There were two brothers Ahab, son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, son of Maaseiah, who were very

wicked men. Their home was in Jerusalem and when they were afterwards taken captive to

Babylon with the other Jews, they continued their wicked actions as before. They pretended

to be prophets and called on the daughters of Nebuchadnezzar.

Ahab went to one daughter and said to her: "I have been sent by the Lord my God to tell you to do the will of my friend Zedekiah and lie with him."

Zedekiah went to the other daughter and spoke likewise to her, saying: "The Lord my God has sent me to you to tell you to do the bidding of my friend Ahab and lie with him."

The two daughters of Nebuchadnezzar then went and told their father.

The father replied: "When they come to you again tell them to ask me, for you must not do anything without my permission."

When they came again to the daughters to carry out their intention, the latter replied: "You must first go and ask the consent of the king, for we dare not do such things without leave from our father."

So they went to the king.

When they appeared before the king, he said: "Are you the prophets whom God sent to my

daughters to lie with them?"

They replied: "The Lord God has sent us to your daughters to give them the message that they should lie with us so that the children they have by us may also be prophets."

The king replied: "Cod hates unchastity and has Himself forbidden it in your Torah. How, then, can I believe that God should have given you a command of this kind? I asked Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who were also prophets, and they told me that God has forbidden unchastity."

These wicked men, replied: "We are prophets as much as they were, God had not said this to them, He has said it to us."

The king replied: "I will tell you what I will do. I will put you to the same test to which I put Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. I will cast you in to a burning furnace. If you come out unscathed like them, I will believe that you are true prophets and your wishes shall be granted."

The men replied: "Miracles do not happen every day. Moreover, they were three pious men, we are only two."

The king replied: "If that is your objection, then choose a third pious man, whomsoever you like, as companion, so that you may also be three, as Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were three."

They said to the king: "Give us Joshua, the High Priest, as companion."

For he was a very pious man, and they thought that they would be saved by his piety and would come out unscathed.

The king replied: "Let it be so," and gave orders to heat the kiln.

The order was immediately carried out and the two men, together with Joshua, the High Priest,

were cast into the furnace. The two false prophets were at once burned to ashes, but Joshua remained untouched, only his garments were scorched.

Then the king said to Joshua, the High Priest: "I see that you are a worthy man, but tell me why were your clothes scorched, whilst those of Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were not even singed?"

Joshua replied: "Each one of those three men was a pious man, but I was only one."

Then the king said: "Abraham was also one man and yet nothing happened to him when he was cast into the fiery furnace."

Joshua, the High Priest, replied: "Abraham had no wicked companions and the fire had no power to burn, whereas I had two wicked men with me, therefore the fire had power to burn."

This is the meaning of the proverb: "Two dry pieces of wood burn a third moist one." And the Bible

also says: "The righteous is delivered out of trouble and the wicked cometh in his stead" (Prov. 11.8).

But still remains the question why were the clothes of Joshua scorched, seeing that he was a pious man? The answer is given in the Gemara: "The reason was because he had allowed his sons to wed women not fit for the priesthood and did not prevent them. Therefore were his clothes scorched."