Twice within twelve years, first in B.C. 597, and again in B.C. 586, the Babylonians took great companies of Hebrews as exiles from Jerusalem to Babylon.  Each time there must have been in the line of march some twenty-five thousand men, women, and children—­an army which, marching eight abreast, would stretch at least five or six miles.

These must have been sorrowful processions, especially the last of the two.  For months they had suffered the horrors of a besieged city.  Then had come the break in the walls, the screams of frightened women and children, the heaps of corpses in the streets, and the black smoke and red glare of burning buildings; then the hasty setting out on the long road to Babylon.  Some of them perhaps were able to buy asses to carry the little children and a few of their belongings.  But most of them had to trudge along on foot, fathers and mothers carrying the babies, and leaving behind them all their possessions except what could be gathered into a towel or a blanket.  For a month or six weeks they tramped.  If anyone fell sick, there was no time to take care of him.  He must drag along with the rest or fall by the wayside until he either recovered or died.

THE SETTLEMENT IN BABYLONIA

When they reached the land of their captors they were not made slaves, but were allowed to make their home together in settlements on land set apart for them.  In these colonies they probably worked as tenant-farmers on the estates of Nebuchadrezzar’s nobles.  In the prophetic book of Ezekiel, who was among these exiles, we read about one of these Jewish colonies by the river, or canal, called Chebar (or in Babylonian Kabaru), which means the Grand Canal.

=The attractions of Babylonian life.=—­What the Babylonians hoped was that these people would forget that they were Hebrews and become Babylonians, just as immigrants from Europe become Americans.  This is exactly what happened in many cases.  At first, of course, the Hebrews were bitterly homesick.  The land of Babylonia was as flat as a floor.  The Hebrews longed for the lovely hills and valleys of their native land.

=By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion.  Upon the willows in the midst thereof We hanged up our harps, For there they that led us captive required of us songs, And they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.  How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a strange land?=

But the years went by, and they had time to look about in the new country.  They found it full of opportunities for money-making.  The soil, watered by hundreds of canals from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, was wonderfully rich.  Everywhere there were prosperous towns and cities with great brick buildings, beautifully decorated with sculpture, and thronged with merchants.  Ships laden with wheat and dates and with Babylonian