to see his old father Hachaliah; but we can well imagine the joy with
which he would be welcomed by all, and not the least by his brother
Nehemiah.

As they walk together through Shushan to the palace, the Rab-shakeh asks
anxiously after Jerusalem. Has Ezra's work been successful? How are
matters progressing? Are the people more in earnest? Is Jerusalem
thriving?

But the travellers have a dismal tale to tell. Affairs in the Holy City
are about as bad as it was possible for them to be.

Neh. i. 3: 'They said unto me, The remnant that are left of the
captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach:
the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are
burned with fire.'

In other words, things are just where they were twelve years ago; the
people are miserable and depressed, beset with countless troubles; the
city itself is still an utter ruin, just as Nebuchadnezzar left it. The
temple, it is true, is built at last, but nothing more is done; the
walls lie just as they were when the city was taken,--a mass of ruins;
the gates are nowhere to be seen, only a few blackened stones mark the
place where they used to stand.

The Rab-shakeh's heart is very heavy as he goes to his rooms in the
royal palace. What terrible news he has heard! Jerusalem is still,
after all Ezra's efforts to restore it, a desolate ruined city. Nehemiah
is full of sorrow, sick at heart, overwhelmed with disappointment and
trouble.