When Joram had ruled twelve years over Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram began to rule over Judah. And he went down to Jezreel to visit Joram, who was ill. When Jehu struck down Joram, Ahaziah saw it and fled toward Beth-gannim. But Jehu followed after him with the words, "Shoot him down, too, in the chariot." So they shot him down on the way up to Gur, near Ibleam, but he escaped to Megiddo and died there.

When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, learned that her son was dead, she rose and put to death all of Ahaziah's children except Joash, whom his aunt, Jehosheba, secretly took and placed with his nurse in the bedchamber. In this way she hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. He was with her, hid in the temple of Jehovah, six years, while Athaliah ruled over the land.

But in the seventh year Jehoiada the priest called together the officers of the royal guard and brought them into the temple of Jehovah. After he had made them make a solemn promise, he showed them Ahaziah's son, and gave them these orders, "This is what you shall do: a third part of you who go in on the Sabbath to guard the palace shall keep watch over it.

Two divisions of you, including all who go out on the Sabbath to guard the temple of Jehovah, shall surround Joash, each with his weapons in his hand. And let every one who comes within the ranks be put to death.

Thus you shall guard Joash, when he goes out and when he comes in."

The officers did as Jehoiada the priest commanded. And he brought out Ahaziah's son and put the crown and the royal ornaments upon him; and they made him ruler over Judah and poured oil upon his head and clapped their hands, crying, "Long live the ruler!"

But when Athaliah heard the people shouting, she came to them in the temple of Jehovah. When she saw Joash standing by the pillar, as was the custom, and the officers and the trumpeters by him, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, she tore her clothes and cried, "Treason! Treason!" But Jehoiada the priest gave this order to the officers: "Bring her out between the ranks, and kill with the sword whoever follows her," for the priest said, "Let her not be put to death in the temple of Jehovah." So they seized her, and she was killed as she went through the horses' entry to the palace.

Jehoiada made a solemn agreement between Jehovah and the new ruler and the people, that they should be Jehovah's people; also between the ruler and the people, and Joash ruled forty years in Jerusalem.

A YOUNG MAN WHO SAID, "SEND ME"

Uzziah, Joash's grandson, was sixteen years old when he began to rule over Judah and he ruled fifty-two years in Jerusalem.

He fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath and of Jabneh and of Ashdod and built cities near Ashdod and among the Philistines. And G.o.d helped him against the Philistines. The Ammonites also paid tribute to Uzziah, for he became very strong.

And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the corner of the wall, and fortified them. He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, for he had many herds in the lowland and farmers in the plain and vine-dressers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields, for he loved to cultivate the ground. But he was a leper to the day of his death. He lived in his own house, while Jotham, his son, was at the head of the royal household, ruling the people of the land. And Uzziah died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Jotham, his son, became ruler in his place.

Isaiah said it was in the year that Uzziah, the ruler of Judah, died that I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Guardian angels stood above him. Each had six wings, one pair to cover the face, another pair to cover the feet, and another pair with which to fly. And they cried to one another:

"Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts, The whole earth is full of his glory."

The foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of those who called, and the temple was filled with smoke. Then I said: "Woe is me! I am ruined; for I am a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts!"

But one of the guardian angels flew to me with a hot coal in his hand that he had taken from off the altar, and with it he touched my mouth and said: "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin forgiven."

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

"Whom shall I send, And who will go for us?"

and I said, "Here am I, send me."

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Curtis Publishing Company_

_The Prophet Isaiah_

Painted by W. L. Taylor]

JEREMIAH'S CALL TO DO A HARD TASK

This was the message which came to me from Jehovah: "Before you were born I knew you and prepared you for your work. I have appointed you to be a prophet to the nations." But I (Jeremiah) said: "O Lord Jehovah! I do not know how to speak in public, for I am only a youth." Then Jehovah said to me: "Do not say, 'I am only a youth,' for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to protect you."

Then Jehovah stretched out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me: "See. I have put my words in your mouth, and I have appointed you this day over the nations and kingdoms, to tear up and break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."

Again this message came from Jehovah, "What do you see?" I answered, "A great kettle brewing hot, and it faces from the north." Then Jehovah said to me: "From the north trouble is brewing for all the people of the land. For I am about to call all the kingdoms of the north, and they shall come and each set up his throne at the entrance to the gates of Jerusalem and around its walls and against all the cities of Judah. And I will pa.s.s judgment upon Jerusalem and these cities for all their wickedness, for they have been disloyal to me and offered sacrifices to other G.o.ds and have worshipped that which their own hands have made.

"Therefore make ready, rise, speak to them all that I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for see, I myself will make you this day like a fortified city, and like a bronze wall against the rulers of Judah, its leaders, its priests, and the common people. Though they fight against you, they will not overcome you, for I am with you to protect you."

THE YOUNG JOSIAH AND THE BOOK OF THE LAW

Josiah was eight years old when he began to rule, and he ruled thirty-one years in Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of his rule he sent Shaphan, the scribe, to the temple of Jehovah with the command, "Go up to Hilkiah, the chief priest, and see that, when he has taken the money that is brought into the temple of Jehovah and that which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people, they give it to the workmen who have charge of the temple of Jehovah. Then let them give it to the carpenters, the builders, and the masons who are in the temple of Jehovah, to repair the breaks in it and to buy timber and cut stone to restore it." But no account was asked of them for the money that was given to them, for they dealt honestly.

Then Hilkiah, the chief priest, said to Shaphan, the scribe, "I have found the book of the law in the temple of Jehovah." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. Then Shaphan went to Josiah and told him, "Your servants have taken the money that was found in the temple and have turned it over to the workmen who have charge of the temple of Jehovah." Shaphan, the scribe, also said to Josiah, "Hilkiah, the priest, has given me a book." And Shaphan read it to him.

When Josiah had heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. Then he gave this command to Hilkiah, the priest, to Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to Achbor, the son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the scribe, and to Asaiah, his servant, "Go, ask of Jehovah for me and for the people and for all Judah about the words of this book that has been found; for Jehovah must be very angry with us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book nor done all that we are there commanded to do."

So Hilkiah, the priest, and Ahikam and Achbor went to Huldah, the prophetess, who lived in Jerusalem and talked with her. She said to them, "This is the message of Jehovah, the G.o.d of Israel: 'Tell the man who sent you to me, Jehovah says, I am now about to bring evil upon this place and upon its people even all that is written in the book which the ruler of Judah has read. But you shall say to him who sent you to ask of Jehovah, Jehovah the G.o.d of Israel declares, Because you listened and humbled yourself before Jehovah and have wept before me, I also have heard you,'" So they brought back word to Josiah.

Then at his command they got together all the leaders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And Josiah went up to the temple of Jehovah, and with him all the men of Judah and all the people of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets and all the people, including the children. And he read to them all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the temple of Jehovah. And Josiah stood by the pillar and made a solemn promise before Jehovah to obey all the commands and carry out the rules written in this book. And all the people also agreed to do so.

Then Josiah commanded Hilkiah, the chief priest, and the second priest and the doorkeepers to bring out from the temple of Jehovah all the things that were made for Baal and for the Canaanite G.o.ddess of fortune, and for the Babylonian star G.o.ds. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the lime-kilns by the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. He also put away the idolatrous priests, whom the rulers of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifice at the temples on the heights in the towns of Judah and in the places about Jerusalem; those also who offered sacrifices to Baal, to the sun, the moon, and the planets and all the starry host.

He also destroyed Topheth, which is in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, so that no man could ever make his son or his daughter pa.s.s through the fire to Molech. He removed the horses at the entrance of the temple of Jehovah, which the rulers of Judah had given to the sun, and burned the chariots of the sun. Josiah broke down and crushed in pieces the altars that were on the roof, which the rulers of Judah had made.

Josiah also tore down the altar and the old temple at Bethel, broke its stones in pieces, and beat it to dust.

Then he gave this command to all the people: "Keep the pa.s.sover to Jehovah your G.o.d, as is commanded in this book of the covenant." Such a pa.s.sover as this had not been kept from the days of the judges who ruled Israel and during the period of the rulers of Israel and of Judah; but this pa.s.sover was kept in Jehovah's honor in Jerusalem for the first time in the eighteenth year of Josiah's rule.

Josiah put away all the mediums, the wizards, the idols and all the evil things that were discovered in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might carry out the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah, the priest, found in the temple of Jehovah. Josiah was the first ruler who turned to Jehovah with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength in exact accord with the law of Moses, nor were any of the rulers that followed like him.

THE WRITING OF AN ANCIENT BOOK

When Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, had been ruler for four years, this message came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, "Take a parchment roll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you about Jerusalem and Judah and all the nations from the time of Josiah to the present. Perhaps the people of Judah will pay attention to all the evil which I intend to bring upon them, so that they will turn each from his evil way, that I may forgive their guilt and sin."

Then Jeremiah called Baruch, the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote on a parchment roll as Jeremiah told him all the words which Jehovah had spoken to him. And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, "I am not permitted to go to the temple of Jehovah. Therefore you go and read in the temple on the fast day the words of Jehovah from the roll which you have written at my command. You shall read them to all the people of Judah who have come from their towns. Perhaps they will pray to Jehovah and each turn from his evil way; for great is the anger and wrath of Jehovah against this people." So Baruch did as Jeremiah, the prophet, commanded him, reading in the temple from the writing the words of Jehovah.

The next year, when all the people who had come to Jerusalem from the cities of Judah were observing a fast in the temple courts, Baruch read to them all from the writing the words of Jeremiah.

When Micaiah, the grandson of Shaphan, had heard all the words of Jehovah, he went down to the palace, where all the court officials were sitting, and told them all that he had heard when Baruch read the book to the people.

Then all the n.o.bles sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, to Baruch to say: "Take the roll from which you have read to all the people and come here." So Baruch took the roll in his hand and went to them. And they said to him, "Sit down now and read it to us." So Baruch read it to them. But when they had heard all, they turned in fear to one another and said to Baruch, "We must surely tell Jehoiakim all this." So they asked Baruch, "Tell us now: how did you write all this?" Baruch answered, "Jeremiah told it all to me and I wrote it down in ink." Then the n.o.bles said to Baruch, "Go, hide both yourself and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are."

But after they had put the roll in the room of Elishama, the chancellor, they went to Jehoiakim's room, and told all these things to him. Then he sent Jehudi to bring the roll, and he brought it out of the room of Elishama, the chancellor. And Jehudi read it to him and to all the leaders who were with him.

Now Jehoiakim was sitting in the winter house with a brazier burning before him. When Jehudi had read three or four double columns, Jehoiakim cut it with a paper-knife and threw it into the fire that was on the brazier, and the entire roll was burned up. But neither he nor any of his servants who were present, were disturbed or tore their garments.

Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah begged Jehoiakim not to burn the roll, but he would not listen to them. He also ordered Jerahmeel, his son, and Seraiah, the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah, the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch, the scribe, and Jeremiah, the prophet, but Jehovah kept them hidden.

Then Jeremiah took another roll and gave it to Baruch, the scribe, who wrote on it as Jeremiah spoke to him, all the words of the book which Jehoiakim, the ruler of Judah, had burned in the fire; and many other similar words were added.

A PROPHET WHO SAVED A GREAT CITY