in Judah. Jeremiah's words seemed to be proved false; now the cruel oppressor had departed for ever. But, alas, it was not to be so. Again the Lord's word came to them, saying, "Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us, for they shall not depart." For even though there were none left among them but wounded men, yet should they rise up and burn this city with fire.

When the Chaldean army had left Jerusalem, Jeremiah was free to leave the city. He desired to go and visit his own village of Anathoth, and to see the field he had so lately purchased. He left the city by the gate of Benjamin; but as he was passing out, one of the captains who had charge of it stopped him. This captain's name was Irijah. He was the grandson of that Hananiah who had broken Jeremiah's yoke in pieces, and who had died not many months afterwards. Irijah said to Jeremiah, "Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans." But Jeremiah, whose conscience was clear, answered boldly, "It is false. I fall not away to the Chaldeans." But Irijah would not listen to him, but hurried him off to his spiteful enemies, the princes of Judah. They struck the poor prophet, and then thrust him into a dreadful dungeon. At the bottom was a dark damp cell. Breathing the foul air down there Jeremiah lay for many days.

At last he was taken out, for some one wished to speak to him. Who could it be? No less a person than the king himself. He spoke to him alone and in secret. He asked him a question, "Is there any word from the Lord?" Jeremiah answered at once, "There is thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the King of Babylon." How fearless Jeremiah was!

and how weak Zedekiah was! He would gladly have punished the prophet, but he dared not. Jeremiah took this opportunity to make a request to the king. The thought of the misery and starvation he had endured in the damp dungeon overcame him, and very humbly he bends before the king, when he pled for himself, saying, "O my lord the king, let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan, the scribe, lest I die there."

The Lord inclined the king's heart to pity the poor thin fainting prophet; and he commanded that he should be kept in the court of the prison. Here, though still not free, he could walk about a little and breathe the fresh air. The king also ordered that a daily allowance of bread should be brought to him out of the bakers' street; so for a short time Jeremiah's condition was much better.

(Read Jeremiah xxxvii.)

23. THE WORSE DUNGEON.

In the court of the prison Jeremiah could speak to the people. The burden of his words was still the same message from the Lord: "That those who remained in the city should be cut off by famine or pestilence; whereas those who left Jerusalem and joined the Chaldeans should live." These words enraged Jeremiah's old enemies, the princes. They were doing their utmost to encourage the people to resist the Chaldeans should they return; but Jeremiah's words were making them faint-hearted and depressed. So four of the princes went to complain

to the king, and to beg him to silence the prophet. They were not afraid to say boldly how they wished Jeremiah to be silenced. Here are their words: "We beseech thee, let this man be put to death." Listen to the answer of the weak and wicked king: "Behold he is in your hand, for the king is not he that can do anything against you."

Having gained their point, the princes consulted how to execute their sinful plan. It would not do to put Jeremiah to death openly. The people might resist that. But the princes knew of a dreadful dungeon, into which they determined to cast the prophet. At the bottom there was nothing but thick mud, and these cruel men knew that he would soon die of cold, or be suffocated by sinking in the mire. They lowered him down into the dismal depths by cords, and there left him, as they thought, to die. But God had other thoughts for his dear servant; and Jeremiah had a friend who loved him, even in the king's palace. This friend was not of his own nation. He was a black man, belonging to distant Ethiopia. His name, Ebed-melech, is held in everlasting honour by all who love the Lord, for the help he rendered to God's servant, and for the reward he received from. that servant's Master. As soon as Ebed-melech heard that Jeremiah had been cast into Malchiah's dungeon, he went in all haste to the king. He found him sitting at the gate of Benjamin, the very place where Jeremiah had been seized by Irijah. Ebedmelech speaks respectfully to the king, but fearlessly, and without respect, about these wicked princes. He says, "My lord the king, these men" (not princes mark) "have done evil in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the

dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is."

Zedekiah's conscience smote him for having delivered Jeremiah into his enemies' hands. He at once commanded Ebed-melech to go and rescue him! and lest the princes should interfere he was to take thirty men as a guard. How gladly Ebed-melech obeyed the king, and how kindly and thoughtfully he managed everything! Before going to the dungeon, he went to a room in the palace where old garments, no longer needed, were kept. Taking some of these, and a bundle of old soft rags, he hurried to the dungeon, and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah. What was this for? You shall hear. He knew how thin and worn the prophet was; he knew how tightly they must draw the cords to get him out of the mire; and he knew how the cords would fret and chafe his poor arms. So this tenderhearted man called down to Jeremiah, saying, "Put these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords." Jeremiah did so, and slowly and carefully they drew him up. What a pleasant change, to be allowed once more to walk about in the court of the prison! I think Jeremiah would take up David's song of praise, and say, "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord."

(Read Jeremiah xxxviii. 1-13; Psalm xl. 1-3.)

24. THE LORD's message tO THE KING AND THE LORD'S MESSAGE TO THE SERVANT.

Once more Zedekiah had a secret interview with the prophet Jeremiah. He began the conversation with a humble request, saying, "I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me."

Jeremiah in his turn makes two requests. First he asks, "If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death ?" This was for himself. The second request was for the king: "If I give thee counsel, wilt thou hearken unto me?" Zedekiah swears secretly to Jeremiah. Here are his solemn words in answer to the first question: “As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hands of these men that seek thy life." Jeremiah's counsel seemed strange in Zedekiah's ears. It was this: Go forth and deliver himself up to the King of Babylon's princes. By doing this his soul should live, the city would be saved from destruction, and his sons would be spared to him. But if he refused to do this, he should fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, and Jerusalem should be burned with fire. Zedekiah was a timid king. He feared men more than God. His answer was, I am afraid of the Jews lest they mock me and deliver me into the hands of the Chaldeans." Jeremiah pleaded earnestly with the King, saying, "Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord; so it shall be well with thee." But if Zedekiah refused he should indeed be mocked. The very

women of his household would turn against him, saying, "Thy friends have set on thee, and have prevailed against thee; thy feet are sunk in the mire;" and