among them; and the ark was taken, and the two sons were slain. And one of those that had escaped safe, stained his garments with their blood, and came to their father, while he was sitting upon his seat, and said to him: "Disastrous news for thee; for thy two sons are killed, and my garments are even stained with their blood, and the ark of gold has been taken, and the sword has annihilated thy people." And when he heard tidings such as this, he threw himself backwards off his seat, and his neck was broken, and he died. And when his daughterin-law heard of this calamity-now she was big with child-the pains of childbirth grew violent in her, and she died. And so this man received reward for his action in this world, and he shall also be brought to account in the next. Blessed be He, whom no affair escapes, and from whom nothing is hidden. Blessed be He and exalted.

CHAPTER XLV.

THE HISTORY OF BOKHTONASSAR (NEBUCHADNEZZAR), THE KING OF EL-MAUSIL (MOSUL),

WHICH IS FOUND IN THE BOOKS OF THE CHRONICLES OF HIS DEEDS.

He was one of the kings of the Persians, who had conquered the countries and subdued the people, and the kings obeyed him. And he restored the authority of all the kings of esh-Shâm, and they went to the king of el-Quds (Jerusalem), and entered into agreement with him that they would come under the rule of Bokhtonassar, and become submissive to his decrees. they continued so twelve years; but when it was the thirteenth year, they broke the compact and revolted, and he pardoned them. And when he

And

warned them, and they were not affected with fear, he marched against them in the fourteenth year, and destroyed whomsoever of them he met. And he directed his march toward el-Qûds, and besieged it till he captured it, and he killed in it with great slaughter, and took its king and put out his eyes and sent him to Beit-A. . ‚1 and burned all the buildings and the edifice which Sulaiman (Solomon) the son of Dâwîd (David) had constructed. Then he turned aside towards our country-that is this country-and made proclamation therein, that: "Whosoever was found remaining in it after seven days, the shedding of his blood would be permissible.' Thereupon he took to goading the people and driving them out unto every country, and brought people from el-Furs (Persia) and settled them in this country, the home of the children of Isrâîl, who now got to the most remote parts of the world, scattered and dispersed throughout the regions east and west. And the word of the Holy Law came true: "And God shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth." And after a certain time had passed by, letters were brought back from the Persians who were dwelling in their (the children of Isrâîl's) territory in esh-Shâm, regarding the earth's refusing her crops and fruits; for when the fruit promised well the destroying blight would waste it. And the letters in regard to this reached the king, and he had the leaders of the children of Isrâîl brought before him, and made inquiry of them about this state of affairs, and they said: "The cause of this is our removal, and the abandonment in it of the service of our Lord; and we do praise God for its disorder, so that we may return unto it and serve

1 Note 91. 2 Deut. xxviii: 64. 3 Note 92.

our Lord upon the Holy Mount, and offer up offerings as He commanded us in His Book, by the hand of His Prophet--peace be upon him. And the king replied to them: "Go and build the house of thy Lord and offer up the offerings, and serve your Lord as was your custom, and I will assist you." And they said to him: "Give unto us a writing by thy own hand unto all our brethren, who are scattered abroad throughout all the regions; for we cannot return except we all go together." And the king gave them a writing of his hand, permitting them to journey to esh-Shâm. And they departed from his presence, glad and rejoicing for what God had kindly bestowed upon them. And the imâm and the king sent letters to every place, saying: "Know that the king-may God make him powerfulhas granted us permission to go up to the holy place and build it up, and offer up the offerings upon it with the service that is acceptable. And now it is necessary that ye make haste, you and your harem and your children and all that ye possess, that we may assemble and go, and carry out the orders which he has commanded unto us, concerning the service of our Lord-Mighty and Powerful." And the people all came together, and the offspring of Yehudah (Judah) said to them: "We will unite all of us and go to elQûds, and build it up, and we will be one word and one soul." But the offspring of Harûn. (Aaron) and Yûsaf (Joseph)* said to them: "No, but, on the contrary, we will go up to the Mount of Blessing, and build up the holy place, and we will be one soul and one word.' they persisted in the dispute, until it became necessary that they should come together into the presence of the king. And he decided in favor of them (the descendants of Aaron and *I. e. the priests and the Samaritans.

And

Joseph) after this manner: the children of Isrâîl, the friends of the Blessed Mount, assembled with the book of Mûsa, the Prophet-peace be upon him and relied upon what it said in designating the Blessed Mount, and no place else, as the proper place; and the offspring of Yehudah assembled, relying upon what certain books written after the days of Mûsa, the Prophet-peace be upon him-designated with reference to Beit el-Muqaddas (Jerusalem) being the place. And the books were brought and read in the presence of the king; and when he had carefully considered this matter, he saw that the intention of all was the Blessed Mount. But Zorobabil (Zerubbabel) answered and said unto him:

king, the book which I have furnishes me with arguments in favor of Beit el-Muqaddas, and the offering up of offerings therein; wouldst thou then compel me to go up and offer up offerings upon the Blessed Mount?" And Sanballat the Liwânite answered him, saying unto the king: "The books which Zorobabil has are a lie and a fraud.5 Permit me to throw them into the fire; and this, my book, if he is able, let him take it and throw it." And the king gave permission unto Sanballat to throw the books of Zorobabil into the fire, and he did this, and they were burned up. Thereupon he gave permission unto Zorobabil to throw the book of Sanballat, and he took it and opened it, but abstained from throwing it, and said: My books are mine alone, but the Holy Book belongs both to him and to And the king answered, saying unto Zorobâbil: "I see that thy books are false; why didst thou abstain from throwing his book?" Thereupon, he (Zorobâbil) feared lest he be put to death, and he took the Law and cast it into the fire; and it jumped out of it. And he asked

me."

66

permission of him to throw it in a second time; and it was not affected by the fire in the least. Thereupon, he humbled himself before the king, beseeching him that he might throw the book a third time; and he granted him permission, and he took it and spat upon a paragraph of it, and then cast it into the fire, and the place which had been spit upon burned, and then it sprang out into the bosom of the king. And the king immediately became angry at the children of Yehûdah, and put to death immediately of them thirty-six souls of those who were present. But Sanballat, he and his company, obtained great honor with the king; for the king gave him gifts and presents and chain necklaces and bracelets, and invested him with the silk robe of honor, and promoted their leaders, and sent them away with the whole multitude of Isrâîl who returned from the first exile, and their number was three hundred thousand men. And thereupon they followed the true religion, after having been unbelieving; and pursued right guidance, after having wandered into error. And God accepted them and broke the chains of their captivity, through the mercy He had for them and the compassion He felt, and the remembrance He had for the covenant with Ibrahîm and Ishâq and Y'aqub-peace be upon them. And the king sent unto all the Persians who had taken up residence in their assigned land, and removed them from it to their own country; and the people (of Isrâîl) entered into their assigned land, which is their holy place. And they made the sacred apparatus similar unto that which was in the (former) temple, and they offered up a multitude of offerings; and the earth gave forth its good things, and returned unto its former beauty and splendor; and with the carrying out of this act (on God's part) nothing was withheld