony, and return into Chaldea, like Mardochai, (T. though it does not seem to be Esther's uncle. D.) and Nehemias, who is styled also Athersatha, v. 63. T. --- Baana. 3 Esd. adds, "their leaders." H.

Ver. 3. Children. When this term precedes the name of a man, it means his offspring; (v. 3. 20.) when placed before a city, it denotes the inhabitants, v. 21. 35. C. --- The lay Israelites are placed here; then the Levitical tribe; (v. 36.) the Nathineans, &c. v. 43. It is very difficult to decide when the names designate places, and when persons. M.

Ver. 5. Seven. 2 Esd. only 652. These arrived at Jerusalem; the rest altered their mind. Junius. C. --- But 3 Esd. has 756: so that there is most probably a mistake somewhere. H.

Ver. 6. Moab. This seems to be the name of a place, where the descendants of Josue and Joab might reside; (C. viii. 4. C.) or Phahath might have this title, on account of some victory, or residence in the country. His descendants, with those of Josue and Joab, where 2812, (T.) or 2818. 2 Esd. vii. 11. C. --- Josue. Prot. "Jeshua and Joab." H. --- Some translate Pahath, "the chief of" Moab, &c. D. --- Grotius suspects that to v. 68 may be inserted from Nehemias.

Ver. 13. Six. Other 60 returned afterwards with Esdras. H. C. viii. 13.

Ver. 16. Ather. 3 Esd. Ator-Ezekios, 92: but 2 Esd. has Ater, children of Hezecias, 98. H.

Ver. 17. Besai. We should perhaps read Hasum, (v. 19. C.) then Besai, and afterwards Jora, who may be the same with Hareph. 2 Esd. vii. 24. H.

Ver. 20. Gebbar. 2 Esd. Gabaon. 3 Esd. "Baitereus, 3005." H.

Ver. 22. Six. 2 Esd. puts the inhabitants of those two cities together, and makes 188, instead of the present calculation 179. C. --- Netupha was in Ephraim. D.

Ver. 29. Nebo. 2 Esd. (vii. 33.) adds, "of the other Nebo," as in some Latin copies a first had been mentioned, (v. 30.) where we have Geba, (C.) here written Gabaa, v. 26. H. --- Nebo belonged to some of the other tribes, as well as Phahath-Moab; which shews that some of the people returned, (C.) and are particularized, as well as the men of the three tribes of Juda, Benjamin, and Levi. H.

Ver. 30. Megbis. 3 Esd. "Niphis;" (C.) or, according to the Alex. MS. "Phineis." H. --- The verse is omitted 2 Esd. But Megphias occurs below. C. x. 20. Megabyse is a Persian name. Herod. iii. 20. and 160.

Ver. 31. Other Elam. The first is mentioned (v. 7.) with exactly the same number. Is not this verse redundant? C. --- Who would not be astonished? T. --- 3 Esd. omits this and the following name. H.

Ver. 33. Hadid. These cities were in the tribe of Benjamin. C. --- Senaa was in Ephraim, eight miles from Jericho. Euseb.

Ver. 36. Josue, the high priest, v. 2.

Ver. 40. Odovia, called Juda. C. iii. 9. C.

Ver. 43. Nathinites, "people given" (1 Par. ix. 2. H.) by Josue, David, and Solomon. T.

Ver. 55. Servants, proselytes. 1 Par. xxii. 2. M.

Ver. 57. Pocereth-Hasebaim, in Heb. (C.) or "of Zebaim." Prot.

Ver. 59. Thelmela, "the height of Mela, or of salt." The river Melas empties itself into the Euphrates. Strabo xii. --- The cities here mentioned were in Chaldea. Some of the ten tribes had probably been transported into Cappadocia, where Herodotus (ii. 35,) place some circumcised Syrians. --- Thelharsa, or Thelassar, 4 K. xix. 12. --- Cherub, &c. were cities of Chaldea, (T.) or chief men; but as they had been carried away by Theglathphalassar, they had lost their genealogies, and could only produce circumcision as a proof that they were Israelites.

Ver. 61. Their name. The priest, Berzellai, assumed the name of the family, from which he had chosen a wife. H. --- It was that of the famous old man, who was so hospitable to David. 2 K. xix. 31. C.

Ver. 62. Priesthood. Those who cannot prove that they are priests, ought not to exercise the functions. W. --- The Jews were particularly careful to preserve their genealogical tables, and transcribed them again after any very troublesome times. Joseph. c. Ap. 1, and in his own Life. --- The Rabbins falsely assert that only the mother's side was examined, and that the children followed her condition. C.

Ver. 63. Athersatha. Prot. marg. "the governor," (H.) in the Persian language. D. --- Nehemias had this title. 2 Esd. viii. 9. H. --- It means "a cup-bearer." C. M. --- 3 Esd. "And Nehemias, who is also Atharias, said unto them, that they should not partake of the holy things, till a high priest, clothed with manifestation and truth, should arise." H. --- Learned. Heb. "with Urim and Thummim." We do not find that God had been consulted, in this manner, since the time of David: and the Jews inform us that the ornament was not used after the captivity, (C.) as it had been, perhaps, concealed with the ark, by Jeremias. 2 Mac. ii. 4. T. --- Nehemias hoped that it would be soon recovered. In the mean time, he followed the spirit of the law, but with additional rigour, as it permitted such priests to eat consecrated meats. Lev. xxi. 22. It seems that this decision is out of its proper place, since Nehemias came 80 years after Zorobabel. C. --- But he might have been present on this occasion, (H.) though he returned afterwards to Babylon, where he officiated as cup-bearer to the king. T.

Ver. 64. Forty-two thousand, &c. Those who are reckoned up above of the tribes of Juda, Benjamin, and Levi, fall short of this number. The rest, who must be taken in to make up the whole sum, were of the other tribes. Ch. --- This explanation is given by R. Solomon. W. --- But we have seen that cities belonging to the ten tribes are specified. See v. 1, and 29. H. --- Some might not be able to make out their genealogies. C. v. 62. Yet some of these also are counted, v. 60. H. --- The particular sums may therefore be incorrect. Josephus (xi. 1,) adds 102 to the number. C. --- 3 Esd. has, "But they were all of Israel from 12 years old and upwards, exclusive of boys and girls, (or male and female servants) 42,300." Grabe has in another character "sixty. The men and women servants of these, 7300." Then the Alex. MS. continues, "thirty-seven." So that without the addition it would give for the total, 42,337. Some copies (H.) have 40. C. --- But the most correct (H.) read 60. Kennicott. The small number of servants and cattle shew that the people were poor. D.

Ver. 65. Servants. Probably strangers. C. --- Yet the Hebrews might renounce their liberty. Ex. xxi. 6. H. --- Hundred, comprised in the last number; (C.) or they belong to Israel, but were different from those mentioned v. 41. We find 45 more in 2 and 3 Esd. H. --- These might be inserted by Nehemias, after they had proved themselves to be of the tribe of Levi. Tournemine. --- There were in all 49,942. H. --- So much was the power of this kingdom now reduced! Sulp Severus says above 50,000 of every sex and rank could not be found. H.

Ver. 69. Solids. Heb. darcemonim. H. --- "Darics," worth as much as a golden sicle. Pelletier. C. 1 Par. xxix. 7. --- Pounds, (mnas) or 60 sicles. M. - 3 Esd. has "mnas" in both places.

Ver. 70. Some. The laics, mentioned from v. 2. to 35. H.

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THE PROPHECY OF Zacharias - From The Douay-Rheims Bible - Latin Vulgate

Chapter 3

INTRODUCTION.

Verses are in English and Latin.

HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:

Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.

Other special characters.

Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as ---.

The half symbol (1/2) and three-quarters symbol (3/4) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.

Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber's copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].

Chapter 3

In a vision Satan appeareth accusing the high priest. He is cleansed from his sins. Christ is promised, and great fruit from his passion.

[1] And the Lord shewed me Jesus the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord: and Satan stood on his right hand to be his adversary.

Et ostendit mihi Dominus Jesum sacerdotem magnum, stantem coram angelo Domini : et Satan stabat a dextris ejus ut adversaretur ei.

[2] And the Lord said to Satan: The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan: and the Lord that chose Jerusalem rebuke thee: Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

Et dixit Dominus ad Satan : Increpet Dominus in te, Satan! et increpet Dominus in te, qui elegit Jerusalem! numquid non iste torris est erutus de igne?

[3] And Jesus was clothed with filthy garments: and he stood before the face of the angel.

Et Jesus erat indutus vestibus sordidis, et stabat ante faciem angeli.

[4] Who answered, and said to them that stood before him, saying: Take away the filthy garments from him. And he said to him: Behold I have taken away thy iniquity, and have clothed thee with change of garments.

Qui respondit, et ait ad eos qui stabant coram se, dicens : Auferte vestimenta sordida ab eo. Et dixit ad eum : Ecce abstuli a te iniquitatem tuam, et indui te mutatoriis.

[5] And he said: Put a clean mitre upon his head: and they put a clean mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments, and the angel of the Lord stood.

Et dixit : Ponite cidarim mundam super caput ejus. Et posuerunt cidarim mundam super caput ejus, et induerunt eum vestibus : et angelus Domini stabat.

[6] And the angel of the Lord protested to Jesus, saying:

Et contestabatur angelus Domini Jesum, dicens :

[7] Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my charge, thou also shalt judge my house, and shalt keep my courts, and I will give thee some of them that are now present here to walk with thee.

Haec dicit Dominus exercituum : Si in viis meis ambulaveris, et custodiam meam custodieris, tu quoque judicabis domum meam, et custodies atria mea, et dabo tibi ambulantes de his qui nunc hic assistunt.

[8] Hear, O Jesus thou high priest, thou and thy friends that dwell before thee, for they are portending men: for behold I WILL BRING MY SERVANT THE ORIENT.

Audi, Jesu sacerdos magne, tu et amici tui, qui habitant coram te, quia viri portendentes sunt : ecce enim ego adducam servum meum Orientem.

[9] For behold the stone that I have laid before Jesus: upon one stone there are seven eyes: behold I will grave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will take away the iniquity of that land in one day.

Quia ecce lapis quem dedi coram Jesu : super lapidem unum septem oculi sunt : ecce ego caelabo sculpturam ejus, ait Dominus exercituum, et auferam iniquitatem terrae illius in die una.

[10] In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, every man shall call his friend under the vine and under the fig tree.

In die illa, dicit Dominus exercituum, vocabit vir amicum suum subter vitem et subter ficum.

Commentary:

Ver. 1. Jesus, or Josue, the son of Josedec, the high priest of that time. Ch. --- To him this literally refers. W. --- As high priest, he represented the nation, whom several calumniated to Darius. 1 Esd. iv. &c. God represses the adversary and adorns his people. It seems something has been done amiss. v. 4. C. --- The high priest, (S. Jer.) or rather his sons, have married strangers. Chal. 1 Esd. x. 18. Many Fathers take Jesus for a figure of the Messias, covered with the sins of mankind. C. --- But the Orient (v. 8) would not thus be promised unto him, (S. Jer.) unless we consider him also as high priest. --- Satan. Sept. "the devil;" the accuser and calumniator. Apoc. xii. 10.

Ver. 2. The Lord said. This may refer to the angel, or to the Father and the Son. Ps. cix. Both are styled Jehovah. --- Bread, alluding to the nation, or to Jesus. Have not the suffered enough? Amos iv. 11. C.

Ver. 3. Garments. Negligences and sins. Ch. --- Jesus had neglected to urge the building of the temple, or to repress unlawful marriages. 1 Esd. viii. W.

Ver. 4. Change, such as were worn on festivals. This shewed that the people should exchange adversity for joy.

Ver. 5. Mitre, (cydarim) the pontiff's tiara, of byssus. Ex. xxviii. 4.

Ver. 7. Judge. The high priests were at the head till the Machabees. Jos. Ant. xi. 4. and xx. 8. --- Yet the nation was, (C.) till Simon, (H.) always dependent; and the judges were under foreign kings or governors. C. --- Give thee, &c. Angels to attend and assist thee. Ch. --- They are promised to help the pastors of the Church. W. --- They shall give information. v. 9. Ex. xxiii. 20. C. --- Of them. Sept. "who shall converse in the midst of these who stand:" (H.) thy children shall succeed in the pontificate. Theod.

Ver. 8. Portending men. That is, men who by words and actions are to foreshew wonders that are to come; (Ch.) or rather they require prodigies before they will take courage to build the temple; or they understand how to explain such things. C. --- Orient; Christ, who according to his humanity is the servant of God, is called the Orient, from his rising like the sun in the east to enlighten the world. Ch. --- S. Luke explains this of Christ, (W.) recording the words of Zacharias. H. --- Christ's birth was most pure. He gave light to the world. Some would explain this of Zorobabel; but as he was already present, it would seem more applicable to Nehemias. Yet both were only figures of Christ, and could not efface the iniquity of Juda, &c. The Messias is styled the Bud, C. vi. 12. Is. iv. 2. &c. C. --- Tsemach signifies either "the bud or the orient." H.

Ver. 9. The stone. Another emblem of Christ, the rock, foundation, and corner-stone of his Church. --- Eyes. The manifold providence of Christ over his Church, or the seven gifts of the Spirit of God. Ch. --- The Jews were lately returned from a country where seven chief officers were styled "the king's eyes," having to inform him of the conduct of governors, &c. Zorobabel shall build the temple, as a figure of Christ establishing his Church. C. iv. 10. --- Grave. Sept. "dig a pit." The rest agree with us. Christ adorns and instructs his Church. C. --- Day. The day of the passion of Christ, the source of all our good: when this precious stone shall be graved, that is cut and pierced with whips, thorns, nails, and spear. Ch.

Ver. 10. Tree. All shall be peace and concord. H. - They shall communicate to each other spiritual goods, abounding in the Church. M.

#the prophecy of zacharias

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