BABYLON AND PERSIA

THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAH.iSlthe king to enquire of him : " Behold Pharaoh'sarmy, which is come forth to help you, shall returnto Egypt, to their own land.And the Chaldeansshall come again and fight against this city ;andthey shall take it, and burn it with fire."And to asecret message from the king, asking :" Is there anyword from the Lord ? " he replied : " There is : thoushalt be delivered into the hands of the king ofBabylon."In vain his life was threatened almostdaily ;in vain he was lowered by cords into a noi¬some dungeon filled with mire, by order of theprinces of the city, who said :" This man weakeneththe hands of the men of war that remain in this city,and the hands of all the people, speaking such wordsas these :for he seeketh not the welfare of the peo¬ple, but the hurt."When secretly rescued by thecommand of the king, and brought into his presence,he steadfastly repeated the same message in thesame words.At last the king, unable to protecthim otherwise, bade him remain in the palace, andthere he stayed in the court of the guard, untilJerusalem was taken, when Nebuchadrezzar orderedhim to be treated with honor and set at liberty.14. P'or it came to pass according to the prophet'swords. The host of Egypt was struck1 AT 1 1 1 Destructiondown at one blow and Nebuchadrezzar ofjerusaiem,.,,,,. ... byNebuchadreturnedwith all his army and besieged rezzar.^ ^ 686 B.C.Jerusalem, establishing his own head¬quarters, however, at somedistance, at Riblah onthe Orontes, in the land of Hamath, whence he couldnot only overlook the operations against Judah, butkeep an eye on all the lands of Syria and the cities