which they had brought with them from Jerusalem.  This was not easy.  Not only were they tempted to go with the crowd and worship the gods of the land; they were also uncertain just how to worship Jehovah.  They could not offer sacrifices to him.  Jerusalem was a thousand miles away, and the temple there was burned.  Should they build a new temple for him, in Babylon?  It was not certain whether that would be lawful.  The Jews in Egypt did build a temple to Jehovah.  But no others seem to have been able to do this.

KEEPING THE SABBATH

There were some religious customs, however, which could more easily be transplanted.  One was the Sabbath Day.  In the earlier centuries the Hebrews had observed the day of the new moon with special sacrifices, and also, to some extent, the other days when the moon passed from full to first quarter, then to the second, then to the third—­in other words, every seventh day.  There was in the days before Moses no thought of resting from labor on these days, except as might have been necessary in order to offer up the special sacrifices.

=The Sabbath and the new law of Deuteronomy.=—­One of the kindly changes which the new law of Deuteronomy introduced was to make the Sabbath a rest day for slaves and all toilers.  On the Sabbath “thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, ... that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.”

In Babylonia and other foreign lands faithful Jews were especially careful to keep the Sabbath by resting from all their work.  No one else did so, and the custom marked them as Jews.  When a Babylonian would propose to buy a wagon load of wheat on the Sabbath the Jew would say, “I cannot sell on that day; it is a Sabbath day to our God.”  Boys and girls were not allowed to play with their Babylonian playmates on the Sabbath.  Such experiences helped them to remember that they were Jews.  They thought of it also as an act of respect to Jehovah.  It took the place of animal sacrifices.  As the time went on there grew up rules and regulations in regard to Sabbath-keeping which became more and more strict and elaborate.

PRAYER AND PUBLIC WORSHIP

Another religious custom which can be practiced anywhere is prayer.  It must have been a great and happy discovery to many a homesick Jew when he found that even though the temple at Jerusalem was far away, yet in his own room “by the river Chebar” he could kneel, or even in the street he could for a moment close his eyes and breathe out a prayer to God and find in it fresh strength and hope and courage.

=The synagogue.=—­The weekly Sabbath rest also made it possible for the Jews to meet together on that day for prayer and worship together.  The reading circles which Isaiah had organized, and out of which probably came the law-book Deuteronomy, were continued in Babylonia, and the Sabbath morning, afternoon, or evening was a convenient time of meeting.  They would gather in some private house and study the law and the writings of the prophets.  Then they would pray.  Those who were the most learned would read and they and others would pray aloud.