1 Kings 15-16 - The Downward Spiral of Divided Kings

Chapter 14 ended with a grieving royal house in Israel and diminished glory in Judah. The names now come quickly because the disease is repeating: a king takes power, bends worship around his security, and leaves his successor a ready-made path of disobedience. Asa’s costly reform and the Lord’s preservation of David’s lamp show that inherited sin can be named and resisted. These reigns prepare the public crisis into which Elijah enters in chapter 17.

Why This Passage Matters

Replacing the person in charge cannot by itself renew the heart of a household or institution. Baasha destroys Jeroboam’s dynasty and continues Jeroboam’s worship; Zimri destroys Baasha’s house and repeats the same sin. Judah offers a different possibility through Asa, whose obedience costs him a family loyalty. Scripture measures all these kings by covenant faithfulness rather than by diplomatic success, buildings, or length of rule. It also preserves God’s promise where the rulers provide little reason for confidence.

Abijam and David’s Lamp (1 Kings 15:1-8)

The headings follow NKJV chapter and verse order; the readings preserve Brenton’s verse labels. Brenton has no verses labelled 15:6 or 15:32, and after 16:28 the Greek adds 16:28a-28h, a summary of Jehoshaphat’s reign whose material belongs to NKJV 22:41-50. This summary is printed openly as a Greek addition below. These differences belong to the Septuagint tradition’s arrangement of the book.

Brenton 1 Kings 15:1-8

¹ And in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nabat, Abiu son of Roboam reigns over Juda. ² And he reigned three years over Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Maacha, daughter of Abessalom. ³ And he walked in the sins of his father which he wrought in his presence, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. ⁴ Howbeit for David’s sake the Lord gave him a remnant, that he might establish his children after him, and might establish Jerusalem. ⁵ Forasmuch as David did that which was right in the sight of the Lord: he turned not from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life.

⁷ And the rest of the history of Abiu, and all that he did, behold, are not these written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Juda? And there was war between Abiu and Jeroboam. ⁸ And Abiu slept with his fathers in the twenty-fourth year of Jeroboam; and he is buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Asa his son reigns in his stead.

Abijam inherits David’s throne, but the narrator finds his heart divided. His short reign belongs to the sin of the preceding generation. Yet Jerusalem receives a lamp for David’s sake. A lamp is small beside the gold of Solomon’s court, but it remains a sign of life and continuity. God’s covenant purpose is larger than the record of the current ruler (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Psalm 132:17, LXX 131).

The praise of David must be read with Scripture’s truthful account of his sins. NKJV 15:5 adds the qualification “except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite”; Brenton’s verse does not include that phrase. David’s taking of Bathsheba and his killing of Uriah are recorded in 2 Samuel 11, and his confession follows Nathan’s rebuke in 2 Samuel 12. Remembering the lamp does not erase the victim or turn David into a flawless hero. God’s mercy preserves His promise without calling evil good.

Gems from the Fathers 💎

St. Augustine explains that the enduring promise to David cannot be exhausted by Solomon’s reign. He writes: “He who thinks this grand promise was fulfilled in Solomon greatly errs; for he attends to the saying, He shall build me a house, but he does not attend to the saying, His house shall be faithful, and his kingdom for evermore before me.”¹ His distinction illuminates the lamp in this chapter: our hope rests in God’s faithfulness, fulfilled in the Son of David whose reign has no end (Luke 1:32-33), rather than in the moral perfection of a dynasty.

Asa’s Reform and Its Limits (1 Kings 15:9-24)

Brenton 1 Kings 15:9-24

⁹ In the four and twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa begins to reign over Juda. ¹⁰ And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Ana, daughter of Abessalom. ¹¹ And Asa did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, as David his father. ¹² And he removed the sodomites out of the land, and abolished all the practices which his fathers had kept up. ¹³ And he removed Ana his mother from being queen, forasmuch as she gathered a meeting in her grove: and Asa cut down her retreats, and burnt them with fire in the brook of Kedron. ¹⁴ But he removed not the high places; nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the Lord all his days. ¹⁵ And he brought in the pillars of his father, he even brought in his gold and silver pillars into the house of the Lord, and his vessels.

¹⁶ And there was war between Asa and Baasa king of Israel all their days. ¹⁷ And Baasa king of Israel went up against Juda, and built Rama, so that no one should go out or come in for Asa king of Juda.

¹⁸ And Asa took all the silver and the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and gave them into the hands of his servants; and king Asa sent them out to the son of Ader, the son of Taberema son of Azin king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ Make a covenant between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: lo! I have sent forth to thee gold and silver for gifts: come, break thy league with Baasa king of Israel, that he may go up from me. ²⁰ And the son of Ader hearkened to king Asa, and sent the chiefs of his forces to the cities of Israel; and they smote Ain, Dan, and Abel of the house of Maacha, and all Chennereth, as far as the whole land of Nephthali. ²¹ And it came to pass when Baasa heard it, that he left off building Rama, and returned to Thersa.

²² And king Asa charged all Juda without exception: and they take up the stones of Rama and its timbers with which Baasa was building; and king Asa built with them upon the whole hill of Benjamin, and the watch-tower.

²³ And the rest of the history of Asa, and all his mighty deeds which he wrought, and the cities which he built, behold, are not these written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Juda? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. ²⁴ And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Josaphat his son reigns in his stead.

Asa acts against corruption that has acquired the force of custom. He removes the practices his fathers maintained and takes the royal dignity from Maachah because of her idol. The NKJV identifies her as his grandmother; Brenton uses “mother” for this royal relationship. Reform reaches the honoured person closest to power. The text does not praise harshness toward relatives. It shows that repentance cannot be postponed because an idol is old, respected, or close to home. Matthew 10:37 places even the deepest family loves under obedience to Christ, without cancelling the duty to honour and care for family.

The high places remain, and the narrator still calls Asa’s heart faithful. That combination protects us from demanding a spotless biography before acknowledging genuine obedience. It also prevents hero worship. A faithful ruler remains capable of mixed trust, and Asa’s use of Temple treasure to secure Ben-hadad’s help is such a moment. He gains relief from Baasha’s pressure through a political alliance, but the means deserve the scrutiny that 2 Chronicles 16:1-9 gives them. A successful outcome is not a complete account of whether we trusted the Lord.

2 Chronicles 14-16 expands the record of Asa’s prayer, reform, alliance, and final illness. Its warning about reliance on physicians in 16:12 concerns the refusal to seek the Lord, not the medical vocation itself. Sirach 38:1-15 honours physicians and places treatment alongside prayer and repentance. Seeking care is a responsible use of God’s gifts. Neither faith nor this passage requires a sick person to reject treatment, hide symptoms, or feel guilty for receiving help.

Worship forms a people. When public practices teach falsehood, courage requires concrete change: refusing dishonest gain, ending a humiliating family pattern, bringing secrecy into confession, or declining a group’s cruelty. Asa’s reforms make that cost visible. His limits keep the reformer beneath the word of God instead of above correction.

Nadab and Baasha: A New Dynasty, the Same Sin (1 Kings 15:25-34)

Brenton 1 Kings 15:25-34

²⁵ And Nabat son of Jeroboam reigns over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Juda, and he reigned two years in Israel. ²⁶ And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sins wherein he caused Israel to sin.

²⁷ And Baasa son of Achia, who was over the house of Belaan son of Achia, conspired against him, and smote him in Gabathon of the Philistines; for Nabat and all Israel were besieging Gabathon. ²⁸ And Baasa slew him in the third year of Asa son of Asa king of Juda; and reigned in his stead. ²⁹ And it came to pass when he reigned, that he smote the whole house of Jeroboam, and left none that breathed of Jeroboam, until he had destroyed him utterly, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by his servant Achia the Selonite, ³⁰ for the sins of Jeroboam, who led Israel into sin, even by his provocation wherewith he provoked the Lord God of Israel. ³¹ And the rest of the history of Nabat, and all that he did, behold, are not these written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

³³ And in the third year of Asa king of Juda, Baasa the son of Achia begins to reign over Israel in Thersa, twenty and four years. ³⁴ And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and in his sins, as he caused Israel to sin.

Nadab follows Jeroboam, and Baasha kills Nadab and destroys the royal house. The prophecy against Jeroboam reaches its fulfilment, yet Baasha’s violence does not make his own worship faithful. The recurring indictment in 15:26, 30, and 34 is the sin of Jeroboam, a public pattern passed from one ruler to another. A throne seized from an enemy cannot give its possessor a new heart.

We can see another person’s sin clearly and still reproduce it. A child wounded by manipulation can learn to manipulate; someone who condemns abusive leadership can begin to exercise authority without tenderness. The narrative offers no Christian programme of purging enemies. It presses toward the harder repentance of allowing God to name the same evil in ourselves. Inherited patterns exert real pressure, but they are not fate.

Jehu’s Word, Elah’s Death, and Zimri’s Seven Days (1 Kings 16:1-20)

Brenton 1 Kings 16:1-20

¹ And the word of the Lord came by the hand of Ju son of Anani to Baasa, saying, ² Forasmuch as I lifted thee up from the earth, and made thee ruler over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast caused my people Israel to sin, to provoke me with their vanities; ³ Behold, I raise up enemies after Baasa, and after his house; and I will make thy house as the house of Jeroboam son of Nabat. ⁴ Him that dies of Baasa in the city the dogs shall devour, and him that dies of his in the field the birds of the sky shall devour.

⁵ Now the rest of the history of Baasa, and all that he did, and his mighty acts, behold, are not these written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁶ And Baasa slept with his fathers, and they bury him in Thersa; and Ela his son reigns in his stead.

⁷ And the Lord spoke by Ju the son of Anani against Baasa, and against his house, even all the evil which he wrought before the Lord to provoke him to anger by the works of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he smote him.

⁸ And Ela son of Baasa reigned over Israel two years in Thersa. ⁹ And Zambri, captain of half his cavalry, conspired against him, while he was in Thersa, drinking himself drunk in the house of Osa the steward at Thersa. ¹⁰ And Zambri went in and smote him and slew him, and reigned in his stead. ¹¹ And it came to pass when he reigned, when he sat upon his throne, ¹² that he smote all the house of Baasa, according to the word which the Lord spoke against the house of Baasa, and to Ju the prophet, ¹³ for all the sins of Baasa and Ela his son, as he led Israel astray to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel with their vanities. ¹⁴ And the rest of the deeds of Ela which he did, behold, are not these written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

¹⁵ And Zambri reigned in Thersa seven days: and the army of Israel was encamped against Gabathon of the Philistines. ¹⁶ And the people heard in the army, saying, Zambri has conspired and smitten the king: and the people of Israel made Ambri the captain of the host king in that day in the camp over Israel. ¹⁷ And Ambri went up, and all Israel with him, out of Gabathon; and they besieged Thersa. ¹⁸ And it came to pass when Zambri saw that his city was taken, that he goes into the inner chamber of the house of the king, and burnt the king’s house over him, and died. ¹⁹ Because of his sins which he committed, doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, so as to walk in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and in his sins wherein he caused Israel to sin. ²⁰ And the rest of the history of Zambri, and his conspiracies wherein he conspired, behold, are not these written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Jehu son of Hanani recalls Baasha’s elevation from dust to kingship. Received authority has become responsibility for leading Israel into sin. Verse 7 also holds Baasha accountable for destroying the former house. Being involved in the fulfilment of judgment does not exempt a violent agent from judgment upon his own deeds.

Elah is drinking in the steward’s house while the army is at Gibbethon. Zimri kills him, destroys Baasha’s household, and reigns for seven days. Omri’s forces then besiege Tirzah, and Zimri burns the royal house over himself. The text compresses astonishing upheaval into a few verses. Each successful conspiracy rapidly becomes another ruler’s insecurity. Violence transfers possession of the throne while leaving its spiritual wound untouched.

The verdict on Zimri in 16:19 returns to Jeroboam’s sin. His short reign does not make false worship trivial. Neither a long record nor a short opportunity excuses the responsibility of authority. It is possible to spend a whole life denouncing predecessors while learning nothing from their fall. Repentance begins when the word ceases to be evidence against someone else and becomes truth received by me.

Omri and the Founding of Samaria (1 Kings 16:21-28)

Brenton 1 Kings 16:21-28

²¹ Then the people of Israel divides; half the people goes after Thamni the son of Gonath to make him king; and half the people goes after Ambri. ²² The people that followed Ambri overpowered the people that followed Thamni son of Gonath: and Thamni died and Joram his brother at that time, and Ambri reigned after Thamni.

²³ In the thirty-first year of king Asa, Ambri begins to reign over Israel twelve years: he reigns six years in Thersa. ²⁴ And Ambri bought the mount Semeron of Semer the lord of the mountain for two talents of silver; and he built upon the mountain, and they called the name of the mountain on which he built, after the name of Semer the lord of the mount, Semeron. ²⁵ And Ambri did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and wrought wickedly beyond all that were before him. ²⁶ And he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and in his sins wherewith he caused Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel by their vanities. ²⁷ And the rest of the acts of Ambri, and all that he did, and all his might, behold, are not these things written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²⁸ And Ambri slept with his fathers, and is buried in Samaria; and Achaab his son reigns in his stead.

The people divide between Tibni and Omri until Omri prevails. He buys a mountain, builds Samaria, and creates a durable northern centre. These are political achievements, but Scripture refuses to call them salvation. The narrator gives his decisive verdict in 16:25-26: Omri exceeds the evil of his predecessors and walks in Jeroboam’s way.

A city, dynasty, and military strength can be real goods in their proper place. None reconciles a people to God. The recurring comparisons, worse than those before him, show a habit becoming an escalation. A community can become efficient at protecting the very practices that need repentance. The spiritual measure of progress must include what we are becoming, not only what we are building.

Greek Addition: Jehoshaphat’s Reign (NKJV context: 1 Kings 22:41-50)

Brenton 1 Kings 16:28a-28h

^28a And in the eleventh year of Ambri Josaphat the son of Asa reigns, being thirty-five years old in the beginning of his reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Gazuba, daughter of Seli. ^28b And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and turned not from it, even from doing right in the eyes of the Lord: only they removed not any of the high places; they sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places. ^28c Now the engagements which Josaphat made with the king of Israel, and all his mighty deeds which he performed, and the enemies whom he fought against, behold, are not these written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Juda? ^28d and the remains of the prostitution which they practised in the days of Asa his father, he removed out of the land: ^28e and there was no king in Syria, but a deputy.

^28f And king Josaphat made a ship at Tharsis to go to Sophir for gold; but it went not, for the ship was broken at Gasion Gaber. ^28g Then the king of Israel said to Josaphat, I will send forth thy servants and my servants in the ship: but Josaphat would not. ^28h And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Joram his son reigned in his stead.

The Greek pauses here for a summary of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, before returning to Ahab. Its account names his uprightness, the remaining high places, the removal of cultic corruption, and the failed ships. This summary stands here in the Greek telling; it is not a further northern succession between Omri and Ahab. Brenton 16:28e says there was no king in Syria, while NKJV 22:47 says Edom. Its remaining context belongs to the study of 1 Kings 22. Jehoshaphat’s faithfulness offers a contrast to the northern decline, while his unresolved practices and failed venture keep the contrast honest.

Ahab, Jezebel, and Hiel’s Defiance (1 Kings 16:29-34)

Brenton 1 Kings 16:29-34

²⁹ In the second year of Josaphat king of Juda, Achaab son of Ambri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰ And Achaab did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more wickedly than all that were before him. ³¹ And it was not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, but he took to wife Jezabel the daughter of Jethebaal king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal, and worshipped him. ³² And he set up an altar to Baal in the house of his abominations, which he built in Samaria. ³³ And Achaab made a grove; and Achaab did yet more abominably, to provoke the Lord God of Israel, and to sin against his own life so that he should be destroyed: he did evil above all the kings of Israel that were before him.

³⁴ And in his days Achiel the Bæthelite built Jericho: he laid the foundation of it in Abiron his first-born, and he set up the doors of it in Segub his younger son, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Joshua the son of Naue.

Ahab goes beyond inherited calf worship by serving Baal and building its temple and altar in Samaria. The political centre becomes a centre of false worship. His marriage to Jezebel is not condemned because she is a woman or a foreigner. The issue is his willing service of Baal. Revelation 2:20 uses the name Jezebel in a warning against idolatry and corruption within the Church; it is not a label to throw at women or political opponents.

Jeroboam’s sin recurs in 16:2, 19, 26, and 31. The final reference becomes a threshold: Ahab treats that already grave evil as insufficient and adds Baal’s worship. Public success can conceal such deterioration when a ruler’s achievements are praised and the worship he promotes is treated as incidental.

Hiel’s rebuilding of Jericho at the cost of his sons seals the chapter with grief. Joshua 6:26 supplies the warning to which the narrator refers. This is a particular judgment within Israel’s history, not fatalism and not a formula for explaining bereavement. The story exposes a generation willing to treat God’s warning as expendable. Elijah’s word about drought will answer that accumulated refusal.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

The current Coptic lectionary index lists no direct reading from 1 Kings 15. The current Coptic lectionary index lists no direct reading from 1 Kings 16. Psalm 132 (LXX 131), with its remembrance of David’s covenant and lamp, belongs to the Twelfth Hour of the Agpeya.² The connection is inferred: praying this psalm joins our concern about failed rulers to God’s enduring promise, rather than to contempt or despair. Baptismal renunciation gives another connection to the refusal of idols: repentance turns received renunciation into daily obedience.

Christological Reading

The lamp preserved for David leads Christian hope toward Jesus, the Son of David whose kingdom has no end (Luke 1:32-33). He rejects the kingdoms offered by Satan rather than bargaining for a throne through false worship (Matthew 4:8-10). He gives Himself in obedience to the Father and brings us from darkness into His kingdom (Philippians 2:8-11; Colossians 1:13-14).

A different inheritance becomes possible in Him. Baptism joins us to His death and resurrection so that sin need not rule us (Romans 6:3-14). Confession and Eucharistic communion are not shields for preserving appearances: forgiveness calls for truth and reconciliation (1 John 1:9; 1 Corinthians 11:27-29). Christians can pray for rulers and work for public good without giving temporal power the worship that belongs to God (1 Timothy 2:1-6; Matthew 4:10).

Glossary

• Abiu: Abijam, king of Judah after Rehoboam.
• Baasa, Ela, Zambri, Ambri: Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri, successive northern rulers.
• Semeron: Samaria, the city Omri builds.
• Achaab: Ahab, Omri’s son.
• Josaphat: Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son and king of Judah, whose summary is inserted after Brenton 16:28.
• Jehu son of Hanani: the prophet of 16:1-7, not the later king Jehu.
• Lamp: the image of continuing Davidic kingship under God’s promise.

Discussion Questions

1. Why does the narrator preserve David’s lamp beside a verdict on Abijam’s divided heart?
2. What makes Asa’s action against Maachah costly, and what protects reform from family contempt?
3. How do Sirach 38 and 2 Chronicles 16 together guard a faithful understanding of medicine?
4. Why do repeated dynastic changes fail to interrupt Jeroboam’s sin?
5. What does Scripture’s verdict on Omri add to an account of his political achievement?

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

Name the inherited pattern. In prayer, ask where fear, control, secrecy, contempt, or dishonesty has become “how our family works.” Naming it before God is not disloyalty; it is the beginning of healing. Make one peaceful, concrete break with the pattern, and seek counsel when safety or family responsibilities are involved.

Refuse borrowed idols. Asa’s reform is costly because idols often arrive through respectable loyalties. Pray for those in authority by name, and examine whether your own speech helps falsehood become normal. Receive medical help gratefully when it is needed, bringing the same need to prayer rather than treating care and trust as competitors.

Lord Jesus Christ, faithful Son of David, keep Your light in us. Heal the sins we have inherited and the sins we have defended. Give us courage without cruelty, repentance without despair, and loyalty to You above every idol. Amen.

Teaching Notes

Abijam and David’s Lamp (1 Kings 15:1-8)

• Ask: Why is the lamp a promise before it is a compliment?
• Emphasize: Remember Uriah alongside David’s faithful repentance.
• Watch for: Covenant mercy does not erase victims.
• Connect: Luke 1:32-33 locates the enduring kingdom in Christ.

Asa’s Reform and Its Limits (1 Kings 15:9-24)

• Ask: What inherited practice might require a costly but peaceful break with sin?
• Emphasize: Asa is a faithful reformer, not a perfect hero.
• Watch for: Do not turn reform into self-righteousness or family contempt.
• Connect: Baptismal renunciation becomes a daily refusal of idols.

Nadab and Baasha: A New Dynasty, the Same Sin (1 Kings 15:25-34)

• Ask: Why can a person oppose an evil pattern yet repeat it?
• Emphasize: The recurring formula is a diagnosis of institutionalized sin, not filler chronology.
• Watch for: Do not turn the narrative’s violence into a model for Christian reform.
• Connect: Baptism and confession form a new inheritance by bringing entrenched sin into Christ’s healing.

Jehu’s Word, Elah’s Death, and Zimri’s Seven Days (1 Kings 16:1-20)

• Ask: Why does Baasha’s role in judgment not justify his violence?
• Emphasize: A new dynasty can inherit the same idolatry.
• Watch for: Never make the narrative a programme of religious violence.
• Connect: Romans 6:3-14 describes freedom from sin’s rule.

Omri and the Founding of Samaria (1 Kings 16:21-28)

• Ask: What kinds of public success are easy to mistake for spiritual health?
• Emphasize: Scripture measures Omri by faithfulness, not political achievement.
• Watch for: Building a city cannot save a heart.
• Connect: The Church prays for rulers without worshipping the state.

Greek Addition: Jehoshaphat’s Reign (NKJV context: 1 Kings 22:41-50)

• Ask: What changes when we recognize this summary’s location in the Greek?
• Emphasize: The summary belongs to Jehoshaphat, not a northern king between Omri and Ahab.
• Watch for: Keep the source coordinates distinct from the NKJV frame.
• Connect: Uprightness does not eliminate the need for correction.

Ahab, Jezebel, and Hiel’s Defiance (1 Kings 16:29-34)

• Ask: How does Ahab deepen the inherited crisis of worship?
• Emphasize: Elijah’s arrival answers a public crisis, not merely a private moral failure.
• Watch for: Do not use Ahab and Jezebel to demean women, foreigners, or political opponents; do not explain bereavement through Hiel.
• Connect: Joshua 6:26 supplies the warning; Matthew 4:8-10 shows Christ’s refusal of false worship.

Sources

Embedded Scripture is from Brenton’s English Septuagint (LXX).

1. eBible, Brenton, 1 Kings 15 and 16.

2. Scripture: 2 Samuel 7 and 11-12; 2 Chronicles 14-16; Sirach 38:1-15; Joshua 6:26; Luke 1:32-33; Romans 6:3-14.

Footnotes

1. St. Augustine of Hippo, The City of God, XVII.8, translated by George Wilson in the Marcus Dods edition (NPNF, first series, vol. 2), text. ↩

2. Coptic Reader, Agpeya / Twelfth Hour, Psalm 132 (LXX 131); application. ↩