45. The Babylonian Captivity The sins of the Jews were great, and their punishment was heavy. Now, when they were compelled to live among the heathens, they longed for the Holy City and the worship in the temple of the Lord. Yet the Lord left them not without consolation. From the prophecies of the prophet Jeremiah they knew that when 70 years were passed the Lord would have compassion on them and bring them back to the land of their fathers. And the Lord sent two great prophets to them to console and strengthen them. These were Ezekiel and Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which he could not remember. Daniel prayed to the Lord, and both the dream and the explanation of it were shown him in a vision in the night. The king had seen a great image. The head was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, and the legs of iron and of clay. A stone which was not thrown by the hands of man struck the image and broke it to pieces; but the stone became a great mountain which filled the whole earth. Daniel interpreted the dream thus: There shall arise four great kingdoms after each other; afterward God will establish a kingdom that shall overthrow all these, but shall itself remain forever.--The king said: Thy God is a God above all gods, since he can reveal secret things. Daniel was now made ruler of the wise men of the country and remained in great respect and honor even after the death of Nebuchadnezzar. But he had enemies, and these caused one of the following kings to throw him into a den of lions; but the Lord sent him His angel who shut the mouths of the lions. The next day Daniel was pulled up from the den unhurt, and the men that had accused him were cast into it; but they had not even reached the bottom of the den before the lions seized them and broke their bones. (Book of Daniel 2-6.) 46. The Return from Babylon Cyrus, king of Persia, took Babylon, and permitted the Jews to return to the land of their fathers. He gave them back all the vessels of gold and silver from the temple that had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar. The 70 years were then at an end. Those who went away were 42,360. Zerubbabel, a chief of the house of David, led them to Jerusalem. In the second year after their return they began to build a new temple on Mount Moriah, where the temple of Solomon had stood. The Samaritans wished to build the temple with them; but the Jews would not permit it, as they did not regard them as right brethren. The Samaritans therefore hindered the work for many years. But then the prophets Haggai and Zechariah arose and encouraged the people, and the temple was finished; but it was not so magnificent as Solomon’s temple.--The Samaritans built a temple for themselves on Mount Gerizim. Several years after this, Ezra, of the tribe of Levi, came to Jerusalem and exhorted the people not to sin any more against the Lord by marrying heathen women. (Book of Ezra.)