 Story number one of Hurlbut's story of the Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Jennifer Nelson. Hurlbut's story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, Part 5. The First Four Kings of Judah. Chronicles chapter 12 verse 1 through chapter 20 verse 37. Now we turn from the story of the kingdom of Israel in the north to the story of the kingdom of Judah in the south. You read in story 74 how the ten tribes broke away from the rule of King Rehoboam and set up a kingdom of their own under Jeroboam. This division left the kingdom of Judah very small and weak. It reached from the Dead Sea westward to the land of the Philistines on the shore of the Great Sea, and from Beersheba on the south not quite to Bethel on the north. But it held some control over the land of Edom on the south of the Dead Sea. Its chief city was Jerusalem, where stood the temple of the land and the palace of the king. After Rehoboam found that he could no more rule over the ten tribes, he tried to make his own little kingdom strong by building cities and raising an army of soldiers. And he did not look to the Lord as his grandfather David had looked. He allowed his people to worship idols so that soon on almost every hill and in almost every grove of trees there was an image of stone or wood. God was not pleased with Rehoboam and his people because they had forsaken him for idols. He brought upon the land of Judah a great army from Egypt, led by Shishak, the king of Egypt. They marched over all the land of Judah, they took the city of Jerusalem, and they robbed the temple of all the great treasure in gold and silver which Solomon had stored up. This evil came upon Judah because its king and its people had turned away from the Lord their God. After Rehoboam had reigned 17 years he died, and his son Abijah became king of Judah. When Jeroboam, the king of Israel, made war upon him, Abijah led his army into the land of Israel. Jeroboam's army was twice as large as Abijah's and his men stood not only in front of the men of Judah but also behind them so that the army of Judah was in great danger of being destroyed. But Abijah told his men to trust in the Lord and to fight bravely in the Lord's name, and God helped the men of Judah against Israel, and they won a great victory so that Jeroboam never again came against Judah. Abijah's reign was short, only three years, and after him came Asa, his son, who was a great warrior, a great builder of cities and a wise ruler. Against Asa a great army of enemies came up from Ethiopia which was south of Egypt. Asa drew out his little army against the Ethiopians at a place called Marishah in the south of Judah near the desert. He had no hope of success in his soldiers because they were so few and the enemies were so many. But Asa called upon the Lord and said, O Lord, it makes no difference to thee whether there are few or many. Help us, O Lord, for we trust in thee, and in thy name we fight this vast multitude. O Lord, thou art our God. Let not men succeed against thee. The Lord heard Asa's prayer and gave him a great victory over the Ethiopians. Asa took again the cities in the south which had gone over to the side of the Ethiopians and he brought to Jerusalem great riches and flocks of sheep and heads of cattle and camels which he had taken from his enemies. Then the Lord sent to Asa a prophet named Azariah. He said, Hear me, King Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him you shall find him. But if you forsake the Lord he will forsake you. Now be strong and put away the wickedness out of the land and the Lord shall reward your work. Then Asa rebuilt the altar of the Lord which had fallen into decay and he called upon his people to worship. He went through the land and broke down the idols and burned them. He found that his own mother the Queen had made an idol and he cut it down and broke it in pieces and he would not allow her to be queen any longer because she had worshipped idols. Until Asa was old he served the Lord but in his old age he became sick and in his sickness he did not seek the Lord. He turned to men who called themselves physicians or doctors but they were men who tried to cure by the power of idols. This led many of Asa's people to worship images so that when he died there were again idols throughout the land. Asa's son Jehoshaphat was the next king and he was the wisest and strongest of all the kings of Judah and ruled over the largest realm of any. When he became king Ahab was king of Israel of whom we read in part 4. Jehoshaphat made peace with Israel and united with the Israelites against the kingdom of Syria. He fought against the Syrians in the battle at Ramoth Gilead where king Ahab was slain and afterward with Ahab's son Jehoram he fought against the Moabites. Jehoshaphat served the Lord with all his heart. He took away the idols that had again arisen in the land. He called upon his people to worship the Lord and he sent princes and priests throughout all Judah to read to the people the law of the Lord and to teach the people how to serve the Lord. The Lord gave to Jehoshaphat great power. He ruled over the land of Edom, over the wilderness on the south and over the cities of the Philistines upon the coast. And Jehoshaphat chose judges for the cities and all the land and he said to them, Remember that you are not judging for men but for the Lord and the Lord is with you and sees all your acts therefore fear the Lord and do his will. Do not allow men to make you presence so that you will favor them but be just toward all and be strong in doing right. At one time news came to King Jehoshaphat that some of the nations on the east and south and north Moabites, Ammonites, and Syrians had banded together against him and were encamped with a great army at N-Gdai near the Dead Sea. Jehoshaphat called forth his soldiers but before they went to battle he led them to the temple to worship the Lord and Jehoshaphat called upon the Lord for help saying, O Lord, the God of our fathers, art not Thou God in heaven? Does Thou not rule over the nations of the earth? Is not power thine so that none can stand against thee? Now Lord, look upon these hosts who have come up against thy people. We have no might against this great company and we know not what to do but our eyes look toward thee for help. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the Levites, a man named Jehaziel, and he said, Ere, men of Jerusalem and Judah, and here, O King Jehoshaphat, thus saith the Lord, fear not this great host of your enemies, for the battle is not yours but the Lord's. Go out against them, but you will not need to fight. You shall stand still and see how the Lord will save you. Do not fear, but the Lord is with you. Then Jehoshaphat and all his people worshiped the Lord, bowing with their faces on the ground. And the next day, when they marched against the enemies, the Levites walked in front, singing and praising the Lord, while all the people answered, Give thanks to the Lord for his mercy endureth forever. When the men of Judah came to the camp of their enemies, they found that a quarrel had risen up among them. The Ammonites and the Moabites began to fight with the rest of the bands, and soon all the host were fighting and killing each other. And when the men of Judah came, part of the host were lying dead, and the rest had fled away into the desert, leaving behind them great treasure. So it came to pass as the prophet Azariah had said, They did not fight, but the Lord fought for them and saved them from their foes. The place where this strange battle had taken place, they named the Valley of Baraka, which means blessing, because there they blessed the Lord for the help that he had given them. And afterward they came back to Jerusalem with songs and praises and the great riches which they had taken. And God gave to King Jehoshaphat peace and rest from his enemies and great power as long as he lived. The End of Story No. 1, Recording by Jennifer Nelson, Hammett, California, April 22, 2008. Story No. 2 of Herbert's Story of the Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Christian Gonzales. Herbert's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lehmann Herbert. Story No. 5, The Little Boy Who Was Crowned King. Second Chronicles, Chapter 21, Verse 1, 2, Chapter 24, Verse 27. Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, was a good man and a wise king. But he made one mistake which brought great trouble upon his family and upon his land in after days. He married his son Jehoram to Atalia, the daughter of Ahab and the wicked Jezebel. When Jehoshaphat died and Jehoram became King of Judah, his wife Atalia led him into all the wickedness of the house of Adam. Jehoram killed all his brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, so that no one of them might rise up against him. His queen Atalia set up idols all around Jerusalem and in Judah and led the people in worshiping them. The prophet Elijah was still living in Israel when Jehoram began to reign in Judah. He sent to King Jehoram a letter containing a message from the Lord. He wrote, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David. Because you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat, but have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and have led the people of Jerusalem and of Judah to turn from the Lord to idols. And because you have slain your brothers who are better than you, therefore the Lord will strike you and your house and your people. And you shall have a terrible disease that none can cure. And after this great troubles came upon Jehoram and his land. The Edomites on the south who had been under the rule of Judah since the days of David broke away from the King Jehoram and set up a kingdom of their own. The Philistines on the west and the Arabians of the desert made war upon him. They broke into his palace and carried away all his treasures and killed all his children except one, the youngest. And upon Jehoram himself fell a sickness that lasted many years and cost him great suffering. No cure could be found and after long years of pain Jehoram died. So evil had been his reign of eight years that no one was sorry to have him die and they would not allow his body to be buried among the kings of Judah. After Jehoram, his youngest son Ahaziah became king. His mother was the wicked Athalia, the daughter of Jezebel. Ahaziah reigned only one year for while he was visiting King Jehoram of Israel, his uncle, he was slain by Jehu as we read in story 89. For this was the time when Jehu rose against the house of Ahab, killed Jehoram, Ahab's son, and Jezebel, Ahab's widow and made himself king of Israel. But Jehu gave to the body of Ahaziah a kings burial for he said he was the son of Jehoshaphat who sought the Lord with all his heart. When Athalia, the mother of Ahaziah, heard that her son was dead all the fierceness of her mother Jezebel arose in her. She seized the princes who belonged to the family of David and killed them so that there was not a man of the real line left. She made herself queen and ruler over the land of Judah. She shut up the house of the Lord and built a temple for Baal and for six years led the people of Judah in all wickedness. In the slaughter of the royal family by Athalia, one little child of Ahaziah had been saved alive. His name was Jehosh. He was a baby only a year old when his grandmother Athalia seized the throne and his aunt, a sister of Ahaziah and the wife, the priest Jehoiah, hid him in the temple of the Lord and kept him safe from the hate of Queen Athalia. There he stayed for six years while Jehoiah, the priest, was preparing to make him king. When all things were ready and little Jehosh was seven years old, Jehoiah, the priest, brought him out of his hiding place and set him before the people and the rulers in the temple and placed a crown upon his head. Then all the people shouted, Long live the king, long live the king. Queen Athalia heard the noise of the shouting and came out of her palace to see what had taken place. She saw the little boy king standing by a pillar in the temple with the crown upon his head and around him the soldiers and the people crying aloud. Long live the king. Athalia was very angry as she saw this. She called for her servants and her soldiers to break up this gathering of the people and to take the boy king, but no one would follow her for they were all tired of her cruel rule and they wished to have for their king one who came from the line of David. Jehoiah said to the soldiers, Take this woman a prisoner and carry her out of the temple of the Lord. Let not her blood be spilled on the holy house. So they seized Athalia and dragged her out of the temple and killed her. Then Jehoiah and all the people made a promise to serve the Lord only. They tore down the house of the idol Baal and destroyed the images and broke its altar into pieces. They made the temple holy once more and set the house in order and offered sacrifices and held the daily worship before the altar. And all the people were glad to have a descendant of David one of the royal line once more on the throne of Judah. As long as Jehoiah the good priest lived, Joach ruled well and his people served the Lord. When King Joach grew up he wished to have the temple of the Lord made new and beautiful. For in the years that had passed since the temple had been built by Solomon it had grown old and had fallen into decay. Then too Queen Athalia and the men who worship Baal had broken down the walls in many places and they had carried away the gold and the silver of the temple to use for worship of Baal. At first King Joach told the priests and Levites who served in the temple to go through the land and ask the people for money to be spent in the fitting up of the temple. But the priests and the Levites were slow in the work and the king tried another plan for getting the money that was needed. He caused a large box or a chest to be made and it had a place at the door of the temple so that all would see it when they went to worship the Lord. And the lid of the box was a hole through which they dropped money into the box and the king caused word to be sent through all the land that the princes and the people should bring gifts of money and drop it into the chest whenever they came to temple. The people were glad and brought their gifts willingly for they all wished to have God's house be made beautiful. In a short time, the box was full of gold and silver. Then the king's officers opened the box and tied up the money and bags and placed the bags of money in a safe place. The box was filled with gold and silver many times until there was money in abundance to pay for all the work needed in the temple and for making new ornaments of gold and silver for the house. When Jehoiah the good priest was very old, he died. And after his death, there was no one to keep King Joach in the right way. The princes of the land loved to worship idols and did not serve God and they led King Joach into wicked ways after he had done so well. God was not pleased with Joach after he forsook the Lord and God allowed the Syrians of the North to come upon the land. They robbed the cities and left Joach sick and poor. Soon after the coming of the Syrians, his own servants killed him and made Amazia his son, King in his place. End of story number two, read by Christian Gonzalez on 7th April, 2008 in Kuwait city, Kuwait. Story number three of Halbot's story of the Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Halbot's story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman, Halbot, part five. Three kings and a great prophet. Second chronicles chapter 25 from verse one to verse 27 of chapter 28. Isaiah chapter six. Amazia was the ninth of the kings of Judah. If the years of Ataliah's rule be counted as a separate ring. Amazia worshiped the Lord but he did not serve the Lord with a perfect heart. He gathered an army of 300,000 men to make war on Edom and bring its people again under the rule of Judah. He hired also an army from Israel to help him in this war. But a prophet said to him, Oh king, do not let the army of Israel go with you against Edom for the Lord is not with the people of Israel. But go with your own men and be strong and brave and the Lord will help you. But how will I get back the money that I have paid to the army of Israel? Said Amazia to the prophet. Fear not said the prophet. The Lord is able to give you much more than you have lost. Then Amazia obeyed the Lord and sent back the men of Israel to their own land and went against the Edomites with the men of Judah. The Lord gave him a great victory in the land of Edom. Amazia was cruel to the people whom he conquered and killed very many of them in his anger. And when he came back from Edom, he brought with him the idol gods of that land. And although they could not save their own people, Amazia set them up for his own gods and burned incest to them and bowed down before them. And when a prophet of the Lord came to him and warned him that God was angry with him and would surely punish him for this wickedness, Amazia said to the prophet, who has asked you to give advice to the king? Keep still or you will be put to death. And the prophet answered him, I know that it is God's will that you shall be destroyed because you will not listen to the word of the Lord. Amaziah's punishment was not long delayed. For soon after this, he made war upon Jewish, the king of Israel, whose kingdom was far greater and stronger than his own. We read the story of Jewish in story 90. The two armies met at Besh Shemesh, not west of Jerusalem. Amaziah was beaten in a great battle. Many of his men were slain and Amaziah himself was taken prisoner by Joash, the king of Israel. Joash took the city of Jerusalem and broke down the wall and carried away all the treasures in the palace and in the temple of the Lord. After this, Amaziah lived 15 years but he never gained the power that he had lost. His nobles made a plan to kill him and Amaziah fled away from the city to escape them but they caught him and slew him and brought his body back to Jerusalem to be buried in the tombs of the kings. His reign began well but it ended ill because he failed to obey the word of the Lord. After Amaziah came his son Uzair who was also called Azariah. He was the 10th king of Judah. Uzair was only 16 years old when he began to reign and he was king for 52 years. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord during most of his reign. Uzair found the kingdom weak and he made it strong for the Lord helped him. He won back for Judah, the land of the Philistines, the land of the Ammonites on the east of Jordan and of the Arabians on the south. He built cities and made strong walls around them with towers full of weapons for defense against enemies. He loved the fields and planted trees and vineyards and raised crops of wheat and barley. But when Uzair was strong and rich his heart became proud and he no longer tried to do God's will. He sought to have the power of the high priest as well as that of the king. And he went into the holy place in the temple to offer incense upon the golden altar which was allowed to the priests only. The high priest Azariah followed Uzair into the holy place with the other priests and said to him, it is not for you to offer incense o King Uzair not to come into the holy place. This belongs to the priests alone. Go out of the holy place for you have disobeyed the Lord's command and it will not bring you honor but trouble. Uzair was standing before the golden altar with a censor of incense in his hand. Instantly the wide scales of leprosy rose upon his forehead. The priests saw in that moment that God had smitten Uzair with leprosy. Indeed he felt it himself and turned to leave the holy place but they would not wait for him to go out. They drove him out for the leper's presence made the house unholy. And from that day until he died Uzair was a leper. He could no longer sit as king but his son Jotun took his place. Nor was he allowed to live in the palace but he stayed in a house alone. And when he died they would not give him a place among the tombs of the kings but they buried him in a field outside. Jotun the 11th king ruled after his father's death 16 years. He served the Lord but he did not stop his people from worshiping idols. He was warned by his father's faith and was content to be a king without trying at the same time to be a priest and to offer incense in the temple. God was with Jotun and gave his kingdom some success. The next king the 12th was Ahaz who was the wickedest of all the kings of Judah. He left the service of God and worshiped the images of Baal. Worse than any other king he even offered some of his own children as bond offerings to the false gods. In his reign the house of the Lord was shut up and its treasures were taken away and it was left to fall into ruin. For his sins and the sins of his people God brought great suffering upon the land. The king of Israel, Pekah, came against Ahaz and killed more than 100,000 of the men of Judah among them the king's own son. The Israelites also took away many more men, women and children as captives. But a prophet of the Lord in Israel whose name was Odead came out to meet the rulers and said to them the Lord God was angry with Judah and gave its people into your hand. But do you now intend to keep your brothers of Judah as slaves? Have not you also sinned against the Lord? Now listen to the word of the Lord and set your brothers free and send them home. Then the rulers of Israel gave clothing to sort of the captives as we are in need. And set food before them. And they sent them home to their own land. Even giving to those that were weak among them asses to ride upon. They brought them to Jericho in the valley of the Jordan and gave them to their own people. When the Edomites came against Judah, King Ahaz sent to the Assyrians a great people far away to come and help him. The Assyrians came but they did not help him for they made themselves the rulers of Judah and robbed Ahaz of all that he had and laid heavy burdens upon the land. At last Ahaz died leaving his people worshipers of idols and under the power of the king of Assyria. In the days of these three kings, Uzair, Jotem and Ahaz, God raised up a great prophet in Judah whose name was Isaiah. The prophecies that he spoke in the name of the Lord are given in the book of Isaiah. In the year that King Uzair died, Isaiah was a young man. One day while he was worshiping in the temple, a wonderful vision rose suddenly before his sight. He saw the form of the Lord God upon a throne with the angels all around him. He saw also strange creatures called Seraphim standing before the throne of the Lord. Each of these had six wings. With two wings he covered his face before the glory of the Lord. With two wings he covered his feet and with two he flew through the air to do God's will. And these Seraphim called out to one another. Holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the young Isaiah felt the walls and the floor of the temple shaking at these voices. And he saw a cloud of smoke covering the house. Isaiah was filled with fear. He cried out saying, war has come to me, for I am a man of sinful lips and I live among a people of sinful lips. And now my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. Then one of the Seraphim took into his hand the thongs that were used in the sacrifices. He flew to the altar and with the thongs took up a burning cold. Then he flew to the place where Isaiah was standing and pressed the fiery cold to Isaiah's lips. And he said, this cold from God's altar has touched your lips and now your sin is taking away. And you are made clean. Then Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send to these people? Who will bear the message of the Lord to them? And Isaiah said, here are my Lord, send me. And the Lord said to Isaiah, you shall be my prophets and shall go to these people and shall give to them my words. But they will not listen to you nor understand you. Your words will do them no good but will seem to make their hearts hard and their ears heavy and their eyes short. For they will not hear with their ears nor see with their eyes nor understand with their hearts. Nor will they turn to me and be saved. And Isaiah said, how long must this be, O Lord? And the Lord said, until the cities are left waste without people and the houses without men to live in them and the land shall become utterly desolate and the people shall be taken far away into another land. But out of all this, there shall be a few people, a tent part to come back and to rise like a new tree from the roots where the old tree has been cut down. This tent part shall be the seed of a new people in the times to come. By this, Isaiah knew that, though his words might seem to do no good, yet he was to go on preaching. For long afterward, a new Judah should arise out of the rings of the old kingdom and should serve the Lord. Isaiah lived for many years and spoke the word of the Lord to his people until he was a very old man. He preached well for kings. Perhaps also a fifth were ruling. Some of these kings were friendly and listened to his words, but others were not willing to obey the prophet and do the will of God. And the kingdom of Judah gradually fell away from the worship of the Lord and followed the people of the tent tribes in the worship of idols. End of story three. Story four of Hurlbut's story of the Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, visit LibriVox.org. Hurlbut's story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut. Part five. The good king Hezekiah, second kings, 18. Verse one, to 20, verse 21. Second Chronicles 19, verse one, to 32, verse 33. Isaiah 36, verse one, to 38, verse 22. After Ahaz, the wickedest of the kings of Judah, came Hezekiah, who was the best of the kings. He listened to the words of the prophet Isaiah and obeyed the commands of the Lord. In the first month of his reign, when he was a young man, he called together the priests and the Levites, who had the charge of the house of the Lord and he said to them, my sons, give yourselves once more to the service of the Lord and be holy, as God commands you. Now, open the doors of the house of the Lord, which have been shut for these many years, and take out of the house all the people of Judah and take out of the house all the idols that have been placed in it, and make the place clean and pure from all evil things. Because the people have turned away from the Lord, he has been angry with us and has left us to our enemies. Now let us go back to the Lord and promise again to serve him. God has chosen you, my sons, to lead in his worship. Do not neglect the work that the Lord has given you to do. Then the temple was opened as of old. The idols were taken away. The altar was made holy to the Lord and the daily offering was laid upon it. The lamps were lighted in the holy place. The priests stood before the holy altar offering incense. The Levites and their robes sang the Psalms of David while the silver trumpets made music, and the people came up to worship in the temple as they had not come in many years. For an account of the services of worship sees Story 28. You remember that the great feast of the Passover kept in mind how the children of Israel had come out of Egypt. See Story 23. For a long time the people had ceased to keep this feast, both in Judah and in Israel. King Hezekiah sent commands through all Judah for the people to come up to Jerusalem and to worship the Lord in this feast. He also sent the men through the land of Israel, the ten tribes, to ask the men of Israel also to come up with their brothers of Judah to Jerusalem and to keep the feast. At that time Hosea, the last king of Israel, was on the throne. The land was overrun by the Assyrians and the kingdom was very weak and nearing its end. See Story 87. Most of the people in Israel were worshipers of idols and had forgotten God's law. They laughed at Hezekiah's messengers and would not come to the feast. But in many places in Israel there were some who had listened to the prophets of the Lord and these came up to worship with the men of Judah. For each family they roasted a lamb and with it ate the unleavened bread made without yeast and they praised the Lord and had led their fathers out of Egypt to their own land. After the feast, when the people had given themselves once more to the service of God, King Hezekiah began to destroy the idols that were everywhere in Judah. He sent men to break down the images, to tear in pieces the altars to the false gods, and to cut down the trees under which the altars stood. You remember that Moses made a serpent of brass in the wilderness, See Story 32. The image had been brought to Jerusalem and was still kept there in the days of Hezekiah. The people were worshiping it as an idol and were burning incense before it. Hezekiah said, It is nothing but a piece of brass and he commanded that it should be broken up. Everywhere he called upon his people to turn from the idols to destroy them and to worship the Lord God. When Hezekiah became king, the kingdoms of Israel and Syria and Judah with all the lands near them were under the power of the great kingdom of the Assyrians. Each land had its own king but he ruled under the king of Assyria and every year a heavy tax was laid upon the people to be paid to the Assyrians. After a few years Hezekiah thought that he was strong enough to set his kingdom free from the Assyrian rule. He refused to pay the tax any longer and gathered in an army and built the walls of Jerusalem higher and made ready for a war with the Assyrians. But Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, came into the land of Judah with a great army and took all the cities in the west of Judah and threatened to take Jerusalem also. Then Hezekiah saw that he had made a mistake. He was not able to fight the Assyrians the most powerful of all the nations in that part of the world. He sent word to the king of Assyria saying, I will no more resist your rule forgive me for the past and I will pay whatever you ask. Then the king of Assyria laid upon Hezekiah and his people a tax heavier than before. To obtain the money Hezekiah took all the gold and silver in the temple all that was in his own palace and all that he could find among the people and sent it to the Assyrians. But even then the king of Assyria was not satisfied. He sent his princes to Jerusalem with this message We are going to destroy this city and to take you away into another land a land far away as we have taken the people of Israel away and as we have carried captive other peoples. The gods of other nations have not been able to save those who trusted in them against us and your God will not be able to save you. Now give yourselves up to the great king of Assyria and go to the land where he will send you. When King Hezekiah heard this he was filled with fear. He took the letter into the house of the Lord and spread it out before the altar and called upon the Lord to help him and to save his people. Then he sent his princes to the prophet Isaiah to ask him to give them some word from the Lord and Isaiah said Thus set the Lord The king of Assyria shall not come to this city nor shall he shoot an arrow against it but he shall go back to his own land by the same way that he came and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land for I will defend this city and will save it for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. Just at that time Sennacherib, the king of Assyria heard that a great army was marching against him from another land. He turned away from the land of Judah and went to meet these new enemies and the Lord sent upon the army of the Assyrians a sudden and terrible plague so that in one night nearly two hundred thousand of them died in their camp. Then King Sennacherib hastened back to his own land and never again came to the land of Judah nor did he again send an army there and years after this while he was worshiping his idle God in his temple at Nineveh, his chief city two of his sons came upon him and slew him with the sword they escaped into a distant land and Ishar Haddan, another of his sons became king over the lands ruled by the Assyrians thus did God save his city and his people from their enemies because they looked to him for help at the time while the Assyrians were in the land and the kingdom was in great danger Hezekiah was suddenly stricken with a deadly disease it was a tumor or a cancer which no physician could cure and the prophet Isaiah said to him Thus seth the Lord, set your house in order and prepare to leave your kingdom for you shall die and not live But King Hezekiah felt that in a time of such trouble to the land he could not be spared especially as at that time he had no son who could take charge of the kingdom Then Hezekiah upon his bed prayed to the Lord that he might live and he said O Lord, I beseech thee Remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which was good in thy sight Let me live and not die, O Lord The Lord heard Hezekiah's prayer and before Isaiah had reached the middle of the city on his way home the Lord said to him Turn again and say to Hezekiah the prince of my people Thus seth the Lord I have heard your prayer I have seen your tears I will heal you and in three days you shall go up to the house of the Lord I will add to your life fifteen years and I will save this city from the king of Assyria Then Isaiah the prophet came again to Hezekiah and spoke to him the word of the Lord and he said also lay on the tumor a plaster made of figs and he shall be cured When Hezekiah heard the words of Isaiah he said what sign will the Lord give to show that he will cure me and that I shall again go up to the house of the Lord and Isaiah said the Lord will give you a sign and you shall choose it yourself Shall the shadow on the dial go forward ten degrees or go back ten degrees Near the palace was standing a sundial by which the time of the day was shown for there were no clocks in those years and Hezekiah said it is easy for the shadow to go forward ten degrees let it go back ten degrees Then Isaiah the prophet called upon the Lord and the Lord heard him and caused the shadow to go backward on the sundial ten degrees and within three days Hezekiah was well and went to worship in the house of the Lord After this Hezekiah lived fifteen years in honor When he died all the land mourned for him as the best of the kings End of Story 4 Read by Dennis Sayers in Modesto, California for LibriVox Spring 2008 Story 5 of Hurlbut's Story of the Bible This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer visit LibriVox.org Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut Part 5 The Lost Book Found in the Temple 2 Kings 21 verse 1 to 23 verse 25 2 Chronicles 33 verse 1 to 35 verse 27 Manasseh the 14th king of Judah followed the sins of his grandfather Ahaz and not the good deeds of his father Hezekiah He was only twelve years old when he began to reign Too young for so great a carer as the kingdom and in his youth he turned away from the teachings of the prophet Isaiah and from the service of the Lord He built again the altars to Baal and Asherah which his father Hezekiah had thrown down He worshipped the sun, the moon, and stars He set up images even in the temple the house of the Lord When Manasseh grew older and had children of his own he made them go through the fire seeking to please the false gods He would not listen to the prophets whom the Lord sent to warn him and there is reason to believe though the Bible does not say it that he put to death the good prophet Isaiah And Manasseh in his wickedness reigned a long time longer than any of the wicked kings who had gone before him so that he led his people further away from God than even Ahaz who had been as wicked as Manasseh Because of Manasseh's sins and the sins of his people the Lord brought upon the land the generals of the Assyrian army with their host They took Manasseh a prisoner and bound him with chains and carried him to the city of Babylon where the king of Assyria was then living There Manasseh was kept a prisoner for a long time While he was in prison Manasseh saw how wicked he had been and he sought the Lord He prayed to be forgiven for his sins and the Lord heard him Afterward the king of Assyria allowed Manasseh to rule over his land again Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was the only true God and from that time he worshiped the Lord only He took the altars and the images of the false gods out of the temple and built again the altar of the Lord and caused the offerings to be laid upon it He commanded his people to worship the Lord and to leave the idols but they had gone too far to come back and only a few of them followed their king's example in seeking the Lord He could easily lead his people into sin but he could not bring them back to God After a long reign of 55 years Manasseh died and his son Amon became king He reigned only two years but they were years of wickedness and of worshiping idols Then his servants in his own house killed Amon but the people killed them in turn and made his son Josiah king Josiah the 16th king was only 8 years old when his father Amon was slain At first he was too young to rule over the land and the princes of his court governed in his name but when Josiah was 16 years old he chose the Lord God of his father David the God whom Hezekiah had worshipped and he served the Lord more fully than any of the kings who had gone before him When he was 20 years old he began to clear away the idols and idol temples from the land of Judah He did this work more thoroughly than it had ever been done before by Jehoshaphat or by Hezekiah for he left in all the land not a single place where idols were worshiped He went even beyond his own borders into the land that had been the land of Israel from which most of the people had been carried away captive long before and in every place he broke down the altars and burned the images and even dug up the bones of the idol priests and burned them with their images He came to Bethel 12 miles north of Jerusalem where Jeroboam of Israel had built the temple for the worship of the golden calves 200 years before Seastory 75 There as he was burning the bones of the idol priests upon the ruins of their own altars he found a tomb and asked who was buried there They said this is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and warned King Jeroboam of one who would do these very things that you were doing Let his bones rest said King Josiah let no man touch the bones of the prophet While the men of King Josiah were at work in the temple on Mount Moriah taking away the idols and making the house pure once more they found an old book written upon rolls of leather It was the book of the law of the Lord given by Moses but it had been hidden so long that men had forgotten it They brought the book and read from it aloud to the king And when King Josiah heard the words of the law and the warning of the woes that were to come upon the people for disobeying them they were filled with alarm He said to the rulers Go and ask of the Lord for me and for all the people Great is the anger of the Lord against us because our fathers have disobeyed the words of the Lord written in this book They sought for a prophet to give them the word of the Lord and they found a woman named Haldah living in Jerusalem whom the word of the Lord came She was called a prophetess and they brought to her the message of King Josiah And the prophetess Haldah said to them Thus seth the Lord the God of Israel Go and tell the man who has sent you Behold, I will bring evil on this place and on the people living in it because they have forsaken the Lord and have worshiped other gods My anger will fall upon this city and upon this land but because King Josiah has sought the Lord and has done God's will and he has called upon the Lord therefore the Lord says that he will hold back his anger against the city and this land as long as Josiah lives and he shall go down to his grave before all these evils come upon Judah and Jerusalem When Josiah heard this he called all the princes and the priests and the people to meet in the temple of the Lord There the king stood by a pillar and read to all the people the words of the book that had been found Then the king and all his people made a promise to serve the Lord to his will and to keep his law with all their hearts and this promise they kept while Josiah lived but that was only a few years All this time the kingdom of Judah like all the kingdoms around was a part of the greater kingdom or empire of Assyria But the great kings of Assyria had passed away and now the kingdom of the empire of Assyria was becoming weak and falling apart Pharaoh Neco the king of Egypt went to war with the Assyrians and on his way passed through the land of Judah and what had once been Israel before its people were carried away captive Josiah thought that as the king of Assyria was his overlord he must fight against the king of Egypt who was coming Pharaoh Neco the king of Egypt sent a message to King Josiah saying I have nothing against you O king of Judah and I am not coming to make war on you but on the king of Assyria God has sent me and commanded me to make haste to not stand in my way or you may be destroyed But Josiah would not heed the message of the king of Egypt He went out against him with his army and met him in battle on the great plane of Estralan where so many battles had been fought before and have been fought since There the Egyptians won a victory and in the fight the archers shot King Josiah He died in his chariot and they brought his dead body to Jerusalem mourned and wept for the king whom they loved because he had ruled wisely and well and with the good king Josiah died the last hope of the kingdom of Judah End of Story 5 Read by Denis airs in Modesto California for LibriVox Spring 2008 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by John Leader Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut Part 5 The Last Four Kings of Judah and the Weeping Prophet From 2 Kings Chapter 23 verse 31 to Chapter 25 verse 22 Second Chronicles 36 verses 1 to 21 Jeremiah 22 verses 10 through 12 Chapter 24 verses 1 to 10 Chapter 29 verses 1 to 29 and Chapter 36 verse 1 to Chapter 43 verse 13 When the good king Josiah fell in battle the people of the land made his son Jehoahaz king At that time all the kingdoms around Judah were in confusion The great empire of Assyria had been the ruler of nearly all that part of the world but now it had been broken up Nineveh, its chief city had been destroyed and Egypt, Babylonia and other lands were at war each striving to take the place of Assyria as the ruler of the nations Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt whose warriors had slain king Josiah became for a time the master of the lands between Egypt and the Euphrates river He felt that he could not trust that young king Jehoahaz and he took his crown from him and carried him a captive down to Egypt so that Jehoahaz the 17th king reigned only three months The prophet Jeremiah who arose during Josiah's reign spoke thus of the young king who so soon was taken away as a prisoner Weep not for the dead king Josiah nor sorrow over him but weep for him that goeth away the king Jehoahaz for he shall return no more nor shall he again see his own land in the place where they have led him captive there shall he die and he shall look upon this land The man whom Pharaoh Neco set up as king over Judah in the place of Jehoahaz was his brother Jehoachim another son of Josiah but he was not like his father for he lived most wickedly and led his people back to the idols which Josiah had tried to destroy Jeremiah the prophet spoke to him the words of the Lord and warned him that the evil way in which he was going would surely end in ruin to the king and the people this made king Jehoachim very angry he tried to kill the prophet and to save his life Jeremiah was hidden by his friends Jeremiah could no longer go out among the people nor stand in the temple to speak the word of the Lord so he wrote upon a roll God's message and gave it to his friend Baruch Baruch was reading it some officers of the king came and took the roll away and brought it to the king King Jehoachim was sitting in his palace with the princes around him and a fire was burning before him for it was the winter time the officer began to read the roll before the king and the princes but when he had read a few pages the king took up a knife and began cutting the leaves and throwing them into the fire the princes were shocked at this for they knew that the writing on the roll was God's word to the king and the people they begged the king not to destroy the roll but he would not heed them he went on cutting up the roll and throwing it in the fire until it was all burned the king told his officers to take Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch who read his words and he would have killed them if he had found them but they were hidden for the Lord kept them in safety Jehoachim reigned a few years as the servant of the king of Egypt but soon the Egyptians lost all the lands that they had gained outside of their own country and the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar rose to power over the nations and took the place of empire that had been held by the Assyrians Nebuchadnezzar was the son of the king of Babylon and at first was the general of his army he came against Judah and Jerusalem but Jehoachim did not dare to fight with him he promised to serve Nebuchadnezzar and on that condition was allowed to remain king but no sooner had the Babylonian army gone away that he broke his promise and rose against Babylon and tried to make himself free but in this king Jehoachim did not succeed he lost his kingdom and his life for either by the Babylonians or by his own people he was slain and his dead body like that of a beast was thrown outside the gate of the city he had reigned in wickedness eleven years and he died in disgrace Jehoachim's young son Jehoachim who was also called Konaia or Jechania king by the people but he reigned only three months for Nebuchadnezzar who was now the king of Babylon and was conquering all the lands came with his army and took the city of Jerusalem he carried the young king a captive to Babylon as Neco had carried Jehoahaz a captive to Egypt eleven years before with king Jehoachim were taken away many of the nobles and rulers and people of the land most of these were worshipers of the Lord who carried with them to the land of Babylonia a love for the Lord and who served him there for their trouble only drew them closer to their God after these captives had been taken away the Lord showed to Jeremiah in the temple a vision of what should come to pass Jeremiah saw two baskets of figs one basket was full of fresh, ripe figs the best that could be found the other basket was full of poor, decayed figs not fit to be eaten the Lord said Jeremiah what do you see and Jeremiah said figs the good figs very good and the bad figs very bad figs so bad that they cannot be eaten then the Lord said to Jeremiah like these good figs the good figs are the captives who have been taken away to the land of Babylon I will care for them and keep them and will bring them again to this land I will give them a heart to know me and I will be their God and they shall be my people and the bad figs are like those who are left in this land the king who shall reign over them and his princes and his people they shall suffer and shall die by the sword and famine and by plague until they are destroyed God showed Jeremiah in this way that the captives in Babylon were the hope of the nation and afterward Jeremiah sent a letter to these captives saying thus say the Lord to those who have been carried away captive build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them and have sons and daughters and be married in that land when they grow up and pray the Lord to give peace to the city and the land where you are living for you and your children shall stay there seventy years and after seventy years they shall come again to their own land in peace for my thoughts sayeth the Lord are thoughts of peace and kindness toward you you shall call upon me and I will hear you you shall seek me and find me and seek me with all your heart after Jehoekin and the captives had been taken away Nebuchadnezzar set up as king in Judah Zedekhaya the uncle of Jehoekin and another son of Josiah he was the twentieth and last king of the kingdom of Judah he began by promising to be true and faithful to his overlord Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon who had made him king but very soon he was led by the nobles who stood around his throne to break his promise and to throw off the rule of Babylon also he left the worship of the Lord as did his people and began to pray to the idols of wood and stone that could give him no help Jeremiah the prophet told king Zedekhaya that he was doing wickedly in breaking his promises and interning from the Lord to idols he told Zedekhaya that he would fail and would bring his kingdom to ruin he said it is better to obey the king of Babylon than to fight against him for God will not bless you and your people in breaking your word the king of Babylon will come and will destroy this city you shall see him face to face and he will take you away a captive to his own land and this city shall be destroyed this made the princes and nobles very angry against Jeremiah they said this man Jeremiah is an enemy of his land and a friend to the king of Babylon he is a traitor and should be put to death Zedekhaya said to his nobles Jeremiah is in your hands you can do with him what you choose the king cannot help him against you then these men seized Jeremiah and took him to the prison and threw him into a dungeon down below the floor and filled with mud and filth into which the prophets sank and there they left him to die but in the court of the king there was one kind man a negro named Abedmelech he found Jeremiah in the dungeon and let down to him a rope and drew him up and brought him to a safe and dry place though still in the prison by this time Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and his army were again before the city of Jerusalem laying siege to it no one could go out or come in no food could be found for the people and many of them starved to death the soldiers of Nebuchadnezzar built forts and threw darts and stones and broke down the gates and made great openings in the walls of the city when king Zedekhaya saw that the city must fall before its enemies he tried to escape but the men of Babylon followed him and took him prisoner and with him all his family his wives and his sons they were all brought before king Nebuchadnezzar so that it came to pass as the prophet had said Zedekhaya saw the king of Babylon but he saw what was more terrible he saw all his sons slain before him then Zedekhaya's eyes were put out and a blinded captive he was dragged away to Babylon the Babylonian soldiers killed all the leaders of the people who had led Zedekhaya to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar and the rest of the people except the very poorest in the land they took away to the land of Babylon the king of Babylon was friendly to Jeremiah the prophet because of the advice that he had given to Zedekhaya and his people the ruler whom Nebuchadnezzar set over the city opened the door of Jeremiah's prison and allowed him to choose between going to Babylon with the captives or staying with the poor people in the land Jeremiah chose to stay but not long after he was taken down to Egypt by enemies to the king of Babylon and there in Egypt Jeremiah died some think that he was slain his life had been sad for he had seen nothing but evil come upon his land and his message from the Lord had been a message of woe and wrath because of his sorrow Jeremiah has been called the weeping prophet Nebuchadnezzar carried all that was left of the valuable things in the temple and then he burned the buildings he tore down the walls of Jerusalem and set the city on fire so all that was left of the city of David and the temple of Solomon was a heap of ashes and blackened stones and thus the kingdom of Judah ended nearly 400 years after Rehoboam became its first king End of story number 6 Recording by John leader Bloomington Illinois Story 7 of Hurlbert's story of the Bible This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Hurlbert's story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbert Part 5 What Ezekiel saw in the valley Ezekiel Chapter 37 All that was left now of the people of Judah was a company of captives carried away from their own land to the land of Babylon This was a long sorrowful journey with their wives and children dragged by cruel soldiers over mountains and valleys almost a thousand miles They could not go straight across the vast desert which lies between the land of Judah and the plains of Babylonia They were led around this desert far to the north through Syria up to the Euphrates river and then following the great river in all its windings down in captivity There, in the land of Babylonia or Kaldia they found rest at last When they were once in their new home the captives met with less trouble than they had feared For the people of the land under Nebuchadnezzar the great king treated them kindly and gave them fields to work in as their own The soil was rich and they could raise large crops They planted gardens and built for themselves houses Some of them went to live in the cities and became rich and some were in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar and rose to high places as nobles and princes standing next to the king in rank and honor And the best of all was that these captives in a strange land did not worship idols They saw the images of the Babylonian guards all around them but they did not bow down to them They worshipped the Lord God of their fathers and the Lord only The idol worshippers in Judah had been slain and most of the captives were good men and women who taught their children to love and serve the Lord And these people did not forget the land from which they had come They loved the land of Israel and they taught their children the most songs about it Some of these songs which the captive Jews sang in the land of Kaldia are in the book of Psalms Here is a part of one of these songs By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down ye we wept when we remembered Zion Upon the willow trees in the midst of that land we hanged the power harps For there they that led us captive and they that wanted us asked us to be glad saying sing us one of the songs of Zion How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land If I forget thee, O Jerusalem Let my right hand forget her skill Let my tongue live to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember thee If I do not prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy From this time these people were called Jews a name which means people of Judah and the Jews everywhere in the world belong to these people for they have sprung or descended from the men who once lived in the land of Judah and because they had once belonged to the twelve tribes of Israel and ten of the tribes had been lost and their kingdom had forever passed away they were also spoken of as Israelites So from this time people of Judah Jews and Israelites all mean the people who had come from the land of Judah and their descendants after them God was good to his people in the land of Babylon or Kaldia another name by which this country was called He sent to them prophets who showed to them the way of the Lord One of these prophets was Daniel a young man who lived in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar another was a priest named Ezekiel who lived among the captive people beside a river in Kaldia called the River Keban God gave to Ezekiel wonderful visions he saw the throne of the Lord and the strange creatures with six wings that the prophet Isaiah had seen long before and he heard the voice of the Lord telling him of what should come to his people in the years to come At one time the Lord lifted up Ezekiel to the middle of a great valley the prophet looked around and saw that the valley was covered with the bones of man as though a great battle had been fought upon it and the bodies of the slain had been left there and they had become a vast army of dry bones Son of Man spoke the voice of the Lord to Ezekiel Can these dry bones live again? and Ezekiel answered Oh Lord now knowest whether these dry bones can live then the Lord said to Ezekiel preach to these dry bones Oh Son of Man and say to them Oh ye dry bones hear the voice of the Lord thus saith the Lord I will send breath into you and you shall live and I will put flesh upon you and cover you with skin and you shall be alive again and then Ezekiel spoke to the army of dry bones spread over the valley as the Lord bade him speak and while he was speaking there sounded a noise of rolling thunder and all through the field the different bones began to come together one part to another part until they were no more loose bones but skeletons of bones fitted together then another change came Suddenly the flesh grew over all the bones and they lay on the ground like an army of dead men a host of bodies without life then the Lord said to Ezekiel speak to the wind Oh Son of Man speak and say come from the four winds Oh breath and breathe upon this lane that they may live then Ezekiel called upon the wind to come and while he was speaking the dead bodies began to breathe then they stood up on their feet a great army of living men filling the whole valley then the Lord said to Ezekiel Son of Man these dry bones are the people of Israel they seem to be lost and dead and without hope but they shall live again for I the Lord will put life into them and they shall go back to their own land and be a people once more I the Lord has spoken to it and I will do it when Ezekiel told the captive people this vision their hearts were lifted up with a new hope that they should see their own land again End of story 7 Recording by Ezwa in Belgium in April 2008 Story number 8 of her open story of the Bible This is a Libravax recording during the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit Libravax.org Recording by Megan Conkel Herobot's story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Herobot Part 5 The Jewish captives in the court of the king from Daniel chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 2 verse 49 In story 97 we read of Jehoiakim the wicked son of the good king Josiah who was ruling over the land of Judah Nebuchadnezzar, the great conqueror of the nations came from Babylon with his army of Chaldean soldiers He took the city of Jerusalem and made Jehoiakim promise to submit to him as his master a promise that Jehoiakim soon broke and when Nebuchadnezzar went back to his own land he took with him all the gold and silver that he could find in the temple and he carried away as captives very many of the princes and nobles the best people in the land of Judah when these Jews were brought to the land of Chaldea or Babylon King Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to the prince who had charged with his palace to choose among these Jewish captives some young men that were of noble rank and beautiful in their looks and also quick and bright in their minds young men who would be able to learn readily these young men were to be placed in the care of wise men who should teach them all that they knew and fit them to stand before the king of Babylon so that they might be his helpers and the king wished them to be wise so that they might give him advice in ruling the people among the young men thus chosen were four Jews men who had been brought from Judah by order of the king the names of these men were changed one of them Daniel was to be called Balthashazzar the other three young men were called Shadrach Meshach and Abednego these four young men were taught in all the knowledge of the Chaldeans and after three years of training they came to the king's palace to stand before the king after they came to the palace the chief of the princes in the palace sent to these men as a special honour some of the dishes of food from the king's table and some of the wine that was set apart for the king and his princess to drink but both the meat and the wine of the king's table had been a part of the offerings to the idols of wood and stone that were worshipped by the Chaldeans these young Jews felt that if they should take such food they too would be worshipping idols and too the laws of the Jews were very strict with regard to what kind of food might be eaten and how it should be cooked food of certain kinds was called unclean and the Jews were forbidden to touch it these young Jews far away from their own land and from their temple felt that they must be very careful to do nothing forbidden by the laws which God had given to their people they said to the chief of the nobles in the palace we cannot eat this meat and drink this wine by our laws the chief of the nobles said to Daniel if you do not eat the food that is given you the king will see that you are not looking well he will be angry with me for not giving you better care what shall I do I am afraid that the king may command me to be put to death Daniel said give us vegetable food and bread let us eat no meat and drink no wine for ten days and see if we do not look well fed the chief of the nobles to whose care these young men had been given loved Daniel as everyone loved him who knew him so he did as Daniel asked he took away the meat and the wine and gave to these young Jews only vegetables and bread at the end of ten days the four young men were brought into the room where the great king Nebuchadnezzar sat and they bowed low before him king Nebuchadnezzar was pleased with these four young men more than with any others who stood before him he found them wise and faithful in the work given to them and able to rule over men under them and these four men came to the highest places in the kingdom of the Chaldeans and Daniel one of these men was more than a wise man he was a prophet like Elijah and Elisha and Jeremiah God gave to him to know many things that were coming to pass and when God sent to any man a dream that had a deep meaning like Joseph in story sixteen Daniel could tell what was the meaning of the dream at one time king Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream which troubled him greatly when he awakened he knew that the dream had some deep meaning but in the morning he had forgotten what the dream was he sent for the wise men who had in times past given him the meaning of his dreams and said to them oh you wise men I have dreamed a wonderful dream but I have forgotten it now tell me what my dream was and then tell me what it means now I am sure that it had a meaning the wise men said oh king may you live forever if you will tell us your dream we will tell you its meaning but we have no power to tell both the dream and its meaning that only the gods can know the king became very angry for these men had claimed that their gods gave them all knowledge he said tell me the dream and its meaning and I will give you rich reward and high honor but if you cannot tell I shall know that you are liars and you shall be put to death the wise men cannot do what the king asked and in great fury he gave command that all of them should be slain among these men were Daniel and his three friends Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and these four Jews were to be slain with the rest of the wise men Daniel said to the chief captain who had been sent to kill the wise men give me a little time and I will call upon my god I know that he will help me to tell to the king his dream and its meaning so time was given and Daniel and his three friends prayed to the lord god that night the lord gave to Daniel the secret of the king's dream and its meaning then Daniel gave praise and thanks to the lord and in the morning he said to the king's captain do not kill the wise men take me before the king and I will show him his dream and its meaning then in haste Daniel was brought before king Nebuchadnezzar the king said to him are you able to tell me the dream that I dreamed and the meaning of it Daniel answered the wise men of Babylon who looked to their idol gods cannot tell the king his dream but there is a god in heaven who knows all things and he has given me his servant to know your dream and the meaning of it this is the dream oh king you saw a great image tall and noble looking the head of this image was of gold his breast and his arms were of silver his waist and his hips of brass his legs of iron and his feet and toes were of iron and clay mixed together and while this great image was standing you saw a stone cut out without hands and the stone rolled and dashed against the feet of the image and the whole image fell down and was broken in pieces and was crushed and ground into a pot or so fine that the wind blew it away like chaff and you saw the stone that struck the image grow until it became a mountain and it filled the whole world this was your dream oh king and Daniel went on and said and this oh king is the meaning of the dream God has shown to you what shall come to pass in the years that are to be you are that head of gold oh king for that head means your kingdom that now is after your kingdom has passed away another kingdom shall take its place the shoulders and arms of silver that kingdom shall be followed by another that kingdom shall be followed by another the waist and hips of brass and after that shall come one more kingdom that of iron but as you saw a stone cut out without hands so while the last of these kingdoms shall be standing the Lord God of Heaven shall set up his kingdom and God's kingdom like that stone shall be small at first but it shall break down and destroy all those kingdoms they shall pass away and perish before it and as you saw the stone grow into a mountain no God's kingdom shall become great and shall rule all the lands and that kingdom of God shall never pass away but shall last forever when King Nebuchadnezzar heard this he was filled with wonder he bowed down before Daniel and worshiped him as though Daniel were our God then he gave to him great presence and made him ruler over the part of his kingdom where the city of Babylon was standing he gave to Shadrach Meshach and Abednego Daniel's friends high offices Daniel himself he kept in his palace to be near him all the time end of story number eight story number nine of Hurlbut's story of the Bible this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Hurlbut's story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut part five the golden image and the fiery furnace Daniel three one to thirty at one time King Nebuchadnezzar caused a great image to be made and to be covered with gold this image he set up as an idol to be worshiped on the plain of Jura near the city of Babylon when it was finished it stood upon its spacer foundation almost a hundred feet high so that upon the plain it could be seen far away then the king sent out a command for all the princes and rulers and nobles in the land to come to a great gathering when the image was to be set apart for worship the great men of the kingdom came from far and near and stood around the image among them by command of the king were Daniel's three friends the young Jews a black and a bed-nego for some reason Daniel himself was not there he may have been busy with the work of the kingdom and some other place at one moment in the service before the image all the trumpets sounded the drums were beaten and music was made upon musical instruments of all kinds as a signal for all the people to kneel down and worship the great golden image but while the people were kneeling there were three men who stood up and would not bow down these were the three young Jews Shadrach, Meshach, and a bed-nego they knelt down before the Lord God only many of the nobles had been jealous of these young men because they had been lifted to high places in the rule of the kingdom and these men who hated Daniel and his friends were glad to find that these three men had not obeyed the command but could nether the king had said that if anyone did not worship the golden image he should be thrown into a furnace of fire these men who hated the Jews came to the king and said oh king may you live forever you gave orders that when the music sounded everyone should bow down and worship the golden image and that if any man did not worship he should be thrown into a furnace of fire there are some Jews there are some rulers in the land and they have not done as you commanded their names are Shadrach, Meshach, and a bed-nego they do not serve your gods nor worship the golden image that you have set up then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage and fury knowing that anyone should dare to disobey his words he sent for these three men and said to them oh Shadrach, Meshach, and a bed-nego was it by purpose that you did not fall down the image of gold the music shall sound once more and if you then will worship the image it shall be well but if you will not then you shall be thrown into the furnace of fire to die these three young men were not afraid of the king they said oh king Nebuchadnezzar we are ready to answer you at once the god whom we serve is able to save us from the fiery furnace and we know that he will save us but if it is God's will you may die even then you may understand oh king that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image that you have set up this answer made the king more furious than before he said to his servants make a fire in the furnace hotter than ever it has been before as hot as fire can be made and throw these three men into it then the soldiers of the king's army seized the three young jews with their turbans or hats on their heads they tied them with ropes and dragged them to the mouth of the furnace and threw them into the fire the flames rushed from the open door with such fury that they burned even to death the soldiers who were holding these men and the men themselves fell down bound into the middle of the fiery furnace king Nebuchadnezzar stood in front of the furnace and looked into the open door and he looked he was filled with wonder at what he saw and he said to the nobles around him did we not throw three men bound into the fire how is it then that I see four men loose walking in the furnace and the fourth man looks as though he were a son of the gods the king came near to the door of the furnace as the fire became lower and he called out to the three men within it and a bednego ye who served the most high god come out of the fire and come to me they came out and stood before the king in the sight of all the princes and nobles and rulers and everyone could see that they were alive their garments had not been scorched not their hair singed nor was there even the smell of fire upon them the king Nebuchadnezzar said before all his rulers he would be the god of these men who has sent his angel and saved their lives I make a law that no man in all my kingdoms shall say a word against their god for there is no other god who can save in this manner and if any man speaks a word against their god the most high god that man shall be cut in pieces and his house shall be torn down and after this the king lifted up these three young men to still higher places to travel on End of Story Number 9 Recording by Sean McGahy DuctapeGuy.net Story Number 10 of Hurlbut's Story of the Bible This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut Part 5 Cut Down and Grew Again Daniel 4.1-37 This is the story that King Nebuchadnezzar himself told to all the people in the great kingdom of a strange dream that came to him the meaning of the dream as it was given by Daniel and how the dream came true He said, Nebuchadnezzar the king sends this message to all the people and nations that live in all the world May peace be given to you It has seemed good to me to show you the signs and wonders that the Most High God has sent to me His kingdom is without end and his rule is from age to age forever I, King Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in my house and was living at peace in my palace One night a dream came to me which made me afraid and my thoughts and my visions made me troubled in heart I sent for all the wise men of Babylon to come before me and tell me what was the meaning of my dream and not tell me what the meaning was because they could not At last came Daniel in whom is the spirit of the holy gods and to him I said Oh Daniel, master of the wise men I know that in you is the spirit of the holy gods and that no secret is hidden from you Now tell me what is the meaning of the dream that has come to me This was the dream I saw a tree standing upon the earth It grew until the top of it reached up to heaven so great that it could be seen over all the earth The leaves of it were beautiful and its fruit was in plenty and gave food for all The beasts in the field stood in its shadow and the birds of the heaven lived on its branches and many people ate of its fruit I saw in my dream that a holy one came down from heaven He cried aloud and said Hue down the tree and cut off its branches shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit Let the beasts get away from beneath it and the birds fly from its branches but leave the stump of the tree with its roots in the ground with a band of iron and a brass around it and the grass of the field growing about it Let the stump be wet with the dew from heaven and let it be among the beasts eating the grass of the field and let seven years pass over it that those who live may know that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of men and gives them as is pleasing to his will This dream I saw and now, O Daniel, whose name is Baltashazar, tell me what it means Then Daniel stood surprised and wondering and was in deep trouble and I, Nebuchadnezzar, said to him Daniel, let not the dream give you trouble fear not to tell me what is the meaning of it Then Daniel said to me My Lord, O King may the dream be to those who hate you and the meaning to your enemies The tree which you saw with green leaves and rich fruit and height reaching to heaven and in sight of all the earth that tree is yourself You have become great Your power reaches up to heaven and your rule is over all the lands And as you saw Holy One coming down from heaven saying cut down the tree and destroy it but leave it stump in the earth with a band of iron and a brass until seven years pass over it This is the meaning, O King and it is the command of the Most High God that shall come upon my Lord the King O King shall be driven away from men You shall live with the beasts of the field You shall be made to eat grass like oxen You shall be wet with the dew of heaven and seven years shall pass over you until you know that the Most High God rules in your kingdom and gives it to the one whom he chooses And as the Holy One gave command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots so it shall be with you Your kingdom shall stand and shall be sure to you and shall come back to you You have known that he who sits in the heaven shall rule over the earth And now, O King, take my advice and break off from your sins and do right and show mercy to the poor It may be that God will give to you more days of peace All this, Daniel said to me King Nebuchadnezzar and it came to pass Twelve months afterwards I was walking in my kingly palace I looked over the city and said Is not this great Babylon that I have built for my own royal home by my power and for my own glory? While the word was in my mouth a voice fell from heaven saying O King Nebuchadnezzar the word has been spoken and your kingdom is gone from you and in that hour my reason left me and another heart was given to me the heart of a beast instead of the heart of a man I was driven out of my palace and lived among the beasts and ate the grass as oxen eat it and my body was wet with the dew of heaven I was grown like eagles feathers and my nails like birds claws and at the end of seven years my mind came back to me and my reason returned I blessed the king of heaven and praised him that lives forever my kingdom was given to me once more my princes and rulers came to me again and I was again the king over all the lands Now I, Nebuchadnezzar praise and honor the king of heaven his words are truth and his works are right and pride he is able to make humble this was the story of the seven years madness of King Nebuchadnezzar and of his reason and his power coming back to him again End of story number 10 Story number 11 of Hurlbut's Story of the Bible This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by John Lieder Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut Part 5 The Writing Upon the Wall Daniel 5 Verses 1-31 The great kingdom or empire of Nebuchadnezzar was made up of many smaller kingdoms which he had conquered As long as he lived his kingdom was strong but as soon as he died it began to fall in pieces His son became king in his place but was soon slain and one king followed another quickly for some years The last king was named Nebonitis He made his son Belchazar king with himself and left Belchazar to rule in the city of Babylon while he was caring for the more distant parts of the kingdom But a new nation was rising to power Far to the east were the kingdoms of Media and Persia These two peoples had become one and were at war with Babylon under their great leader, Cyrus While Belchazar was ruling in the city of Babylon Cyrus and his Persian soldiers were on the outside around the walls trying to take the city These walls were so great and high that the Persian soldiers could not break through them But inside the city were many who were enemies of Belchazar and were friendly to Cyrus These people opened the gates of Babylon to Cyrus At night he brought his army quietly into the city and surrounded the palace of King Belchazar On that night King Belchazar was holding in the palace a great feast in honor of his god On the tables were the golden cups and vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple of the lord in Jerusalem On the tables were the king his many wives and a thousand of his princes and nobles They did not know that their city was taken and that their enemies were at the very doors of the palace While they were all drinking wine together suddenly a strange thing was seen On the wall appeared a great hand writing letters and words that no one could read Every eye was drawn to the spot and all saw the fingers moving and the letters written The king was filled with fear his face became pale and his knees shook He called for the wise men of Babylon who were with him in the palace to tell what the writing meant He said Whoever can read the words on the wall shall be dressed in a purple robe and shall have a chain of gold around his neck and shall rank next to King Belchazar as the third ruler in the kingdom of the wise men could read it for God had not given to them the power At last the queen of Babylon said to Belchazar O king may you live forever there is one man who can read this writing a man in whom is the spirit of the holy gods a man whom Nebuchadnezzar your father made master of all the wise men His name is Daniel send for him and he will tell you what these words are and what they mean Daniel was now an old man and since the time when Nebuchadnezzar died he had been no longer in his high place as ruler and chief advisor of the king they sent for Daniel and he came the king said to him are you that Daniel who was brought many years ago by my father to this city I have heard of you that the spirit of the holy gods is upon you and that you have wisdom and knowledge if you can read this writing upon the wall and tell me what it means I will give you a purple robe and a gold chain and a place next to myself as the third ruler in the kingdom and Daniel answered the king you may keep your rewards yourself and may give your gifts to whom you please for I do not want them but I will read to you the writing O king the most high god gave to Nebuchadnezzar this kingdom and great power and glory but when Nebuchadnezzar became proud and boasted of his greatness then the lord took from him his crown and his throne and let him live among the beasts of the field until he knew that the most high god rules over the kingdoms of men O Belchazar you knew all this yet you have not been humble in heart you have risen up against the lord you have taken the vessels of his house and have drunk wine in them in honor of your own gods of wood and stone but you have not praised the lord god who has given to you your kingdom and your power for this reason god has sent this hand to write these words upon the wall this is the writing mene mene tekel ufarsen and this is the meaning numbered numbered weighed divided mene god has counted the years of your kingdom and has brought it to an end tekel you have been weighed in the balances and have been found wanting ufarsen your kingdom is divided and taken from you and given to the meads and the persians king Belchazar could scarcely believe what he heard but he commanded that the promised reward be given to Daniel and almost while he was speaking his end came the persians and the meads burst into his palace they seized Belchazar and killed him in the midst of his feast on that night the empire or great kingdom set up by Nebuchadnezzar came to an end a new empire arose greater than that of Babylon called the Persian Empire and in the place of Belchazar Cyrus the commander of the persians made an old man named Darius king until the time when he was ready to take the kingdom for himself this empire of Persia was the third of the world kingdoms of which we read in the bible the first was the Assyrian kingdom having Nineveh for its capital this was the kingdom that carried the tribes of Israel into captivity the second was the Babylonian or Chaldean kingdom which carried the Jews into captivity and the third was the Persian kingdom which lasted 200 years ruling all the lands named in the bible end of story 11 recording by John leader Bloomington Illinois story number 12 of Herobid's story of the bible this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Herobid's story of the bible by Jesse Lyman Herobid part 5 Daniel in the den of lions Daniel 6 1 to 28 the lands which has been the Babylonian or Chaldean empire now became the empire of Persia and over these Darius was the king king Darius gave to Daniel who was now a very old man a high place in honor and in power among all the rulers over the land Daniel stood first for the king saw that he was wise and able to rule this made the other princes and rulers very jealous and they tried to find something evil in Daniel so that they could speak to the king against him these men knew that 3 times every day Daniel went to his room and opened the window that was toward the city of Jerusalem and looking toward Jerusalem made his prayer to God Jerusalem was at that time in ruins and the temple was no longer standing but Daniel prayed 3 times each day with his face in a place where the house of God had once stood although it was many hundreds of miles away these nobles thought that in Daniel's prayers they could find a chance to do him harm and perhaps cause him to be put to death they came to king Darius and said to him all the rulers have agreed together to have a law made that for 30 days no one shall ask anything of any God or any man except from you oh king he shall be thrown into the den where the lions are kept now oh king make the law and sign the writing so that it cannot be changed for no law among the Medes and Persians can be altered the king was not a wise man and being foolish and vain he was pleased with this law which would set him even to death the king was not a wise man and being foolish and vain he was pleased with this law which would set him even above the gods so without asking Daniel's advice he signed the writing and the law was made and the word was sent out through the kingdom that for 30 days no one should pray to any God or ask a favor of any man Daniel knew that the law had been made but every day he went to his room three times and opened the window that looked toward Jerusalem the Lord just as he had prayed in other times these rulers were watching nearby and they saw Daniel kneeling in prayer to God then they came to the king and said oh king Darius have you not made a law that if anyone in 30 days offers a prayer he shall be thrown into the den of lions it is true said the king the law has been made and it must stand they said to the king there is one man who does not obey the law which you have made it is that Daniel one of the captive Jews every day Daniel prays to his God three times just as he did before you signed the writing of the law the king was very sorry for what he had done for he loved Daniel and he knew that no one could take his place in the kingdom all day until the sun went down he tried in vain to find some way to save Daniel's life but when evening came these men again told him of the law that he had made and said to him that it must be kept very unwillingly the king sent for Daniel and gave him order that he should be thrown into the den of lions he said to Daniel perhaps your God whom you serve so faithfully will save you from the lions they led Daniel into the mouth and the lions were kept and they threw him in and over the mouth they placed a stone and the king sealed it with his own seal and with the seals of his nobles so that no one might take away the stone and let Daniel out of the den then the king went again to his palace but that night he was so sad that he could not eat nor did he listen to music as he was used to listen he could not sleep for all through the night he was thinking of Daniel and very early in the morning he rose up from his bed and went in haste to the den of lions he broke the seal and took away the stone and in a voice full of sorrow he called out scarcely hoping to hear any answer except the roaring of the lions oh Daniel servant of the living God has your God been able to keep you safe from the lions and out of the darkness oh king, may you live forever my God has sent his angel and has shut the mouths of the lions they have not hurt me because my God saw that I had done no wrong and I have done no wrong toward you, oh king the king was glad he gave to his servant's orders to take Daniel out of the den Daniel was brought out safe and without harm because he had trusted fully in the Lord God then by the king's command they seized those men who had spoken against Daniel and with them their wives and their children for the king was exceedingly angry with them they were all thrown into the den and the hungry lions leapt upon them and tore them in pieces as soon as they fell upon the floor of the den it was very cruel and unjust to put to death with these men their wives and children who had done no wrong either to King Darius or to Daniel but cruel and unjust as it was such things were common in all the lands of that part of the world the lives of people were but little cared for and children often suffered death for their parents' crime after this King Darius wrote to all the lands and the peoples in the many kingdoms under his rule may peace be given to you all abundantly I make a law that everywhere among my kingdoms men fear and worship the Lord God of Daniel for he is the living God above all other gods who only can save men and Daniel stood beside King Darius under the end of his reign and afterward while Cyrus the Persian was king over all the lands Daniel lived for a number of years after being saved from the lions he had several wonderful dreams and visions which showed him what would come to pass many years afterward and even to the coming of Jesus Christ End of story number 12 Recording by Sean McGahey