thee, and have prevailed over thee; they shall prevail when thy feet slip; they are turned away from thee, and they shall bring out all thy wives, and thy children to the Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, for thou shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire.”1783 10. But when He did not prevail with him by this address, but he remained in his sin and transgression, after three years, God delivered up the city, displaying at once His own clemency and the ingratitude of that king. And entering in with the utmost ease, they “burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and the houses of Jerusalem, and every great house, the captain of the guard1784 burnt, and overthrew the wall of Jerusalem;”1785 and everywhere there was the fire of the barbarian, the oath being the conductor of the conflag- ration, and carrying about the flame in all directions. “And the captain of the guard carried away the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon.1786 And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord the Chaldeans brake up, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord, did the Chaldees 469 break in pieces. And the pots, and the flesh-hooks, and the bowls, and the censers, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. And the firepans, and all the golden and silver bowls they took away. Moreover, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took away the two pillars, and the bases, and the sea which Solomon had made in the house of the Lord. And they took away Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door; and out of the city one eunuch that was set over the men of war; and five men that were in the king’s presence; and Shaphan the chief captain, and the principal scribe, and threescore men. And he took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon, and the king smote them, and slew them.”1787 11. Be mindful therefore, I pray, now of the “flying sickle” that “resteth in the swearer’s house;” and “destroyeth the walls and the timber and the stones.” Be mindful, I pray, how this oath entered into the city, and overturned houses, and temple, and walls, and splendid buildings, and made the city an heap; and that neither the Holy of Holies, nor the sacred vessels, nor any thing else could ward off that punishment and vengeance, for that the oath had been transgressed! The city, indeed, was thus miserably destroyed. But the king endured what was still more wretched and deplorable.1788 And as the flying sickle overthrew the buildings, so did it also cut him down in his flight. For “the king,” it says, “went forth by 1783 Jer. xxxviii. 17–23. 1784 LXX., ‡ρχιμ€γειρος, chief of the cooks, the Hebrew is literally of the slaughterers. 1785 2 Kings xxv. 9; Jer. xxxix. 8. 1786 Jer. xxxix. 9. 1787 2 Kings xxv. 13–20. 1788 2 Kings xxv. 4–7. 693 Homily XIX