And Zedekiah, the king, sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, one of his high officers, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, the highest church dignitary of the land at that time, Jeremiah 21:1; Jeremiah 29:25, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the Lord, our God, for us. This was, in the first place, an act of amazing stupidity in view of the king's deliberate disobedience, but also one of revolting hypocrisy, since Zedekiah feigned an allegiance to Jehovah which he was far from possessing. Zedekiah, moreover, did not seem to notice that his act was a further insult to Jeremiah, after the manner in which his messages had been received by the men in high places.

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