when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem the name of his mother was Nohesta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his father had done.

Captivity of Juda.-At that time the servants of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was surrounded with their forts. And Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came to the city with his servants to assault it.. And Joachin king of Juda went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother, and his servants, and his nobles, and his eunuchs and the king of Babylon received him in the eighth year of his reign. And he brought out from thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house and he cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, according to the word of the Lord. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the valiant men of the army, to the number of ten thousand, into captivity and every artificer and smith and none were left but the poor sort of the people of the land. And he carried away Joachin into Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his eunuchs : and the judges of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem into Babylon. And all the strong men, seven thousand, and the artificers and the smiths a thousand, all that were valiant men and fit for war: and the king of Babylon led them captives into Babylon. And he appointed Matthanias his uncle in his stead, and called his name Sedecias.

SECT. XCIX. THE REIGN OF THE LAST KING, SEDECIAS.

B.C. 598.

Sedecias. Sedecias* was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Amital the daughter of Jeremias of Lobna. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that Joakim had done. For the Lord was angry against Jerusalem and against Juda, till He cast them out from His face: and Sedecias revolted from the king of Babylon.

* Also called Zedekiah. He was left as viceroy by the king of Babylon, and covenanted to pay him tribute. Yet, contrary to the advice of Jeremias and to his prophetic warn ngs of the consequences, he broke his word with Nabuchodonosor, and rebelled against him. The latter came with an army and besieged the city, which, after the siege had been prolonged for two years, with terrible sufferings to the inhabitants, was taken. Many were put to death, and many were taken to Babylon. This was the third and last captivity. The book of Jeremias contains a great deal of the history of Sedecias' reign.

4 Kings

XXIV.

18-20.

4 Kings XXV. 1-12.

And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, that B.C. 588. Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came, he and all his army against Jerusalem: and they surrounded it, and raised works round about it. And the city was shut up and besieged till the eleventh year of king Sedecias, the ninth day of the month and a famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. And a breach was made into the city and all the men of war fled in the night between the two walls in the king's garden (now the Chaldees besieged the city round about), and Sedecias fled by the way that leadeth to the plains of the wilderness. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all the warriors that were with him were scattered, and left him. So they took the king and brought him to the king of Babylon to Reblatha, and he gave judgment upon him. And he slew the sons of Sedecias before his face, B.C. 586. and he put out his eyes, and bound him with chains, and brought him to Babylon.

The Last Captivity.-In the fifth month, the seventh day B.C. 582. of the month, that is, the nineteenth year of the king of Babylon, came Nabuzardan commander of the army, a servant of the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem. And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and the houses of Jerusalem, and every house he burnt with fire. And all the army of the Chaldees, which was with the commander of the troops, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about.

And Nabuzardan the commander of the army carried away the rest of the people that remained in the city, and the fugitives that had gone over to the king of Babylon, and the remnant of the common people. But of the poor of the land he left some dressers of vines and husbandmen. But over the people 4 Kings that remained in the land of Juda, which Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had left, he gave the government to Godolias the son of Ahicam, the son of Saphan.

XXV. 22.

THE BOOK OF JUDITH.

The events of the book of Judith are generally supposed to have taken place in the reign of Manasses, though some place them in the time of Jehoiakim, and others after the captivity. Nabuchodonosor, the Assyrian king, sent his general, Holofernes, with a large army to subdue the cities of Syria, but Eliachim the high priest exhorted the Jews to resist him. Holofernes was enraged at this, and at once laid siege to Bethulia, a city of Galilee. Bethulia was in great danger of being taken, and its inhabitants in their sore distress humbled themselves, and made earnest supplications to God for deliverance. In answer to their prayers, God delivered them by a woman of the name of Judith, who lived in that city. She was a widow, a person of great beauty, and still more remarkable for her piety and selfdenying life. When all despaired, she still had confidence in God, and encouraged the people to wait in hope, for that God would help them. After preparing herself by prayer, she decked herself in her most costly attire, and made her way out of the city to the Assyrian camp. Her beauty made her to be well received, and she was introduced to Holofernes, and lodged in a tent near his own. A few days after, Holofernes asked her to a banquet, and she took the opportunity of his being asleep and overcome with wine to cut off his head, with which she returned to the city. While the Assyrians next day were in a state of confusion, and without a general, the inhabitants of Bethulia sallied forth and attacked them, and having defeated them with great slaughter, took the spoils of their camp.

Judith is regarded as a type of the Blessed Virgin in her beauty and holiness, and in the way she offered her own life in order to save her people. Her slaughter of Holofernes was typical of Mary's office in destroying sin and crushing the serpent's head.

SECT. C. JUDITH'S DISCOURSE TO THE ANCIENTS OF BETHULIA WHEN
THEY WERE ABOUT TO DELIVER IT UP.

Now it came to pass, when Judith a widow had heard these Judith words, who was the daughter of Merari, the son of Idox, the viii. son of Joseph, the son of Ozias, the son of Elai, the son of Jamnor, the son of Gedeon, the son of Raphaim, the son of Achitob, the son of Melchias, the son of Enan, the son of Nathanias, the son of Salathiel, the son of Simeon, the son of Ruben and her husband was Manasses, who died in the time of the barley harvest: for he was standing over them that bound sheaves in the field; and the heat came upon his head, and he died in Bethulia his own city, and was buried there with his fathers. And Judith his relict was a widow now three years and six months. And she made herself a private chamber in the upper part of her house, in which she abode shut up with her maids; and she wore hair-cloth upon her loins, and fasted all the days of her life, except the sabbaths, and new moons, and the feasts of the house of Israel. And she was exceedingly beautiful, and her husband left her great riches, and very many servants, and large possessions of herds of oxen and flocks of sheep. And she was greatly renowned among all, because she

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feared the Lord very much, neither was there any one that spoke an ill word of her.

When therefore she had heard that Ozias had promised that he would deliver up the city after the fifth day, she sent to the ancients Chabri and Charmi. And they came to her, and she said to them: What is this word, by which Ozias hath consented to give up the city to the Assyrians, if within five days there come no aid to us? And who are you that tempt the Lord? This is not a word that may draw down mercy, but rather that may stir up wrath and enkindle indignation. You have set a time for the mercy of the Lord, and you have appointed Him a day, according to your pleasure. But forasmuch as the Lord is patient, let us be penitent for this same thing, and with many tears let us beg His pardon: for God will not threaten like man, nor be inflamed to anger like the son of man. And therefore let us humble our souls before Him, and continuing in an humble spirit in His service, let us ask the Lord with tears, that according to His will so He would show His mercy to us that as our heart is troubled by their pride, so also we may glory in our humility. For we have not followed the sins of our fathers, who forsook their God, and worshipped strange gods, for which crime they were given up to their enemies, to the sword, and to pillage, and to confusion; but we know no other God but Him. Let us humbly wait for His consolation, and the Lord our God will require our blood of the afflictions of our enemies, and He will humble all the nations that shall rise up against us, and bring them to disgrace.

And

now, brethren, as you are the ancients among the people of God, and their very soul resteth upon you, comfort their hearts by your speech, that they may be mindful how our fathers were tempted that they might be proved whether they worshipped their God truly. They must remember how our father Abraham was tempted, and being proved by many tribulations, was made the friend of God. So Isaac, so Jacob, so Moses, and all that have pleased God, passed through many tribulations, remaining faithful. But they that did not receive the trials with the fear of the Lord, but uttered their impatience and the reproach of their murmuring against the Lord, were destroyed by the destroyer and perished by serpents. As for us, therefore, let us not revenge ourselves for these things which we suffer, but esteeming these very punishments to be less than our sins deserve, let us believe that these scourges of the Lord, with which like servants we are chastised, have happened for our amendment, and not for our destruction.

And Ozias and the ancients said to her: All things which thou hast spoken are true, and there is nothing to be reprehended in thy words. Now therefore pray for us, for thou art a holy woman, and one fearing God. And Judith said to them: As you know that what I have been able to say is of God, so that which I intend to do, prove ye if it be of God, and pray that God may strengthen my design. You shall stand at the gate this night, and I will go out with my maid-servant: and pray ye, that as you have said, in five days the Lord may look down upon His people Israel. But I desire that you search not into what I am doing, and till I bring you word let nothing else be done but to pray for me to the Lord our God. And Ozias the prince of Juda said to her: Go in peace, and the Lord be with thee to take revenge of our enemies. So returning they departed.

Judith's Prayer.-And when they were gone, Judith went Judith IV. into her oratory, and putting on hair-cloth, laid ashes on her head and falling down prostrate before the Lord, she cried to the Lord, saying: O Lord God of my father Simeon, who gavest him a sword to execute vengeance against strangers who had defiled by their uncleanness, and uncovered the virgin unto confusion and who gavest their wives to be made a prey and their daughters into captivity, and all their spoils to be divided to Thy servants, who were zealous with Thy zeal: assist, I beseech Thee, O Lord God, me a widow. For Thou hast done the things of old, and hast devised one thing after another: and what Thou hast designed hath been done. For all Thy ways are prepared, and in Thy providence thou hast placed Thy judgments. Look upon the camp of the Assyrians now, as Thou wast pleased to look upon the camp of the Egyptians when they being armed pursued after Thy servants, trusting in their chariots, and in their horsemen, and in a multitude of warriors. But Thou lookedst over their camp, and darkness wearied them. The deep held their feet, and the waters overwhelmed them. So may it be with these also, O Lord, who trust in their multitude, and in their chariots, and in their pikes, and in their shields, and in their arrows, and glory in their spears, and know not that Thou art our God, who destroyest wars from the beginning, and the Lord is Thy name. Lift up Thy arm as from the beginning, and crush their power with Thy power: let their power fall in their wrath, who promise themselves to violate Thy sanctuary, and defile the dwelling-place of Thy name, and to beat down with their sword the horn of Thy altar. Bring to pass, O Lord, that his pride may be cut off with his own sword.