from hostilities, and to allow him to continue his way in peace; but the request was refused and a battle ensued. Disguised in the dress of a common soldier, Josiah took part in the combat, but he was mortally wounded by an arrow shot at random by an Egyptian archer. His devoted servants conveyed him from the battle-field to Jerusalem, where he died.

There was deep-felt mourning throughout the land for the loss of the noble and pious king Josiah; indeed with him the glory of the nation departed. He had reinstated the pure worship of God, and he had tried by wisdom and untiring zeal to prop up the tottering monarchy, and to cause it to be again respected abroad. At his death, the last flicker of liberty and independence waned, and the dark clouds gathering upon the horizon threatened to break with terrible violence over the doomed people.

The pathetic voice of Jeremiah and those of many other prophets and poets were heard in songs of lamentation at the king's untimely death; these lays were taken up and long rehearsed by the people of Judah; but they have unfortunately not been preserved.

145. JEHOAHAZ OR SHALLUM (611).

[2 KINGS XXIII. 30-34; 2 CHRON. XXXVI. 1—4.]

The people raised Jehoahaz, one of Josiah's sons, to the throne, but he reigned only for three months. Idolatrous and weak, he was an unworthy successor of his great father. By acts of imprudence he provoked the anger of Pharaoh Necho, who had in the meantime advanced to Riblah near Hamath, towards the north-eastern frontier of Palestine. He was attacked by an army of Necho, taken a captive to Riblah, and then sent in fetters to Egypt, where he died not long afterwards. Necho now exacted a heavy tribute from the unfortunate people, and placed

Eliakim on the vacant throne, changing his name into Joiakim.

146. JOIAKIM (611—599).

[2 KINGS XXIII. 34—XXIV. 6; 2 CHRON. XXXVI. 4—8.]

Not warned by the sad misfortunes of his predecessor, this monarch persevered in the same ways of wickedness and idolatry. He was blind to the troubles that gathered around him. He had indeed to fear no immediate danger from the Egyptians. For king Necho II. was defeated by the Babylonians in a great and decisive battle at Circesium (or Carchemish) on the Euphrates, whither he had boldly advanced (606), and in consequence of this defeat he lost all the land from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates' that had belonged to him. But Joiakim had all the more reason to dread the victor in that sanguinary war-Nebuchadnezzar, the heir to the throne, and soon the king of Babylon, a man possessed of restless ambition and an insatiable desire of conquest. Faithful to his life-long mission, Jeremiah, ever watchful, and untiring in the service of his country, followed these events with anxious care. In the fourth year of Joiakim's reign, he saw that grave trials were near at hand, and he raised his warning voice with more than ordinary ardour. Standing within the Court of the Temple, he addressed the assembled priests and the people: Thus says the Lord, If you will not hearken to Me, to walk in My Law, which I have set before you, to listen to the words of My servants the prophets whom I continually sent to you, from the beginning and early, but to whom you have not hearkened: then will I make this House like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.'

These solemn words touched no responsive chord in the hearts of the hearers, who turned angrily upon Jeremiah,

exclaiming, 'Thou shalt surely die.' The outcry of the people brought the chief men of Judah from the king's palace to the Court of the Temple; they seated themselves as in judgment round the gates, and decreed that the audacious prophet of evil should suffer death. But Jeremiah was not afraid; he had obeyed the command of God. 'The Lord sent me,' he said, 'to prophesy against this House and against this city. . . . Now amend your ways and doings, obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will repent of the evil He has pronounced against you. As for me, I am in your hand; do with me as seems good and meet to you. But know for certain that if you put me to death, you shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and upon the inhabitants thereof.'

The people now demurred and began to feel that Jeremiah ought not to be put to death; some of the elders even cited as a precedent the prophet Micah who, in the time of Hezekiah, had predicted the ruin and devastation of Jerusalem, and whose warnings had been respected and followed by the king. Nor did Jeremiah stand alone in his fearless reproofs; his example stimulated other prophets, among whom Uriah was conspicuous by the boldness of his denunciations. The king's anger was roused; Uriah fled for his life into Egypt, but the royal messengers pursued him and dragged him back to Jerusalem, where he was mercilessly slain and 'cast into the burial-place of the common people.'

Yet Jeremiah, unconcerned for his own safety, never wavered in his counsels. The king and the people, fatally miscalculating their strength, were determined to oppose the Babylonian hosts who were advancing under the impetuous leadership of Nebuchadnezzar himself. The prophet, convinced of their blind infatuation, strongly and anxiously advised them to yield. Serve the king of

Babylon,' he said, 'and live; wherefore should this city be laid waste ?'

Nebuchadnezzar, remaining in the north, sent a part of his army southward to invade Judea; Joiakim was forced into submission, and a heavy tax was imposed upon the land. For three years the tribute was paid, but in the fourth it was refused. To punish this rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar in wrath and anger sent again his hosts into Judah, together with troops from Syria, Moab, and Ammon. But before the Babylonian forces arrived or had achieved any decisive triumph, Joiakim had died in peace, and his son Jehoiachin had succeeded him.

147. JEHOIACHIN (599).

[2 KINGS XXIV. 6-15; XXV. 27-30; 2 CHRON. XXXVI. 8-10.] Jerusalem was besieged, Nebuchadnezzar himself joined the army, and Jehoiachin, after an idolatrous reign of only three months, delivered himself up to the Babylonian monarch, together with his mother and all his chief officers (599). Nebuchadnezzar now plundered the Temple and the royal palace, and carried away from Jerusalem 10,000 captives, including the king and his family, all the men of influence and wealth, with all the artisans; he left behind none but the very poorest of the population, over whom he appointed Mattaniah, the uncle of Jehoiachin, as tributary king, changing his name into Zedekiah. The first act in the downfall of Judah had been completed; only the empty shadow of an empire remained.

148. ZEDEKIAH (599-588).

[2 KINGS XXIV. 17—XXV. 7; 2 CHRON. XXXVI. 10 sqq.] Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he ascended the degraded throne of his ancestors as vassal of Nebuchad

nezzar. But he chafed against the galling yoke, and his discontent was fostered by flattering prophets, who constantly preached insurrection, and by the thoughtless multitude who madly applauded their advice. He secretly sought the assistance of Egypt, the implacable enemy of Babylon. Jeremiah was one of the few who preserved calmness and prudence amidst the giddy hopes and schemes; he insisted upon a fair fulfilment of the engagements to which the king was pledged; in this he saw the only means of safety; even to his captive brethren in Babylon he sent, in a letter, a similar counsel: Build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit; ... see the peace of the city whither you are led captives, and pray for it to the Lord; for its peace will be your peace also;' in seventy years they would be brought back rejoicing into their own land; till then they should suffer in trustful patience.

The king was deaf alike to Jeremiah's entreaties, arguments, and bitter reproof. He entered into an alliance with Psammethis II. king of Egypt, and in the ninth year of his reign (590) he openly declared his revolt against the Chaldees by withholding the stipulated tribute. The Babylonian troops stationed in Syria marched at once against Jerusalem and besieged it but being informed of the approacn of an Egyptian army, they retreated northwards. However, Nebuchadnezzar himself now advanced with a vast army; he remained at Riblah, while he sent his troops southwards. Jerusalem was besieged. In vain Jeremiah advised again a timely surrender. After eighteen months, the famine in the town was so fearful that the people were seized by frenzy and despair; the most horrible deeds of atrocity were committed to satisfy the maddening hunger. At last king Zedekiah and many of his soldiers escaped from the city, but the army was routed, Zedekiah himself and his