ABSTRACT
And BENYAS went to his lord, the King, and told him all this matter. And the King said unto him, "Is there any man who hath heard this with thee ?" And BENYAS answered and said unto him, "Yea, there are some who have heard-two of the nobles of ISRAEL who belong to 'ARMATEM." And the King said unto him, "Go now and bring them hither secretly so that we may find
out whether they agree with thy words ; [and if they do] we will cut off the head of KARMIN." And BENYAS departed and brought ZARYOS and KARMELOS, of the tribe of MANASSEH, for it had been agreed between them that they would not put him to shame before the King in the matter of their lying testimony. And these two men agreed together and planned when they were on [their] way, saying, "When we have spoken to the King if he shall ask us afterwards separately (so that he may find out the truth of our words), saying, 'Where did you hear these words?' we will each of us answer and say unto him, 'When we were drinking wine with him.' And when he shall say unto us, 'What day [was this]?' we will say, 'Five days after the new moon.' And when he saith unto us, 'What time [of the day]?' we will say unto him, 'At the ninth hour, when he was sitting with us, and we were drinking wine together.' And when he shall ask us, saying, 'What did ye drink out of? and where were ye sitting?' we will say unto him, 'Out of cups of gold, and our seats were in the hall of his house where the cushions for reclining upon were placed.' " And they agreed together on this evil plot [whilst they were] on their way_
And when they arrived in the presence of the King BENYAS brought them forward, and the King questioned them, and they repeated to him all their lying counsel. And he asked them-according as they had surmised on the road-the occasion, and the day, and the hour of their drinking [wine] and their sitting [in the hall], and they told him. Now, God hath commanded that kings, and governors, and all those who occupy a high position shall investigate an accusation, even as God commanded MOSES.
