80 who had come together to hear it. It contained a long description of the destruction of Babylon, which would take place at the end of seventy years, and a promise that the Jews should at that time return to their own country. When the messenger of Jeremiah had read the book, he fastened a stone to it, and cast it into the river Euphrat, s, and said, as Jeremiah had commanded, speaking in the name of God, “Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon hér." ‘About five years after this, God commanded Ezekiel to inform the Jews who lived in the vil lages on the banks of the river Chebar, that Jerusalem would soon be destroyed by the Chaldeans, and that the remáinder of the inhabitants would be brought into captivity to Babylon. During all this time, Daniel continued to be one of the principal officers in Nebuchadnezzar's court. Though only thirty-two years of age, his character was so , excellent, and, he was so much celebrated for wisdom and piety, that he was naeu
