  THE TAKING OF JERUSALEM. FIRST READING.
WHEN King Jehoiakim was dead, and his son Jehoiachin carried away to Babylon, another king began to reign, named Zedekiah. He was Jehoiachin's uncle; he was Jehoiakim's brother; and he was son to good Josiah. The king of Babylon said that Zedekiah should reign as long as he would be obedient to him, and pay some money every year, so as to show that he owned the king of Babylon for his master. And God spake through His prophet Jeremiah, and said that if Zedekiah would obey the king of Babylon, the people should be left in peace, only they must be patient under their punishment. But Zedekiah was more like his bad brother than his good father. He listened to people who pretended to be prophets, though God had never spoken by them. They told him to set up for himself against the king of Babylon, and that all the beautiful things that had been taken out of the Temple should come back again. And when Jeremiah told them that it would not be so, and that if they rebelled against the Babylonians it would be worse for them, and the king would be put to death, they were so wicked as to let the holy prophet down into a pit, with mud and At last a black man, one of the king's slaves, came and told the king that the prophet would soon be dead if he stayed there. Then Zedekiah was shocked, and he told the black to get Jeremiah safe out of the pit. So they threw him down soft rags, and told him to put them under his arms, that the ropes might not hurt him when they drew him up. So Jeremiah came out of the horrible pit, and had some food; and the king sent to see him in secret. Then he told the king that it was God's will that he should bear to be under the Babylonian power, and that he must not make war; for that if he did, he would come to great misery, and die blind and a prisoner. Zedekiah was not angry, as his brother had been, but all he had to say for himself was that he was afraid of his people. He was more afraid of them than of God, and he would not do what he knew to be right. So he told the black man to keep Jeremiah safe, and take care he had food every day; but he begged Jeremiah not to say one word to these wicked men about the conversation they had had together. Was it not a foolish thing to be so afraid of men, when God could have taken care of him? He would have been quite safe if he had only been bold enough to do as God told him! Mind, that if ever idle children should want you to be as naughty as they are, and tease you till you feel afraid to stand out against them, the only way to be safe is to do as God tells you. Zedekiah, who was afraid to do right, was quite as much punished as Jehoiakim, who was bold to do wrong. QUESTIONS.
SECOND READING.
THIS is a sad text; but when people are wicked, sadness must always follow. You heard how kind God had been to the Israelites, and how much He had done for them; how He gave them their beautiful land, and their city of Jerusalem, and blessed them whenever they were good. And if they sinned, He sent punishment, that they might learn to do better; and when they were sorry He forgave them, and made them happy again. But they would not keep to what He told them; they would worship idols, and grow worse and worse, till at last God said that there could be only "lamentation, and mourning, and woe," for the trouble they had brought on themselves. God sent a great army under the king of Babylon, and Jerusalem was given up to them. The fierce soldiers came in, and burnt the houses, and robbed the Temple; and as to the young king, Jehoiachin, they took him and his mother, and all his chief lords and priests, and carried them away to Babylon, where he was a long time in prison. The chapter to-day was written by a holy prophet, whose name was Ezekiel, and who was taken away to Babylon at the same time as the young king. God came and spoke to Ezekiel, that he might go on warning the people, that if they did not repent now that they were punished, He would be obliged to go on punishing them still. Think about that. You know if you have done wrong and QUESTIONS.
THIRD READING.
THE prophet Ezekiel had many sad things to tell the Jews; but he had some comfortable ones. They had been very wicked, and God took them away from their dear home at Jerusalem, and let it be burnt with fire; and put them to live far away in a strange land at Babylon. But He told them that if they would leave off their sins, and turn back to Him, and not worship idols any more, then He would forgive them, and bring them home again. To-day the Lesson says that they must really be sorry in earnest, not only pretend to be sorry. If they said they would worship God, and were caring for their idols in their hearts all the time, then He must go on being angry, and punishing them; but if they were really sorry, and really prayed to Him, then when they had been punished enough, they should be comforted. They should not always stay in Babylon, in the dull flat land, with the streams of water flowing lazily through it; but Now when we have done wrong, and are punished, it is to make us sorry, that we may do so no more. Little children are punished by their friends; grown-up people are punished by God sending troubles. Then we must be sorry, not only for the punishment, but the fault, and really try with all our hearts not to do it again. If we only say we are sorry, and then run back to our old ways, something worse will come of it. No, we must be sorry in earnest, and then God will forgive us, for His dear Son Jesus Christ's sake. QUESTIONS.
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