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́the streets; they that were brought up in scarlet embraced dunghills.

What shall I liken thee to, O Jerusalem? (said their afflicted prophet) What shall I equal to thee, O virgin, daughter of Zion? let tears run down like a river, day and night; give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.

Arise, cry out in the night; in the beginning of the watches, pour out thine heart like water before the face of the LORD: lift up thine hands towards him for the life of the young children that faint for hunger at the top of every street!

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

What a lively description does this anticipated history give of the miseries of the siege! To what a wretched condition was Jerusalem now reduced! Let us proceed to the dreadful catastrophe.

SECTION XXXIII.

CONCLUSION OF THE REIGN OF ZEDEKIAH.

From Jeremiah, Chap. xxxix.-2 Chron. Chap. xxxvi.

AND on the ninth day of the fourth month, in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, the city was broken up.

And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the middle gate, even Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.

And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they

fled,

fied, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain.

But the Chaldeans army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and when they had taken him they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah, in the land of Hamath: where he gave judgment upon him.

Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.

Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.

And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem;

And slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

We find, from this section, that the predictions of Ezekiel and Jeremiah were both exactly fulfilled; for Zedekiah went to Babylon, though he did not see it, and his eyes beheld the eyes of the king of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar certainly had cause to be enraged with Zedekiah for his treacherous behaviour; but was guilty of great inhumanity towards him. The king of Judah might have avoided the dreadful effects of his wrath, would he have hearkened to the admonitions of the prophets; but he mocked the messengers of his GOD, and despised the word of the LORD. There is reason to hope

F 4

hope that misfortunes at length humbled his soul into a state of penitence, and that before he died he made his peace with GOD, who doth abundantly pardon.

SECTION XXXIV.

JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE DESTROYED.

From 2 Kings, Chap. xxv.-2 Chron. Chap. xxxvi.

AND in the fifth month on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:

And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire.

And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about.

Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carry away.

But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vine-dressers and husbandmen.

And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.

And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.

And the fire pans, and the bowls, and such things as

were

were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away.

The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.

The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it was brass, and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen-work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen-work.

And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three. keepers of the door :

And out of the city he took an officer that was set, over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city.

And Nebuzar-adan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah : and the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.

And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon: where they were servants to him. and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:

To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbath, for as long as she lay desolate, she kept sabbath, to fulfil three-score and ten years.

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ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

Nebuzar-adan executed the command of his sovereign with the utmost rigour; and after robbing the Temple of the remainder of its valuable treasures, he set fire to that noble edifice, which Solomon had built with so much cost and magnificence, which had been the glory of the whole earth; frequently honoured by the visible PRESENCE of the LORD JEHOVAH, from whence he had graciously received the sacrifices and prayers of his faithful servants, and given them assurances of his favour and loving-kindness!

The following extract from the Lamentations of Jeremiah, though written it is supposed some years before the event took place, gives a lively description of the distresses occasioned by this dreadful calamity.

SECTION XXXV.

JEREMIAH'S LAMENTATIONS FOR THE MISERIES OF

JUDAH.

From Chap. ii. iv. v.

How hath the LORD covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!

The LORD hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah: he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.

He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire which devoureth round about.

He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with

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