The Worlds Greatest Books - Volume 13 | Page 2

he died and
was buried in his father's sepulchre. And in all Jewry the chief men, with the women, yea
Jeremy the prophet, made lamentation for him unto this day.
And the people took Joachaz, the son of Josias, and made him king; but the King of
Egypt deposed him, and made Joacim, his brother, King of Judea and Jerusalem, who did
evil before the Lord. Wherefore, against him, Nabuchodonosor, King of Babylon, came
up and bound him with a chain of brass, and carried him into Babylon. Nabuchodonosor
also took of the holy vessels of the Lord and carried them away, and set them in his own
temple at Babylon, and made Zedechias king. Zedechias reigned eleven years, but did
evil also in the sight of the Lord.
The governors of the people and of the priests did likewise many things against the Lord,
and defiled the Temple of the Lord, who, being wrath with his people for their great
ungodliness, commanded the Kings of the Chaldees to come up against them. This they
did, and slew and spared neither young man nor maid, old man nor child, among them.
And they took all the holy vessels of the Lord, both great and small, with the vessels of
the Ark of God and the king's treasures, and carried them away into Babylon. As for the
House of the Lord, they burnt it, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem and set fire upon
her towers. And the people that were not slain with the sword were carried unto Babylon,
who became servants to Nabuchodonosor, till the Persians reigned, to fulfil the word of
the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremy.
In the first year of Cyrus, King of the Persians, the Lord raised up his spirit, and he made
proclamation through all his kingdom, saying: The Lord of Israel, the most high Lord,
hath made me king of the whole world, and commanded me to build him an house at
Jerusalem in Jewry. If there be any of you that are of his people, let the Lord, even his
Lord, be with him; let him go up to Jerusalem and build the house of the Lord of Israel.
Then the chief of the families of Judea and of the tribe of Benjamin, the priests also, and
the Levites moved up to Jerusalem to build an house for the Lord there. And they were

helped in all things with silver and gold, with horses and cattle, and with very many free
gifts. King Cyrus also brought forth the holy vessels which Nabuchodonosor had carried
away from Jerusalem and had set up in his temple of idols. The vessels of gold and of
silver which were brought back by Sanabassar, together with them of the captivity from
Babylon to Jerusalem, were, in number, five thousand four hundred three score and nine.
But in the time of Artaxerxes, the building of the Temple ceased. Now, when Darius
reigned, he made a great feast unto all the governors and captains that were under him
from India unto Ethiopia, of an hundred and twenty-seven provinces. And when they had
eaten and drunken, three young men that were of the guard that kept the king's body
strove to excel each other in wise speeches. Every one wrote his sentence and referred the
writings to the judgment of the king. The first declareth the strength of wine; the second
declareth the power of a king; the third the force of women and of truth. The third, who
was Zorobabel, was judged to be wisest; and all the people then shouted: Great is Truth,
and mighty above all things.
Then said the king unto him: Ask what thou wilt, and we will give it to thee, because thou
art found wisest. Then Zorobabel said unto the king: Remember thy vow which thou hast
vowed to build Jerusalem in the day when thou camest into thy kingdom, and to build up
the Temple, which the Edomites burned when Judea was made desolate by the Chaldees.
Then Darius the king stood up and kissed him, and wrote letters for him unto all the
treasurers and governors that they should safely convey on their way both him and all
those that went with him to build Jerusalem. He also wrote letters unto the lieutenants in
Celosyria, Phenice, and Libanus, that they should bring cedar wood from Libanus to
Jerusalem; and that they should build the city. Then the families and tribes with their
men-servants and maid-servants and singing men and women, escorted by a thousand
horsemen which Darius sent with them, were brought back to Jerusalem.
On the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come back to
Jerusalem, the foundation of the House