 Book 9, chapters 13 and 14 of the Antiquities of the Jews, volume 2. 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 Ann Boulet. The Antiquities of the Jews, volume 2 by Flavius Josephus, translated by William Winston. Book 9, chapters 13 and 14. Chapter 13. How Pekka died by the treachery of Hosea, who was a little after subdued by Shaman Nasser, and how Hezekiah reigned instead of Ahaz, and what actions of piety and justice he did. About the same time Pekka, the king of Israel, died by the treachery of a friend of his, whose name was Hosea, who retained the kingdom nine years time, but was a wicked man, and a despiser of the divine worship. And Shalmenazur, the king of Assyria, made an expedition against him, and overcame him, which must have been because he had not God favorable or assistant to him, and brought him to submission, and ordered him to pay an appointed tribute. Now in the fourth year of the reign of Hosea, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, began to reign in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Abidja, a citizen of Jerusalem. His nature was good, and righteous, and religious, for when he came to the kingdom, he thought that nothing was prior, nor more necessary, or more advantageous to himself and to his subjects, than to worship God. Accordingly, he called the people together, and the priests, and the Levites, and made a speech to them, and said, You are not ignorant how, by the sins of my father, who transgress that sacred honor which is due to God. You have had experience of many and great miseries, while you were corrupted in your mind by him, and were induced to worship those which he supposed to be gods. I exhort you, therefore, who have learned by sad experience how dangerous a thing in impiety is, to put that immediately out of your memory, and to purify yourselves from your former pollutions, and to open the temple to these priests and Levites who are here convened, and to cleanse it with the accustomed sacrifices, and to recover all to the ancient honor which our fathers paid to it. For by this means we may render God favorable, and he will remit the anger he hath had to us. When the king had said this, the priests opened the temple, and when they had set in order the vessels of God, and eased out what was impure, they laid the accustomed sacrifices upon the altar. The king also sent to the country that was under him, and called the people to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for it had been intermittent a long time, on account of the wickedness of the four mentioned kings. He also sent to the Israelites, and exhorted them to leave off their present way of living, and return to their ancient practices, and to worship God, for that he gave them leave to come to Jerusalem, and to celebrate, all in one body, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And this he said was by way of invitation only, and to be done of their own goodwill, and for their own advantage, and not out of obedience to him, because it would make them happy. But the Israelites, upon the coming of the ambassadors, and upon their laying before them what they had in charge from their own king, were so far from complying their with, that they laughed the ambassadors to scorn and mock them as fools, as also they affronted the prophets, which gave them the same exhortations, and foretold what they would suffer if they did not return to the worship of God, in so much that at length they caught them and slew them. Nor did this degree of transgressing suffice them, but they had more wicked contrivances than what had been described. Nor did they leave off, before God, as a punishment for their impiety, brought them under their enemies, but of that more hereafter. However, many there were of the tribe of Manessa, and of Zebulon, and of Izakar, who were obedient to what the prophets exhorted them to do, and returned to the worship of God. Now all these came running to Jerusalem, to Hezekiah, that they might worship God there. When these men were come, King Hezekiah went up into the temple, with the rulers and all the people, and offered for himself seven bulls, and as many rams, with seven lambs, and as many kids of the goats. The king also himself, and the rulers, laid their hands on the heads of the sacrifices, and permitted the priests to complete the sacred offices about them. So they both slew the sacrifices, and burnt the burnt offerings, while the Levites stood round about them, with their musical instruments, and sang hymns to God, and played on their sultries, as they were instructed by David to do. And this, while the rest of the priests returned the music, and sounded the trumpets which they had in their hands. And when this was done, the king and the multitude threw themselves down upon their face, and worshiped God. He also sacrificed seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. He also granted the multitude sacrifices to feast upon, six hundred oxen, and three thousand other cattle. And the priests performed all things according to the law. Now the king was so pleased herewith, that he feasted with the people, and returned thanks to God. But as the feast of unleavened bread was now come, when they had offered that sacrifice which is called the Passover, they after that offered other sacrifices for seven days. When the king had bestowed on the multitude, besides what they had sanctified of themselves, two thousand bulls, and seven thousand other cattle, the same thing was done by the rulers, for they gave them a thousand bulls, and a thousand and forty other cattle. Never had this festival been so well observed from the days of King Solomon, as it was now observed with great splendor and magnificence. And when the festival was ended, they went out into the country and purged it, and cleansed the city of all the pollution of the idols. The king also gave order that the daily sacrifices should be offered, at his own charges and according to the law. And appointed that the tithes and the first fruits should be given by the multitude to the priests and Levites, that they might constantly attend upon divine service, and never be taken off from the worship of God. Accordingly, the multitude brought together all sorts of their fruits to the priests and the Levites. The king also made garners and receptacles for these fruits, and distributed them to every one of the priests and Levites, and to their children and wives, and thus did they return to their old form of divine worship. Now when the king had settled these matters after the manner already described, he made war upon the Philistines and beat them, and possessed himself of all the enemy cities, from Gaza to Goth. But the king of Assyria sent to him and threatened to overthrow all his dominions, unless he would pay him the tribute which his father paid him formerly. But King Hezekiah was not concerned at his threatenings, but depended on his piety towards God, and upon Isaiah the prophet, by whom he inquired and accurately knew all future events. And thus much shall suffice for the present concerning this king Hezekiah. Chapter 14. How shall menizer took Syria by force, and how he transplanted the ten tribes into media, and brought the nation of the Cuthians into their country in their room? When shall menizer, the king of Assyria, had it told him that Hosea, the king of Israel, had sent privately to so, the king of Egypt, desiring his assistance against him. He was very angry, and made an expedition against Samaria, in the seventh year of the reign of Hosea. But when he was not admitted into the city by the king, he besieged Samaria three years, and took it by force in the ninth year of the reign of Hosea, and in the seventh year of Hezekiah, king of Jerusalem, and quite demolished the government of the Israelites, and transplanted all the people into media and Persia, among whom he took king Hosea alive, and when he had removed these people out of this, their land, he transplanted other nations out of Cuthia, a place so called, for there is still a river of that name in Persia, into Samaria, and into the country of the Israelites. So the ten tribes of the Israelites were removed out of Judea 947 years after their forefathers were come out of the land of Egypt, and possessed themselves of the country, but 800 years after Joshua had been their leader, and as I have already observed, 240 years, seven months, and seven days after they had revolted from Rehobam, the grandson of David, and had given the kingdom to Jeroboam. And such a conclusion overtook the Israelites when they had transgressed the laws, and would not hearken to the prophets, who foretold that this calamity would come upon them, if they would not leave off their evil doings. What gave birth to these evil doings, was that sedition which they raised against Rehobam, the grandson of David, when they set up Jeroboam, his servant to be their king, win by sinning against God, and bringing them to imitate his bad example, made God to be their enemy. While Jeroboam underwent that punishment, which he justly deserved. And now the king of Assyria invaded all Syria and Phoenicia in a hostile manner. The name of this king is also set down in the archives of Tyre, for he made an expedition against Tyre in the reign of Elulias, and Neander attests to it, who, when he wrote his chronology, and translated the archives of Tyre into the Greek language, gives us the following history. One whose name was Elulias reigned 36 years. This king, upon the revolt of the Scythians, sailed to them and reduced them again to a submission. Against these did the king of Assyria send an army, and in a hostile manner overrun all Phoenicia, but soon made peace with them all and returned back. But Sidon and Ace and Paul Seterus revolted, and many other cities there were, which delivered themselves up to the king of Assyria. Accordingly, when the Tyreans would not submit to him, the king returned and fell upon them again, while the Phoenicians had furnished him with three score ships and 800 men to row them. And when the Tyreans had come upon them in 12 ships, and the enemy ships were dispersed, they took 500 men prisoners, and the reputation of all the citizens of Tyre was thereby increased. But the king of Assyria returned and placed guards at their rivers and aqueducts, who should hinder the Tyreans from drawing water. This continued for five years, and still the Tyreans bore the siege, and drank of the water they had out of the wells they dug. And this is what is written in the Tyrean archives concerning Shalmenacer, the king of Assyria. But now the Cuthians, who removed to Samaria, for that is the name they had been called by to this time, because they were brought out of the country called Cuthah, which is a country of Persia, and there is a river of the same name in it. Each of them, according to their nations, which were in number five, brought their own gods into Samaria, and by worshiping them, as was the custom of their own countries, they provoked Almighty God to be angry and displeased at them, for a plague seized upon them, by which they were destroyed. And when they found no cure for their miseries, they learned by the oracle that they ought to worship Almighty God as a method for their deliverance. So they sent ambassadors to the king of Assyria and desired him to send them some of those priests of the Israelites whom he had taken captive. And when he thereupon sent them, and the people were by them taught the laws and the holy worship of God, they worshiped him in a respectful manner and the plague ceased immediately. And indeed, they continued to make use of the very same customs to this very time and are called in the Hebrew tongue, cutlands, but in the Greek tongue, Samaritans. And when they see the Jews in prosperity, they pretend that they are changed and allied to them and call them kinsmen, as though they were derived from Joseph and had by that means an original alliance with them. But when they see them falling into a low condition, they say they are no way related to them and that the Jews have no right to expect any kindness or marks of kindred from them, but they declare that they are sojourners that come from other countries. But of these we shall have a more seasonable opportunity to discourse hereafter. End of book nine, chapters 13 and 14. End of book nine. Book 10, chapters one and two of the antiquities of the Jews, volume two. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Antiquities of the Jews, volume two by Flavius Josephus, translated by William Whiston. Book 10, chapters one and two. Book 10, containing the interval of 182 years and a half from the captivity of the 10 tribes to the first year of Cyrus. Chapter one, how Sennacherib made an expedition against Hezekiah. What threatenings Rabb Shaka made to Hezekiah when Sennacherib was gone against the Egyptians. How Isaiah the prophet encouraged him. How Sennacherib, having failed of success in Egypt, returned thence to Jerusalem. And how upon finding his army destroyed, he returned home. And what befell him a little afterward. It was now the 14th year of the government of Hezekiah, king of the two tribes, when the king of Assyria, whose name was Sennacherib, made an expedition against him with a great army and took all the cities of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin by force. And when he was ready to bring his army against Jerusalem, Hezekiah sent ambassadors to him beforehand and promised to submit and pay what tribute he should appoint. Here upon Sennacherib, when he heard of what offers the ambassadors made, resolved not to proceed in the war, but to accept of the proposals that were made him. And if he might receive 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold, he promised that he would depart in a friendly manner. And he gave security upon oath to the ambassadors that he would then do him no harm, but go away as he came. So Hezekiah submitted and emptied his treasures and sent the money as supposing he should be freed from his enemy and from any further distress about his kingdom. Accordingly, the Assyrian king took it and yet had no regard to what he had promised. But while he himself went to the war against the Egyptians and Ethiopians, he left his general Rebshaka and two other of his principal commanders with great forces to destroy Jerusalem. The names of the other two commanders were Tartan and Rebseris. Now as soon as they were come before the walls, they pitched their camp and sent messengers to Hezekiah and desired that they might speak with him, but he did not himself come out to them for fear, but sent three of his most intimate friends. The name of one was Eliachim, who was over the kingdom, and Shebna and Joa, the recorder. So these men came out and stood over against the commanders of the Assyrian army. And when Rebshaka saw them, he bid them go and speak to Hezekiah in the manner following. That Sennacherib, the great king, desires to know of him on whom it is that he relies and depends in flying from his Lord and will not hear him nor admit his army into his city. Is it on account of the Egyptians and in hopes that his army would be beaten by them? Whereupon he lets them know that if this is what he expects, he is a foolish man and like one who leans on a broken reed, while such a one will not only fall down, but will have his hand pierced and hurt by it. That he ought to know he makes this expedition against him by the will of God who have granted this favor to him. That he shall overthrow the kingdom of Israel and that in the very same manner he shall destroy those that are his subjects also. When Rebshaka had made this speech in the Hebrew tongue, for he was skillful in that language, while Iachim was afraid lest the multitude that heard him should be disturbed, so he desired him to speak in the Syrian tongue. But the general, understanding what he meant and perceiving the fear he was in, he made his answer with a greater and a louder voice but in the Hebrew tongue and said that since they all heard what were the king's commands, they should consult their own advantage in delivering up themselves to us. For it is plain that both you and your king dissuade the people from submitting by vain hopes and so induce them to resist. But if you be courageous and think to drive our forces away, I am ready to deliver to you 2,000 of these horses that are with me for your use if you can set as many horsemen on their backs and show your strength. But what you have not, you cannot produce. Why therefore do you delay to deliver up yourselves to a superior force who can take you without your consent, although it will be safer for you to deliver yourselves up voluntarily while a forcible capture when you are beaten must appear more dangerous and will bring further calamities upon you? When the people as well as the ambassadors heard what the Assyrian commander said, they related it to Hezekiah who thereupon put off his royal apparel and clothed himself with sackcloth and took the habit of a mourner. And after the manner of his country, he fell upon his face and besought God and entreated him to assist them, now they had no other hope of relief. He also sent some of his friends and some of the priests to the prophet Isaiah and desired that he would pray to God and offer sacrifices for their common deliverance and so put up supplications to him that he would have indignation at the expectations of their enemies and have mercy upon his people. And when the prophet had done accordingly, an oracle came from God to him and encouraged the king and his friends that were about him and foretold that their enemies should be beaten without fighting and should go away in an ignominious manner and not with that insolence which they now show that God would take care that they should be destroyed. He also foretold that Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, should fail of his purpose against Egypt and that when he came home he should perish by the sword. About the same time also, the king of Assyria wrote an epistle to Hezekiah in which he said that he was a foolish man in supposing that he should escape from being his servant since he had already brought under many and great nations. And he threatened that when he took him he would utterly destroy him unless he now opened the gates and willingly received his army into Jerusalem. When he read this epistle he despised it on account of the trust he had in God. But he rolled up the epistle and laid it up within the temple. And as he made his further prayers to God for the city and for the preservation of all the people the prophet Isaiah said that God had heard his prayer and that he should not be besieged at this time by the king of Assyria that for the future he might be secure of not being at all disturbed by him and that the people might go on peaceably and without fear with their husbandry and other affairs. But after a little while the king of Assyria when he had failed of his treacherous designs against the Egyptians returned home without success on the following occasion. He spent a long time in the siege of Pelusium and when the banks that he had raised over against the walls were of a great height and when he was ready to make an immediate assault upon them but heard that Tirhaka, the king of the Ethiopians was coming and bringing great forces to aid the Egyptians and was resolved to march through the desert and so to fall directly upon the Assyrians. This king Sennacherib was disturbed at the news and as I said before left Pelusium and returned back without success. Now concerning this Sennacherib Herodotus also says in the second book of his histories how quote, this king came against the Egyptian king who was the priest of Vulcan and that as he was besieging Pelusium he broke up the siege on the following occasion. This Egyptian priest prayed to God and God heard his prayer and sent a judgment upon the Arabian king end quote. But in this Herodotus was mistaken when he called this king not king of the Assyrians but of the Arabians. For he saith that quote, a multitude of mice nod to pieces in one night both the bows and the rest of the armor of the Assyrians and that it was on that account that the king when he had no bows left drew off his army from Pelusium end quote. And Herodotus does indeed give us this history. Ney and Borosis who wrote of the affairs of Caldea makes mention of this king Sennacherib and that he ruled over the Assyrians and that he made an expedition against all Asia and Egypt and says thus quote. Now when Sennacherib was returning from his Egyptian war to Jerusalem he found his army under Rabshaka his general in danger by a plague for God had sent a pestilential distemper upon his army. And on the very first night of the siege 104 score and 5000 with their captains and generals were destroyed. So the king was in a great dread and in a terrible agony at this calamity and being in great fear for his whole army he fled with the rest of his forces to his own kingdom and to his city Nineveh. And when he had abode there a little while he was treacherously assaulted and died by the hands of his elder sons a dramalek and Sarasir and was slain in his own temple which was called Araske. Now these sons of his were driven away on account of the murder of their father by the citizens and went into Armenia while the Sarakotas took the kingdom of Sennacherib end quote. And this proved to be the conclusion of the Assyrian expedition against the people of Jerusalem. Chapter two how Hezekiah was sick and ready to die and how God bestowed upon him 15 years longer life and secured that promise by the going back of the shadow 10 degrees. Now King Hezekiah being thus delivered after a surprising manner from the dread he was in offered thank offerings to God with all his people because nothing else had destroyed some of their enemies and made the rest so fearful of undergoing the same faith that they departed from Jerusalem but that divine assistance. Yet while he was very zealous and diligent about the worship of God did he soon afterwards fall into a severe distemper in so much that the physicians despaired of him and expected no good issue of his sickness as neither did his friends. And besides the distemper itself there was a very melancholy circumstance that disordered the king which was the consideration that he was childless and was going to die and leave his house and his government without a successor of his own body. So he was troubled at the thoughts of this his condition and lamented himself and entreated of God that he would prolong his life for a little while till he had some children and not suffer him to depart this life before he was become a father. Here upon God had mercy upon him and accepted of his supplication because the trouble he was under at his supposed death was not because he was soon to leave the advantages he enjoyed in the kingdom nor did he on that account pray that he might have a longer life afforded him but in order to have sons that might receive the government after him. And God sent Isaiah the prophet and commanded him to inform Hezekiah that within three days time he should get clear of his distemper and should survive it fifteen years and that he should have children also. Now upon the prophet saying this as God had commanded him he could hardly believe it both on account of the distemper he was under which was very sore and by reason of the surprising nature of what was told him. So he desired that Isaiah would give him some sign or wonder that he might believe him in what he had said and be sensible that he came from God for things that are beyond expectation and greater than our hopes are made credible by actions of the like nature. And when Isaiah had asked him what sign he desired to be exhibited he desired that he would make the shadow of the sun which he had already made to go down ten steps or degrees in his house to return again to the same place and to make it as it was before. And when the prophet prayed to God to exhibit this sign to the king he saw what he desired to see and was freed from his distemper and went up to the temple where he worshiped God and made vows to him. At this time it was that the dominion of the Assyrians was overthrown by the Medes but of these things I shall treat elsewhere but the king of Babylon whose name was Baladin sent ambassadors to Hezekiah with presence and desired he would be his ally and his friend so he received the ambassadors gladly and made them a feast and showed him his treasures and his armory and the other wealth he was possessed of in precious stones and in gold and gave them presence to be carried to Baladin and sent them back to him. Upon which the prophet Isaiah came to him and inquired of him once those ambassadors came to which he replied that they came from Babylon from the king and that he had showed them all he had that by the sight of his riches and forces he might thereby guess at the plenty he was in and be able to inform the king of it. But the prophet rejoined and said, know thou that after a little while these riches of thine shall be carried away to Babylon and thy posterity shall be made eunuchs there and lose their manhood and be servants to the king of Babylon for that God foretold such things would come to pass. Upon which words Hezekiah was troubled and said that he was himself unwilling that his nation should fall into such calamities. Yet since it was not possible to alter what God had determined, he prayed that there might be peace while he lived. Barrises also makes mention of this Baladin king of Babylon. Now as to this prophet Isaiah, he was by the confession of all a divine and wonderful man in speaking truth and out of the assurance that he had never written what was false, he wrote down all his prophecies and left them behind him in books that their accomplishment might be judged of from the events by posterity. Nor did this prophet do so alone but the others which were twelve in number did the same and whatsoever is done among us whether it be good or whether it be bad comes to pass according to their prophecies but of every one of these we shall speak hereafter. End of book 10 chapters one and two. Book 10 chapters three and four of the antiquities of the Jews, volume two. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The antiquities of the Jews, volume two by Flavius Josephus. Translated by William Whiston. Book 10 chapters three and four. Chapter three. How Manasseh reigned after Hezekiah and how when he was in captivity he returned to God and was restored to his kingdom and left it to his son Ammon. When King Hezekiah had survived the interval of time already mentioned and had dwelt all that time in peace, he died having completed 54 years of life and reigned 29. But when his son Manasseh, whose mother's name was Hepsiba of Jerusalem, had taken the kingdom, he departed from the conduct of his father and fell into a course of life quite contrary thereto and showed himself in his manners most wicked in all respects and omitted no sort of impiety but imitated those transgressions of the Israelites by the commission of which against God they had been destroyed. For he was so hardy as to defile the temple of God and the city and the whole country. For by setting out from a contempt of God he barbarously slew all the righteous men that were among the Hebrews. Nor would he spare the prophets, for he every day slew some of them till Jerusalem was overflown with blood. So God was angry at these proceedings and sent prophets to the king and to the multitude by whom he threatened the very same calamities to them which their brethren the Israelites upon the like of fronts offered to God were now under. But these men would not believe their words by which belief they might have reaped the advantage of escaping all those miseries. Yet did they in earnest learn what the prophets had told them was true. And when they persevered in the same course of life God raised up war against them from the king of Babylon and Caldea who sent an army against Judea and laid waste to the country and caught King Manasseh by treachery and ordered him to be brought to him and had him under his power to inflict what punishment he pleased upon him. But then it was that Manasseh perceived what a miserable condition he was in and esteeming himself the cause of all he besought God to render his enemy humane and merciful to him. Accordingly God heard his prayer and granted him what he prayed for. So Manasseh was released by the king of Babylon and escaped the danger he was in and when he was come to Jerusalem he endeavored if it were possible to cast out of his memory those his former sins against God of which he now repented and to apply himself to a very religious life. He sanctified the temple and purged the city and for the remainder of his days he was intent on nothing but to return his thanks to God for his deliverance and to preserve him propitious to him all his life long. He also instructed the multitude to do the same as having very nearly experienced what a calamity he was fallen into by a contrary conduct. He also rebuilt the altar and offered the legal sacrifices as Moses commanded and when he had re-established what concerned the divine worship as it ought to be he took care of the security of Jerusalem. He did not only repair the old walls with great diligence but added another wall to the former. He also built very lofty towers and the garrisoned places before the city he strengthened not only in other respects but with provisions of all sorts that they wanted and indeed when he had changed his former course he so led his life for the time to come that from the time of his return to piety towards God he was deemed a happy man and a pattern for imitation. When therefore he had lived sixty-seven years he departed this life having reigned fifty-five years and was buried in his own garden and the kingdom came to a son Ammon whose mother's name was Mesulimeth of the city of Jotbuth. Chapter 4 How Ammon reigned instead of Manasseh and after Ammon reigned Josiah he was both righteous and religious as also concerning Holda the prophetess This Ammon imitated those works of his father which he insolently did when he was young so he had a conspiracy made against him by his own servants and was slain in his own house when he had lived twenty-four years and of them had reigned too. But the multitude punished those that slew Ammon and buried him with his father and gave the kingdom to his son Josiah who was eight years old. His mother was of the city of Bosgoth and her name was Jedida. He was of a most excellent disposition and naturally virtuous and followed the actions of King David as a pattern and a rule to him in the whole conduct of his life. And when he was twelve years old he gave demonstrations of his religious and righteous behavior for he brought the people to a sober way of living and exhorted them to leave off the opinion they had of their idols because they were not gods but to worship their own god. And by repeating on the actions of his progenitors he prudently corrected what they did wrong like a very elderly man and like one abundantly able to understand what was fit to be done and what he found they had well done he observed all the country over and imitated the same. And thus he acted in following the wisdom and sagacity of his own nature and in compliance with the advice and instruction of the elders for by following the laws it was that he succeeded so well in the order of his government and impiety with regard to the divine worship. And this happened because the transgressions of the former kings were seen no more but quite vanished away. For the king went about the city and the whole country and cut down the groves which were devoted to strange gods and overthrew their altars and if there were any gifts dedicated to them by his forefathers he made them ignominious and plucked them down and by this means he brought the people back from their opinion about them to the worship of god. He also offered his accustomed sacrifices and burnt offerings upon the altar. Moreover he ordained certain judges and overseers that they might order the matters to them severally belonging and have regard to justice above all things and to distribute it with the same concern they would have about their own soul. He also sent over the country and desired such as pleased to bring gold and silver for the repairs of the temple according to everyones inclinations and abilities. And when the money was brought in he made one Masiya, the governor of the city and Shapa and the scribe and Joab the recorder and Eliakum the high priest curators of the temple and of the charges contributed there too who made no delay nor put the work off at all but prepared architects and whatsoever was proper for those repairs and set closely about the work. So the temple was repaired by this means and became a public demonstration of the king's piety. But when he was now in the 18th century of his reign he sent to Eliakum the high priest and gave order that out of what money was over plus he should cast cups and dishes and vials for ministration in the temple and besides that they should bring all the gold or silver which was among the treasures and expend that also in making cup and the light vessels. But as the high priest was bringing out the gold he lighted upon the holy books of Moses that were laid up in the temple and when he had brought them out he gave them to Shappan the scribe who when he had read them came to the king and informed him that all was finished which he had ordered to be done. He also read over the books to him who when he had heard them read rent his garment and called for Eliakum the high priest and for Shappan the scribe and for certain other of his most particular friends and sent them to Huldah the prophetess the wife of Shalom which Shalom was a man of dignity and a family and bid them go to her and say that he desired she would appease God and endeavour to render him propitious to them for that there was cause to fear lest upon the transgression of the laws of Moses by their forefathers they should be in peril of going into captivity and of being cast out of their own country lest they should be in want of all things and so and their days miserably. When the prophetess had heard this from the messengers that were sent to her by the king and say that God had already given sentence against them to destroy the people and cast them out of their country and deprive them of all the happiness they enjoyed which sentence none could set aside by any prayers of theirs since it was passed on account of their transgressions of the laws and of their not having repented in so long a time while the prophets had exhorted them to amend and had foretold the punishment that would ensue on their impious practices which threatening God would certainly execute upon them that they might be persuaded that he is God and had not deceived them in any respect as to what he had denounced by his prophets that yet, because Josiah was a righteous man he would at present delay those calamities but that after his death he would send on the multitude what miseries he had determined for them so these messengers upon this prophecy of the woman came and told it to the king where upon he sent to the people everywhere and ordered that the priests and the Levites should come together to Jerusalem and commanded that those of every age should be present also and when they had gathered together he first read to them the holy books after which he stood upon a pulpit in the midst of the multitude and obliged them to make a covenant with an oath that they would worship God and keep the laws of Moses accordingly they gave their assent willingly and undertook to do what the king had recommended to them so they immediately offered sacrifices and that after an acceptable manner and besought God to be gracious and merciful to them he also enjoined the high priest that if they remained in the temple any vessel that was dedicated to idols or to foreign gods they should cast it out so when a great number of such vessels were got together he burned them and scattered their ashes abroad and slew the priests of the idols that were not of the family of Aaron and when he had done thus in Jerusalem he came into the country and was made therein by King Jeroboam in honor of strange gods and he burnt the bones of the false prophets upon that altar which Jeroboam first built and as the prophet Jaden who came to Jeroboam when he was offering sacrifice and when all the people heard him foretold what would come to pass this that a certain man of the house of David Josiah by name should do what is here mentioned and it happened that those predictions took effect after 361 years after these things Josiah went also to such other Israelites as had escaped captivity and slavery under the Assyrians and persuaded them to desist from their impious practices and to leave off the honors they paid to strange gods but to worship brightly their own almighty god and adhere to him he also searched the houses and the villages and the cities out of a suspicion that somebody might have one idol or other in private nay indeed he took away the chariots of the sun that were set up in his royal palace which his predecessors had framed and what things so ever there was besides which they worshipped as a god and when he had thus purged all the country he called the people to Jerusalem and there celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread and that called the Passover he also gave the people for partial sacrifices young kids of the goats and lambs, 30,000 and 3000 oxen for burnt offerings the principal of the priests also gave to the priests against the Passover 2600 lambs the principal of the Levites also gave to the Levites 5000 lambs and 500 oxen by which means there was great plenty of sacrifices and they offered those sacrifices according to the laws of Moses while every priest explained the matter and ministered to the multitude and indeed there had been no other festival thus celebrated by the Hebrews from the times of Samuel the prophet and the plenty of sacrifices now was the occasion that all things were performed according to the laws and according to the custom of their forefathers so when Josiah had after this lived in peace nay, in riches and reputation also among all men he ended his life in the manner following end of book 10 chapters 3 and 4 book 10 chapters 5 through 7 of the antiquities of the Jews volume 2 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 Bill Moslem the antiquities of the Jews volume 2 by Flavius Josephus translated by William Wisdom book 10 chapters 5 through 7 chapter 5 how Josiah fought with Niko king of Egypt and was wounded and died in a little time afterward as also how Niko carried Jehovah who had been made king into Egypt and delivered the kingdom to Jehoiakim and lastly concerning Jeremiah and Ezekiel now Niko king of Egypt raised an army and marched to the river Euphrates in order to fight with the Medes and the Babylonians who had overthrown the dominion of the Assyrians for he had a desire to reign over Asia now when he was come to the city Mendez to the kingdom of Josiah he brought an army to hinder him from passing through his own country in his expedition against the Medes now Niko sent a herald to Josiah and told him that he did not make this expedition against him but was making haste to Euphrates and desired that he would not provoke him to fight against him because he obstructed his march to the place whether he had resolved to go but Josiah did not admit of this advice of Niko but put himself into a posture to hinder him from his intended march I suppose it was fate that pushed him on this conduct that it might take an occasion against him for as he was setting his army in a ray and rode about in his chariot from one wing of his army to another one of the Egyptians shot an arrow at him and put an end to his eagerness of fighting for being sorely wounded he commanded a retreat to be sounded for his army and returned to Jerusalem and died of that wound and was magnificently buried in the sepulchre when he had lived 39 years and of them had reigned 31 but all the people mourned greatly for him lamenting and grieving on his account many days and Jeremiah the prophet composed an elegy to lament him which is extant till this time also moreover this prophet denounced beforehand the sad calamities that were coming upon the city he also left behind him in writing a description of that destruction of our nation which has lately happened in our days and the taking of Babylon nor was he the only prophet who delivered such predictions beforehand to the multitude but so did Ezekiel also who was the first person that wrote and left behind him in writing two books concerning these events now these two prophets were priests by birth but of them Jeremiah dwelt in Jerusalem from the 13th year of the reign of Josiah until the city and temple were utterly destroyed however as to what befell this prophet we will relate in its proper place upon the death of Josiah which we have already mentioned his son Jehoahaz by name took the kingdom being about 23 years old he reigned in Jerusalem and his mother was Hamutal of the city Libhah he was an impious man and impure in his course of life but as the king of Egypt returned from the battle he sent for Jehoahaz to come to him to the city called Hamath which belongs to Syria and when he was come he put him in bands and delivered the kingdom to a brother of his by the father's side whose name was Eliachim and changed his name to Jehoiachim and laid a tribute upon the land of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold and this sum of money Jehoiachim paid by way of tribute but Niko carried away Jehoahaz into Egypt where he died when he had reigned 3 months and 10 days now Jehoiachim's mother was called Zavudah of the city Ruma he was of a wicked disposition and ready to do mischief nor was he either religious towards God or good natured towards men Chapter 6 How Nebuchadnezzar when he had conquered the king of Egypt made an expedition against the Jews and slew Jehoiachim and made Jehoiachim his son king now in the fourth year the reign of Jehoiachim one whose name was Nebuchadnezzar took the government over the Babylonians who at the same time went up with a great army to the city Karkamesh which was at Euphrates upon a resolution he had taken to fight with Niko king of Egypt under whom all Syria then was and when Niko understood the intention of the king of Babylon and that this expedition was made against him he did not despise his attempt but made haste with a great band of men to Euphrates to defend himself from Nebuchadnezzar and when they had joined battle he was beaten and lost many ten thousands of his soldiers in the battle so the king of Babylon passed over Euphrates and took all Syria as far as Pelusium accepting Judea but when Nebuchadnezzar had already reigned for years which was the 8th of Jehoiakim's government over the Hebrews the king of Babylon made an expedition with mighty forces against the Jews and required tribute of Jehoiakim and threatened upon his refusal to make war against him he was affrighted at his threatening and bought his peace with money and brought the tribute he was ordered to bring for three years but on the third year upon hearing that the king of the Babylonians made an expedition against the Egyptians he did not pay his tribute yet was he disappointed of his hope for the Egyptians durst not fight at this time and indeed the prophet Jeremiah said every day how vainly they relied on their hopes from Egypt and how the city would be overthrown by the king of Babylon and Jehoiakim the king would be subdued by him but what he thus spake proved to be of no advantage to them because there were none that should escape for both the multitude and the rulers when they heard him but being displeased at what was said as if the prophet were a diviner against the king they accused Jeremiah and bringing him before the court they required that a sentence and a punishment might be given against him now all the rest gave their votes for his condemnation but the elders refused who prudently sent away the prophet to the prison and persuaded the rest to Jeremiah no harm for they said that he was not the only person who foretold what would come to the city but that Micah signified the same before him as well as many others none of which suffered anything of the kings that then reigned but were honored as the prophets of God and delivered Jeremiah from the punishment to which he was condemned now when this prophet had written all his prophecies and the people were fasting and assembled at the temple on the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim he read the book he had composed of his predictions of what was to befall the city and the temple and the multitude and when the rulers heard of it the book from him and bid him and Baruch described to go their ways lest they should be discovered by one or other but they carried the book and gave it to the king so he gave order in the presence of his friends that his scribe should take it and read it when the king heard what it contained he was angry and tore it and cast it into the fire he also commanded that they should seek for Jeremiah and Baruch the scribe and bring them to him that they might be punished however they escaped his anger now a little time afterwards the king of Babylon made an expedition against Jehoiakim whom he received into the city and this out of fear of the foregoing predictions of this prophet as supposing he should suffer nothing that was terrible because he neither shut the gates nor fought against him yet when he was come into the city he did not observe the covenants he had made but he slew such as were in the flower of their age and such as were of the greatest dignity together with their king Jehoiakim whom he commanded to be thrown over the walls without any burial and made his son Jehoiakim king of the country and of the city he also took the principal persons indignity for captives three thousand in number led them away to Babylon among which was the prophet Ezekiel who was then but young this was the end of king Jehoiakim when he had lived thirty six years and of them reigned eleven but Jehoiakim succeeded him in the kingdom whose mother's name was Nahushta she was a citizen of Jerusalem he reigned three months and ten days chapter seven that the king of Babylon depended of making Jehoiakim king and took him away to Babylon and delivered the kingdom to Zedekiah this king would not believe what was predicted by Jeremiah and Ezekiel but joined himself to the Egyptians who when they came into Judea were vanquished by the king of Babylon as also what befell Jeremiah but a terror seized on the king of Babylon who had given the kingdom to Jehoiakim and that immediately he was afraid that he should bear him a grudge because of his killing his father and therefore should make the country revolt from him wherefore he sent an army and besieged Jehoiakim as he was of a gentle and just disposition he did not desire to see the city endangered on his account but he took his mother and kindred and delivered them to the commanders sent by the king of Babylon and accepted of their oaths that neither should they suffer any harm nor the city which agreement they did not observe for a single year for the king of Babylon did not keep it but gave orders to his generals to take all that were in the city captives both the youth and the handicraftsmen and bring them bound to him their number was 10,832 as also Jehoiakim and his mother and friends and when these were brought to him in custody and appointed Jehoiakim's uncle Zedekiah to be king and made him take an oath that he would certainly keep the kingdom for him and make no innovation nor have any league of friendship with the Egyptians now Zedekiah was 21 years old when he took the government and had the same mother with his brother Jehoiakim but was a despiser of justice and of his duty for truly those of the same age with him were wicked about him and the whole multitude did what unjust and insolent things they pleased for which reason the prophet Jeremiah came often to him and protested to him and insisted that he must leave off his impieties and transgressions and take care of what was right and neither give ear to the rulers among whom were wicked men nor give credit to their false prophets who deluded them as if the king of Babylon would make no more war against them and as if the Egyptians would fight against him and conquer him since what they said was not true and the events would not prove such as they expected now as to Zedekiah himself while he heard the prophet speak he believed him and agreed to everything as true and supposed it was for his advantage his friends perverted him and dissuaded him from what the prophet advised and obliged him to do what they pleased Ezekiel also foretold in Babylon what calamities were coming upon the people which when he heard he sent accounts of them unto Jerusalem but Zedekiah did not believe their prophecies for the reason following it happened that the two prophets agreed with one another in what they said as in all other things that the city should be taken and Zedekiah himself should be taken captive but Ezekiel disagreed with him and said that Zedekiah should not see Babylon while Jeremiah said to him that the king of Babylon should carry him away thither in bonds now when Zedekiah had preserved the League of Mutual Assistance he had made with the Babylonians for eight years he break it and revolted to the Egyptians in hopes by their assistance of overcoming the Babylonians when the king of Babylon knew this he made war against him he laid his country waste his fortified towns and came to the city Jerusalem itself to besiege it but when the king of Egypt heard what circumstances Zedekiah his ally was in he took a great army with him and came into Judea as if he would raise the siege upon which the king of Babylon departed from Jerusalem and met the Egyptians and beat them and when he had put them to flight he pursued them and drove them out of all Syria now as soon as the king of Babylon was departed from Jerusalem the false prophets deceived Zedekiah and said that the king of Babylon would not anymore make war against him or his people nor remove them out of their own country into Babylon again in captivity would return with all those vessels of the temple of which the king of Babylon had despoiled that temple but Jeremiah came among them and prophesied what contradicted those predictions and what proved to be true that they did ill and deluded the king that the Egyptians would be of no advantage to them but that the king of Babylon would renew the war against Jerusalem and besiege it again and would destroy the people by famine and carry away those that remained into captivity and would take away what they had as spoils and would carry off those riches that were in the temple nay that besides this he would burn it and utterly overthrow the city and that they should serve him and his posterity seventy years that then the Persians and the Medes should put an end to their servitude and overthrow the Babylonians and that we shall be dismissed and returned to this land and rebuild the temple and restore Jerusalem when Jeremiah said this the greater part believed him to be the rulers and those that were wicked despised him as one disordered in his senses now he had resolved to go elsewhere to his own country which was called Anathoth and was twenty furlongs distant from Jerusalem and as he was going one of the rulers met him and seized upon him an order to the Babylonians but Jeremiah said that he accused him falsely and added that he was only going to his own country but the other would not believe him but seized upon him and led him away to the rulers and laid an accusation against him under whom he endured all sorts of torments and tortures and was reserved to be punished and this was the condition he was in for some time while he suffered what I've already described unjustly now in the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah on the tenth day of the tenth month the king of Babylon made a second expedition against Jerusalem and lay before it eighteen months and besieged it with the utmost application there came upon them also to the greatest calamities at the same time that Jerusalem was besieged a famine and a pestilential distemper and made great havoc of them and though the prophet Jeremiah was in prison he did not rest but cried out and proclaimed aloud and exhorted the multitude to open their gates and admit the king of Babylon for that if they did so they should be preserved and their whole families but if they did not so they should be destroyed and he foretold that if anyone stayed in the city he should certainly perish by one of these ways either be consumed by the famine or slain by the enemy's sword but that if he would flee to the enemy he should escape death yet did not these rulers who heard believe him even when they were in the midst of their sore calamities but they came to the king and in their anger informed him what Jeremiah had said and accused him and complained of the prophet as of a madman and one that disheartened and by the denunciation of miseries weakened the alacrity of the multitude who were otherwise ready to expose themselves to dangers for him and for their country while he in a way of threatening warned them to flee to the enemy and told them that the city should certainly be taken and be utterly destroyed but for the king himself he was not at all irritated against Jeremiah such was his gentle and righteous disposition yet that he might not be engaged in a quarrel with those rulers at such a time by opposing what they intended he let them do with the prophet whatsoever they would whereupon when the king had granted them such a permission they presently came into the prison and took him and led him down with a cord to a pit full of mire that he might be suffocated and die of himself so he stood up to the neck in the mire which was all about him and so continued but there was one of the king's servants who was in esteem with him an Ethiopian by descent who told the king what a state the prophet was in and said that his friends and his rulers had done evil in putting the prophet into the mire and by that means contriving against him that he should suffer a death more bitter than that by his bonds only when the king heard this he repented of his having delivered up the prophet to the rulers and bid the Ethiopian take 30 men of the king's guards and cords with them and whatsoever else they understood to be necessary for the prophet's preservation and to draw him up immediately so the Ethiopian took the men he was ordered to take and drew up the prophet out of the mire and left him at liberty in the prison but when the king had sent to call him privately and inquired what he could say to him from God which might be suitable to his present circumstances and desired him to inform him of it Jeremiah replied that he had somewhat to say but he said with all he should not be believed nor if he admonished them should be hearkened to for said he thy friends have determined to destroy me as though I had been guilty of some wickedness and where are now those men who deceived us and said that the king of Babylon would not come and fight against us any more but I am afraid now to speak the truth lest thou should condemn me to die and when the king had assured him upon oath that he would neither himself put him to death nor deliver him up to the rulers he became bold upon that assurance that was given him and gave him this advice that he should deliver the city up to the Babylonians and he said that it was God who prophesied this by him that he must do so if he would be preserved to escape out of the danger he was in and that then neither should the city fall to the ground nor should the temple be burned but that if he disobeyed he would be the cause of these miseries coming upon the citizens and of the calamity that would befall his whole house when the king heard this he said that he would willingly do what he persuaded him to do and what he declared would be to his advantage but that he was afraid of those of his own treat that had fallen away to the Babylonians lest he should be accused by them to the king of Babylon and be punished but the prophet encouraged him and said he had no cause to fear such punishment for that he should not have the experience of any misfortune if he would deliver all up to the Babylonians neither himself nor his children nor his wives and that the temple should then continue unhurt so when Jeremiah had said this the king let him go and charged him to betray what they had resolved on to none of the citizens nor to tell any of these matters to any of the rulers if they should have learned that he had been sent for and should inquire of him what it was that he was sent for and what he had said to him but to pretend to them that he besought him that he might not be kept in bonds and in prison and indeed he said so to them for they came to the prophet and asked him what advice it was that he came to give the king related to them and thus I have finished what concerns this matter in the book 10 chapters 5 through 7 recording by Bill Mosley Frelsberg, Texas USA by Flavius Josephus translated by William Whiston book 10 chapters 8 and 9 chapter 8 how the king of Babylon took Jerusalem and burnt the temple and removed the people of Jerusalem and Zedekiah to Babylon and also who they were that had succeeded in the high priesthood under the kings now the king of Babylon was very intent and earnest upon the siege of Jerusalem and he erected towers upon great banks of earth and from them repelled those that stood upon the walls he also made a great number of such banks round about the whole city whose height was equal to those walls however those that were within bore the siege with courage and alacrity for they were not discouraged either by the famine or by the pestilential distemper but were of cheerful minds in the prosecution of the war although those miseries within oppressed them also and they did not suffer themselves to be terrified either by the contrivances of the enemy or by their engines of war but contrived still different engines to oppose all the other with all till indeed there seemed to be an entire struggle between the Babylonians and the people of Jerusalem which had the greater sagacity and skill the former party supposing they should be thereby too hard for the other for the destruction of the city the latter placing their hopes of nothing else but in persevering in such inventions in opposition to the other as might demonstrate the enemy's engines were useless to them and this siege they endured for eighteen months until they were destroyed by the famine and by the darts which the enemy threw at them from the towers now the city was taken on the ninth day of the fourth month in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah they were indeed only generals of the king of Babylon whom Nebuchadnezzar committed the care of the siege for he abode himself in the city of Riblach the names of these generals who ravaged and subdued Jerusalem if anyone desires to know them were these Nergal, Cherazer, Sam Garnabu Rab-Saris Sorsekham and Rab-Mah and when the city was taken about midnight and the enemy's generals were entered into the temple and when Zedekiah was sensible of it he took his wives and his children and his captains and his friends and with them fled out of the city through the fortified ditch and through the desert and when certain of the deserters had informed the Babylonians of this at break of day they made haste to pursue after Zedekiah and overtook him not far from Jericho and encompassed him about but for those friends and captains of Zedekiah who had fled out of the city with him after their enemies near them they left him and dispersed themselves some one way and some another and everyone resolved to save himself so the enemy took Zedekiah alive when he was deserted by all but a few with his children and his wives and brought him to the king when he was come Nebuchadnezzar began to call him a wicked wretch and a covenant breaker and one that had forgotten his former words when he promised to keep the country for him he also reproached him for his ingratitude that when he had received the kingdom from him who had taken it from Jehoacum and given it to him he had made use of the power he gave him against him that gave it but said he, God is great who hated that conduct of thine and hath brought thee under us and when he had used these words to Zedekiah he commanded his sons and his friends to be slain while Zedekiah and the rest of the captains looked on which he put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him and carried him to Babylon and these things happened to him as Jeremiah and Ezekiel had foretold to him that he should be caught and brought before the king of Babylon and should speak to him face to face and should see his eyes with his own eyes and thus far did Jeremiah prophesy but he was also made blind and brought to Babylon but did not see it according to the prediction of Ezekiel we have said thus much because it was sufficient to show the nature of God to such as our ignorant of it that it is various and acts many different ways and that all events happen after a regular manner in their proper season and that it foretells what must come to pass it is also sufficient to show the ignorance and incredulity of men whereby they are not permitted to foresee anything that is future and are without guard exposed to calamities so that it is impossible for them to avoid the experience of those calamities and after this manner have the kings of David's race ended their lives being in number twenty-one until the last king who altogether reigned five hundred and fourteen years and six months and ten days of whom Saul, who was their first king retained the government twenty years though he was not of the same tribe with the rest and now it was that the king of Babylon sent Nebusaradin general of his army to Jerusalem to pillage the temple who had it also in command to burn it in the royal palace and to lay the city even with the ground and to transplant the people into Babylon accordingly he came to Jerusalem in the eleventh year of King Zedekiah and pillaged the temple and carried out the vessels of God both gold and silver and particularly that large labor which Solomon dedicated as also the pillars of brass and their chapters with the golden tables and the candlesticks and when he had carried these off he set fire to the temple in the fifth month, the first day of the month in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah and in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he also burnt the palace and overthrew the city now the temple was burnt four hundred and seventy-six years six months and ten days after it was built it was then one thousand and sixty-two years six months and ten days from the departure out of Egypt and from the deluge to the destruction of the temple the whole interval was one thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven years six months and ten days but from the generation of Adam until this befell the temple there were three thousand five hundred and thirteen years six months and ten days so great was the number of years hereto belonging and what actions were done during these years we have particularly related but the general of the Babylonian king now overthrew the city to the very foundations and removed all the people and took for prisoners the high priest Sariah and Zephaniah the priest that was next to him and the rulers that guarded the temple who were three in number and the eunuch who was over the armed men and seven friends of Zedekiah and his scribe and sixty other rulers all which together with the vessels which they had pillaged he carried to the king of Babylon a city of Syria so the king commanded the heads of the high priest and of the rulers to be cut off there but he himself led all the captives and Zedekiah to Babylon he also led Josedek the high priest away bound he was the son of Sariah the high priest whom the king of Babylon had slain in Rupla a city of Syria as we just now related and now because we have enumerated the succession of kings and who they were and how long they reigned I think it necessary to set down the names of the high priests and who they were that succeeded one another in the high priesthood under the kings the first high priest then at the temple which Solomon built was Zadok after him his son Achimus received that dignity after Achimus was Azarius his son was Joram and Joram's son was Isis after him was Axioramus his son was Fidens his son was Sudeis and Sudeis's son was Jewelis and Jewelis's son was Jotham and Jotham's son was Urius and Urius's son was Narius and Narius's son was Odeus and his son was Salimus and Salimus's son was Elcius and his son was Azarius and his son was Sariah and his son was Josedek who was carried captive to Babylon all these received the high priesthood by succession the sons from their father when the king was come to Babylon he kept Zedekiah in prison until he died and buried him magnificently and dedicated the vessels he had pillaged out of the temple of Jerusalem to his own gods and planted the people in the country of Babylon but freed the high priest from his bonds Chapter 9 Honebus Zoradin set Gedalia over the Jews that were left in Judea which Gedalia was a little afterward slain by Ishmael and how Johanan after Ishmael was driven away went down into Egypt with the people which people Nebuchadnezzar when he made an expedition against the Egyptians took captive and brought them away to Babylon now the general of the army Nebus Zoradin when he had carried the people of the Jews into captivity left the poor and those that had deserted in the country and made one whose name was Gedalia the son of Ahikam a person of a noble family, their governor which Gedalia was of a gentle and righteous disposition he also commanded them that they should cultivate the ground and pay an appointed tribute to the king he also took Jeremiah the prophet out of prison and would have persuaded him to go along with him to Babylon for that he had been enjoined by the king to supply him with whatsoever he wanted and if he did not like to do so he desired to inform him where he resolved to dwell that he might signify the same to the king but the prophet had no mind to follow him nor to dwell anywhere else but would gladly live in the ruins of his country and in the miserable remains of it when the general understood what his purpose was he enjoined Gedalia whom he left behind to take all possible care of him and to supply him with whatsoever he wanted so when he had given him rich presence he dismissed him accordingly, Jeremiah abode in a city of that country which was called Misbah and desired of Nebusuradin that he would set at liberty his disciple Baruch the son of Nariah one of a very eminent family and exceedingly skillful in the language of his country when Nebusuradin had done this he made haste to Babylon but asked of those that fled away during the siege of Jerusalem and had been scattered over the country when they heard that the Babylonians were gone away and had left a remnant in the land of Jerusalem and those such as were to cultivate the same they came together from all parts to Gedalia, to Misbah now the rulers that were over them were Jerhanan, the son of Kariah and Jezaniah and Sariah and others beside them now there was of the royal family one Ishmael, a wicked man and very crafty who during the siege of Jerusalem the king of the Ammonites and abode with him during that time and Gedalia persuaded them now they were there to stay with him and to have no fear of the Babylonians for that if they would cultivate the country they would suffer no harm this he assured them by oath and said that they should have him for their patron and that if any disturbance should arise they should find him ready to defend them he also advised them to dwell in any city as every one of them pleased and that they would send men along with his own servants and rebuild their houses upon the old foundations and dwell there and he admonished them beforehand that they should make preparation while the season lasted of corn and wine and oil that they might have wear on to feed during the winter when he had thus discourse to them he dismissed them that every one might dwell in what place of the country he pleased now when this report was spread abroad as far as the nations that bordered on Judea that Gadalia kindly entertained those that came to him after they had fled away upon this only condition that they should pay tribute to the king of Babylon they also came readily to Gadalia and inhabited the country and when Johannin and the rulers that were with him observed the country and the humanity of Gadalia they were exceedingly in love with him and told him that Baalus the king of the Ammonites that he might have the country and secretly that he might have the dominion over the Israelites as being of the royal family and they said that he might deliver himself from this treacherous design if he would give them leave to slay Ishmael and nobody should know it for they told him they were afraid that when he was killed by the other the entire ruin of the remaining strength of the Israelites would ensue but he professed that he did not believe what they said when they told him of such a treacherous design in a man that had been well treated by him because it was not probable that one who under such want of all things had failed of nothing that was necessary for him should be found so wicked and ungrateful towards his benefactor that when it would be an instance of wickedness in him not to save him had he been treacherously assaulted by others to endeavor and that earnestly to kill him with his own hands that however if he ought to suppose this information to be true for himself to be slain by the other than to destroy a man who fled to him for refuge and entrusted his own safety to him and committed himself to his disposal so Johanan and the rulers that were with him not being able to persuade Gdahlia went away but after the interval of thirty days was over Ishmael came again to Gdahlia to the city Misbah and ten men with him and when he had feasted Ishmael and those that were with him in a splendid manner at his table and had given them presents he became disordered in drink while he endeavored to be very merry with them and when Ishmael saw him in that case and that he was drowned in his cups to the degree of insensibility and fallen asleep he rose up on a sudden with his ten friends and slew Gdahlia and those that were with him at the feast and when he had slain them he went out by night and slew all the Jews that were in the city and those soldiers also which were therein left by the Babylonians but the next day four score men came out of the country with presents to Gdahlia none of them knowing what had befallen him when Ishmael saw them he invited them into Gdahlia and when they were come in he shut up the court and slew them and cast their dead bodies down into a certain deep pit that they might not be seen but of these four score men Ishmael spared those that entreated him not to kill them till they had delivered up to him what riches they had concealed in the fields consisting of their furniture and garments and corn but he took captive the people that were in Misbah with their wives and children among whom were the daughters of King Zedekiah whom Nebus Zaratin the general of the army of Babylon had left with Gdahlia and when he had done this he came to the king of the Ammonites but when Johanan and the rulers with him heard of what was done at Misbah by Ishmael and of the death of Gdahlia they had indignation at it and every one of them took his own armed men and came suddenly to fight with Ishmael and overtook him at the fountain in Hebron and when those that were carried away captives by Ishmael saw Johanan and the rulers they were very glad and looked upon them as coming to their assistance so they left him that had carried them captives and came over to Johanan then Ishmael with eight men fled to the king of the Ammonites but Johanan took those whom he had rescued out of the hands of Ishmael and the eunuchs and their wives and children and came to a certain place called Mandra and there they abode that day for they had determined to remain from thence and go into Egypt out of fear lest the Babylonians should slay them in case they continued in the country and that out of anger at the slaughter of Gdahlia who had been by them set over it for governor now while they were under this deliberation Johanan, the son of Korea and the rulers that were with him came to Jeremiah the prophet and desired that he would pray to God that because they were at an utter loss about what they ought to do he would discover it to them and they swear that they would do whatsoever Jeremiah should say to them and when the prophet said he would be their intercessor with God it came to pass that after ten days God appeared to him and said that he should inform Johanan and the other rulers and all the people that he would be with them while they continued in that country and take care of them and keep them from being hurt by the Babylonians of whom they were afraid but that he would desert them if they went into Egypt and out of this wrath against them would inflict the same punishments upon them which they knew their brethren had already endured so when the prophet had informed Johanan and the people that God had foretold these things he was not believed when he said that God commanded them to continue in the country but they imagined that he said so to gratify Baruch his own disciple and belied God and that he persuaded them to stay there that they might be destroyed by the Babylonians accordingly both the people and Johanan disobeyed the counsel of God which he gave them by the prophet and removed into Egypt and carried Jeremiah and Baruch along with him and when they were there God signified to the prophet that the king of Babylon was about to bring an expedition against the Egyptians and commanded him to foretold to the people that Egypt should be taken and the king of Babylon should slay some of them and should take others captive and bring them to Babylon which things came to pass accordingly for on the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem which was the 23rd year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar he made an expedition against Silasiria and when he had possessed himself of it he made war against the Ammonites and when he had brought all these nations under subjection he fell upon Egypt in order to overthrow it and he slew the king that then reigned and set up another and he took those Jews that were their captives and led them away to Babylon and such was the end of the nation of the Hebrews as it have been delivered down to us it having twice gone beyond Euphrates for the people of the ten tribes were carried out of Samaria by the Assyrians in the days of King Hosea after which the people of the two tribes that remained after Jerusalem was taken were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and Chaldea now as to Shalmanizer he removed the Israelites out of their country and placed therein the nation of the Cuthians who had formerly belonged to the inner parts of Persia and Medea but were then called Samaritans by taking the name of the country to which they were removed but the king of Babylon and the two tribes placed no other nation in their country by which means all Judea and Jerusalem and the temple continued to be a desert for seventy years but the entire interval of time which passed from the captivity of the Israelites to the carrying away of the two tribes proved to be a hundred and thirty years six months and ten days end of book ten chapters eight and nine book ten chapter ten the antiquities of the Jews volume two 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 Karen the antiquities of the Jews volume two by Flavius Josephus translated by William Wisden book ten chapter ten chapter ten concerning Daniel and what befell him at Babylon but now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took some of the most noble of the Jews that were children and the kinsmen of Zedekiah their king such as were remarkable for the beauty of their bodies and the comeliness of their countenances and delivered them into the hands of tutors and to the improvements to be made by them he also made some of them to be eunuchs he took also with those of other nations whom he had taken in the flower of their age and afforded them their diet from his own table and had them instructed in the institutes of the country and taught the learning of the Chaldeans and they had now exercised themselves sufficiently in that wisdom which he had ordered they should apply themselves to now among these there were four of the family of Zedekiah of most excellent dispositions one of whom was called Daniel another was called Ananias another Misael and the fourth Azarius and the king of Babylon changed their names and commanded that they should make use of other names Daniel he called Balthazar Ananias Shadrach Misael Meshach and Azarius Abednego these the king had an esteem and continued to love because of the very excellent temper they were of and because of their application to learning and the profess they had made in wisdom now Daniel and his kinsmen had resolved to use a severe diet and to abstain from those kinds of food which came from the king's table and entirely to forbear to eat of all living creatures so he came to Ashpinaz who was that eunuch to whom the care of them was committed and desired him to take and spend what was brought for them from the king to them pulse and dates for their food and anything else besides the flesh of living creatures that he pleased for that their inclinations were to that sort of food and that they despised the other he replied that he was ready to serve them in what they desired but he suspected that they would be discovered by the king from their meager bodies and the alteration of their countenances because it could not be avoided but their bodies and colors with their diet especially while they would be clearly discovered by the finer appearance of the other children who would fare better and thus they should bring him into danger and occasion him to be punished yet did they persuade Ariyach who was thus fearful to give them what food they desired for ten days by a way of trial and in case the habit of their bodies were not altered to go on in the same way as expecting that they should not be hurt thereby afterwards but if he saw them look meager and worse than the rest he should reduce them to their former diet now when it appeared that they were so far from becoming worse by the use of this food that they grew plumper and fuller in body than the rest in so much that he thought those who fed on what came for the king's table seemed less plump and full while those that were with Daniel looked as if they had lived in plenty in all sorts of luxury Ariyach from that time securely took himself what the king sent every day from his supper according to custom to the children but gave them the aforementioned diet while they had their souls in some measure more pure and less burdened and so fitter for learning and had their bodies in better tune for hard labor for they neither had the former oppressed and heavy with a variety of meats nor were the other effeminate on the same account so they readily understood all the learning as among the Hebrews and among the Caldeans as especially did Daniel who being already sufficiently skillful in wisdom was very busy about the interpretation of dreams and God manifested himself to him now two years after the destruction of Egypt King Nebuchadnezzar saw a wonderful dream the accomplishment of which God showed him in his sleep but when he rose out of his bed he forgot the accomplishment so he sent for the Caldeans and magicians and the prophets and told them that he had seen a dream and informed them that he had forgotten the accomplishment of what he had seen and he enjoined them to tell him both what the dream was and what was its signification and they said that this was a thing impossible to be discovered by men but they promised him that if he would explain to them what dream he had seen they would tell him its signification here upon he threatened to put them to death unless they told him his dream and he gave command to have them all put to death since they confessed they could not do what they were commanded to do now when Daniel heard that the king had given a command that all the wise men should be put to death and among them himself and his three kinsmen were in danger he went to Ariach who was captain of the king's guards and desired to know of him what was the reason why the king had given command that all the wise men and Kaldians and magicians should be slain so when he learned that the king had had a dream and had forgotten it and that when they were enjoined to inform the king of it they had said they could not do it and had thereby provoked him to anger he desired of Ariach that he would go into the king and desire respite from magicians for one night and to put off their slaughter so long for that he hoped within that time to obtain by prayer to God the knowledge of the dream accordingly Ariach informed the king of what Daniel desired so the king bid them delay the slaughter of the magicians till he knew what Daniel's promise would come to but the young man retired to his own house with his kinsmen and besought God that whole night to discover the dream and thereby deliver the magicians and Kaldians with whom they were themselves to perish from the king's anger by enabling him to declare his vision and to make manifest what the king had seen the night before in his sleep but had forgotten it accordingly God out of pity to those that were in danger and out of regard to the wisdom of Daniel made known to him the dream and its interpretation that so the king might understand by him its signification also when Daniel had obtained this knowledge from God he arose very joyful and told it his brethren and made them glad that they should now preserve their lives of which they despair before and had their minds full of nothing but the thoughts of dying so when he had with them returned thanks to God who had commiserated their youth when it was day he came to Ariach and desired him to bring him to the king because he would discover to him that dream which he had seen the night before when Daniel was come into the king he excused himself first that he did not pretend to be wiser than the other Chaldeans and magicians went upon their entire inability to discover his dream he was undertaking to inform him of it for this was not by his own skill or an account of his having been better cultivated his understanding than the rest but he said God hath had pity upon us when we are in danger of death and when I prayed for the life of myself and of those of my own nation hath made manifest to me both the dream and the interpretation thereof for I was not less concerned for thy glory than for the sorrow that we were by thee condemned to die while thou did so unjustly command man both good and excellent in themselves to be put to death when thou enjoins them to do what was entirely above the reach of human wisdom and requires of them what was only the work of God wherefore as thou and thy sleep was solicitous concerning those that should succeed thee in the government of the whole world God was desirous to show thee all those that should reign after thee and to that end exhibited to thee the following dream thou seems to see a great image standing before thee the head of which proved to be of gold the shoulders and arms of silver and the belly and the thighs of brass but the legs and the feet of iron after which thou sawest a stone broken off from a mountain which fell upon the image and threw it down and break it to pieces and do not permit any part of it to remain whole but the gold, the silver, the brass and the iron became smaller than meal upon which the blast of a violent wind was by force carried away and scattered abroad but the stone did increase to such degree that the whole earth beneath it seemed to be filled therewith this is the dream which thou sawest and its interpretation is as follows the head of gold denotes thee and the kings of Babylon that have been before thee but the two hands and arms signify this that your government shall be dissolved by two kings but another king that shall come from the west armed with brass shall destroy that government and another government that shall be like unto iron shall put an end to the power of the former and shall have dominion over all the earth on account of the nature of iron which is stronger than that of gold of silver and of brass Daniel did also declare the meaning of the stone to the king but I do not think proper to relate it since I have only undertaken to describe things past or things present but not things that are future yet if anyone be so very desirous of knowing truth as not to waive such points of curiosity and cannot curb his inclination for understanding the uncertainties of futurity and whether they will happen or not let him be diligent in reading the book of Daniel which he will find among the sacred writings when Nebuchadnezzar heard this and recollected his dream he was astonished at the nature of Daniel and fell upon his knee and saluted Daniel in the manner that men worship God and gave command that he should be sacrificed to as a God and this was not all for he also imposed the name of his own God Abonim, Baltazar and made him and his kinsmen rulers of his whole kingdom which kinsmen of his happened to fall into great danger by the envy and malice of their enemies for they offended the king upon the occasion following he made an image of gold whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits and set it in the great plain of Babylon and when he was going to dedicate the image he invited the principal men out of all the earth that was under his dominions and commanded them in the first place that when they should hear the sound of the trumpet they should then fall down and worship the image and he threatened that those who did not do so should be cast into a fiery furnace when therefore all the rest upon the hearing of the sound of the trumpet worshiped the image they relayed that Daniel's kinsmen did not do it and they did not transgress the laws of their country so these men were convicted and cast immediately into the fire but were saved by divine providence and after a surprising manner escaped death for the fire did not touch them and I suppose that it touched them not as if it reasoned with itself that they were cast into it without any fault of theirs and that therefore it was too weak to burn the young men when they were in it the power of God who made their bodies so far superior to the fire that it could not consume them this it was which recommended them to the king as righteous men and men beloved of God on which account they continued in great esteem with him a little after this the king saw in his sleep again another vision how he should fall from his dominion and feed among the wild beasts and that when he had lived in the desert for seven years he should recover his dominion again when he had seen this dream he called the magicians together again and inquired of them about it and desired them to tell him what it signified but when none of them could find out the meaning of the dream nor discover it to the king Daniel was the only person that explained it and as he foretold so it came to pass for after he had continued in the wilderness the forementioned interval of time while no unders attempt to seize his kingdom during those seven years he prayed to God that he might recover his kingdom and he returned to it but let no one blame me for writing down everything of this nature as I find it in our ancient books for as to that matter I have plainly assured those that think be defective in any such point or complain if I'm management and have told them in the beginning of this history that I intended to do no more than translate the Hebrew books into the Greek language and promise them to explain those facts without adding anything to them of my own or taking anything away from there End of book 10 Chapter 10 Recording by Karen