f Jerusalem were thronged with those who cared far more for the
gratification of their appetites than they did for their vain sovereign.

The royal palace was thronged with the rich, the great, the gay, and the
giddy. Unholy excitement ran high. Wines and strong drinks flowed freely.
Flattery without measure was poured into the ears of the king. "Long live
Jehoiakim!" echoed from a thousand voices. The prophets of the Most High,
who prophesied evil against Jerusalem, were ridiculed and laughed to
scorn; and those few persons of influence who regarded them in a
favorable light were made the subjects of their keenest sarcasm and their
most insulting wit. It was about the third hour of the night. The king's
heart was merry with wine. A thousand of Judah's nobles, with their
wives, their sons, and their daughters, sat at the banquet table.
Suddenly a voice, deep and solemn as the grave, was heard below, as if in
the garden at the rear of the palace, crying, "Woe unto Jehoiakim, King
of Judah! Woe! Woe to the Holy City!" The sound was of an unearthly
nature. The assembly heard it, the king heard it. For a moment, all was
still. Again the same deep minor sound was clearly heard. "Woe unto
Jehoiakim, King of Judah! Woe! Woe unto the Holy City!"

"Seize the accursed wretch!" rang through the great apartment.

The king's countenance was flushed with anger, while he cried, "Who is
this vile dog that dares insult the King of Judah? Let the abominable one
be dragged into my presence and then receive his instant doom!"

A thorough search was made for the mysterious author of the confusion;
guards and sentinels ran to and fro. Every corner of the enclosures was
thoroughly examined, but all in vain. No trace could be found of the
unwelcome herald. After a short interval, the agitation subsided and the
company was again in the midst of wild revelry and merriment. The king
endeavored to be merry; but the peculiar deep tone of that messenger of
woe still sounded in his ears; and, with all his efforts, he could not
forget it. In the midst of his depravity and wickedness, he still at
times had some dread of that God whom he daily insulted. He sought to
drown his unpleasant thoughts in mixed wines, but the King of Judah felt
a presentiment of some awful calamity near at hand. With desperation he
struggled against it, and joined in the boisterous laugh and merry song.

CHAPTER III.

HIGHER and higher ran the excitement of the banquet