THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY AND THE RETURN TO JERUSALEM.  

 

 

INTRODUCTION. 

 

Many books have been written about the Jewish exile in Babylon and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The aim of this article is to give a concise and simple account of the events that took place during this fascinating period of Biblical history, putting the various Old Testament books in their rightful context and making them more easily understood.

 

Perhaps it may also give a small insight into the wonderful way in which God, in His Sovereignty, intervenes in the affairs of men to steer the course of history in accordance with His own purposes. A time chart is included for reference on the last page.

 

 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS PRIOR TO THE CAPTIVITY.

 

Under David and Solomon the twelve tribes of Israel had been united as one nation. However, in 970 B.C., shortly after the death of Solomon, the Kingdom was divided into two: the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.

 

Israel fell quickly into idolatry and, over the next 200 years, its kings were almost consistently evil. During this period God sent His prophets, notably Elijah and Elisha, to condemn the nation for their sin but, as a whole, Israel continued in its evil ways.

 

Around 780 B.C. God sent the prophet Amos to warn Israel of impending judgment. He was followed a few years later by Hosea who pronounced equally strong warnings of doom against the northern kingdom. About the same time, Isaiah and Micah were prophesying at Jerusalem and directed further warnings to their northern brethren.

 

Notwithstanding these constant warnings, Israel remained unrepentant and, in 721 B.C., God sent the Assyrians to destroy that kingdom: many people were slain and many taken captive into Assyria. The cities of Israel were emptied and repopulated with men from other nations under Assyrian dominion (2 Kings ch.17).

 

These people adopted a semblance of the Jewish faith, but continued to worship their own gods. Over the centuries they mingled with the remnant of the ten tribes to form the Samaritan people.

 

Having overrun Israel, the Assyrians set their sights on Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem. Hezekiah, the king of Judah brought the matter before the Lord and, through the prophet Isaiah, deliverance was promised. God Himself smote the Assyrians, causing them to withdraw from Judah (Isaiah chapters 36 & 37).

 

For the present the land was spared but Isaiah continued to prophesy against Judah, calling the people to repent and turn from their sin. Israel's downfall stood as a solemn warning to them: if they did not change their ways, they would suffer the same fate.

 

Isaiah clearly foretold the Jewish captivity in Babylon (Isaiah 39 v.6 & 7), an event which would not take place for another 100 years.

 

During the last years of the southern kingdom, God gave His final warnings to the people. Zephaniah prophesied that the "Day of the Lord" was at hand, whilst Habakkuk revealed how God would raise up the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to judge His own people.

 

Jeremiah began his ministry about 20 years before the invasion of Judah and, in the year that Nebuchadnezzar became king of Babylon, he declared that this pagan ruler had been raised up as God's servant to destroy the land of Judah (Jeremiah 25v.9).

 

However, the faithful remnant were not left entirely without hope: through His prophets, God also spoke of the ultimate restoration of Israel and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. This promise would give hope to those who continued to trust in Jehovah throughout the tribulation that now lay ahead.

 

 

THE FALL OF JERUSALEM.

 

In 605 BC, the year he ascended the throne of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar led a campaign against Egypt, and on his return laid siege to Jerusalem.

King Jehoiakim, who had previously paid tribute to Egypt, surrendered the city without a fight and Judah became a vassal state to Babylon.

 

Nebuchadnezzar returned to his own country taking with him some of the vessels of the House of God and a select group of Israelites, who became eunuchs in the King's palace (Daniel 1v.1-3). Amongst these captives was Daniel: a young man who was to become God's prophet in Babylon throughout the period of captivity, speaking boldly to successive rulers of two great empires.

 

After a few years, King Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, refusing to pay further tribute and ignoring the word of God to him through Jeremiah (Jeremiah ch.36).

 

Jehoiakim was succeeded by his son Jehoiakin in 597 B.C. but, after only 3 months, Nebuchadnezzar came and besieged Jerusalem. Jehoiakin yielded the city to him and was taken to Babylon, together with ten thousand captives and the remaining treasures of the House of the Lord (2 Kings 24v.8-16).

 

Amongst the captives on this second occasion was Ezekiel, who continued in Babylon for at least 25 years. Thus God had three prophets during this traumatic period in the history of the Jews: Daniel boldly bearing testimony before the Babylonian Kings, Ezekiel encouraging the Jewish exiles in the plains of Babylon, and Jeremiah speaking out fearlessly to the remaining Jews at Jerusalem.

 

Jehoiakin became a king in exile (Jeremiah 52v. 31-34) and Nebuchadnezzar set Jehoiakin's uncle, Zedekiah, upon the throne of Jerusalem.

 

However, Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, who returned and laid siege to the city in 588 B.C. Jerusalem held out for 18 months until famine prevailed in the city (2 Kings 25v.1-3).

 

Jeremiah at this time was imprisoned in Jerusalem, having stirred up the hatred of the princes by prophesying of the imminent destruction of the city (Jeremiah ch.38).

 

In 586 B.C. the Babylonians entered Jerusalem, destroying the City and the Temple. After Zedekiah's sons were slain before his eyes, he was blinded and taken in chains to Babylon. A further deportation of the Jews took place at this time, leaving behind only the poor people of the land.

 

Nebuchadnezzar himself gave special instructions concerning Jeremiah, that he should be treated well and given his freedom (Jeremiah ch.39). Why should the King of Babylon show such respect for God's prophet, when even his own people despised him? The answer is undoubtedly because (as we will see shortly), by this time, Nebuchadnezzar had already learned to fear the God of Israel.

 

Jeremiah was given the opportunity to go to Babylon, where he was promised that he would be treated well, but chose rather to stay and suffer hardship with the remnant in the land of Judah. There he remained for a short while until, against his advice the people decided to flee into the land of Egypt after Nebuchadnezzar's governor at Jerusalem was assassinated (Jeremiah ch.43).

 

Even here they were not safe for, in 582 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt; many of the Jewish exiles were slain and others were taken to Babylon. It is in Egypt that the final chapters of the book of Jeremiah were recorded, including a prophecy of the overthrow of Babylon by the Medes (Jeremiah ch.51).

 

About 25 years previously, Jeremiah had foretold that the captivity of the Jews would last for 70 years, after which Babylon would be punished for its iniquity and the Jews would return to Jerusalem (Jeremiah 25v.12 & 29v.10).

 

Isaiah and others had also prophesied clearly of these events. For the present, however, Jerusalem lay in ruins, the Temple was destroyed and the land was devoid of its inhabitants.

 

 

GOD'S DEALINGS WITH NEBUCHADNEZZAR.

 

We have already seen how Nebuchadnezzar was raised up by God to judge the people of Judah. When he made his first incursion into that land in 605 B.C. he was merely an instrument in God's hand, having no knowledge himself of the one true God.

 

To him the God of Judah was no different to the gods of the other lands under his dominion; but he was soon to learn different. Amongst the captives he took back to Babylon were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. These four young men remained faithful to God and rapidly found favour with the King of Babylon (Daniel ch.1).

 

In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar was troubled by a dream and Daniel, having sought the Lord, was able to give him the interpretation of it (Daniel ch.2).

 

In his dream he saw a great image: the four parts of which represented four successive kingdoms upon the earth.

 

The head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar or Babylon, and Daniel took the opportunity to tell the King that it was the God of heaven who had given him this kingdom.

 

After Babylon would come the Persian Empire (represented by the breast and arms of silver), then Greece (the belly and thighs of brass), and finally Rome (the legs and feet of iron).

 

Afterwards, in his dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw a stone that smote the feet of the image so that it fell. This stone represented the Kingdom of Christ, which would be established during the period of the fourth empire (Rome). Whereas the earthly kingdoms would fall and disappear, this kingdom would last forever.

 

Thus Nebuchadnezzar was shown the course that history would take over the next six hundred years, causing him to acknowledge that "God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings". However, he still had a great deal to learn, for it was Daniel whom he honored, giving him gifts and promoting him (still a young man) to be ruler over the province of Babylon.

 

In chapter 3 of Daniel we read how Nebuchadnezzar set up an image of gold (which, by its dimensions, appears to have been an obelisk), commanding that all men should worship it.

 

To the faithful Jews such idolatry was unacceptable, and so Daniel's three companions found themselves condemned to the fiery furnace. Presumably the Chaldeans were afraid to accuse Daniel as well, given his favour with the King.

 

However, God miraculously delivered the three friends from the fire and, as Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, he saw with them a fourth figure whom he declared was "like the Son of God".

 

The impact this had on Nebuchadnezzar was so great that he made a decree that none should speak anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (their Babylonian names). Again, he had witnessed the power of God, but still he showed no sign of personal faith.

 

Daniel chapter 4 recounts the wonderful story of King Nebuchadnezzar's conversion. Nebuchadnezzar boasted to himself of the great empire that he had built, but God removed his sense of reason and caused him to live like a wild animal for seven years, until he had learned the lesson that it is God who rules in the kingdom of men.

 

At the end of this period his understanding returned and he gave glory to the King of heaven and worshipped Him. Exactly when this event occurred, we cannot be sure. However, his reign ended in 561 B.C., when he died and was succeeded by his son, Evilmerodach (2 Kings 25v.27).

 

 

THE FALL OF BABYLON.

 

The next record we have of Babylon in Scripture, concerns its fall in 539 B.C. (Daniel ch.5). In that night King Belshazzar made a great feast, during which the fingers of a hand appeared, writing words of judgment upon the wall. Daniel, by now an old man, interpreted the writing, spelling out the imminent downfall of Babylon. That very night the City was taken and Belshazzar was slain.

 

For centuries critics argued that the book of Daniel was inaccurate since there were no secular historic records of King Belshazzar. Indeed, it was clearly documented that the last king of Babylon was Nabonidus. Only at the end of the nineteenth century, were records unearthed showing that Belshazzar was, in fact, the son of Nabonidus and co-regent with him.

 

It is for this reason the Bible tells us that Belshazzar made Daniel the third ruler in the kingdom: his father was the first and he, himself, was the second. Whilst Nebuchadnezzar is referred to as Belshazzar's father, this word is not used in Scripture as literally as we would use it: any Jew could look back from any point in history and refer to Abraham as his father.

 

Nebuchadnezzar was probably the great grandfather of Belshazzar (this would be consistent with the prophecy of Jeremiah 27 v.7). The queen who advised Belshazzar to send for Daniel was possibly his mother.

 

 

THE MEDO-PERSIAN EMPIRE.

 

When Babylon fell, the second great empire of Nebuchadnezzar's dream came to the fore. It consisted of an alliance of the Medes and Persians, with the Persians by this time holding the upper hand.

 

Secular history credits Cyrus the Persian with the defeat of Babylon, but the Bible states that Darius the Mede took the kingdom. Perhaps the most likely explanation is that Cyrus was the first ruler in the Empire but that Darius, his ally, was installed upon the throne of Babylon.

 

Daniel immediately found favour with Darius, who made him first president in the kingdom (Daniel ch.6). However, Darius was tricked into having Daniel condemned to the lion's den but, after God had delivered Daniel, the king gave glory to God.

 

Whatever the relationship between Darius and Cyrus, it is the latter who emerges as the most important figure, both in history and in a scriptural context.

 

In the first year of his reign, Cyrus issued a proclamation that the Jews should return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of their God (Ezra 1v.1-4).

 

Why should this Persian king be so sympathetically inclined towards the Lord and His people? Ultimately, of course we can say very simply that God moved him to do such a thing, but what were the mechanisms that God used.

 

Whether or not Daniel had any influence on Cyrus, as he had on other rulers, we cannot be sure, but it is a strong possibility. It certainly seems likely that the prophecy of Isaiah (ch. 44v.28 to ch.45v.4), written nearly two centuries before, must have been brought to his attention, for here God is speaking directly to Cyrus.

 

He calls him by name, saying that He has raised him up to do His will and to cause Jerusalem and the temple to be rebuilt. We can imagine the effect that such a prophecy would have had, even upon a pagan king.

 

Twenty-three years would pass before the temple was complete and over a hundred years before the walls of Jerusalem would be rebuilt.

 

During that period 5 kings would sit upon the throne of Persia and all would be used according to God's purpose, but it was Cyrus who initiated the work. One by one God's prophecies through His servants were being fulfilled: His people had not been forsaken.

 

 

THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE.

 

In 539 B.C. Cyrus issued the decree for the temple to be rebuilt. Shortly thereafter, almost 50,000 Jews, under the leadership of Zerubbabel, returned to Jerusalem to begin the work (Ezra chapters 1 & 2).

 

With the people of Judah were representatives of the northern tribes of Israel: those who at various times and for various reasons had fled to the southern kingdom and had been taken captive with their brethren.

 

Thus began the restoration, not simply of Judah, but of the twelve tribes of Israel. Their first task was to build the altar of God and institute burnt offerings according to the Law. Only in the second year did they begin to lay the foundations of the temple (Ezra ch.3).

 

Back in their own home, they faced opposition: the Samaritans whom the Assyrians had placed there many years before sought to discourage them and prevent them from fulfilling their task.

 

In 529 B.C. Cyrus, who had been the benefactor of the Jews, died and was succeeded by his son, Cambyses (known in the Bible by the title Artaxerxes).

 

The enemies of the Jews wrote to him, claiming that the Jews were rebuilding Jerusalem so that they could rebel against him. Artaxerxes gave orders that the work should cease and the Samaritans readily enforced this (Ezra ch.4).

 

In 522 B.C. Darius the Great took the Persian throne by force. In the second year of his reign, God raised up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the Jews to resume building the temple (Ezra ch.5).

 

When their enemies found out, they immediately wrote to the new king, encouraging him to cause the work to cease. However, Darius ordered a search of the records and found the decree of Cyrus that the temple should be rebuilt.

 

He issued his own decree that, not only should the work continue, but that the Jews should be provided with everything that was necessary to complete their task. Furthermore, anyone who opposed the work was to be put to death (Ezra ch.6).

 

The work may have been hindered for a while, but God ultimately used this situation to ensure that the work prospered. In 516 B.C. the new temple was completed and dedicated to the Lord.

THE BOOK OF ESTHER.

 

Between chapters 6 and 7 of the book of Ezra, there is a gap of at least 30 years. Darius the Great, in whose reign the temple was completed, was succeeded by his son, Xerxes, in 486 B.C.

 

It is commonly accepted that Xerxes is in fact the king Ahasuerus referred to in the book of Esther, Ahasuerus being a title given to a number of the Persian kings.

 

The scene here shifts to Shushan (or Susa), the capital of the Persian Empire, to which some of the Jews had been transported from Babylon. The Bible recounts how Ahasuerus chose Esther, a Jewess, as his new queen and how she, with the help of her cousin Mordecai (who had brought her up as his own daughter), was able to divert the evil determined against the Jews by Haman the Agagite.

 

The amazing thing about the book of Esther is that it makes no mention at all of the Lord Himself. But who can read this story without seeing, at every stage, the intervention of a sovereign God in delivering His people from their enemies.

 

The timing of this piece of history is interesting: the temple had been rebuilt, the Jews were slowly returning to the promised land and God's promises concerning the restoration of Israel were being fulfilled.

 

It seems as though Satan was making one final desperate effort to thwart God's plans by destroying the Jewish people throughout the length and breadth of the Persian Empire.

 

Once again, however, we see that it is God that rules in the kingdoms of men, not Satan: the Jews were delivered, Haman was hanged on his own gallows and Mordecai was promoted to a position of great power and influence in the empire.

 

The Jewish feast of Purim was instituted by Esther and Mordecai in remembrance of the Lord's goodness to His people.

 

 

EZRA AND NEHEMIAH.

 

In 465 B.C. Xerxes died and his son Artaxerxes became king. It was during his reign that Ezra and Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, Artaxerxes himself being a great benefactor of the Jews.

 

Some have speculated that if this king was the son of Ahasuerus (Xerxes), he may also have been the son of Esther: this would certainly help explain why he was so sympathetic to the Jews.

 

Whilst that seems to be likely, we cannot be sure since Ahasuerus appears to have had many wives. What is more certain is that Esther and, particularly, Mordecai must have had a significant influence in the affairs of state during this period, even over King Artaxerxes.

 

Ezra the scribe returned to Jerusalem in 458 B.C. He took with him only a few thousand Jews, but he went with the Kings blessing, as well as riches Artaxerxes had provided to assist in the Lord's work (Ezra ch.7).

 

Ezra found a sorry state in Jerusalem, for the Jews there had already begun to backslide and intermingle with the people of the land. God used Ezra to stir them up to repentance and to introduce reforms (Ezra ch.8-10).

 

Nehemiah returned 13 years after Ezra, in 445 B.C. Once again, it was Artaxerxes who allowed him to return, releasing him from his duties as the king's cup-bearer, and providing him with materials to rebuild the gates and walls of the city (Nehemiah ch.2).

 

He too faced opposition from the Samaritans but, with the support of Ezra and the divine protection of Almighty God, his task was accomplished.

 

In 433 he returned to Shushan to appear before king Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 13v.6). After an unspecified period he returned to Jerusalem and found that the people had once again departed into sin and that the service of the temple was neglected.

 

Perhaps Ezra had died during Nehemiah's absence, for it seems unlikely that he would have allowed such a situation to develop. However, Nehemiah was swift to take action and introduce further reforms.

 

There are a number of indications that seem to place the prophecies of Malachi within this period. He was speaking after the restoration of the temple and condemned most of the sins that Nehemiah had to deal with.

 

Possibly he assisted Nehemiah in his reforms. Thus the Old Testament draws to a close at around 430 B.C.

 

The Lord's people must suffer many hardships over the next four hundred years and two more great empires must rise up and possess the land of Palestine before the coming of the Messiah.

 

We have no record of God raising up any further prophets during this period and the events of this era are left to secular historians to record.

 

However, the Holy Scriptures do not leave us completely ignorant of the things that passed during these centuries for, during his captivity in Babylon, Daniel had prophesied clearly of the course that history would take before the establishment of Christ's kingdom upon earth.

 

 

THE PROPHECIES OF DANIEL.

 

Much of the meaning of the final six chapters of Daniel is difficult to understand, but there are certain aspects clearly relating to ancient history that are worth mentioning here.

 

We have already seen Daniel's interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel ch.2), revealing that three further kingdoms would be established after Babylon.

 

The first of these was the Persian Empire. Then, in 333 B.C., Alexander the Great (King of Greece) won his first decisive victory over Persia and, over the next few years, completely subdued their former Empire.

 

When he died in 323 B.C. the kingdom was divided and, over the next 300 years, was slowly overrun by Rome. These then are the four kingdoms revealed through Nebuchadnezzar's dream: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.

 

In the first year of King Belshazzar (550 B.C.), Daniel had a vision of four great beasts (Daniel ch.7): these being synonymous with the four kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

 

Two years later he had a further vision in which he saw a ram and a goat (Daniel ch.8). The ram represented the Medo-Persian Empire and, interestingly, had one horn bigger than the other (the Persian kings having more power than the Medes).

 

The ram was then destroyed by a goat (Greece) having one horn, which clearly represents Alexander.

 

In the vision, the horn was broken off and four smaller horns came up in its place. Daniel was told that these represented four kingdoms that would rise up in the place of the first king (v.22).

 

After the death of Alexander, the Greek Empire was divided into four main parts under the rule of his former generals: Macedonia under Cassander, Thrace and Asia Minor under Lysimachus, Syria under Seleucus, and Egypt under Ptolemy.

 

Out of one of these four horns, Daniel saw rise up a smaller horn who would become exceedingly strong (v.9-13).

 

Daniel was told that this little horn represented a king of fierce countenance, who would reign towards the end of the four divided kingdoms of the Grecian Empire, (v23).

 

It was also revealed that this evil king would oppose the holy people and desecrate the temple. This man can be clearly identified in history as Antiochus Epiphanes who was king of Syria (the Seleucid dynasty) from 175 to 164 B.C. In 170 B.C. he occupied Jerusalem, spoiling the Temple and instituting pagan worship in the holy place. (Many think this man is a "type" of the antichrist who is to appear sometime in the future).

 

These events are recorded in the Apocryphal books of 1 & 2 Maccabees. Whilst these writings are not part of Scripture, they provide an interesting historical account showing how this aspect of Daniel's vision came to pass.

 

In Daniel ch.9, Daniel is given to understand that the Captivity of the Jews is now drawing to an end and that Jerusalem will shortly be rebuilt.

 

Also, the coming of the Messiah is revealed to him. From this prophecy, over 500 years before the event, it was possible to work out the very time when Christ would appear (ch.9v.25).

 

In chapter 11 he receives a further revelation concerning the fall of the Persian Empire to the King of Greece and the subsequent division of the Greek Empire.

 

There then follows a very complicated, but historically accurate, account of the wars and disputes between the kings of the south and the kings of the north (the Ptolemies and the Seleucids) over a period of 150 years, culminating again in the evil reign of Antiochus Epiphanes.

 

All of this was so accurately fulfilled in history, that it is hardly surprising that the critics have tried to argue that the book was not written until centuries later.

 

 

CONCLUSIONS.

 

The overall theme that shines out to us throughout this period of history is the Sovereignty of Almighty God: it is the Most High that Rules in the kingdoms of men, raising up mighty kings to do His bidding and moving great empires at His command.

 

God brings Nebuchadnezzar to the throne of Babylon, using him to mete out judgment against the wayward people of Judah.

 

Then He humbles this proud king, causing him to live like an animal, until he learns the lesson that the kingdom is only his because God has given it to him.

 

At the feast of Belshazzar, as the king and his lords drink wine from the holy vessels of God and worship their pagan idols, God writes a message upon the wall in front of their eyes: the days of Babylon are numbered and the kingdom is given to the Medes and the Persians.

 

Cyrus the Persian king, in fulfilment of prophecies given 170 years previously, issues an edict for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple.

 

During the reign of Cambyses work on the temple is forced to cease, but the enemies of the Lord's people are soon confounded as God moves Darius to issue a decree that the work should continue, and provides the means for it to be done.

 

The temple is finished, but Satan unveils his counter plan to destroy the whole Jewish nation.

 

However, the great king Xerxes has unknowingly taken to himself a Jewish wife: a woman whom God has brought to the kingdom for such a time as this.

 

The Lord softens the heart of this pagan king to listen to the pleadings of Esther, resulting in the deliverance of the Jews.

 

After this, Artaxerxes comes to the throne, a man who is unusually sympathetic to the Jews and, with his support, Ezra and Nehemiah are allowed to return to Jerusalem to encourage the Jews. The walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt and Israel is restored.

During this period God has raised up a succession of prophets: Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah and others; each an instrument in God's hand, being used to chastise the Lord's people, challenge mighty kings and speaking of things not yet seen.

 

The Persians have served their purpose and must soon give way to the Greeks. After them will come the Romans, during whose time God will bring forth His Messiah.

 

Having obtained an overall view of these events we can look again at the individual books and view them in a new light.

 

Turn again to Isaiah and read this glorious book in the context of his prophecies concerning the Captivity of the Jews and their ultimate restoration.

 

See how Jeremiah warns of impending doom and lives through successive attacks on Jerusalem, witnessing the deportation of the Jews.

 

Read the book of Habakkuk, where God reveals the imminent destruction of Judah, but also the ultimate downfall of Babylon.

 

Follow through the chronology of the books of the Kings, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah.

 

See how the book of Esther fits into its rightful place in history.

 

Look at the Prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah, encouraging the returned exiles in the rebuilding of the temple.

 

Marvel at the visions given to Daniel concerning his future, now our past.

 

Through it all see the power, the majesty and the sovereignty of Almighty God, giving Him all the praise and all the glory.

 

Learn to trust Him more knowing that He who guides the course of history and moulds kings and empires to perform His will, is well able to take care of our seemingly insignificant affairs and keep us safe for all eternity.

 

"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever, Amen."