Joab
No one, Lord King. Nor anywhere throughout the palace.
So I alone hold vigil. Why should all the burden be laid upon me? All the walls of the city, all the towers of care? Get me wine.
[Joab fills the goblet once more. Zedekiah drains it and flings it away. With a groan he lies down again. All is still save for the murmur of the fountain. Zedekiah, who has been lying motionless on the bed, now very quietly sits up in the gloom. Crouching like a wild beast about to spring, he listens intently. Then he suddenly screams]
Zedekiah
Some one is speaking. I hear a voice which drones unendingly. I have given orders that none shall speak in my house. The voice is chanting. But I have forbidden that any should sing under my roof. Do ye not hear it?
Joab
I hear nothing, Lord.
Nehemiah