“Thus saith the Lord; Behold I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.” Hophra was a rash, inexperienced, over-confident ruler who wasted what small strength and wealth his kingdom possessed in useless warfare against mighty powers which were manifestly beyond his ability to cope with. The background of his contact with the Sacred Record begins with his conspiracy that enmeshed Zedekiah. This entire rebellion was a faithless and degraded example of lack of honour and responsibility to a plighted and pledged word. This is primarily so because after the defeat of Necho and his subsequent death, Nebuchadnezzar raised Hophra, the son of Necho, to the throne of Egypt where he governed as a satrap. He was to reign for Babylon, and had taken the oath of fidelity to his over-lord and master. To make matters worse the conduct of Zedekiah added insult _to_ injury! When Nebuchadnezzar dethroned Jehoiakim and carried him bound in chains to his subsequent death in Babylon, he was followed on the throne by Jehoiakin who reigned for a very brief period. Then Nebuchadnezzar raised Zedekiah to a position of power and on his twenty-first birthday elevated him to the governorship of Jerusalem. For the better part of eleven years, he reigned more or less successfully. He seems to have been a graceless scoundrel and utterly without honour. Completely violating their treaties and their oaths of fidelity, Pharaoh and Zedekiah joined in a conspiracy and rebelled against the power of Nebuchadnezzar. It is a matter of wonder to the modern student that these kings of Judah never learned their lesson. The Chaldeans besieged Jerusalem to put down this revolt, and Hophra marched to its aid. Because the company of Chaldeans was small, as Nebuchadnezzar had not anticipated a strong resistance, the wise captains of this advance-guard did not join battle with Hophra, but retired in good order rather than fight a hopeless conflict when they were so strongly outnumbered. The city of Jerusalem went wild with delight and rejoicing over its deliverance. The gloomy Jeremiah warned the leaders in vain that the Chaldeans would return, and in overwhelming force. Refusing to listen to the prophecies of Jeremiah, the people treated him harshly and cast him out. While the city was rejoicing at this early victory, Jeremiah himself gave a manifestation of confidence in the ultimate fulfillment of his own prophecies, when he fled from the city and delivered himself voluntarily into the hands of the Chaldeans. In the meantime, Hophra, overcome with pride at his easy victory, boasted with blasphemy that not even could God defeat him! The sycophantic Zedekiah acquiesced in this boasting and blasphemy and showered the foolish Hophra with unlimited compliments.