,
burnt he with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with
the captain of the guard, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round
about. And the residue of the people that were left in the city, and
those that fled to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the
multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away
captive. But the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land
to be vinedressers and husbandmen. And the pillars of brass that were
in the house of the Lord, and the bases and the brazen sea that were
in the house of the Lord, did the Chaldeans break in pieces, and
carried the {352} brass of them to Babylon. And the pots, and the
shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of
brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. And the firepans, and
the basins; that which was of gold, and that which was of silver, the
captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, the one sea, and the
bases, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord; the brass of
all these vessels was of great weight. So Judah was carried away
captive.

{353}

THE KINGDOM OF THE NORTH

JEROBOAM.

(The story of the revolt of the northern part of the kingdom from the
south has been told in the story of Rehoboam. Jeroboam, who became the
king of the northern territory, was little improvement over Rehoboam,
his rival in the south. He was not of royal birth, but, as a bright
young man in Solomon's court, came under the great king's notice. He
plotted, however, against his master, and, his treachery being
discovered, fled to Egypt. As soon as Solomon died, Jeroboam returned
from Egypt, and became the leader of the successful revolt against the
tyranny of the young king of the south.)

_The New Kingdom_.

Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and dwelt
therein; and he went out from thence, and built Penuel. And Jeroboam
said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will return to the house of David:
if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at
Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again unto their
lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and
return to Rehoboam king of Judah." Whereupon the king took counsel,
and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them, "It is too much
for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold thy gods, O Israel, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." And he set the one {354} in
Beth-el,