return to their own land, made wiser by their
captivity of seventy years. The other party, leagued with Moabites,
Tyrians, Egyptians, and other nations, thought themselves strong enough
to break their allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar; and bitter were the
contentions of these parties. Jeremiah had great influence with the
king, who was weak rather than wicked, and had his counsels been
consistently followed, Jerusalem would probably have been spared, and
the Temple would, have remained. He preferred vassalage to utter ruin.
With Babylon pressing on one side and Egypt on the other,--both great
monarchies,--vassalage to one or the other of these powers was
inevitable. Indeed, vassalage had been the unhappy condition of Judah
since the death of Josiah. Of the two powers Jeremiah preferred the
Chaldean rule, and persistently advised submission to it, as the only
way to save Jerusalem from utter destruction.

Unfortunately Zedekiah temporized; he courted all parties in turn, and
listened to the schemes of rebellion,--for all the nations of Palestine
were either conquered or invaded by the Chaldeans, and wished to shake
off the yoke. Nebuchadnezzar lost faith in Zedekiah; and being irritated
by his intrigues, he resolved to attack Jerusalem while he was
conducting the siege of Tyre and fighting with Egypt, a rival power.
Jerusalem was in his way. It was a small city, but it gave him
annoyance, and he resolved to crush it. It was to him what Tyre became
to Alexander in his conquests. It lay between him and Egypt, and might
be dangerous by its alliances. It was a strong citadel which he had
unwisely spared, but determined to spare no longer.

The suspicions of the king of Babylonia were probably increased by the
disaffection of the Jewish exiles themselves, who believed in the
overthrow of Nebuchadnezzar and their own speedy return to their native
hills. A joint embassy was sent from Edom, from Moab, the Ammonites, and
the kings of Tyre and Sidon, to Jerusalem, with the hope that Zedekiah
would unite with them in shaking off the Babylonian yoke; and these
intrigues were encouraged by Egypt. Jeremiah, who foresaw the
consequences of all this, earnestly protested. And to make his protest
more forcible, he procured a number of common ox-yokes, and having put
one on his own neck while the embassy was in the city, he sent one to
each of the envoys, with the following message to their masters: "Thus
saith Jehovah, the God of Israel. I h