Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)

Hi

I am able to make a connection to the Oracle DB but when I try to execute a simple SQL statement I get a
"ORA-00911:invalid character problem"

code is below
try {
ds = DataSourceFactory.getDataSource (ApplicationConfig.DATA_SOURCE);
connection = ds.getConnection(ApplicationConfig.DATA_SOURCE_PROPS);
}
catch (Exception e) {
if(DEBUG)System.out.println(e.toString());
}
try{
Statement stat = connection.createStatement();
String sql = "Select * from language_table;";
ResultSet rs = stat.executeQuery(sql);
catch (Exception e) {
if(DEBUG)System.out.println(e.toString());
}
the first part is OK, and the second part creates the exception. When I run the sql statement in the SQL_PLUS client it runs perfectly.
I am at a loss as to what to try next.