shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return?" The queen here mentioned in the

parenthesis is none other than Esther, who had already been instrumental in the

deliverance of her people as recorded in the book bearing her name. The presence of the

queen here is one of the links in the working out of God's purpose. Under Mordecai,

Esther saved Israel: her presence here evidently influenced Artaxerxes, and her son,

Cyrus, has his own place in the scheme, as we have seen.

The read is asked to keep this twentieth year of Artaxerxes in mind as reference will

be made to it when dealing with the seventy-sevens of Dan. 9:

Before going further, the reader would be well advised to re-read the previous article

(page 150), so that what has already been considered shall be fresh in mind.

There is so much in this prayer, that we cannot hope to do justice either to its form or

to its subject-matter. We can only point out some of its essential features. The nature of

the section--Dan. 9: 3-19--makes any attempt at an outline difficult, but the following

will throw into prominence the main features of the petition, and will therefore be of

some service.