THE FALL OF JUDAH. 309

wounded. His subjects grieved much for his death, and
they had cause to grieve.

Marianne. Was it not wrong of Josiah to persist in
fighting against Pharaoh ?

Grandfather. It was not right. Had he sought
direction from God in this matter, he would have acted
differently ; yet it was in mercy that he was taken
away; he did not live to see the evils that came upon
his people soon afterwards.

George. What evil came upon them afterwards ?

Grandfather. The king of Egypt had meant no ill to
Josiah ; yet because that king would not let him alone,
so he would not let his successors alone. Jehoahaz, his
son, succeeded, but only for three months did he sit on
the tottering throne of his ancestors. Pharaoh-necho
bound him, and carried him to Egypt, where he died.
Short as was the reign of Jehoahaz, it was long enough
to shew that his being dethroned was no loss to his
subjects, nor was his brother Jehoiakim any better than
he. The king of Egypt obliged him to pay tribute,
which, with much trouble, he raised, and greatly impo-
verished his people. Nor was this all: Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, came up to Jerusalem, and made this
fallen king his servant. For three years Jehoiakim paid
tribute to him, then cast off his yoke, hoping, perhaps,
that his former master, the king of Egypt, would assist
him. Nebuchadnezzar was angry, and sent against
him bands of the Chaldeans, bands of the Syrians,
of the Moabites, and of the Ammonites. It is said in