CHAPTER XIII. 459 ïng; nor was it finished till the sixth year ofthe reign of Darius, at which time they dedicated it with many sacrifices, and kept the passover with joy ; Ezra vi. 15-22. Here it may be worthy of our observation, that the threat- ened destruction of Babylon kept pace with the promised resto- ration of the Jews. It wtts Cyrus, who as general of the army of Darius the first, took Babylon by siege with blood and slaugh- ter, who also released the captive Jews when he came to be king of Persia. Then the river was turned in upon the country round it, which Isaiah foretold ; chapter xiv. 23. " And it became a possessionfor bitterns, and pools of water, and the sea covered it." Yet Babylon was not then destroyed ; but when the Baby- lonians revolted in the fifth year of Darius Hystaspes, and he besieged them with a vast army, their desolationwas verygreat; they themselves slew almost almost all their women and young children, to make their provisions hold out; then the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled ; Is. xlvii. 9. " Two things shall come to them in one day, the loss of children and widowhood." Da- rius took the city in the end of the sixth year of his reign, at which time the Jewish temple was finished, he gave them up to the plunderof his Persian army, impaled three thousand, who were chief actors in the revolt, beat their walls down from two hundred cubits high to fifty cubits. After this, Babylon lan- guished a while, and at last ended in a perpetual .desolation. 13. Q. What further encouragement did the Jews receive from another king Artaxerxes? A. Artaxerxes the second, king of Persia, gave Ezra the priest and scribe a letter and de- cree to encourage the Jews yet remaining in Babylon to go up to Jerusalem and establish the worship of the true God there; Ezra vii. 11, 26. Note. This second Artaxerxes is supposed by Doctòr Pri- deaux to be Artaxerxes Longimanus, as the heathen historians call him, and to be that same Ahasuerus who made Esther his queen, and so became very friendly to theJews. 14. Q. How did the king enable themto fulfil this decree ? A. The king and his.counsellors freely offered much silver and gold for this work, and being sensible of the greatness and power of the God of the Jews, whom he calls the God . of hea- ven, he sought to secure his favour for himself and his family, and pronòanced a speedy sentence of death, banishment, loss of goods, or imprisonment, on those who should dare-to hinder this building ; Verses 15, 16, 17, 23, 26. 15. Q. What did Ezra do in his journey to Jerusalem? A. He proclaimed a day of fasting and prayer to seek the assist- ance of God ; for he was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers to be their guard, because he had told the king of the power and mercy of their God ; Ezra viii. 21, 22. 16, Q. What did Ezra do when he came to Jerusalem 1 og2
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