third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy, And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses. And the children of the captivity

kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month. For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

And the children of Israel which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat, And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Question.-Who were the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin, and why did they offer to assist to build the temple?

Answer. They were the descendants of the different nations who had been settled in the country by the kings of Assyria and Babylon when they took the greater number of the lost Jews into captivity, and of the Jews who remained there. They seem to have been afraid that those who had returned from the captivity would become masters of the country, and tried to persuade them they could help to build their temple, the object being to hinder the progress of the work. When they could not succeed in that attempt, they did all they could to annoy the pious builders and "hired counsellors," that is, gave money to some of the officers at the Persian Court to prevent the orders of Cyrus being carried out.

Q.-Who were Zerubbabel and Jeshua, who with others refused to allow the people to assist in building the temple?

A.-Zerubbabel was a descendant of David, and while the Jews were in captivity at Babylon, was considered to be the representative of the royal line of the princes of Judah, and he held high office under the king of Baby. lon, who gave him the name of Sheshbazzar. When Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem, they were placed under the leadership of Zerubbabel. He celebrated the first feast of the Passover in the new temple. He was a very great man, and looked up to by the returned Jews as their chief ruler. Jeshua (another way of spelling Joshua) was the son of Jehozadak, whose father was high priest when the captivity began. Jeshua

was born at Babylon, and as a descendant of the priestly family was probably considered to rank as next to Zerubbabel. He was the first high priest in the new temple.

Q. How did the officers who had been paid to do all they could to hinder the pious Jews in their work of restoration act?

A.-Cyrus was dead, and had been succeeded by his son Ahasuerus II., who reigned about seven years. Artaxerxes was a bad king, who only reigned for eight months, but in that time, the enemies of the Jews were able, by false statements, and alarming him of the probability of the Jews becoming once more a great and independent nation, to obtain from him an order that the work of the Jews should cease. The king found in the Babylonish writings that the great kings, David and Solomon, had carried the conquest beyond the river Euphrates.

Q. When was the work of rebuilding again undertaken ?

A.-In the second year of the reign of Darius, who, three years after the Jews had been compelled to suspend the work, issued an edict enforcing the decree of Cyrus in favour of the returned Jews, and then the great work was resumed.

Q.-Who assisted Zerubbabel and the other Jews in their work?

A,-The prophets Haggai and Zacariah, whose books of prophecies are contained in the Bible.

And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, and said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the

children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.

We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judg ments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

A. He commences his supplication with an acknowledg ment of the unworthiness of himself and his people, saying, "I confess the sins of the children of Israel." And again: " Both I and my father's house have sinned against thee." Then he puts his trust in the mercy of God, and in the gracious promise of pardon and renewed favour to those who turn to him and keep his commandments; and the suppliant is also mindful of mercies already shown by the Almighty to his people, "whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand."

Q.-To whom does Nehemiah refer when he says, "grant him mercy in the sight of this man." A.-He was begging that he might find favour in the sight of Ahasuerus the Persian king. As cupbearer to the monarch, Nehemiah held a position of great trust and confidence; and being by his office thrown frequently into the company of Ahasuerus, he had an opportunity of pleading his people's cause, and was naturally anxious to obtain a favourable hearing from a master who had power of life and death over him.

AND it came to pass in the month

Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king.

Now I had not been beforetime sad

in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart.

Then I was very sore afraid, and said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request?

So I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.

And the king said unto me (the queen also sitting by him), For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; And a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace, which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God. had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.

And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.

And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good

work.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us,

and said, What is this thing that Will ye rebel against the king?

ye do?

Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.

Built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.

Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall. And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.

And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you. Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: re

member the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.

And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. În what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for

us.

So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour on the day. So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.

Question.-Why should Nehemiah be "sore afraid" when the king remarked his sorrowful countenance?

Answer. Probably he feared that the king might be angry with him for marring the royal mirth at the time of feasting by appearing with a mourning face, or perhaps

the king might think Nehemiah's sadness arose from remorse of conscience for some evil design he had meditated.

Q-In what sense are the words "So I prayed to the God of heaven," to be taken ?

A.-It was a great and anxious moment for Nehemiah, for he was about to prefer a most important request, upon the answer to which the welfare of his people depended, to the king. Therefore he very rightly put up a silent or mental prayer to the Almighty, that the heart of the king might be favourably inclined towards him.

Q. What is meant by "I set him a time?"

A.-Nehemiah must have mentioned how long he required for the fulfilment of his mission, and the king granted him leave of absence accordingly.

Q. What reasons probably influenced Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, to make their attempt to hinder the work of rebuilding and strengthening Jerusalem ?

A.-There was a great hatred against the Jews among the Moabites and other nations, partly on account of their religion. These foreigners also looked with jealousy

on the prospect of the Jews regaining their old importance and power. Nehemiah rightly reminded them that, as strangers, they had no right to interfere, when he said "Ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem."

Q. What lesson do we learn from Nehemiah's conduct when the enemies of the Jews conspired together to fight against Jerusalem, and to prevent the rebuilding?

A. That while we put faith in the help of the Almighty, we are bound to use the strength and the faculties that have been given to us, and have no right to remain idle,. and expect our difficulties to vanish. "Be ye not afraid of them," was his exhortation, "remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses." Nehemiah, also, as a good man should do, ascribes all success, and the deliverance from danger and difficulty, to God's blessing-" When God had brought their counsel to nought "-or had frustrated their wicked. designs "we returned every one unto his work." And again he says "In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet," meaning, wherever the trumpet is blown, to announce that the enemy are ready to attack us, resort ye thither unto us," that is, collect yourselves boldly together, Four God shall fight for us."

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Now

Ahasuerus, (that is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces :) That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace.

In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him: When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.

And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace;

Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's. commandment by his chamberlains : therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.

Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times (for so was the king's manner towards all that knew law and judgment: And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan,