Ethiopia, was marching northwards with an army, perhaps to aid the king of Egypt in the approaching danger that threatened him from the Assyrians. He now insisted upon Hezekiah's immediate and unconditional submission. He sent again messengers to him with a letter containing these words: Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them whom my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sapharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?' Hezekiah went up into the Temple with the letter in his hand, and spread it out before the Lord.' Then he prayed with all the agony of despair, and with all the fervour of his pious and trustful nature. That cry was heard and answered. Through the prophet Isaiah he received glad tidings; help was near at hand; the Assyrian was to fall, but not by the archers of Benjamin or the warriors of Judah; a greater power than theirs was to lay the proud heathen low. He shall not come,' concluded the prophet, 'into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast up a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, says the Lord.'

6

The prediction of Isaiah was fulfilled: that very night the vast Assyrian army, encamped before the walls of Jerusalem, was smitten with pestilence by the angel of the Lord. The trembling people of Judah beheld in the dim morning light the scattered corpses-silent witnesses of the power of their God. Sennacherib had escaped, but only to meet a death hardly less terrible; for when he

returned to Nineveh, and was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, he was murdered by two of his sons, who escaped into Armenia, while their brother Esarhaddon was proclaimed king of Assyria.

Not long after these events, Hezekiah became dangerously ill, and he felt that death was approaching. Isaiah came to him and said, 'Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die and not live.' When the king heard these words, he prayed fervently to the Lord that he might be permitted to recover. The request uttered with tears was granted; it was again the voice of Isaiah which brought the joyful message that the king's life would be prolonged for fifteen years; and it was the hand of Isaiah that put the healing figs upon the boil which threatened the king's days. So wonderful did this recovery appear to the grateful Hezekiah, that he entreated Isaiah to convince him by a sign of the efficacy of the cure. The miracle was vouchsafed by the intercession of the prophet; the shadow on the sun-dial which stood in the garden of the palace, went back ten degrees. Hezekiah marked his final restoration to health by a beautiful hymn of praise, which he offered up to the Lord as he entered the Temple.

About this time, glimpses are revealed to us of a vigorous people-the Chaldeans or Babylonians-who suddenly emerged from obscurity, and were soon to assert themselves as one of the greatest powers that ever ruled in the East. That people was destined to overthrow the mighty empire of Assyria, which was now fast decaying through its inordinate pomp and luxury.

Merodach Baladan, the first Babylonian king, had heard of the little empire of Judah and of its pious monarch Hezekiah, and most probably also of the dreadful fate that had befallen the Assyrian army under Sennacherib before the walls of Jerusalem. Partly out of curiosity, and partly with a view to ultimate conquest, he

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sent messengers to Hezekiah with friendly greetings and presents. The king, full of cordial courtesy, and suspecting no hostile motives, showed them all the treasures collected in the palace. As soon as they had departed, the prophet Isaiah appeared before Hezekiah, and being informed of the visit of the Babylonians, and hearing that they had been shown all the wealth stored up in the king's residence, he spoke these ominous words: 'Behold, the days come when all that is in thy house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store for thee to this day, shall be carried into Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord.' But Hezekiah could not grieve for future troubles. His calm and simple nature was ready to enjoy the present. Good is the word of the Lord,' he exclaimed, that thou hast spoken; it is good if rest and truth be in my days.'

The closing years of Hezekiah's reign passed peacefully for himself and his people. He improved Jerusalem by building an aqueduct and bringing water into the city; he erected vast storehouses for supplies of corn, wine, and oil, and directed the attention of his herdsmen to the increase of the flocks. Moreover, he showed a love of wisdom and learning by causing a collection of proverbs, which till then may only have been preserved by oral tradition, to be compiled by his scribes (Proverbs XXV.—XXIX.).

Though Hezekiah's reign was not free from trials and dangers, it was remarkable for political and religious energy, for extraordinary efforts to maintain the independence and to increase the resources of the kingdom. Well, therefore, may the people have mourned when Hezekiah died; and his name has been treasured in honourable remembrance.

142. MANASSEH (699-644).

[2 KINGS XXI. 1-18; 2 CHRON. XXXIII. 1-20.]

Manasseh was a child of twelve years of age when he succeeded his father, whose good qualities unfortunately he did not inherit. He was a determined and even fanatic idolater. As he grew up, he took delight in introducing into his kingdom the superstitions of every heathen country. The high places were restored, the groves re-planted, the many altars of Baal and Ashtarte rebuilt. The sun, the moon, and all the heavenly hosts were adored. The gods of Ammon, of Moab, and of Edom were zealously worshipped everywhere. Babylonian and Egyptian paganism was rife; incense and offerings rose on the roofs of the houses to the fabled deities of the heights; wizards practised their enchantments and pretended to raise the dead from their graves and to reveal the mysteries of the future; and the valley of Hinnom was once more disgraced by the hideous statue of Moloch, to whom parents offered up their children as burntsacrifices. In the very Temple of the Lord stood an image of Ashtarte; and in the entrance of the Court were placed white horses harnessed to a splendid chariot sacred to the sun.

These evil practices were carried on almost unreproved; for that voice which, during three preceding reigns, had warned and guided, was silenced-Isaiah died in the commencement of Manasseh's rule; tradition relates that he suffered a violent death at the hands of the ungrateful tyrant, who fiercely and relentlessly continued his career of idolatry and violence; for he 'shed much innocent blood, until he had filled with it Jerusalem from one end to another.'

According to one account that of the Chronist-the

Assyrians invaded Judea, and carried Manasseh away to Babylon; in his sad captivity, he humbled himself before the Lord, and fervently prayed to Him for deliverance; he was permitted to return to his much-tried country, and thenceforth abandoned his heathen practices, and introduced the worship of the Lord. Of all this the older narrative that of the Books of Kings-makes no mention; it is, on the contrary, consistent in its blame of Manasseh: And the Lord spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, Because Manasseh, king of Judah, has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols; therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab and I will wipe Jerusalem, as a man wipes a dish-when he has wiped it, he turns it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies.'

When death ended his long and impious reign, Manasseh was succeeded by his son.

143. AMON (644-642).

[2 KINGS XXI. 19-26; 2 CHRON. XXXIII. 20—25.]

This unhappy monarch was an obstinate idolater like his father. He ruled only for two years, when he was assassinated by his servants in his own house. But the people avenged his death; they slew the murderers, and declared Josiah, the king's son, his successor,