inaugurated by a national celebration of the Passover, exceeding in magnificence anything that had been seen on any former occasion.

The exhortations and the example of so good a king, had such an effect upon the people, that they swerved not from their duty so long as he lived; and unfortunate was it for his kingdom that he was not blessed with a longer life. In his reign, Nechao, the king of Egypt, was engaged in a military expedition which rendered it necessary for him to pass through the territory of Juda.* Josias, for some reason, resolved to resist the passage. A battle was consequently fought between the armies of Egypt and of Juda; the unequal conflict took place at Megeddo, in the territory of Manasses, and resulted in the Jewish army being routed with great slaughter. Josias himself was mortally wounded. He was conveyed by his attendants from the field of battle to Jerusalem, where he soon afterwards died, after a godly reign of one-and-thirty years.

Almighty God hastened to remove this religious prince from the midst of iniquity, says St. Ambrose, so that he might not behold the calamities which were soon to be poured out upon the kingdom of Juda. Josias had exerted the most active zeal not only to abolish every vestige of idolatry, but also to restore the observance of the exercises of true religion throughout his dominions; thus, by his exemplary piety, teaching kings and all persons in authority, that their first duty is to God; that while they expect to be themselves obeyed, they must not neglect to make provision for a due

* Previous to this period, Asarhaddon had rendered Egypt a tributary state of the Assyrian empire. After his victory, of which, indeed, but for the recently discovered Assyrian inscriptions, we should know almost nothing (see Note, p. 96), he divided that country into twenty petty principalities. His death was followed by attempts of Tharaka, or Taharka, and of Psammeticus I., kings of the 25th (Ethiopian) and 26th (Saïte) dynasties, to regain their independence. These revolts, however, were promptly suppressed by Assurbanipal,

his successor.

Subsequently, as the power of Assyria declined, Egypt recovered not only her independence, but also much of her ancient glory. Nechao II., who was the 5th king of the 25th dynasty, bore the chief part in this work of national regeneration. It was on the occasion of an expedition which he undertook against the Babylonians (see Note, next page), that the battle of Megeddo took place.

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obedience being paid to God; and that both by word and example, they must enforce at least the same respect for the Divine commands which they expect for their own. To the humble docility with which he listened to the reading of the book of Deuteronomy, the Scriptures attribute the felicity of this prince. The same disposition of an humble, docile heart, should be ours also, as often as we go to hear, or undertake to read, the word of God.

A.M. 3398.] Siege of Jerusalem.-4 Kings, xxv. [a.c. 606.

The people of Juda being deprived of their good king Josias, mourned as for the loss of a parent. The wicked conduct of Joachaz, his son and successor, made all good men still more sensible of their loss. This prince, who by birth had no claim to the crown, and who had gained possession of it only by favour of the people, lost it at the end of three months by the hand of Nechao, king of Egypt. For, Nechao, when he reached Jerusalem, on returning from the war which he had undertaken against the Babylonians,* deposed the miserable Joachaz, whom he carried with him in chains to Egypt, and appointed his elder brother Eliacim to reign in his place.

Eliacim, better known by the name of Joakim, reigned eleven years, and though he had the advantage of the instruction of many holy prophets to point out to him the path of virtue, he nevertheless plunged into the depth of wicked

* At this period, Babylon (see Note, p. 333), had recovered its ancient supremacy in Western Asia.

In the reign of Assuracus, the last Assyrian monarch, Nabopolassar, his viceroy of Babylon, whom, as general of his armies, he had commissioned to oppose the Medes then advancing against Nineveh, under command of their king Cyaxares, went over to the army of the Median. Cyaxares readily accepted the services of the deserter, and consolidated the alliance by giving his daughter in marriage to Nabuchodonosor, the son of Nabopolassar. Nineveh, thus betrayed, fell an easy prey to the invaders; the city was burned to the ground, and its effeminate king, Assuracus, fired his palace with his own hand, and perished in the conflagration.

Cyaxares and Nabopolassar seemed to have shared the conquered territory of the Assyrians between them. Nabopolassar fixed his capital at Babylon, and at once took the place of the king of Assyria, at the head of the mighty empire of Western Asia.

ness.

When the prophecy of Jeremias was read to him, he cut it into pieces with a knife and threw it bit by bit into the fire, on account of the threats which it contained against him. The Spirit of God then commanded Jeremias to write down the same prophecy in another volume, and to add new threats to the former. But threats had no effect upon the heart of so hardened a sinner; the measure of Juda's crimes was filled up; the chief priests and people plunged into the most shameful abominations of the Gentiles, polluted the house of God, and treated with scorn every messenger that was sent to remind them of their duty.

The long slighted mercy of Almighty God calling them to repentance then gave place to His justice, and Babylon was the scourge appointed by God, to chastise the inhabitants of Juda by reducing them to the same sad condition to which Assyria had reduced those of Israel. Nabuchodonosor,* with a powerful army, laid siege to Jerusalem, which, after an ineffectual resistance, capitulated; he then made Joakim prisoner, and placed him in fetters, with the intention of sending him captive to Babylon, but eventually, the fallen monarch was restored to liberty and to his throne, on promising fidelity to his liege lord, the king of Babylon. Nabuchodonosor, however, rifled the Temple, and carried off to Babylon many of the sacred vessels: he also brought with him as captives many of the youths of the noble families of Juda, including Daniel, with his three friends, Ananias, Azarias, and Misael. This

* Nabuchodonosor succeeded to the throne of Babylon in the year B.C. 604. But, unless we suppose, with some commentators, that the words of Jeremias (xxv. 11, 12: xxix. 10) predicting the seventy years of captivity, are to be understood loosely, as designating a shorter period, we must assign to the events here narrated in the text, a date not later than B.C. 606. For the captivity came to an end B.C. 536.

It would seem rather (see Daniel ix. 2) that the period of seventy weeks should be interpreted strictly. If so, then, the campaign here described was one of those which Nabuchodonosor is known to have conducted during the closing years of his father's reign. Although he was not at that time king of Babylon, he might naturally be so spoken of in the sacred narrative, by a form of expression, very commonly used in historical statements: thus, to borrow the illustration of a recent writer, "We should naturally say the Emperor Napoleon III. passed some years of his life in England,' although the Emperor's residence here was before his accession, and while he was in exile."-See RAWLINSON, Historical Illustrations, Chapter 6th.

6

† See Calmet, Dictionnaire de la Bible, Art, JOACHIM,

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happened in the year of the world 3398 B.c. 606, from which is reckoned the seventy years' captivity that the Jews endured in the country of Chaldea.

After three years, Joakim had the hardihood to rebel against the king of Babylon, relying, as it would seem, upon the good offices of Nechao of Egypt, who, however, died before he could render any assistance. The death of Nechao was quickly followed by that of Joakim himself; the bitter consequences of whose foolish policy thus came to be borne by his son.

Joachin, otherwise called Jechonias, the son of Joakim, succeeded him upon the throne; but he had reigned only three months, when Nabuchodonosor snatched him from his kingdom, and carried him in chains to Babylon. His mother, his wives, his children, and the chief nobles of the kingdom, were sharers with him in his captivity; the treasures also of the temple, and the golden vessels, which Solomon had finished with so much art and magnificence, were at the same time transported to Babylon.*

upon

In Judea little more was left than the shadow of a kingdom, and some sad remains of its former grandeur. God in His mercy seemed unwilling to inflict the last stroke His chosen people; He permitted their power to sink by degrees, that the sight of present calamities, and the gradual approach of greater evils might awaken them to repentance. Sedecias, the uncle of Joachin, and son of Josias, was invested with the title and the outward show of royalty, under Nabuchodonosor. He was a worthless prince, averse to everything that was good, deaf to the exhortations of Jeremias, and abandoned to vice. The great majority of the people imitated the example of their prince; they defiled the land with pagan crimes, they insulted the prophets, and laughed at the Divine threats.

Sedecias, in the ninth year of his reign, imitating the folly of which his brother Joakim had been guilty, and relying on the support of Ephree,† the king of Egypt, revolted

* See p. 334.

In the Egyptian records this monarch is named Apries, Ouaphra, or Haifra-het. He was the 7th king of Manetho's 26th (Saite) dynasty. His reign was separated from that of Nechao II. (see Note, p. 344), by the reign of Psammeticus II.

against the king of Babylon his revolt brought down upon him the punishment due to his other crimes. Nabuchodonosor led a formidable army against him; and, after inflicting a heavy defeat upon the Egyptian allies of Sedecias, closely besieged the city of Jerusalem. Though beset with the terrors of war without, and pinched with the miseries of famine within their walls,* the besieged vigorously defended themselves for sixteen months. A wide breach was at last made in the wall, and the town was carried by assault: the wretched Jews could trust only to flight, and to the victor's clemency. Sedecias escaped by night and fled towards Jericho. But being overtaken and brought back, he was presented to Nabuchodonosor, who executed severe vengeance upon him. Having ordered the sons of the unhappy monarch to be massacred before his face, Nabuchodonosor caused the eyes of the royal captive to be plucked out, and having loaded him with irons, carried him away captive to Babylon.

Having thus taken, not so much his own revenge as that of the Almighty, upon a stiff-necked people, Nabuchodonosor returned in triumph to his own country, leaving Nabuzardan, his general, to complete the overthrow of Juda. Nabuzardan's orders were to throw down the walls of Jerusalem, to demolish the Temple, the royal palace, and the other houses of the city; to strip the inhabitants of every valuable thing that they possessed, and to transport them to Babylon, so that none should remain in Judea except the poor husbandmen who were necessary to cultivate the vineyards and to plough the land.

Such was the dismal state to which Jerusalem was reduced in punishment of her sins. Such was the fall of that once happy city; and with such energy of expression is her devastation described by Jeremias in his Lamentations, that no one who is not utterly devoid of feeling, can fail to sympathise with the prophet in his grief. Holy is our grief, and salutary is our affliction, says St. Augustine, when to a sincere detestation of sin we join our tears of compassion for the sufferings of the sinner.

* The misery endured by the inhabitants during this siege, and the subsequent desolation of the city, are vividly depicted in the Lamentations of Jeremias.