This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1880 edition. Excerpt: ...and abounding with vineyards and gardens, corn and wine and oil, all of which the chosen people were permitted to make their own, they returned after their sojourn in Babylon to what was little better than a desolate wilderness. The country lay waste, and it was overrun by wild tribes of the desert who were scarcely removed from the wild beasts that dwelt amongst them. The sacred vessels, which Belshazzar was profaning when the handwriting on the wall prophesied his sudden destruction, had been restored to the Israelites by Cyrus, and they had brought these treasures with them, intending to devote them at once to the service of God with praise and thanksgiving. But where was that glorious temple that Solomon had built for the worship of the God of Israel? It was now a heap of ruins, and the first task of the returning exiles was to lay again the foundations of the sanctuary. Cedar trees were again brought from Lebanon, material was collected, contributions were brought in, and by the beginning of the following year the rebuilding of the temple was begun with singing and the sound of the trumpet and shouts of joy. Yet the aged, who remembered the more glorious past, who thought of the time when Solomon reigned over a populous and united kingdom, wept at the contrast. Zerubbabel, their leader, himself laid the foundation stone, but he owned allegiance to a Gentile power, and his people were but a small band of patriots. The foundation of the second temple was laid on the site of Solomon"s temple, but the work of building went on slowly amidst the difficulties and dangers that encompassed it on every side, and after a while it ceased altogether. The Samaritans, who claimed to be of Israelitish descent, offered their help in the building of the...