at the Head of them. And when they apoftatiz'd with the fame Expreffion, as Jeroboam made ufe of, upon this Occafion: Thefe be thy Gods, O Ifrael, which 1 Kings have brought thee up out of the Land of xii. 28. Egypt.

Exod.

xxxii. 8.

This Idolatry therefore prevailing thro' the Reigns of twenty Kings fucceffively; God, having several Times tried to reclaim them by fending his Prophets to reprove and warn them of their approaching Destruction, but all to no purpofe; in the Reign of Hofhea, the laft of them, he suffered Shalmanefer the King of Affyria, to carry them away captive into a strange Land, whence they were never to return.

SECT. IX.

The Idolatry of the Kings of Judah.

And but very few of the Kings of Judab behav'd themselves better, in this Refpect. We are told that Rehoboam forfook 2 Chron. the law of the LORD, and all Ifrael with him. Therefore, in his Reign, Shishak King of Egypt, was permitted to come up 2 Chron. against Jerusalem, and take away the trea

xii. I.

xii. 8.

fures

fures out of the house of the LORD. And, in the Reigns of some of the fucceeding Kings, the Temple had been so much neglected, that it was miferably out of 2 Chron. repair when Joash came to the Crown; who, being a good and pious Prince, (all the Days of Jehoiada the Priest, whose Counfels he follow'd,) took care to put every thing again in Order.

But, no fooner was Jehoiada dead, than he was perverted by the Persuasions of the wicked Princes of Judah. And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and ferved groves and idols. And moreover, he commanded Zachariah, the Son of his great Friend and Benefactor Jehoiada, to be fton'd to Death, for offering to remonstrate against his Proceedings. It came to pass therefore, at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him, and destroyed all the Princes of the people, and fent all the spoil of them unto the King of Damafcus. And Joafh's own fervants confpir'd against him, and flew him on his bed.

Those that fucceeded him, cannot be accounted better, particularly Ahaz,

who

xxiv.

4.

2 Chron. who gathered together the veffels of the boufe

xxviii.

24.

of God, and cut them in pieces, and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and made him altars in every corner of Jerufalem: and in every feveral city of Judah, he made High-Places to burn incenfe unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers. Hezekiah indeed was the Reverse of his Father Abaz: He ordered the Priests to cleanse and prepare the Temple; and reftor'd what Abaz had plunder'd it of.

away

But then Manaffeh, the Son and Succeffor of Hezekiah, inherited none of his Father's Virtues; but during a confiderable Part of his Reign, equall'd in Impiety the very worst of his Predeceffors; and fet a carved image (the idol which he had made) in the house of God. Yet, at laft, repenting of his Folly, he took it again, and repaired the altar of the LORD. And offer'd fome Atonement for the great Differvice he had done to Religion, by giving the World fo every way deserving a Prince as his Son Jofiah; who made 2 Kings ample Reparation for all the Damages done to the Cause of God, by his iniquitous Father.

xxii.

SECT.

SECT. X.

The City and Temple deftroy'd.

But the rest of the Kings, who came after him, continued to provoke the LORD to fuch a degree, that he suffered Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon to come up and burn their City and Temple, and carry away King and People, Captives into Babylon: where they continued seventy Years in a fervile distress'd Condition, justly punish'd for their incorrigible Iniquities: according to the Prophecy of Hefea; which he had deliver'd concerning them, at leaft an hundred and fifty Years before their Captivity. The Hof. iii. children of Ifrael fhall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a facrifice, and without an image, and without an Ephod, and without * Teraphim. Afterward fhall the children of Israel return, and feek the LORD their God. In their Captivity they were to be fo little Mafters of themfelves as not to have it in their Power to worship either

*Penates. Houfe Images.

4.

the

28.

the true God, according as he had commanded them, or false ones according to their own deprav'd Inclinations.

SECT. XI.

Both rebuilt, after the Return.

But when Babylon was taken by Cyrus King of Perfia, of him the Jews obtain'd a Permiffion to return into their own Country, and to rebuild their City and their Temple: as Isaiah had prophefied above two hundred Years before. Ifa. xliv. The LORD, That faith of Cyrus, He is my Shepherd, and fhall perform all my pleasure; even saying to Jerufalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the Temple, thy foundation fhall be laid. For Jacob my fervant's fake, and for Ifrael mine elect, I have called thee by thy Name: I have furnam'd thee, though thou haft not known me. How divine a Prophefy! and how compleatly fulfill'd!

xlv. 4.

But of this, Jeremiah the Prophet, likewise, prophefies at large; who, tho' he liv'd to the Time of the Captivity, yet delivers this Prophecy in the Reign of Jehoiakim, at least eleven Years before it:

And