The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bible Story, by 
Rev. Newton Marshall Hall and Rev. Irving Francis Wood

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Title: The Bible Story

Author: Rev. Newton Marshall Hall
        Rev. Irving Francis Wood

Release Date: June 7, 2010 [EBook #32736]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIBLE STORY ***




Produced by Don Kostuch





[Transcriber's notes]

Thanks to Jim and Carol Presher of Timeless Antiques in Valley Alabama for providing access to the original texts.

This is the complete text of all six volumes of the set to permit linking among the volumes. "HOW TO USE THE BIBLE STORY" (the first volume), organizes the use and access of the other five volumes. The general index to all the volumes is at the end of the last volume.

These links connect to the beginning of each volume:
HOW TO USE THE BIBLE STORY
VOLUME ONE: THE GOLDEN BOOK
VOLUME TWO: HERO TALES
VOLUME THREE: TALES OF OLD JUDAEA
VOLUME FOUR: LIFE OF JESUS
VOLUME FIVE: SONGS OF THE AGES
GENERAL INDEX TO ALL VOLUMES

Page numbers in this book are indicated by numbers enclosed in curly braces, e.g. {99}. They have been located where page breaks occurred in the original book.

Quotation marks are often unbalanced. This transcription copies the original text.

Colons (:) are frequently used instead of commas or semicolons.

Page number references using a variety of abbreviations have been standardized for clarity.

[End transcriber's notes]

{1}

HOW TO USE THE BIBLE STORY

THE KING-RICHARDSON COMPANY

SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS

{2}

COPYRIGHT, 1917,

BY THE KING-RICHARDSON COMPANY,

SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

{3}

FOREWORD

The five volumes of THE BIBLE STORY have served to beautify and classify the Bible and are simple and complete in themselves. They do not require explanation or enrichment. It is the desire, however, by the addition of this volume to suggest definite ways of using the work.

This book contains a series of suggestions to fit the occasion, the temperament, and the time of the user. It may be picked up often and a part of it used as opportunity offers. We believe there may be those who will wish to use all the suggestions. We are sure that all who own THE BIBLE STORY will wish to use some of them.

This volume has the following aims:--

In General:

To give a better knowledge of the Bible and thus to make reading it a delight instead of a task.

Specifically:

To show how to use the work with children and how children may use it.
To make the Bible as useful as possible in character building.
To bring out the connection of the Bible with its land.
To show the connection of the Bible with literature.

{4}

{5}

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION


PAGE

Key. 10
Why Read the Bible? 11
Why are Bible Readers so Few? 12
PART I
THE CHILD AND THE BIBLE
The Mother's Part: How Can I Use THE BIBLE STORY with My Child? 15
1. What Do I Have to Know in Order to Make the Best Use of THE BIBLE STORY with My Child?
15
2. How Can I Encourage My Child to Memorize Bible Verses?
15
3. How Can I Help My Child to Understand God's Relation to the World?
16
4. How Can I Know the Best Bible Stories to Tell to Children?
17
5. How Can I Get My Child to Read the Bible?
19
6. How Can I Help My Child to Understand Life in Bible Times?
19
7. How Can I Get My Child to Use THE BIBLE STORY for Himself?
20
8. How Can I Interest My Child in the Great Works of Art in THE BIBLE STORY?
21
Questions to Ask Little Children, for general review of all the foregoing lessons. 26

{6}

PART II

CHARACTER AND LIVING



PAGE
Make the Bible Heroes your Friends.31
Jesus' Character-Building Stories32
Foundation Stones33
Try Lincoln's Way37
History and the Bible38
1. The World in Bible Times
38
2. The Bible in History
39
Living with the Bible42
Questions on the Text45

PART III

THE LAND OF THE BIBLE

A Bird's-eye View of the Land97
Understanding Geography by Pictures 100
Locating Bible Characters in the Land 105

PART IV

THE BIBLE IN LITERATURE

The Bible's Place in Literature113
Questions bringing out the Bible's Literary Value 116
1. The Poetry of the Bible
116
2. The Oratory in the Bible
118
3. Other Literary Forms Found in the Bible
119
4. The Literary Value of the Books of Prophecy
120
5. The Bible--an Inspiration to Writers
121
The Bible's Gift to Our Language125

{7}

PART V

THE BIBLE AND THE TEACHER


PAGE
How the Foregoing Suggestions for the Use of THE BIBLE
STORY may be Employed by the Bible School Teacher 161
1. In the Primary Department
161
2. In the Junior, Intermediate, and Senior Departments
162

PART VI

PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY

{8}

{9}

INTRODUCTION


{10}

KEY

Throughout this volume initials are used to indicate titles of volumes in which references are found, as follows:--
G.B.   Golden Book.

H.T.   Hero Tales.

T.J.   Tales of Old Judea.

L.J.   Life of Jesus.

S.A.   Songs of the Ages.
{11}

INTRODUCTION

Why Read the Bible?

If Bible readers everywhere could return their answers what diverse and interesting points of view the replies would bring!

For instance, one perceives in the Bible record the worst and the best that men have always thought and felt; for him it is full of the universal motives of humanity. He has noticed, too, that in sketching often but the single act of a character, the Book brings the essential man or woman vividly out of the darkness and into the light for all time. As a student of men, we can imagine such a one replying that the Bible is "The Book of Human Nature."

Another knows that it has been the inspiration of countless writers, and that its sayings and teachings are woven by the hundreds and thousands through and through the texture of our English masterpieces. A student of books might well say that the Bible is the chief "Source-Book of Our Literature."

Still another would say, "The Bible is the beginning of many of our customs. Our common law is largely founded on its laws and many of our institutions are based upon those it sanctions." So a business man, a man of affairs, might very naturally call it, "The Foundation-Book of Christian Civilization."

For many the Bible is "The Book of Salvation," pointing the way into the presence of God.

Still others draw from it counsel and strength for those who depend upon them for guidance. "God could not be everywhere, so he made mothers." And in their hands the Bible becomes "The Book of Character."

The marvel of it is that each of these viewpoints is true. And many others are equally true. For the Bible, like the diamond, reflects its light from many facets. Which one you see depends upon where you stand, upon your point of view. How clear and strong the light for you depends upon how far you have come within the circle of its radiance.

{12}

Why are Bible Readers so Few?

Truly the harvest of Bible enlightenment is plentiful beyond measure; why then are those who reap it for themselves so few? It is because we lack time to understand. Our Bible Schools might solve the problem if only they had time, but one hour a week with the Bible is scarcely an introduction to it, never a fellowship with it. The Book of books is no shallow friend to give up all its treasures upon a superficial acquaintance. Rather it is a friend to be lived with in the home.

This book of suggestions is an invitation to you to come farther within the charmed circle of the Bible's light. Its aim is to save your time by helping you to use it to the greatest advantage. However much or little of the Bible light has been coming to you, may this book help to increase, to clarify, to beautify it. If it shall help you to bring more time, the most precious of modern possessions, to the understanding of the Bible, the most precious wisdom of the ages, its purpose will have been abundantly fulfilled.

{13}

PART I

THE CHILD AND THE BIBLE

Answering Mothers' Questions



{14}

"So great is my veneration for the Bible, that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hopes that they will prove useful citizens to their country and respectable members of society."

--John Quincy Adams.


{15}

THE CHILD AND THE BIBLE

THE MOTHER'S PART--HOW CAN I USE THE BIBLE STORY WITH MY CHILD?

This is the most important part of the work, because it helps you to understand and use all the rest, and answers your questions in regard to the religious life of your child. These suggestions are largely for the use of "The Golden Book."

1. What Do I Have to Know in Order to Make the Best Use of THE BIBLE STORY with My Child?

You must know three things:--

That a child will not appreciate and use this work at first unless you appreciate and use it too.

That in order to appreciate and use it, you do not need to read all five volumes through at once. You may begin with any one of the suggestions here given, that pleases and interests you most, and use only what little time you may have. Little by little interest will grow and the child will be finding keen enjoyment in acquiring Bible knowledge for himself.

That even though you had time for immediate and thorough reading, the work is of such proportion that its worth cannot be grasped at once. It is by constant daily use in the home that the beauty and effectiveness of THE BIBLE STORY are revealed and the Bible made an "open book" to many a child as well as adult.

2. How Can I Encourage My Child to Memorize Bible Verses?

This is not difficult. Childhood is the time when verbal memory is most acute. The best way to encourage the memorizing of verses is {16} to make a game out of it instead of a task. Do this by using the Bible alphabet in "The Golden Book" (page 25 G.B.) and thus linking up the Bible with something familiar. Teach a verse each week and ask for daily repetition of it. After several are learned, a drill on the verses is suggested as a spur to memory. Ask what verse in the Bible begins with A? B? C? etc. For the older children there are memory verses given, one for each week in the year, in the back of each of the first four volumes. Let the child himself, so far as he can, arrange these in alphabetical order.

Memorizing is much quickened by making as many natural connections as possible, the known with the unknown. Many hymns are readily recalled by associating them with Psalms of which they are explanations. Children like to learn poetry. Give them the poems suggested below as well as the accompanying Bible passages to learn. Go over them first and let the children understand the parallelism.

Psalm 23 ( 35 S.A.) Hymns (309 G.B., 291 G.B.)
Psalm 117 (139 S.A.) Hymn (494 S.A.)
Psalm 19 ( 30 S.A.) Hymn (434 G.B.)
The Birth of Jesus (37 L.J.) Hymns (405 G.B., 409 G.B.)

These hymns are well worth memorizing, for they are among the best in our language and knowing them will be an added inducement to memorizing the Bible verses that tell the same story.

3. How Can I Help My Child to Understand God's Relation to the World?

Begin with familiar things.--This is very easily done when the child's thoughts of God are related to his knowledge of the things of home. You will find a splendid treatment of these relationships in the primer pages in "The Golden Book" (27-68). Give these lessons to a child who is learning to read. He will like them because the pages look just like his school book and he will be helped in his reading at the same time that he is learning truths which explain the Bible verse given at the bottom of each page. There is no better way of helping a young child to understand love for God, faith in God, the presence of God, and other great truths that are usually given in the abstract.

(The questions at the end of this chapter will be helpful in getting the child to express himself.)

{17}

4. How Can I Know the Best Bible Stories to Tell to Children?

Remember two things: that, as children develop, different types of stories appeal to them, and that every one of these types is found in THE BIBLE STORY. It is a fact that, while the Bible is a universal story book, many of its best lessons cannot be put in story form and are therefore left out of any collection of Bible stories. Consequently the child is missing much that he might profitably have. THE BIBLE STORY meets a great need of the times by bringing to children all the lessons of the Bible, some by means of simple treatments of interesting things and some by means of longer stories of its heroes and heroines.

Simple Good-Night Talks for Little Tots

The following paragraphs in "The Golden Book" contain the sweetest, most constructive lessons to be found in the whole Bible and are beautiful good-night talks for very young children. The questions at the end of this chapter are listed according to pages in "The Golden Book" and will help in getting the child to repeat the story.

God Sees Me.81 G.B.
What Does God Want Me to Do?82 G.B.
What God Gives.85 G.B.
Jesus and His Friends.86 G.B.
Jesus Had no Home.89 G.B.
The People Loved Jesus.93 G.B.
The Boyhood of Jesus97 G.B.
Jesus and Sick People.98 G.B.
Talking with Our Father.101 G.B.
God is Our Father.105 G.B.
What Jesus Said about Birds and Flowers. 106 G.B.
What Jesus Said about Trees. 109 G.B.

It will be helpful to the mother who is constantly appealed to by her children for special kinds of stories to know where to find them in THE BIBLE STORY.

Stories about Other Children

Children are fond of listening to stories about other children like themselves. THE BIBLE STORY contains many such.

Jesus and the Little Girl. 110 G.B.
The Baby Hid in a Basket. 117 G.B.
The Boy Who Came when He was Called. 132 G.B.
The Boy Who was Raised from the Dead. 193 G.B.
The Little Captive Maid. 205 G.B.

{18}

Hero Stories

The favorites of all children beyond the first year or two of school are the stories of great heroes. A large part of "The Golden Book" is given up to stories of Bible heroes, and the following volume is made up of the lives of these same heroes in the words of the Bible text and is consequently more difficult. The beauty of this arrangement is that after reading the easy story in "The Golden Book" a child will want to read more, and as soon as he is able will enjoy going further with his great heroes in the volumes that contain the Bible text. He will understand seemingly difficult passages in the succeeding volumes of the set because of the substantial background formed by the simple treatments in "The Golden Book." The list of simple hero stories is here given together with the corresponding stories in the Bible text in other volumes.

The Shepherd Boy Who Killed a Giant. 139 G.B.
David and Goliath.386 H.T.
David and King Saul.151 G.B.
David an Outlaw.406 H.T.
David and Jonathan.156 G.B.
The Jealousy of Saul.396 H.T.
David and His Three Brave Soldiers. 163 G.B.
A Knightly Deed.438 H.T.
David and His Son Absalom.167 G.B.
The Rebellion of Absalom.443 H.T.
The Story of a Good King.170 G.B.
Solomon's Temple.461 H.T.
Joseph and His Brethren.177 G.B.
Joseph.91 H.T.

In the same way you may read the Bedtime Stories, beginning on page 245 of "The Golden Book," and then go naturally to the same stories in the Bible text itself as told in the volume "The Life of Jesus."

The Story of the First Christmas. 245 G.B.
Nativity.37 L.J.
The Story of Palm Sunday.251 G.B.
The Entry into Jerusalem.233 L.J.
How Jesus Gave His Life for the World. 257 G.B.
The Crucifixion.281 L.J.
The Story of the First Easter Sunday. 265 G.B.
The Resurrection.297 L.J.
{19}
Who was the Neighbor?279 G.B.
The Good Samaritan.88 L.J.
The Good Shepherd.282 G.B.
The Good Shepherd and the Sheep. 200 L.J.

5. How Can I Get My Child to Read the Bible?

In no better way than that suggested in the two foregoing paragraphs. Begin at once with the simpler parts of "The Golden Book," proceed gradually, awakening new interest, daily if possible, by means of the Questions (page 26) and Things to Do (page 20). It will take a little time and much thought, but it is the great privilege of the mother to watch for the opportunity and lead the child by means of "The Golden Book" into the treasure house of the Bible, which, despite its wonderful interest and character-building values, has up to this time presented almost a closed door to children. As soon as the child has passed out of "The Golden Book" and found an interest in the other volumes make use of the suggestions and questions in the next chapter for the "Hero Age," and hold the interest once gained.

Very early in life little children begin to ask about Christmas, Palm Sunday, and Easter. Why not seize this opportunity and give them answers to their questions from the Bible?

6. How Can I Help My Child to Understand Life in Bible Times?

By "Seeing Palestine with THE BIBLE STORY."

Read these Stories:--

How the People Traveled in the Lands of the Bible 208 G.B.
Houses in the Lands of the Bible. 214 G.B.
Children in the Lands of the Bible. 217 G.B.
Jerusalem.218 G.B.
The Jordan.224 G.B.
The Dead Sea.226 G.B.
Bethlehem.229 G.B.
Palestine in the Days of the Lord Jesus. 17 L.J.

{20}

Answer these questions:--

(Be sure to read the story on the back of each picture.)

What do you know about plowing in Palestine? 50 G.B., 84 G.B.
How do they thresh in the lands of the Bible? 128 G.B., 274 G.B., 440 H.T.
What is the town of Nazareth like to-day? 88 G.B., 100 G.B.
How do they draw water in old Philistia? 142 G.B.
What do you know about an Eastern shepherd and his sheep? 146 G.B., 210 G.B., 284 G.B., 308 G.B.
Who said, "I am the good shepherd"? 288 G.B.
Tell about winnowing in Bible lands. 158 G.B., 162 G.B.
Look at the pictures on pages 294 G.B., 298 G.B., 302 G.B., 312 G.B., 368 G.B., 374 G.B., then tell what Jesus said about animals. 304 G.B.
What were some of the streets like in ancient Palestine? 356 T.J., 278 L.J., 300 S.A.
Name the lake on which Jesus so often sailed with his disciples. 108 G.B., 462 T.J.
Why were the disciples so often to be found on the lake?146 L.J.
Tell two stories about Jesus and the Lake of Galilee. 94 L.J., 307 L.J.
How did the people fish in Palestine? 487 L.J.
Why is it necessary in Palestine to separate the tares from the wheat before harvest? 22 L.J.
What did the army of the Midianites look like when they came to fight the children of Israel? 318 H.T., 322 H.T.
Read the story.319 H.T.
How and by whom is meal ground in Palestine? 176 S.A.
The extent of Solomon's kingdom was from "Dan to Beersheba"; find northern and southern points 14 T.J.

7. How Can I Get My Child to Use THE BIBLE STORY for Himself?

By giving him some Things to Do. It is a splendid plan to take advantage of the child's natural eagerness to look at the pictures in THE BIBLE STORY, so as to make that desire of real educational value. The following are delightful for a child to do:--

Study closely the pictures on pages 176 G.B., 196 G.B., 204 G.B., and 254 G.B. of "The Golden Book," read the interesting notes on the back of each picture, and the story on page 208 G.B. of "The Golden Book." Then tell the difference between traveling in Bible lands and in our land.

{21}

Look at the pictures of Bethlehem on pages 138 G.B. and 248 G.B. of "The Golden Book" and page 28 L.J. and read the story on the back of each. Then tell how David's home and life were different from yours. Read the story on page 229 G.B. and see what wonderful things happened in this little town.

Read the story on page 214 G.B. and look at the pictures on pages 88 G.B., 92 G.B., 188 G.B., of "The Golden Book" and 192 T.J., then compare a house in the Holy Land with your house.

Read the story on page 217 G.B. of "The Golden Book" and look at the pictures opposite and on page 172 G.B. of "The Golden Book." Then tell or write what you think are the pleasant things about living in Bible lands. Look at the picture on page 236 G.B. and tell why it was good to live there in the year 33 A.D.

In your sand pile build a tiny city of Jerusalem. You will know just how to make it after you have read the story on page 218 G.B. of "The Golden Book." Put it on a hill with valleys on three sides of it. Use stones to build the wall. (See page 216 T.J.) Put a large white stone where you think the temple stood. The picture on page 480 H.T. in "Hero Tales" will show you how the city really looked. After you have built the city and neighboring hills and valleys as well as you can, show them to your mother and father and explain all the interesting features. Tell about the path on the wall and its use; tell why the city was built on a hill; tell about the gates in the wall. (See page 215 T.J.) Explain who built the temple and tell anything else you may know about the greatest city of the Bible lands.

In the back of the volume, "The Songs of the Ages," you will find an index of illustrations and can easily turn to all the pictures of Jerusalem in these volumes and learn some interesting things.

8. How Can I Interest My Child in the Great Works of Art in THE BIBLE STORY?

The interest of children in works of art, if unguided, usually lasts only for a moment. Let some one, however, begin to talk about the picture and the child fixes eager eyes upon it and follows every word with breathless attention. "Talking about a picture is simply letting a picture talk," and many of these pictures are volumes in themselves which one must read carefully to know all they are meant to tell. The following paragraphs furnish questions and suggest lines of study which will often open the door of the child's mind to artistic appreciation.

{22}

Talking about Pictures

What painter of Madonnas was called the "peasant painter of Spain"? 30 G.B.
There are four Madonnas by this artist in "The Golden Book" 30 G.B., 348 G.B., 436 G.B., 450 G.B.
Which two most resemble each other?

How do even these two differ?

Which is thought to be the most beautiful of all?

Which is your favorite? Why?

Find the one painted without the child.

Did you notice two little seraphs that are in almost the same position on pages 436 G.B. and 450 G.B.?

In which of the pictures do you think the painter has shown the most loving mother?

Describe some other children's pictures painted by this great man.336 G.B., 480 G.B.
Who is generally considered the greatest of all painters?220 G.B.
Name the most famous Madonna in the world. 220 G.B.

(Notice how lines drawn from the head of the Madonna to the heads of the two supporting figures and across their base make a triangle. This balance gives strength to the picture and makes it more pleasing to look at. One reason why art critics say this picture is "without one false note" is its perfect balance. Remember that this regularity and balance of composition mean repose in a picture while a combination of slanting lines and lessening figures suggests motion. (See 38 T.J.) If slanting lines suggest motion, perpendicular ones show rest, as seen in the figure of Ruth (44 T.J.). These perpendicular lines are very much used by the great artists; for instance, look at pages 262 S.A., 372 S.A., 382 S.A., 390 S.A.)

Raphael painted many pictures besides Madonnas. One of his most famous pictures is on page 366 L.J. There are two other Madonnas by this same artist in "The Golden Book" (pages 356 G.B., 444 G.B.). Describe them and learn their names.

What do you think is interesting about the Madonna picture by Carlo Dolci on page 340 G.B.?

Where does the light come from in the Madonna picture on page 396 G.B.?

{23}

Note another very much like Dolci's (page 400 G.B.): Can you explain this light?

In the picture on page 414 G.B. notice how glad every one is that the Christ Child has come: Why do you think the artist made them look so happy?

Which of the Madonnas on pages 364 G.B., 392 G.B., 418 G.B., 432 G.B., 470 G.B. do you like best, and why?

Find on page 42 G.B. one of the most popular modern Madonnas. This is something like the Madonna on 450 G.B.but it is not considered so good. What do you think is the difference between the two?

What does the Bible call the three men represented as looking at the baby in the Madonna picture on page 408 G.B.?

What is unusual about the picture by Bouguereau on page 332 G.B.?

Describe the picture by the same artist on page 426 G.B..

In what way is the picture on page 332 G.B. like the one by Murillo on page 450 G.B.?

How is the picture on page 404 G.B. like the Adoration of the Angels on page 426 G.B.?

There are many pictures of the face of Jesus in "The Golden Book" that are worth studying and comparing. Turn, one after another, to the pictures on pages 74 G.B., 104 G.B., 288 G.B., 308 G.B.; look at each of the faces, and say which you like best, and why.

Name a very great French artist who was a painter of landscapes. 38 G.B.
What sort of subject did Sir Joshua Reynolds choose for many of his paintings? In what country did he live? 46 G.B., 374 G.B., 382 G.B.

(A group of men in England called the Pre-Raphaelites were fond of painting pictures that tell a story. One of the most famous of these, an allegorical picture, is given on page 466 G.B. It is interesting to trace out its meaning. See how many prominent features of this picture you can pick out. Notice the three lights: the moonlight, symbol of earth's dimness; the lantern light, symbol of the searching light of conscience; the light around the Master's head, symbol of the light of love. One of the Master's hands is bound by the light of conscience, but the other is free to knock at the door of the heart of man. The brambles and vines of neglect and sin have grown over the door and it has no latch. It can be opened only from within.)

{24}

What woman is ranked among the most famous animal painters of the world? 378 G.B.
Of what form of art was Thorwaldsen a master? Notice how this form can tell a story 48 H.T.
Who painted the famous frieze of the Prophets in the Boston Public Library? 89 H.T.
What prophets are represented in each of the four sections? 262 S.A., 372 S.A., 382 S.A., 390 S.A.
Tell the history of the great statue of David by Michael Angelo. 384 H.T.

Who was Michael Angelo?

Murillo, great painter of Madonnas, also painted other pictures. Can you tell the story of the two pictures on 64 H.T., 246 H.T.?

An interesting picture is given on page 38 H.T. Can you tell where this family is going and why?

You can tell a story of Jesus from the pictures in the volume, "The Life of Jesus." Follow those in the order suggested and see how much you can tell about Jesus' life from pages 16 L.J., 40 L.J., 48 L.J., 52 L.J., 56 L.J., 76 L.J., 114 L.J., 232 L.J., 236 L.J., 274 L.J., 312 L.J..

The pictures of Jesus that we see most often were painted by Hofmann. This artist has painted a great many pictures of Jesus and several are given in the volume, "The Life of Jesus," on pages 84 L.J., 164 L.J., 210 L.J., 266 L.J.. Would you know from looking at them that these pictures were all painted by the same man? Why?

Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest of Italian painters. What is his most famous picture? 252 L.J.

Can you explain who the men are, represented in this picture (252 L.J.), and what they are all talking about? Do you know why Jesus' face is so sad? Look on page 256 L.J. for a larger picture of the face of Jesus. This is a study made by Da Vinci for his great painting, "The Last Supper," and is called "The Unfinished Christ." It is said of this picture: "Never had such a vision of the face come to mortal before. Never has it been approached in beauty or power by any painter since."

The following is an interesting observation test as well as a help in fixing the beautiful stories in mind. Turn to the picture on page 254 G.B. Ask the child to examine it closely for a few minutes and then tell you in detail what he sees in the picture. Some children will see many things, others will need suggestions to help them in bringing out {25} the interesting points of characters and setting. After the picture is well in mind turn to page 251 G.B. and read the story of Palm Sunday, letting the child fit his observations to the story.

Other pictures and stories that may be used in the same way are:--

Pictures. 16 L.J., 388 G.B.
Story.245 G.B.

Picture.458 G.B.
Story.49 L.J.

Picture.112 G.B.
Story.110 G.B.

Picture.236 G.B.
Story.188 L.J.

Pictures. 290 L.J., 300 L.J.
Story.265 G.B.

Picture.188 G.B.
Story.214 G.B.

Picture.366 L.J.
Story.469 L.J.

Picture.Frontispiece H.T.
Story.177 G.B.

{26}

QUESTIONS TO ASK LITTLE CHILDREN

If possible, set a regular time for reading "The Golden Book" with the child, taking it page by page. Use these questions to recall the previous lesson before going on to a new story.

Making the Child Think

Who gives you "every good gift"? 32 G.B.
Tell something about the beautiful grass and flowers 35 G.B., 36 G.B.
To whom do you say your prayers? 40 G.B.
What shines in the sky when you sleep? (See picture in front of G.B.) 43 G.B.
What do you know about one great star? 245 G.B.
What shines down on the flowers and the birds and the little children when they waken? 44 G.B.
How do you thank the Father in heaven for his goodness? 47 G.B.
Who is glad when the rain falls?48 G.B.
How does God help the seeds to grow into flowers? 51 G.B.
What beautiful things does God bring to us in the summer? 52 G.B.
Tell some good and beautiful things which you thank God for in the autumn. 55 G.B.
Why do you like the cool winter days? How does God keep the flowers warm? The animals? 59 G.B.
What can you do beside the big ocean? 63 G.B.
Why do the beautiful hills and mountains make you think of God? 68 G.B.
Tell some things you can do to make the Father in heaven glad. 81 G.B.
How many things can you do that God wants done? 82 G.B.
Why do you thank God every day? 85 G.B.
{27}
Why did Jesus' friends love him? 86 G.B.
Did Jesus have any home? 89 G.B.
To whose home did Jesus love to go? (Look at picture, page 260 G.B., also page 218 L.J.) 90 G.B.
What did Jesus do when the people came to see him? (Look at pictures on pages 114 L.J. and 132 L.J.) 93 G.B.
Tell a little story about the Sea of Galilee. (Look at picture, page 108 G.B..) 94 G.B.
When Jesus was a boy, how many things did he do that you do? (Read page 73 G.B. and look at picture on page 56 L.J.) 97 G.B.
Do you know why Jesus was called the Great Physician? (Look at pictures pages 104 G.B. and 200 G.B..) 98 G.B.
Why do you like to talk to your Father in heaven? (Look at the picture on page 192 T.J. and see how people in the East sometimes prayed.) 101 G.B.
Tell how a good father is like the Father in heaven. 105 G.B.
What did Jesus say about birds and flowers? 106 G.B.
Did you know that there are good trees and bad trees? Tell what Jesus said about them. (Look at pictures pages 460 H.T. and 102 H.T.) 109 G.B.
How was Jesus very kind to Jairus, whose little girl was sick? 110 G.B.
What baby was hid in a basket and afterward grew up to be a great man? (Look at page 140 H.T., for one of the wonders of the country where this baby was born. Look on page 90 H.T. and see how a great artist represents him as a man.) 117 G.B.
Tell how the churches in the Bible lands were different from our churches. Where did they get the songs they sang? 121 G.B.
Can you tell one of the stories that Jesus told? 126 G.B.
How many of the important things that Jesus taught the people can you remember? 130 G.B.
What was the name of the little boy who came when he was called? How was his mother unselfish? What do you think made him a great man? (Look at picture, page 45 .)132 G.B.
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Tell about the shepherd life that made David a strong, brave boy. How did he use his strength and bravery when his country needed him? (Look at pictures, pages 384 H.T. and 388 H.T.) 139 G.B.
What did David do for the great King Saul and how did Saul treat David in return? (Look on page 404 H.T. and see the place where David hid from Saul.) 151 G.B.
How did Jonathan show his friendship for David? 156 G.B.
Tell what three brave soldiers did to show their friendship for David. 163 G.B.
Tell the name of a wicked son of David and what happened to him. 167 G.B.
Who was called the "wisest king," and what was the greatest thing he ever did? (Look at picture on page 454 H.T.) 170 G.B.
Tell the name and the story of the little boy who was put in a pit by his brothers. (Look at picture on page 94 H.T. to see how the little boy traveled to Egypt.) 177 G.B.
How did this little slave boy become a great ruler in Egypt? 181 G.B.
Tell how, as a great ruler, he did a kind thing to the brothers who had been unkind to him. (See picture in front of H.T.) 185 G.B.
Tell about the woman who did a good deed to the prophet Elijah and how she was richly rewarded. 193 G.B.
When Jesus refused to be king in Palestine and told the people that he was king over a greater kingdom than they had, what did he mean? By what stories did Jesus explain what he meant? 201 G.B.
Tell what the little captive girl did to bring health to the great general Naaman. (Look at picture, page 150 T.J.) 205 G.B.
Tell all you know about the Jordan river. (Look at pictures, pages 284 H.T. and 340 H.T.) 224 G.B.
What is the strangest lake in the world? Why would you dislike to live near it? (Look at picture on page 228 G.B., also on page 34 H.T.) 226 G.B.

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PART II

CHARACTER AND LIVING

For Growth in Knowledge and Character

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"Written in the East, these characters live forever in the West; written in one province, they pervade the world; penned in rude times, they are prized more and more as civilization advances; product of antiquity, they come home to the bosoms of the folk of modern days."

--Robert Louis Stevenson.

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CHARACTER AND LIVING

MAKE THE BIBLE HEROES YOUR FRIENDS

We ever demand a person for an ideal instead of a principle. By living a year with a masterful character one would gain more than from a dozen years of moral precept. President King of Oberlin College says, "Character is not taught, but caught."

Since character is contagious, mere teaching of the bare and unadorned moral principle is almost always vain. But a hero personifies virtue, commands admiration, becomes an ideal.

This explains the power of stories in creating character. The heroes of the Bible fire us with enthusiasm we could never feel for impersonal virtue. To make them our friends is to be influenced by the noblest associates.

When Jesus wished to build up character in His disciples He told them a story, or parable, to supply their lack.

The method meets the need of mankind to-day as well as in Jesus' time. The Bible has a wonderful story for forming every single trait of character. Its heroes illuminate virtue by their heroic deeds. We see the man, admire his deeds, then his motives, and then his character. Unconsciously, but none the less surely, we catch his spirit and share the quality of his soul.

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JESUS' CHARACTER-BUILDING STORIES

Do you know which parable teaches:--

True neighborliness?88 L.J.
Spreading of truth?106 L.J.
Consistent and false profession?117 L.J.
Hearers divided into classes?133 L.J.
The spread of Christianity?134 L.J.
The law of growth in religion?134 L.J.
Gratitude for pardon?170 L.J.
The duty of forgiveness?186 L.J.
Joy over penitence?202 L.J.
Fatherly love?203 L.J.
Faithfulness to trust?204 L.J.
That the Divine call is universal?207 L.J.
Concerning worldly-mindedness?212 L.J.
The rejection of Jesus by the Jews?238 L.J.
The use of advantages?244 L.J.
That love is the test of life?246 L.J.

When Jesus told the parable of the Sower, he first told the story and then because some of the people did not understand, he went back over it, giving full explanation. Read the story of the Sower (133 L.J.), noting Jesus' method of explanation, and then read the parables suggested below and follow the reading with your own explanation of them.

The Story of the Faithful Servant.244 L.J.
The Story of the Foolish Rich Man.212 L.J.
The Story of the Lost Money.202 L.J.
The House Built on the Rock.117 L.J.
The House Built on the Sand.118 L.J.
The Story of the Mustard Seed.134 L.J.

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FOUNDATION STONES

To what chapter would you turn in your Bible to find how you can best serve other people? Can you turn instantly to the Bible's finest teachings of charity, of purity, or of faith?

The Bible is the mine for the Builder of Character, the storehouse of Foundation Stones. And yet--can you always go to it and bring back just the stone you are needing for the Building?

Few can. But many desire to do so. Above all, parents wish to make the Bible a power in forming the characters of their children.

Building character consists of seizing opportunities. You cannot often wait to search out these Bible teachings. They should be at hand for the opportune time when they can be used to correct, or guide, or inspire.

Suppose a child is disobedient; suppose he is given to falsehood, or is selfish. "What part of the Bible," you ask, "will be of most help in overcoming his fault?" And, "How can I be sure of finding the part desired at just the time it should be used?"

To answer these and many other such practical questions, the teachings of the Bible are here classified so that you may instantly choose the one you need and apply it at the time the need arises.

Charity

88 L.J.,The Good Samaritan.
110 L.J.,It is a Sin to Think Evil of Others.
169 L.J.,Conflict about the Treatment of Sinful People.
207 L.J.,The Story of the Men Who Made Excuses.
243 L.J.,The Poor Widow.
246 L.J.,The Judgment of the King.

Courage

386 H.T.,David and Goliath.
430 H.T.,How a Brave Prophet Rebuked a King.
183 T.J.,Daniel.
339 L.J.,The First Martyr.
396 L.J.,The Macedonian Cry.
469 L.J.,The Shipwreck.
447 S.A.,The Christian Warrior.

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Courtesy and Kindness

22 H.T.,Abram and Lot.
438 H.T.,A Knightly Deed.
169 L.J.,Conflict about the Treatment of Sinful People.
221 L.J.,Zacchaeus, the Publican.
428 S.A.,An Unruly Tongue.
429 S.A.,The Peaceable Spirit.

Faith

41 H.T.,The Testing of Abraham.
92 L.J.,Jesus and the King's Officer.
115 L.J.,Trust God, and He will Take Care of You.
121 L.J.,The Roman Soldier's Faith.
180 L.J.,The Transfiguration.
297 L.J.,The Resurrection.
301 L.J.,On the Way to Emmaus.
305 L.J.,Doubting Thomas.
310 L.J.,The Ascension.
20 S.A.,A Morning Prayer.
21 S.A.,An Evening Prayer.
68 S.A.,God is Our Refuge.
106 S.A.,The Lord is Our Refuge.
179 S.A.,Job.

Faithfulness

69 H.T.,Jacob and Rachael.
35 T.J.,Ruth.
133 L.J.,The Story of the Sower.
270 L.J.,How Peter Denied His Lord.
179 S.A.,Job.

Forgiveness

76 H.T.,Jacob Fears the Wrath of Esau.
91 H.T.,Joseph.
406 H.T.,David an Outlaw.
411 H.T.,Saul's Pursuit of David.
185 L.J.,Teaching the Disciples.
202 L.J.,Stories of the Divine Forgiveness.

Honesty and Truthfulness

201 H.T.,The Giving of the Commandments.
106 L.J.,The New Way of Right Living.
110 L.J.,It is a Sin to Think Evil of Others.
116 L.J.,God Wants Deeds, not Words.
335 L.J.,Ananias and Sapphira.
39 S.A.,I have Walked in Thy Truth.

Hope

79 L.J.,At the Passover.
61 S.A.,A Song in Time of Trouble.
63 S.A.,In the Day of Adversity.
79 S.A.,The Rock that is Higher than I.
91 S.A.,Give Ear, O Shepherd of Israel.
158 S.A.,De Profundis.
278 S.A.,The Coming Messiah.
284 S.A.,Comfort Ye My People.
288 S.A.,The Triumph of the Man of Sorrows.
293 S.A.,Arise, Shine.
449 S.A.,The Hope of Immortality.

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Humility

143 T.J.,How a Great Soldier was Healed of Leprosy.
105 L.J.,The Beatitudes.
110 L.J.,It is a Sin to Think Evil of Others.
111 L.J.,The Right Way to Do Good Deeds and the Right Way to Pray.
185 L.J.,Teaching the Disciples.
188 L.J.,Jesus and Little Children.
207 L.J.,The Story of the Men Who Made Excuses.

Love

396 H.T.,The Jealousy of Saul.
35 T.J.,Ruth.
74 L.J.,The First Disciples.
110 L.J.,The Right Way to Love Your Enemies.
149 L.J.,Jesus and John the Baptist.
200 L.J.,The Good Shepherd and the Sheep.
215 L.J.,The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead.
240 L.J.,The Greatest of All Commandments.
248 L.J.,The Last Supper.
159 S.A.,Brotherhood.
425 S.A.,The Greatest Thing in the World.
435 S.A.,The Gospel of Love and Sonship.

Obedience

338 H.T.,Samuel.
370 H.T.,Saul.
19 T.J.,A Story of Disobedience.

Patience

109 L.J.,It is a Sin to Get Angry.
55 S.A.,Wait Patiently.
179 S.A.,Job.

Patriotism

137 H.T.,Moses.
319 H.T.,Gideon.
60 T.J.,Esther.
212 T.J.,Nehemiah.

Purity

202 H.T.,The Commandments.
105 L.J.,The Beatitudes.
143 S.A.,The Songs of the Pure in Heart.
256 S.A.,Praise of the Wise and Virtuous Woman.
426 S.A.,Temptation.

Reverence

470 H.T.,The Dedication of the Temple.
15 T.J.,The Story of Creation.
41 L.J.,The Wise Men.
111 L.J.,The Right Way to Pray.
237 L.J.,In the Temple.
30 S.A.,Song of the Earth and Sky.
42 S.A.,The Glory of the Lord.
113 S.A.,The Lord Reigneth.
120 S.A.,God the Creator.
245 S.A.,Remember also Thy Creator.

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Service

91 H.T.,Joseph.
113 T.J.,Elijah and Elisha.
78 L.J.,The First Miracle.
92 L.J.,Jesus and the King's Officer.
121 L.J.,The Roman Soldier's Faith.
125 L.J.,Days of Service.
130 L.J.,The Miracle at Nain.
136 L.J.,The Tempest.
141 L.J.,The Little Girl Who Died.
143 L.J.,Learning to Serve.
144 L.J.,The Feeding of the Multitude.
167 L.J.,The Enemies of Jesus.
197 L.J.,At the Feast of the Dedication.
229 L.J.,The Supper at Bethany.
244 L.J.,The Story of the Faithful Servant.
376 L.J.,The First Missionary Journeys.
396 L.J.,The Macedonian Cry.

Sympathy

141 L.J.,The Little Girl Who Died.
144 L.J.,The Feeding of the Multitude.
215 L.J.,The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead.

Thankfulness and Cheerfulness

22 S.A.,A Little Lower than God.
26 S.A.,A Song of Deliverance.
35 S.A.,The Good Shepherd.
40 S.A.,The Lord is My Salvation.
45 S.A.,Weeping may Endure for a Night, but Joy Cometh in the Morning.
85 S.A.,Let the Peoples Praise Thee.
116 S.A.,Thanksgiving and Praise.
118 S.A.,Our Father.
170 S.A.,Songs of Praise.
277 S.A.,God is My Salvation.
286 S.A.,Awake, O Zion.
290 S.A.,Beautiful Zion.
291 S.A.,Ho, Every One that Thirsteth.

Unselfishness

91 H.T.,Joseph.
143 T.J.,How a Great Soldier was Healed of Leprosy.
70 L.J.,The Temptation in the Wilderness.
115 L.J.,The Golden Rule and the Right Way to be Rich.
211 L.J.,The Rich Young Man;
258 L.J.,Jesus is the True Vine.
261 L.J.,Jesus Prays for His Disciples.
346 L.J.,Simon the Sorcerer.

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TRY LINCOLN'S WAY

Do you know Abraham Lincoln's plan of learning English? It was a very simple and direct way of making the Bible English his own. The Bible, we are told, was one of the four or five books which Lincoln read and loved as a boy. He knew it well and to his study of it he owed the simple, strong, and beautiful English which gave his speeches--his address at Gettysburg, the Second Inaugural address, and many others--their high place among the most perfect and enduring of all writings.

This was his plan: He would read a story, or a part of one, very slowly and thoughtfully, oftentimes aloud. When every detail of it was clear in his mind, he would close the book, take pencil and paper and write the story for himself, using as many of the Bible words as he could remember, and trying always to tell the story as well and as completely, and yet in as few words as the Bible.

He tells us his stories were never quite so clear, so brief, and yet so perfect, as those of his model. But he did learn to command its simplicity, its strength, its brevity, and its imagery.

Try Lincoln's way, using the following selections:--

A Cowardly Deed. 91 H.T., 92 H.T., 95 H.T., 96 H.T.
An Old Fable. 333 H.T., 334 H.T.
The Story of the Shepherd Boy Who Became King. 382 H.T., 385 H.T., 386 H.T.
The Passing of David. 451 H.T.
The Wise Men. 41 L.J., 42 L.J.
The First Miracle. 78 L.J.
The Good Samaritan. 88 L.J., 91 L.J.
The Man Let Down through the Roof. 127 L.J., 128 L.J.
The Miracle at Nain. 130 L.J.
The Story of the Sower. 133 L.J.
Learning to Serve. 143 L.J.
The Story of the Lost Sheep. 202 L.J.
The Story of the Prodigal Son. 203 L.J., 204 L.J.

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HISTORY AND THE BIBLE

1. The World in Bible Times

The following great empires of the world held first place during different periods of the history of the Jews. Can you recall Israel's relationship to each of these great powers? 488 T.J.
Babylon
During the time of what Hebrew captive was Babylon in the ascendency? 183 T.J.
Assyria
During what king's reign did the hordes of Assyria, under its greatest king, Sennacherib, descend upon Jerusalem? 299 T.J.
Persia
What great Hebrew statesman was associated with the splendor of the Persian court? 212 T.J.
Greece
In the time of what brave men was the attempt made to force Grecian customs and worship upon Palestine? 418 T.J., 496 T.J.
Rome
During what time did Rome rule over all the lands of Western Asia, including Palestine? 19 L.J.

How did the capture of Babylon by Cyrus, in 538 B.C., affect the Jews? 397 S.A.
What was the effect of the captivity in Babylon upon the Jewish people? 397 S.A.
By what name was the great king Xerxes known in the Bible? What historical estimate of his character is supported by THE BIBLE STORY, and how? 60 T.J., 488 T.J.

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From your knowledge of general history, link up the stories of Daniel, Esther, and Nehemiah in point of time, remembering that:--

(1) Daniel lived for a short time in the court of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire 206 T.J.
(2) Ahasuerus, who was king of Persia in Esther's time, was the well-known Xerxes. 60 T.J.
(3) The incidents of Nehemiah's life began "in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes," king of Persia 214 T.J.
What was the national standing of Egypt during Old Testament times? 492 H.T., 488 T.J.
What custom in the ancient world explains the question: "Is not this the cup from which my lord drinketh, and whereby he indeed divineth?" 118 H.T., 492 H.T.
It is said that no Bible story more faithfully describes the customs of the Ancient Orient than the story of Esther. What do you learn of Eastern court life and the manners and customs of the people from a reading of this story? 60-79 T.J.
What Egyptian superstition led to the custom of embalming? 493 H.T.
By whom was the embalming done and how long is it said to have taken in the case of Jacob? 130 H.T.
From what name is the term "Palestine" derived? 493 H.T.
How did Phoenicia come to have a special influence upon the Jews in the time of Jezebel? 113 T.J., 490 T.J.
A short time before the birth of Jesus, Jerusalem was captured by Pompey and the Jews made tributaries to Rome. Herod the Great was appointed king of Judea. What was the spirit of the Jews under the rule of Herod? 485 L.J., 486 L.J.
What Caesar was in power in Rome when Jesus was born? 443 L.J.
Describe the Roman Provincial Government and Army in the time of Paul. 494 L.J.

2. The Bible in History

Why do you consider "A Morning Prayer" (20 S.A.) appropriate for the use made of it by the English? 497 S.A.
What romantic use was made of "A Morning Prayer" (20 S.A.) by the Huguenots? 497 S.A.
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What men considered "An Evening Prayer" (21 S.A.) a consolation for their last moments, and what can you find in the psalm to justify their preference? 497 S.A.
What interesting uses have been made of Psalm 8 (22 S.A.)? 497 S.A.
To what use were lines 18 and 19 of Psalm 17 (25 S.A.) put? 497 S.A.
What great university has chosen the first two lines of Psalm 27 (40 S.A.) as a motto? 498 S.A.
Pick out the line in Psalm 31 (47 S.A.) which was used by Jesus on the cross and has since been used by many Christian martyrs 498 S.A., 499 S.A.
Name some martyrs who have died with these words on their lips 498 S.A., 499 S.A.
What was the secret of Livingstone's great work in Africa, judging from his constant use of lines nine and ten of Psalm 37 (55 S.A.)? 499 S.A.
What great English ceremony is said to be founded on Psalm 45 (66 S.A.)? 499 S.A.
What terms make this Psalm appropriate for such use? 66 S.A., 499 S.A.
By what great men and for what purposes has Psalm 46 (68 S.A.) been used? 499 S.A., 500 S.A.
On what occasions in English history has Psalm 51 (75 S.A.) been used? 500 S.A.
How was Psalm 68 (86 S.A.) used by the friends of Savonarola at the crisis of his career? 500 S.A.
To what general use has Psalm 68 (86 S.A.) been put? 501 S.A.
What famous early English poem is full of allusions to the Psalms? 502 S.A.
What lines in Psalm 90 (104 S.A.) make its place in the burial service of the church of England especially appropriate? 502 S.A.
Pick out the lines in Psalm 91 (106 S.A.) that were, according to legend, repeated by Pope Alexander as he set his foot on the neck of the kneeling Emperor Barbarossa over whom he had just triumphed. 502 S.A.
Find the line in Psalm 98 (108 S.A.) which was used as a proof of the fixity of the earth by the opposers of the Copernican theory. 502 S.A.
In what way was Psalm 117 (139 S.A.), the shortest Psalm, used at the battle of Worcester? 504 S.A.
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What did Luther say of Psalm 118 (140 S.A.)? 504 S.A.
Name some of the uses that have been made of Psalm 118 (140 S.A.) in celebrating success and triumph. 504 S.A., 505 S.A.
To what use did the missionary, James Harrington, put Psalm 121 (155 S.A.) and what did he name it? 505 S.A.
Find the lines in Psalm 144 (166 S.A., 167 S.A.) that have often been used in England and France as a motto on the face of sundials. 506 S.A.
The moral awakening of the world in our day is, it is said, due in no small degree to the rediscovery of the prophets of Israel. Isaiah is the specialist on the great social problem of the city, its sins, its volatile and vibrant life, its opulence, and its pride. The principles which Isaiah applied to the evils of his day are the principles of our age and of all times. From a study of the messages of Isaiah what can you say of his stand on this question? 264-296 S.A.
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LIVING WITH THE BIBLE

The Bible is a mirror "in which each man sees the motions of his own soul. Many of the Psalms express in exquisite words the kinship which every thoughtful human heart craves to find with a supreme, unchanging, loving God, who will be to him a protector, guardian, and friend." Many of the Bible passages give utterance to the ordinary experiences and the familiar thoughts of men.

Readers will get more help from the Bible if they know where to look for just what they need. Following is an index to many of the great passages in THE BIBLE STORY, arranged under names suggestive of their purpose.

A Morning Song of Good Hope.20 S.A.
Evening after Business.21 S.A.
Verses about Home Safety.24 S.A.
On Going Forth to Something Hard.32 S.A.
At a Time of Despondency. 40 S.A., 61 S.A.
On Enduring Gossip. 47 S.A., 77 S.A.
A Song of Good Experience.52 S.A.
A Song of Happy Service.54 S.A.
Fret Not.55 S.A.
A Cheerful Heart on a Dark Day.57 S.A.
On the Wedding of a Kingly Son.66 S.A.
God our Rock and our Brook.68 S.A.
The Time when I Conquered.69 S.A.
After Church.70 S.A.
When I am Sorry.75 S.A.
God is my Home.79 S.A.
On a Bright Spring Day.80 S.A.
When Trouble is Over.82 S.A.
In Sudden Trouble.87 S.A.
In a Storm at Sea. 90 S.A., 108 S.A.
Going to Church.95 S.A.
Making Good Resolutions.98 S.A.
In a Happy Old Age.104 S.A.
The Young Eagle under his Father's Wings. 106 S.A.
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In His Beautiful World. 111 S.A., 112 S.A., 120 S.A.
The Doxology.116 S.A.
Our Unchangeable God.117 S.A.
Our Father.118 S.A.
For Travelers, Toilers, the Sick Sailors, Strangers. 130 S.A.
After Illness.37 S.A.
After a Great Victory.140 S.A.
A Pilgrim Song.156 S.A.
The Sower's Faith.157 S.A.
Waiting in Darkness.158 S.A.
The Loving Brothers.159 S.A.
The Song of Cain.164 S.A.
The Te Deum.168 S.A.
The Nature Lover. 187 S.A., 222 S.A., 236 S.A., 238 S.A.
The Helpful Woman.256 S.A.
A Trumpet Song of Good Cheer.284 S.A.
The Best of Good News.286 S.A.
The Man of Sorrows.288 S.A.
Happy Days are Coming. 290 S.A., 291 S.A., 293 S.A.
Each of us May be Helpful.415 S.A.
Forgiveness.422 S.A.
Love Abides. 425 S.A., 436 S.A.
The Glory of Strength. 438 S.A., 443 S.A., 447 S.A.
The Hope of Immortality. 449 S.A., 490 S.A.
Heaven on Earth.476 S.A.
Jesus Rewards Us.487 S.A.

Not only from Israel's experience come many words of comfort and cheer but also from the lives of early saints, from the Catholic Newman, the reformer Luther, the non-conformist Watts, the American bishop Brooks, and others. They are helpful because they are rich with life. Scattered through these pages they will be to many, from their associations, "like withered flowers that make the pages sweet."

Thankfulness.75 G.B.
Alone with God.78 G.B.
God is Our Light. 233 G.B., 238 G.B.
Jesus and Our Children. 235 G.B., 237 G.B.
The Value of a Single Day.239 G.B.
What even Children can Do.240 G.B.
God our Burden Bearer.241 G.B.
God our Shepherd. 29 G.B., 310 G.B., 314 G.B.
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Do not be Anxious.304 G.B.
Contentment.383 G.B.
God is never Discouraged.402 G.B.
The Best Christmas Giving.412 G.B.
God Knows it All.429 G.B.
God was in all my Past.442 G.B.
More Stately Mansions.477 G.B.
Jesus Calls Us.101 L.J.
Buried with the Kiss of God.274 H.T.

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QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

Do not use these questions simply to "Mark Time." Let their message to you be--"Forward March." Interrogation, not statement, stirs the mind. The questions are framed to draw out the reader's knowledge and provoke discussion that will bring to light interesting points without consuming too much time.

Try the questions in this way: Select one of the following stories and read it. After the reading, ask the questions that bear on the story. By means of the subtitles and page numbers the desired questions may be readily found in the pages that follow. The whole family may join in this test and it will be doubly interesting if conducted as a game, such as the old-fashioned "spell-down."

Other stories than those here suggested may be chosen and used in the same way. Select from the titles any part of the Bible that you may wish for any particular reason,--its bearing on the Bible School lesson perhaps, its seasonal interest, or personal message,--you can find the text by means of the page reference. So using these questions you can make definite strides in knowledge of the Bible.

Joseph in Egypt.96-108 H.T.
Gideon.319-331 H.T.
David and Goliath.386-394 H.T.
The Story of the Flood.24-31 T.J.
Esther.60-79 T.J.
Samson.172-182 T.J.
Daniel.183-190 T.J.
Boyhood of Jesus.49-53 L.J.
The Feeding of the Multitude. 144-148 L.J.
The Rich Young Man. 211 L.J., 212 L.J.
The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead. 215-220 L.J.

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HERO TALES

Abraham

What leaders in Hebrew history held a place similar to that of Sheik Ilderim in the story "Ben Hur"? 19 H.T.
Who tented with his flocks on the upland pastures of Palestine, and became the father of a great nation? 21 H.T., 487 H.T.
Into what land, later known as Palestine, did Abram come? 21 H.T.
After making the journey to the new land with Abram, why did Lot not stay with him? 22 H.T.
In what way was Abram unselfish toward Lot? 22 H.T.
How did Lot show that he was not so kind and generous as Abram? 22-25 H.T.
In what words did God promise Abram that he was to be the father of a great nation? 25 H.T.
What part did Abram take in the battle of the five kings against the four and why? 25-27 H.T.
What pay did Abram take for his service in this campaign? 26 H.T.
How did God tell Abram that his own children were to be heirs to the land of Canaan? 27 H.T.
Who was Ishmael? 28 H.T.
How was Abram's name changed to mean "father of a multitude"? 29 H.T.
How did God answer Abraham's plea for Sodom? 31 H.T., 32 H.T.
What became of the "cities of the Plain"? 32-36 H.T.
Who was Isaac?36 H.T.
Why was Hagar driven out? 36-39 H.T.
How was the life of Ishmael saved in the desert? 39 H.T.
What became of Ishmael? 39 H.T.
In what way was Abraham tested? 41 H.T., 42 H.T.
What two ideas of sacrifice did the Hebrews hold and which idea was symbolized in the offering of Isaac? 41 H.T., 491 H.T.
What cave did Abraham buy for a family tomb? 45 H.T., 46 H.T., 491 H.T.

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Isaac

What kind of man was Isaac? 49 H.T.
By whom and in what way was a wife sought for Isaac? 49-50 H.T.
How was the servant received by Rebekah and Laban? 50-56 H.T.
What did she say as to going to Isaac? 56 H.T.
In receiving Rebekah, how did Isaac prove his native courtesy? 59 H.T.

Jacob

What son of Isaac struggled much between right and wrong, and suffered many things? 60 H.T.
Tell the difference in character between Esau and Jacob. 60 H.T.
What is a birthright? 60 H.T., 491 H.T.
How did Esau sell his birthright? 60 H.T.
What is pottage? 60 H.T., 491 H.T.
What trick did Jacob play upon his father and brother? 61-65 H.T.
What threat of Esau's forced Jacob to leave home? 67 H.T.
Describe Jacob's dream. 67-69 H.T.
What was the meaning of setting up stones for a pillar and pouring oil upon them? 69 H.T., 492 H.T.
What vow did Jacob make at Bethel? 69 H.T.
Where did Jacob go to work? 69 H.T., 70 H.T.
For whom did he work? 70 H.T.
Why did Jacob say he left Laban's home? 72 H.T.
What covenant was made between Jacob and Laban? 75 H.T.
How can you explain the two names given to the heap of stones, "Jegar-sahadutha" and "Galeed"? 75 H.T., 492 H.T.
What does the word "Mizpah" mean? 75 H.T.
In what ways did Jacob plan to appease Esau? 76-80 H.T.
In wrestling with the angel what did Jacob ask of him? 80 H.T.
Describe the generous way in which Esau treated Jacob. 83 H.T., 84 H.T.
How did Jacob keep his former vow made at Bethel? 69 H.T., 87 H.T.
What is the origin of the name "Israel"? 80 H.T., 87 H.T., 88 H.T.

Joseph

What shepherd boy was sold into bondage and became ruler in a great nation? 91 H.T.
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Why did Joseph's brothers hate him? 91 H.T.
What gift did Jacob give Joseph? 91 H.T.
What did Joseph's dreams mean? 91 H.T., 92 H.T.
What conspiracy did Joseph's brothers form against him? 95 H.T.
What did Reuben suggest, and why? 95 H.T.
State Judah's proposition and his two reasons. 95 H.T.
Where was Joseph taken as a slave? 96 H.T.
How did the brothers deceive Jacob as to Joseph? 96 H.T.
When Jacob saw the coat stained with blood, what did he say and what three things did he do? 96 H.T.
Who bought Joseph as a slave? 96 H.T.
What is said of Joseph's business success? 99 H.T.
Why was Joseph put in prison? 99 H.T.
How did Joseph prosper in the prison? 99 H.T.
What was the baker's dream and Joseph's interpretation? 103 H.T.
What four requests did Joseph make of the butler? 103 H.T.
Describe Pharaoh's dream of the fat and lean kine? 104 H.T.
Describe Pharaoh's second dream 104 H.T.
Who suggested Joseph as an interpreter? 104 H.T., 105 H.T.
What was Joseph's interpretation of the dreams? 106 H.T.
Tell how Joseph was made prime minister 107 H.T.
How did Joseph provide for the coming famine? 108 H.T.
What did Joseph name his two sons? 108 H.T.
Why did the sons of Jacob come to Egypt? 111 H.T.
Which one of the brothers was left at home and why? 111 H.T.
Did Joseph know his brothers? 111 H.T.
Did the brothers know him? 111 H.T.
What do you think was Joseph's object in his treatment of his brothers? 112 H.T.
How did the brothers' consciences trouble them? 112 H.T.
What demand did Joseph make of his brothers? 112 H.T.
Tell the story of the brothers' return to Jacob and what did Jacob say to them upon their arrival? 113 H.T., 114 H.T.
On their return to Egypt how did Joseph receive his brothers? 114-117 H.T.
How did Joseph test the brothers? 117-120 H.T.
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What treatment did he finally give them? 120-123 H.T.
What command did God give to Jacob? 123 H.T.
How did Joseph receive his father? 124 H.T.
What did Pharaoh do for Joseph's father? 124 H.T., 125 H.T.
What did Joseph's brothers fear when their father died? 131 H.T.
How did Joseph return good for evil? 132 H.T.

Moses

What is the meaning of the word "Captain" used in its general sense? 133 H.T.
Who led a race of slaves out of bondage and became the emancipator of a great nation? 137 H.T.
What name, formerly applied to the family of Jacob, now signifies the race? 138 H.T.
Why was there a change in the treatment of the Egyptians toward the Israelites? 137 H.T.
Under this treatment, what did the Israelites become? 137 H.T.
Tell the story of the escape of one of the Hebrew children. 138 H.T.
Who was the nurse found for Moses? 138 H.T.
Why did Moses smite the Egyptian? 141 H.T.
Why did Moses flee and to what land did he go? 141 H.T.
What were the three leading occurrences that marked Moses' sojourn in Midian? 141 H.T., 142 H.T.
What was the message from the burning bush? 142 H.T., 143 H.T.
How did Moses show weakness in his answer? 143 H.T.
What did God tell Moses to say to the children of Israel? 144 H.T.
Who was Moses' brother and companion in the task of saving his people? 146 H.T., 149 H.T.
What demand did Moses and Aaron make of Pharaoh and what was his answer? 149 H.T.
What way did Pharaoh take of still further oppressing the Israelites? 150 H.T., 151 H.T.
What was the first plague of Egypt? 155 H.T., 156 H.T.
What was the second plague of Egypt? 156 H.T., 158 H.T.
What was the third plague of Egypt? 158 H.T.
What was the fourth plague of Egypt? 158 H.T., 159 H.T.
What was the fifth plague of Egypt? 160 H.T.
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What was the sixth plague of Egypt? 160 H.T., 161 H.T.
What was the seventh plague of Egypt? 166 H.T., 168 H.T.
What was the eighth plague of Egypt? 168-171 H.T.
What was the ninth plague of Egypt? 171-173 H.T.
What was the feast of the passover; when was it celebrated and what was its meaning? 173-177 H.T.
What was the tenth and last plague of Egypt? 177 H.T.
What did the Egyptians tell the Hebrews to do? 178 H.T.
What two routes out of Egypt were possible to the Hebrews? Which route was chosen and why? 179 H.T.
How did Pharaoh change his mind? 180 H.T.
Describe the escape of the Israelites? 183-187 H.T.
Why did the children of Israel murmur at Marah? 191 H.T.
Where did they find an oasis? 191 H.T.
How were the people fed in the wilderness? 192-197 H.T.
Describe the part played by Moses and the part played by Joshua in the battle with the Amalekites 197 H.T.
What mountain did Moses climb to talk with God? 201 H.T.
Give the chief idea of the first commandment 202 H.T.
Give the chief idea of the second commandment. 202 H.T.
Give the chief idea of the third commandment. 202 H.T.
Give the chief idea of the fourth commandment. 202 H.T.
Give the chief idea of the fifth commandment. 203 H.T.
Give the chief idea of the sixth commandment. 203 H.T.
Give the chief idea of the seventh commandment. 203 H.T.
Give the chief idea of the eighth commandment. 203 H.T.
Give the chief idea of the ninth commandment. 203 H.T.
Give the chief idea of the tenth commandment. 203 H.T.
What did the people do while Moses was on the mountain? 204 H.T.
What did Moses do when he came down? 207 H.T.
How did he punish them? 211 H.T.
How were the broken tables replaced? 212 H.T.
What was Moses commanded to build in the wilderness as a dwelling place of God? 214-216 H.T.
What things did the people give of their own free will for the furnishing of the tabernacle? 214-216 H.T.
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What were the qualifications for the workmen? 219 H.T.
Name some of the furnishings of the tabernacle. 220-225 H.T., 231 H.T., 232 H.T.
What went before and behind the marching host? 241 H.T., 242 H.T.
What did the spies report as to the land and the people of Canaan? 243-244 H.T.
After hearing the report what did the people think about going on into Canaan? 244 H.T., 245 H.T.
What was the courageous counsel of Caleb and Joshua? 247 H.T.
What did the people decide to do about going forward? 247 H.T., 248 H.T.
In what way did Moses disobey the Lord in smiting the rock? 248 H.T., 249 H.T.
What was his punishment? 249 H.T.
What is told of the brazen serpent? 250 H.T., 253 H.T.
How did the princes of Moab try to bribe Balaam? 256 H.T.
How was he at first prevented from going with the princes of Moab? 256 H.T., 259 H.T.
What people did Balaam bless? 265 H.T.
What was Moses' last advice to the people? 268 H.T., 271 H.T., 272 H.T.
On what mountain did Moses die? 268 H.T.

Joshua

Who was the great warrior who won the land of Canaan for Israel? 277 H.T.
How did Joshua show his leadership in his first command to the people? 278 H.T.
How did Rahab render service to the spies sent by Joshua? 278-285 H.T.
Describe the passage of the Jordan. 285-287 H.T.
Tell the story of the siege and capture of Jericho. 287-292 H.T.
What was "devoted" spoil? 294 H.T., 295 H.T.
What sin against the "devoted spoil" is given as the reason for the defeat at Ai? 294-296 H.T.
Describe the final capture of the city. 297-300 H.T.
What was the trick played upon Joshua by the people of Gibeon? 300 H.T., 301 H.T.
What was the fate of this people? 302 H.T.
Why did the five kings make war against Gibeon? 305 H.T.
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Tell how Joshua came to the help of the Gibeonites and the result of the battle. 306-308 H.T.
What was the main point in Joshua's last address to the people? 308-312 H.T.

Ehud

What broader meaning did the term "Judge" have in Bible times than at present? 313 H.T.
What position did Ehud hold in Israel? 315 H.T.
What was the "summer room"? 315 H.T., 493 H.T.

Gideon

Name the brave judge who freed his people from oppression. 319 H.T.
Describe the oppression of the Midianites. 319 H.T.
Where was Gideon when the angel found him, what was he doing and why, in such a place? 320 H.T., 493 H.T.
Why was Gideon faint-hearted at first and how was he convinced of his place in Israel? 320 H.T., 323 H.T.
With what act did Gideon begin his campaign? 323 H.T., 324 H.T.
What is meant by the "altar of Baal"? 494 H.T.
By what sign was Gideon reassured? 324 H.T., 325 H.T.
In what ways was the number of Gideon's army reduced? 325 H.T., 326 H.T.
How many men remained? 326 H.T.
What dream did Gideon hear related in the enemies' camp? 329 H.T.
What was his plan of attack? 329 H.T.
How did Gideon's strategy work out? 329-331 H.T.
Explain how the breaking of the pitchers would cause a panic among the hosts of the enemy. 494 H.T.

Abimelech

With what evil act did Abimelech seize the leadership? 332 H.T., 333 H.T.
What was the fate of Abimelech? 334 H.T., 387 H.T.

Samuel

Why can Samuel be called one of the finest characters of the Old Testament? 338 H.T.
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What great sacrifice did Samuel's mother make regarding him? 338 H.T.
Describe Samuel's call to be a prophet of the Lord 338-342 H.T.
What nation defeated Israel in a great battle? 342-346 H.T.
What did the Israelites lose in this battle? 346 H.T.
What was the cause of Eli's death? 346 H.T.
How did Samuel rule in Israel? 349 H.T.

Saul

Name the farmer who became king 349 H.T.
Give at least two reasons which the people gave for demanding a king. 349-351 H.T.
Did Samuel approve the plan of having a king? 350 H.T.
What reasons did Samuel give against the plan? 350 H.T., 351 H.T.
What were Saul's physical qualifications for being king? 352 H.T.
Tell the story of how Saul came to meet Samuel. 352 H.T., 353 H.T.
What honor was Saul shown in the prophet's house? 354 H.T.
Describe how he was publicly proclaimed king. 357 H.T., 358 H.T.
Was this choice unanimous? 358 H.T.
What people came up to attack Israel? 359 H.T.
How did Saul summon the people? 359 H.T.
What was the result of the battle? 360 H.T.
How did Saul disobey the commandment of God? 361 H.T., 362 H.T.
What was his punishment? 362 H.T.
What gallant deed was done by Jonathan and his armor bearer? 365 H.T., 366 H.T.
What command did Saul give the people in regard to food? 367 H.T.
Who disobeyed? 367 H.T.
How was he saved? 369 H.T.
How did Saul disobey God's commands in the campaign against the Amalekites? 370 H.T., 373 H.T.
What excuse did he make? 374 H.T.
What did Samuel tell Saul as to obedience? 374 H.T.
What ancient foe of Israel troubled the nation toward the close of Saul's reign? 376 H.T.
What happened at Endor? 376 H.T., 379 H.T., 380 H.T.
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Explain how the term "familiar spirit" came to signify a medium. 376 H.T., 497 H.T.
Tell the story of the battle of Gilboa. 380 H.T., 381 H.T.
What gallant act was done by the men of Jabesh-Gilead? 381 H.T.

David

Who was the shepherd boy that became king of Israel? 382 H.T.
Tell the story of the finding and anointing of David by Samuel. 383 H.T., 385 H.T.
What people did Goliath represent? 386 H.T.
How tall was he in feet? 386 H.T., 499 H.T.
Describe his armor and fighting equipment. 386 H.T.
How did Goliath challenge the Israelites? 386 H.T.
What effect did Goliath have upon the army of Israel? 389 H.T.
How did David chance to come to the Israelites' camp? 389 H.T.
What reward was promised to the man who should kill Goliath? 390 H.T.
On meeting Saul what did David propose that he do? 391 H.T.
What was Saul's reply and David's response? 391 H.T.
After agreeing that David might fight Goliath, what help did Saul offer? 391 H.T.
What weapons did David finally choose? 391 H.T.
Tell what happened when David and Goliath met. 392 H.T., 393 H.T.
Who became David's best friend? 393 H.T., 394 H.T.
Why did Saul dislike David? 396 H.T.
How did he try to harm him? 396 H.T.
Tell a story to show how Jonathan showed his deep friendship for David. 402-406 H.T.
What opportunity did David have to revenge himself on Saul and what did he do? 406-411 H.T.
How did David a second time spare Saul's life? 411-417 H.T.
What sheep master refused to give tribute to David? 417 H.T.
What did his wife do? 419 H.T.
What became of the sheep master? 424 H.T.
How did David hear of Saul's death? 424 H.T., 425 H.T.
Read the Song of the Bow and tell its purpose. 426 H.T., 429 H.T.
What evil deed did David do? 430 H.T.
In what way did Nathan bring his sin home to David? 431-435 H.T.
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How did David receive the prophet's rebuke? 435 H.T.
In what spirit did David receive the report of the child's death? 435 H.T., 436 H.T.
What knightly deed was done by three captains of David? 438 H.T.
What did David do with the gift? 438 H.T.
For what purpose did David buy a threshing floor? 438-442 H.T.
What reason did David give for not receiving the threshing floor as a gift? 442 H.T.
What event of David's reign brought him more grief than anything else? 443 H.T.
What instructions did David give in regard to Absalom? 443 H.T.
What happened to Absalom in the forest? 444-447 H.T.
Tell how the tidings were brought to David. 447-451 H.T.
How did David receive the news? 451 H.T.
What was David's charge to Solomon before he died? 451 H.T.

Solomon

Who was the wisest and greatest king Israel ever had? 452 H.T.
What does Solomon ask of God in his dream? 452-455 H.T.
What did God grant to Solomon in answer to his request? 455 H.T.
Tell about the prosperity of Solomon. 455-457 H.T.
Why was it better for Solomon than for David to build a temple to the Lord? 457 H.T.
In what way did Hiram, king of Tyre, help in the building of the temple? 457-461 H.T.
What part did David have in choosing the site for the temple? 461 H.T., 441 H.T., 442 H.T.
Tell some of the things that made Solomon's temple a magnificent structure. 461-466 H.T.
Describe Solomon's palace. 469 H.T.
What was the first ceremony in the dedication of the temple? 470 H.T., 471 H.T.
Name six supplications in Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple. 471-477 H.T.
For what reason did the Queen of Sheba visit Solomon? 478 H.T.
What did she think of the kingdom? 481 H.T.
How did Solomon use the commodities brought into his country by trade to improve the buildings of the kingdom? 482 H.T., 483 H.T.

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TALES OF OLD JUDEA

Who created the heavens and the earth? 15 T.J.
What was the work of Creation on the first day? 15 T.J.
What was the work of Creation on the second day? 15 T.J., 16 T.J.
What was the work of Creation on the third day? 16 T.J.
What was the work of Creation on the fourth day? 16 T.J.
What was the work of Creation on the fifth day? 16 T.J., 17 T.J.
What was the work of Creation on the sixth day? 17 T.J.
What did God do on the seventh day? 18 T.J.
What was the temptation of Eve? 19 T.J.
What was the punishment? 20 T.J., 21 T.J.
Who were the first children? 22 T.J.
What was the business of each son when he grew up? 22 T.J.
What terrible crime did Cain commit? 22 T.J.
What was his punishment? 22 T.J., 23 T.J.
What was the name of the first ship? 24 T.J.
Why was it built? 24 T.J.
What did it carry? 25-29 T.J.
How long did it rain? 26 T.J.
Where did the ark land? 30 T.J.
What messengers did Noah send from the ark? 30 T.J.
What covenant did God make with Noah? 31 T.J.
What was the sign? 31 T.J.
What foolish plan was made in the land of Shinar? 32 T.J.
What was the result? 32 T.J.

Ruth

Of what nationality was Ruth? 35 T.J.
Of what nationality were Naomi and Elimelech? 35 T.J.
How did the Hebrew family come to meet Ruth and Orpah? 35 T.J., 36 T.J.
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What losses came to Naomi in the land of Moab and why did she decide to return? 36 T.J.
Give the story of the actions of each daughter-in-law as Naomi begins her return journey 36-39 T.J.
What six pledges did Ruth make to show she was determined to be one with Naomi? 39 T.J.
By what name did Naomi, upon her return, wish her friends to call her and why? 39 T.J.
Into whose field did Ruth go and for what purpose? 39 T.J., 40 T.J.
What sacred duty was held by a kinsman in the East? 487 T.J.
For what reasons did Boaz treat Ruth kindly? 40 T.J., 41 T.J.
Name some things Boaz did to make it a pleasant and profitable day for Ruth. 41 T.J.
Whom did Ruth marry? 47 T.J.
Give the line of descent from Ruth to David. 48 T.J.

Deborah

Describe the oppression of the children of Israel in the time of Deborah. 51 T.J., 52 T.J.
What was Deborah's command to Barak? 52 T.J.
On what condition would Barak obey? 52 T.J.
Describe the battle with the enemy. 52 T.J., 53 T.J.
What happened to Sisera, the enemy's captain? 53 T.J.

Esther

What was the decree of king Ahasuerus regarding Vashti? 60-62 T.J.
How did Esther happen to come to the throne? 63-64 T.J.
What nationality was Esther? 63 T.J.
What position did Haman hold and why was he angered at Mordecai? 65 T.J.
Describe Haman's plot against the Jews 65-67 T.J.
How did Esther risk her life to plead for her people? 68 T.J., 69 T.J.
How was Mordecai exalted and for what reason? 71 T.J., 72 T.J.
What was Haman's fate? 73 T.J.
What did the feast of Purim commemorate and how long was it celebrated? 78 T.J., 488 T.J.

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Judith

Who was Judith? 80 T.J.
Who was Holofernes? 80 T.J.
What king attacked Israel because it had not aided him in war? 80-82 T.J.
What city in the hill country was besieged? 82-86 T.J.
How did Judith save the city and the nation? 86-105 T.J.

Elijah

Describe the hospitality of the widow of Zarephath and how it was repaid by Elijah. 114-115 T.J.
Why did Elijah say he "troubled" Ahab? 116-119 T.J.
How did Elijah show that God could do greater things than the heathen god, Baal? 120-122 T.J.
Why did Elijah flee and what happened on his journey? 123-127 T.J.
How did Ahab and Jezebel plot to get Naboth's vineyard? 127-130 T.J.

Elisha

Upon whom did the spirit of Elijah rest? 130-134 T.J.
Tell the story of Elisha and the woman of Shunem. 138-143 T.J.
How did a little captive maid do a service to the great general Naaman? 143 T.J.
What did Elisha tell Naaman to do? 144 T.J.
Tell how Naaman received Elisha's command. 144-147 T.J.
What was the result of Naaman's compliance? 144-147 T.J.
How did Elisha save an enemy from destruction? 148-152 T.J.
To what straits was the city of Samaria reduced when besieged by Benhadad? 152 T.J.
How did deliverance come to the city? 152-157 T.J.
What was the fate of the wicked house of Ahab? 157-162 T.J.
What part had Jehu in this destruction? 157-162 T.J.

Jonah

What were the three commands given to Jonah? 165 T.J.
How did Jonah disobey? 165 T.J.
When the storm came what two things did the sailors do? 165 T.J.
What happened to Jonah on this voyage? 166-169 T.J.
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When Jonah got to Nineveh, what did he do? 170 T.J.
Give the words of Jonah's message to the people. 170 T.J.
What was the threefold effect of Jonah's preaching? 170 T.J.

Samson

What man had strength of body above all other men of his time? 172 T.J.
In what way was Samson weak? 172 T.J.
Describe Samson's first feat of strength. 172 T.J., 173 T.J.
Explain Samson's riddle and how the Philistines were able to guess it. 173 T.J., 174 T.J.
In what way did Samson burn the enemy's cornfield? 175 T.J.
How did Samson escape from Gaza? 176 T.J.
What offer did the lords of the Philistines make to Delilah? 177 T.J.
What three falsehoods did Samson tell Delilah as to how he could be bound? 177 T.J., 178 T.J.
How was Samson finally captured? 178-181 T.J.
In what way was Samson revenged upon his enemies? 181 T.J., 182 T.J.

Daniel

Name three qualifications of the youths who were chosen to stand before king Nebuchadnezzar. 183 T.J.
What captive Hebrew boy refused to defile himself by eating the king's food? 184 T.J.
What was the outcome of the food test proposed by Daniel? 184 T.J., 185 T.J.
By what service was Daniel exalted in Nebuchadnezzar's court? 185-190 T.J.
Through what trial did the three Hebrew boys pass? 190-196 T.J.
What four miraculous facts were noticed when the three men were taken from the furnace? 195 T.J., 196 T.J.
Why did Nebuchadnezzar believe that Daniel could interpret his dream? 196-198 T.J.
What was Nebuchadnezzar's fate? 199 T.J., 200 T.J.
Name two impious actions at Belshazzar's feast. 201 T.J.
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What was promised to the interpreter of the handwriting on the wall? 201 T.J.
Tell how Daniel was called to interpret the words. 201-205 T.J.
What was Daniel's interpretation? 206 T.J.
Why was Daniel cast into the lions' den? 206-208 T.J.
What facts indicate the kind of night spent by the king while Daniel was in the lions' den. 208 T.J.
What effect did Daniel's deliverance have on the king? 208 T.J., 209 T.J.

Nehemiah

What great man of the Hebrew people preferred hardship in his native land to pleasure and plenty in the Persian king's palace? 212 T.J.
What was Nehemiah's position in the foreign court? 212 T.J., 213 T.J.
What facts were the cause of Nehemiah's resolve to return to Jerusalem? 212 T.J.
How did Nehemiah show his practical patriotism? 212-218 T.J.
What difficulties and perils from without did Nehemiah encounter? 218 T.J., 219 T.J.
What precautions were taken against the enemy? 219-221 T.J.
What opposition did Nehemiah have to meet within? 221-225 T.J.
How did Nehemiah meet the proposals of the enemies? 225-227 T.J.
Describe the celebration of the people when the walls were dedicated 227-232 T.J.
What oaths did the people enter into at this time? 231 T.J.
State Nehemiah's idea of national greatness. 232 T.J.
How did the people in the restored city of Jerusalem profane the Sabbath? 233 T.J.
What four means did Nehemiah use to rid the city of Sabbath breaking? 233 T.J., 234 T.J.
What were the characteristics of Nehemiah that made him an all-round man? 212-234 T.J.

Divided Kingdom

Name the first three kings of the Hebrew people in the order of their succession. 236 T.J.
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How did the splendor of Solomon's kingdom put a burden on the people? 237 T.J.

Rehoboam

Give the reasons for the rebellion of the people against Rehoboam, Solomon's son and successor. 237-239 T.J.
What two tribes remained loyal to Rehoboam? 239 T.J., 240 T.J.
Give the names of the two kingdoms after the division. 236 T.J.
Who was the leader and first king of the revolting Northern Kingdom? 237 T.J.
What happened to the kingdom of Judah under Rehoboam? 240 T.J., 241 T.J.

Abijah

What great victory was won by Abijah? 242-246 T.J.

Asa

What was the general condition of Judah under Asa? 247 T.J.
Tell the story of Asa's victory over the Ethiopians. 248 T.J.
What foreign alliance did Asa make? 250-254 T.J.

Jehoshaphat

What events, favorable to Jehoshaphat, came to pass in his reign? 255-265 T.J.
What mistake did Jehoshaphat make? 256 T.J., 257 T.J.

Jehoram

With what evil deed did Jehoram begin his reign? 266 T.J.
What covenant formerly given saved the kingdom from destruction? 266 T.J., 267 T.J.
Why was Jehoram smitten? 267 T.J., 268 T.J.

Athaliah

Tell the story of Athaliah's destruction of the royal children and how Joash was saved 271 T.J., 272 T.J.
How did the priest Jehoiada plan to effect a reform? 272 T.J.
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How was the plot carried out? 272-275 T.J.
What was the fate of the wicked queen? 275 T.J.
What covenant was made at this time and how was it followed up? 276 T.J.

Joash

How long did Joash do what was right? 277 T.J.
What ingenious method did Joash adopt for raising money to repair the house of the Lord? 277-279 T.J.
For what guilt did wrath come upon the kingdom? 279 T.J.
What disasters overtook the people? 279 T.J., 280 T.J.

Amaziah

With what victory did Amaziah begin his reign? 281-285 T.J.
What foolish challenge did Amaziah send to the king of Israel? 285 T.J.
With what story did the king of Israel reply? 285 T.J.
What was the result of the king's boasting? 285 T.J., 286 T.J.

Uzziah

What important work did Uzziah undertake for the nation? 287-291 T.J.
What act of irreverence did he do? 291 T.J.
What was Uzziah's fate? 291 T.J.

Jotham

What good work did Jotham do? 292 T.J.
Why did he become mighty? 292 T.J.

Ahaz

Describe the character of Ahaz. 293 T.J.
What was the great guilt of Ahaz? 293 T.J.
To whom and in what way did Ahaz become a vassal? 295 T.J., 296 T.J.

Hezekiah

What made Hezekiah one of the greatest of Judah's kings? 299 T.J.
What reforms did Hezekiah carry out? 299-302 T.J.
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What was done during this reign in regard to the Passover feast? 302-307 T.J.
How did the people show their faithfulness? 307-311 T.J.
Describe the defense of Jerusalem against the hordes of Sennacherib. 311-313 T.J.
What piece of engineering skill did Hezekiah undertake? 314 T.J.

Manasseh

What were the evil deeds of Manasseh? 317-319 T.J.
Under what circumstances did Manasseh repent? 319 T.J.
Describe his later deeds. 319 T.J.

Amon

Tell the story of Amon's reign. 322 T.J.

Josiah

What work did Josiah order done as soon as he was old enough to assert himself? 323 T.J., 324 T.J.
What discovery led to sweeping reforms in the kingdom? 324-326 T.J.
Describe the reforms. 326-328 T.J.
What tragedy happened in the valley of Megiddo? 328 T.J., 329 T.J.

Jehoahaz

Tell the story of Jehoahaz's short reign. 332 T.J.

Jehoiakim

How did Jehoiakim come to the throne of Judah? 335 T.J.
What was the character of Jehoiakim, judging from the words of Jeremiah? 335-344 T.J.
What disaster came to the kingdom in the time of Jehoiakim? 344-345 T.J.

Jehoiachin

Into what country were the people of Judah carried captive? 346 T.J., 347 T.J.
Describe the host which Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon. 346 T.J., 347 T.J.
What besides captives did the enemy take from Jerusalem? 346 T.J.

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Zedekiah

What was Zedekiah's position in Judah? 348 T.J.
Why did Nebuchadnezzar again besiege Jerusalem? 348 T.J.
What was Zedekiah's fate? 351 T.J.
Describe the destruction of Jerusalem. 351 T.J.

Jeroboam

In what way did Jeroboam seek to keep the loyalty of the people? 353 T.J., 354 T.J.
Tell the story of the prophet from Judah. 354-362 T.J.
What was the prophecy of Ahijah, the prophet, concerning Jeroboam's house? 362-364 T.J.

Nadab

Describe Nadab's brief reign. 367 T.J.

Baasha

How did the house of Jeroboam come to an end? 368 T.J.
How did Baasha become king in Israel? 368 T.J.
Why was the house of Baasha condemned? 368 T.J., 369 T.J.

Elah

How did Elah differ from Baasha, his father? 370 T.J.
In what way did Elah meet his death? 370 T.J.

Zimri

How long did Zimri reign? 373 T.J.
Who was Omri and how was he made king? 373 T.J.
How did Zimri die? 373 T.J.

Omri

What new capital of the northern kingdom did Omri establish? 374 T.J.
What was the character of Omri's reign? 374 T.J.

Ahab

For what purpose did Ahab join the king of Judah? 377-381 T.J.
How did Ahab meet his death? 380 T.J., 381 T.J.

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Ahaziah

What were the evil deeds of Ahaziah? 382 T.J.
What dealings did Ahaziah have with the prophet Elijah? 382-386 T.J.

Joram

How did Joram begin his reign? 387 T.J.
Describe the expedition against Moab and its result. 388-392 T.J.

Jehu

What did Jehu do to the royal family when he came to the throne? 395-397 T.J.
Describe the destruction of the priests of Baal. 397 T.J., 398 T.J.

Jehoahaz

By what means was the kingdom of Israel almost blotted out during this reign? 399 T.J.
What were the sins of the people at this time? 399 T.J.

Joash

How did Joash retrieve the kingdom's losses? 400 T.J.

Jeroboam II

What rank does Jeroboam II take among Israel's kings? 401 T.J.
How did the country prosper under him? 401 T.J.
What prophet was associated with Jeroboam II? 401 T.J.

Zechariah

After the reign of Jeroboam II, what largely determined the succession to the throne? 402 T.J.
What word was fulfilled by Zechariah's short reign? 402 T.J., 398 T.J.

Shallum

What terminated Shallum's reign? 403 T.J.

Menahem

To what nation was Israel tributary in Menahem's reign? 404 T.J.

Pekahiah

How did Pekahiah come to the throne? 407 T.J.
How did Pekahiah fall? 407 T.J.

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Pekah

What nation invaded and overran Israel in Pekah's reign? 408 T.J.
How was Pekah's reign terminated? 408 T.J.

Hoshea

How did the capital city, Samaria, fall? 411 T.J.
What were the great sins of this people? 411-413 T.J.
Into what land were the people of Israel carried captive? 413 T.J.

Tales of the Maccabees

Who were the Maccabees, and why were they so called? 418 T.J.
What great general conquered Palestine? 418-420 T.J.
How did Antiochus try to force Greek religion and customs upon the people? 420-422 T.J.
Tell the story of the first revolt of the Maccabees 422 T.J., 423 T.J.
Tell the story of the disaster which befell the Jewish army because it would not fight on the Sabbath. 425 T.J.
What counsel did Mattathias give his sons before his death? 426 T.J., 427 T.J.
What son of Mattathias took command after his death? 428 T.J.
How did Judas win his sword? 431 T.J.
On what famous battlefield did Judas overcome his foes? 431 T.J., 432 T.J.
What stratagem did Judas use in his campaign against the Syrians? 432 T.J.
How did Judas defeat the Syrians under Lysias? 437 T.J.
How did Judas purify the temple? 438 T.J.
Describe the great army which the king brought against the Jews. 439 T.J.
How did Eleazar die for his country? 443 T.J.
How did Judas defeat Nicanor? 443 T.J., 444 T.J.
With what great empire did Judas make a treaty? 445-448 T.J.
Who took Judas' place as leader? 451 T.J.
How did Jonathan and his men escape from a superior army? 451 T.J., 452 T.J.
What large city was taken by Jonathan? 452 T.J., 453 T.J.
How did Jonathan and his captains stand against a host? 459 T.J.
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How was Jonathan caught at last by his foes? 460 T.J., 463 T.J.
Who took Jonathan's place as leader? 463 T.J.
How were the foes of Israel delayed by a snowstorm? 464-467 T.J.
How did Jonathan die? 467 T.J.
What memorial did Simon build for his valiant father and brothers? 467 T.J., 468 T.J.
With what king did Simon make a treaty? 468 T.J., 471 T.J.
What great city did Simon capture and what citadel did he take? 471 T.J., 472 T.J.
Tell the story of Israel's prosperity in the days of Simon. 475 T.J., 476 T.J.
What great captain was defeated by the sons of Simon? 479 T.J.,480 T.J.
How were Simon and his sons betrayed and murdered? 481 T.J., 482 T.J.
Name two things which the Maccabees' valor secured to the spiritual life of the nation. 482 T.J.
Who was the last of the line of the Maccabees? 482 T.J.
Give the history of the collection of books called the Apocrypha. 489 T.J.

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THE LIFE OF JESUS

The Nativity

Where was Jesus born? 37 L.J.
Tell three things about the shepherds. 37 L.J.
What two signs did the angel give regarding Jesus? 37 L.J.
What was the angels' song? 38 L.J.
After the angels departed, what did the shepherds do? 38 L.J.
How did Mary treat the words of the shepherds? 38 L.J.

The Wise Men

What question did the wise men ask on reaching Jerusalem? 41 L.J.
What was the effect of the question on Herod, the king? 41 L.J.
When they saw Jesus, what three things did the wise men do? 42 L.J.
What popular stories has fancy woven about the wise men? 485 L.J.

Flight into Egypt

What was the reason for the flight into Egypt? 45 L.J.
When and why was Jesus brought back to Palestine? 46 L.J.
To what city was he taken to live? 46 L.J.

Boyhood of Jesus

To what great feast at Jerusalem was Jesus taken when he was twelve years of age? 49 L.J., 491 L.J.
What happened on the trip home? 49 L.J.
What was Jesus' answer to his mother when she found him in the temple? 49 L.J.
What was the home life of little children of Nazareth? 50 L.J.
Describe the school life of Nazareth. 50 L.J.
What glimpses of the outer world were possible to the residents of Nazareth? 50 L.J.
Describe a journey to the great feast at Jerusalem. 53 L.J.

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Baptism of Jesus

What was the great message of John the Baptist? 65 L.J., 485 L.J.
How does John the Baptist speak of the superiority of Jesus? 66 L.J.
What did John the Baptist say to the multitudes, the publicans, the soldiers? 66 L.J.
Tell the story of the baptism. 66-69 L.J.

Temptation

Where did Jesus go after his baptism? 70 L.J.
What was the first temptation? Give Jesus' answer. 70 L.J.
What fact made this temptation exceedingly keen? 70 L.J.
What was the second temptation? What did Jesus answer? 70 L.J.
What was the third temptation? 70 L.J., 73 L.J.
Give Jesus' answer. 73 L.J.

First Disciples

What reason did John the Baptist give for his coming? 74 L.J.
In what words did John the Baptist introduce Jesus? 74 L.J.
Who were the first disciples that followed Jesus? 74 L.J.
Whom did Andrew introduce to Jesus? 74 L.J., 77 L.J.
How did Philip become a disciple? 77 L.J.
Whom did Philip bring to Jesus? 77 L.J.
Find six names by which Jesus is addressed. 74-77 L.J.
How many disciples were found in two days? 74-77 L.J.
Name the great men in history who have had disciples and give the meaning of the word. What was the difference between Jesus' disciples and other like groups? 487 L.J.

First Miracle

What were the occasion and place of Jesus' first miracle? 78 L.J.
Describe the miracle. 78 L.J.
Name an important result of this miracle. 78 L.J.

At the Passover

What two classes of business men did Jesus find in the temple? 79 L.J.
Why was this called "Herod's temple"? 491 L.J.
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From Nicodemus' first sentence, what would you judge was his attitude toward Jesus and his estimate of him? 79 L.J.
What was Jesus' statement to Nicodemus and how did he explain it? 79 L.J., 80 L.J.
What does the gospel writer say of the nature and object of Divine Love? 80 L.J., 81 L.J.

Jacob's Well

What brought Jesus to Jacob's well? 82 L.J.
Why was the Samaritan woman astonished at being addressed by Jesus? 82 L.J.
What did Jesus say about living water? 82-85 L.J.
What did Jesus say about worshiping God? 85 L.J.
What were Jesus' words about himself? 86 L.J.
Describe the woman's work in the city. 86 L.J., 87 L.J.

The Good Samaritan

In the story of the Good Samaritan, what is brought out about the law of right living? 88 L.J.
How does Jesus reply to the question, "Who is my neighbor?" 88 L.J.
What three travelers met the unfortunate man by the wayside? 88 L.J.
Describe the actions of each traveler upon seeing the unfortunate man. 88-91 L.J.
Which man proved himself a neighbor? 91 L.J.

Jesus and the King's Officer

What event of Jesus' ministry had occurred previous to this time in Cana? 92 L.J.
Where was Capernaum, in relation to Cana? 24 L.J.
What words of Jesus, in regard to his departure into Galilee, bear out the proverb, "Familiarity breeds contempt"? 92 L.J.
For what purpose did the king's officer come to Jesus? 92 L.J.
By what words did Jesus test the king's officer? 92 L.J.
How was the officer's persistency and faith rewarded? 92 L.J., 93 L.J.

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Choosing the Disciples

From what occupations did Jesus choose the Apostles? 94 L.J.
For what purposes did Jesus say he appointed the Twelve? 95 L.J.
Name the twelve apostles and note some interesting facts of their lives 96 L.J., 97 L.J.

Sermon on the Mount

What are the eight characteristics of men that Jesus pronounces blessed? 105 L.J., 106 L.J.
To whom does Jesus promise the exaltation of the kingdom of heaven? 105 L.J.
To which class, the gay or the mourners, does Jesus promise blessing? 105 L.J.
To whom does Jesus promise great inheritance? 105 L.J.
Whom does Jesus promise to fill, the satisfied Pharisee, or those that are hungering after a righteousness they have not attained? 105 L.J.
To whom does Jesus promise mercy, the oppressor or the merciful? 105 L.J.
What does Jesus promise those who are pure? 105 L.J.
What is the reward for the peacemaker as opposed to the warrior? 105 L.J.
How does Jesus explain that the persecutor is far beneath his victim? 105 L.J., 106 L.J.
In what words does Jesus condemn a personal righteousness that does not exert its force upon others? 106 L.J.
What command does Jesus give concerning our light? 106 L.J.
What does Jesus say about the law? 106 L.J.
What four sins does Jesus condemn? 109 L.J., 110 L.J.
What does he command in regard to these things? 109 L.J., 110 L.J.
Why does Jesus say we should love our enemies? 110 L.J., 111 L.J.
Give Jesus' striking words about the right way to do good deeds. 111 L.J.
Explain the Jewish custom in regard to the poor that made almsgiving a virtue. 487 L.J.
How does Jesus explain the right way to pray? 111-115 L.J.
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Repeat the Golden Rule. 115 L.J.
What does Jesus say about earthly treasure? 115 L.J.
For what reasons does Jesus say we may trust God to care for us? 115 L.J., 116 L.J.
How does Jesus explain the need for deeds, not words? 116 L.J., 117 L.J.
With what dramatic story does the Sermon on the Mount close? 117 L.J., 118 L.J.
How did the multitude receive the teaching of Jesus on the Mount? 118 L.J.

The Roman Soldier's Faith

Why did the Roman captain come to Jesus? 121 L.J.
What did the captain say of Jesus' power? 121 L.J.
What were Jesus' words in reply to the captain's faith? 122 L.J.

Days of Service

Tell the story of a Sabbath day at Capernaum. 125 L.J., 126 L.J.
What did the healing of the leper lead to? 126 L.J., 127 L.J.
How did the man sick of the palsy come to Jesus to be healed? 127 L.J.
What was the controversy between Jesus and certain scribes in regard to the man sick with the palsy? 127 L.J., 128 L.J.
Tell the story of Jesus and the two blind men. 128 L.J.
From what regions did people come to Jesus to be healed? 128 L.J., 129 L.J.

Miracle at Nain

How did Jesus help the widow at Nain? 130 L.J.
What report about Jesus was the result of the miracle at Nain? 130 L.J.

The Great Teacher

Tell Jesus' story of the Sower and explain the meaning 133 L.J., 134 L.J.
To what things does Jesus liken the kingdom of God? 134 L.J., 135 L.J.

The Tempest

What happened on the sea of Galilee one night when Jesus was crossing? 136 L.J.
What did the disciples say? 136 L.J.
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What reply did Jesus make? 136 L.J.
What did Jesus say to still the storm? 136 L.J.
What happened when Jesus came to the other side of the sea? 136-140 L.J.

Jairus' Daughter

Describe Jairus' work as ruler of the synagogue 141 L.J., 487 L.J.
Why did Jairus come to Jesus? 141 L.J.
What did Jesus do in response to Jairus' request? 141 L.J., 142 L.J.

Learning to Serve

What was Jesus' method of sending out the disciples and what were his instructions to them? 143 L.J.

Feeding the Multitude

Why did Jesus call the disciples apart to rest? 144 L.J.
What two things did Jesus do for the multitude? 144 L.J., 147 L.J.
How did a little boy help? 147 L.J.
What other miraculous supplies of food are mentioned in the Bible? 192 H.T., 114 T.J., 123 T.J., 175 L.J.
Why do you think Jesus was willing to satisfy the hunger of the multitude by miracle when he would not satisfy his own hunger by a miracle? 70 L.J., 144 L.J.

John the Baptist

What condition in the life of John the Baptist made him doubt Jesus? 149 L.J.
What unselfish words did John the Baptist say in regard to himself and Jesus? 150 L.J.
How did John the Baptist test Jesus? 150 L.J.
What was Jesus' reply? 153 L.J.
What great tribute did Jesus pay John the Baptist? 153 L.J.
What was the occasion of John the Baptist's murder? 154 L.J.

Bread of Life

What did Jesus say about "food that perisheth and food that abideth"? 161 L.J.
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What remark of the people showed the high regard in which the Jews held Moses? 162 L.J.
How many times in this speech did Jesus refer to himself as the Bread of Life? 161-166 L.J.
What did Jesus say about the Father's will for him? 162 L.J.
Give the substance of Jesus' reply to the murmurers. 165 L.J., 166 L.J.

Conflicts

What led to the discussion about the Sabbath? 167 L.J., 168 L.J.
What was Jesus' reply concerning the Sabbath? 168 L.J.
What did the Pharisees plot, following this conflict? 169 L.J.
Describe the event at the Pharisee's house which displeased Jesus' host? 169 L.J.
With what story did Jesus explain his treatment of sinful people? 170 L.J.
Describe the conflict about Jesus' wonderful deeds 170 L.J., 171 L.J.

Miracles

Why did the Greek woman come to Jesus? 172 L.J.
Give Jesus' words to the woman and her reply. 172 L.J.
What miracle did Jesus perform on his return from Tyre and Sidon? 175 L.J., 176 L.J.
Tell about the miracle at Bethsaida. 177 L.J.

At Caesarea Philippi

Who did various people say Jesus was? 178 L.J.
Give Peter's statement as to who Jesus was. 178 L.J.
State four prophecies Jesus made regarding himself. 178 L.J.
How did Peter show his weakness? 178 L.J.
What were the words of Jesus' rebuke to Peter? 178 L.J.
Name three conditions of discipleship given by Jesus. 178 L.J.
What further did Jesus tell the disciples about his coming fate? 179 L.J.

Transfiguration

What disciples did Jesus take with him to the summit of a high mountain? 180 L.J.
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What happened while they were there? 180 L.J.
Describe what happened when they reached the foot of the mountain 181 L.J., 182 L.J.
What did Jesus tell the disciples was the cause of their failure? 182 L.J.

Teaching the Disciples

What incident drew from Jesus a lesson about humility? 185 L.J., 186 L.J.
Give Jesus' striking statement about forgiveness. 186 L.J.
Of what part of Jesus' prayer to the disciples does the story of the Ungrateful Servant remind you? 112 L.J., 186 L.J.
What lesson did Jesus teach when he spoke of little children? 188 L.J., 189 L.J.

Teaching of Light and Freedom

Why did Jesus stay in Galilee? 190 L.J.
What did he tell his disciples to do? 190 L.J.
How did Jesus go to the feast? 190 L.J., 191 L.J.
When Jesus taught in the temple, what surprised the people? 191 L.J.
Describe the debate held by the authorities on the character of Jesus. 192 L.J., 193 L.J.
How did Nicodemus defend him? 193 L.J.
From study of the context what do you think is the meaning of Jesus' two statements: "I am the light of the world" (193 L.J.) and "Ye are the light of the world" (106 L.J.)?
What did Jesus say about the truth? 193 L.J.
When Jesus said, "The truth shall make you free," what kind of bondage did he refer to? 194 L.J.
What great trait in Abraham was lacking in those who claimed to be his descendants? 194 L.J., 195 L.J.
How did this conflict between Jesus and the Jews end? 196 L.J.

Healing the Blind Man

From which commandment did the Jews get their belief that a man suffers from the sins of his parents? 197 L.J., 202 H.T.
What connection did Job's friends think exists between suffering and sin? 195 S.A.
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How did Jesus heal the blind man? 197 L.J.
In what way were the Pharisees divided in their discussion following this healing? 198 L.J.
Upon what point did the man who was healed refuse to express an opinion? 199 L.J.
How did this grateful man show that the Pharisees' opinions were illogical? 199 L.J.

The Good Shepherd

Give the picture of a good shepherd that Jesus draws. 200 L.J.
In what words does Jesus promise safety, liberty, and sustenance to his followers? 201 L.J.

Stories of Forgiveness

Tell the story of the Lost Sheep. 202 L.J.
Tell the story of the Lost Money. 202 L.J., 203 L.J.
Tell the story of the Lost Son. 203 L.J., 204 L.J.
What did Jesus teach by these three stories? 202 L.J.
What lesson did Jesus mean to teach by the story of the Dishonest Steward? 204 L.J., 205 L.J.
What is the lesson in the story of the Rich Man and the Poor Man? 206 L.J., 207 L.J.
What is the teaching in the story of the Men who Made Excuses? 207 L.J., 208 L.J.

The Rich Young Man

What question did a rich young man ask Jesus? 211 L.J.
What claims of righteousness did the young man make? 211 L.J.
Give Jesus' words in reply. 211 L.J.
What was Jesus' statement regarding rich men? 211 L.J., 212 L.J.
What did the story of the Foolish Rich Man teach? 212 L.J.

Raising of Lazarus

For what purpose did Mary and Martha send for Jesus? 215 L.J.
When Jesus, after a delay, reached Bethany, with what news was he met? 216 L.J.
With what words did both sisters greet Jesus? 216-219 L.J.
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What effect did the raising of Lazarus have on the Jews? 220 L.J.
What two others had Jesus raised from the dead? 130 L.J., 141 L.J.
To what miracle did the Jews probably refer when they asked their question? 219 L.J., 197 L.J.
For what does Jesus thank God in his prayer? 220 L.J.

At Jericho

Tell the story of blind Bartimaeus. 221 L.J.
How did Zacchaeus come to Jesus' notice? 222 L.J.
What did Zacchaeus do to show his repentance? 222 L.J.

Supper at Bethany

When the last Passover in Jesus' life came, what inquiry did the people make one of another? 229 L.J.
Describe the scene at the supper at Bethany. 229 L.J.
What was Judas' argument? 229 L.J.
What prediction did Jesus make in regard to the fame of Mary's deed? 230 L.J.

Entry into Jerusalem

How did Jesus ride into Jerusalem? 233 L.J.
What did the multitude say? 234 L.J.
How did Jesus reply to the Pharisees' objections? 234 L.J.
How did the sight of Jerusalem affect Jesus, and why? 234 L.J.
At what other time did Jesus weep? 219 L.J., 234 L.J.
A few days later what did the Jerusalem multitude shout in regard to Jesus? 276 L.J.

Crucifixion Week

What did Jesus do on Monday of Crucifixion week? 237 L.J.
When did Jesus perform a similar work in the temple? 237 L.J., 79 L.J.
Besides cleansing the temple what other lines of activity did Jesus engage in? 237 L.J.
On Tuesday of Crucifixion week what questions were put to Jesus by his enemies? 238 L.J.
In what way did Jesus answer the questions? 238 L.J., 239 L.J.
Tell Jesus' story of the Wicked Husbandman. 238 L.J., 239 L.J.
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What question was raised about tribute money? 240 L.J.
What was Jesus' decision in regard to the paying of tribute money? 240 L.J.
What did Jesus say was the greatest commandment? 240 L.J.
How large was the widow's mite according to Jesus' estimate? Why? 243 L.J.
For what purpose did certain Greeks come to the disciples? 243 L.J.
Give the substance of Jesus' words at this time. 243 L.J., 244 L.J.
Tell the story of the Faithful Servant. 244-246 L.J.
Tell the story of the Judgment of the King. 246 L.J., 247 L.J.
How probably did Jesus spend Wednesday and Thursday of Crucifixion week? 248 L.J.

The Last Supper

Why did the enemies of Jesus not want to arrest him during the Passover feast? 248 L.J.
Describe the preparation for the Last Supper. 248 L.J., 249 L.J.
Tell Jesus' words and actions during the supper. 249 L.J.
What act of lowly service did Jesus do for his disciples? 249 L.J., 250 L.J.
What did Jesus say that troubled the disciples? 253 L.J.
What did Jesus do and say to Judas? 253 L.J.
Name four comforting promises that Jesus made in this talk with the disciples. 254-258 L.J.
What was Jesus' legacy to his disciples? 258 L.J.
In what words did Jesus, speaking of the vine, express the dependence of the disciples upon himself? 258 L.J.
To what extent did Jesus say true love will show itself? 261 L.J.
When Jesus prayed for his disciples, what two things did he say he had done? 261 L.J., 262 L.J.
For what persons did Jesus make requests? 262 L.J.
What particular petitions did Jesus make for these persons? 262 L.J., 263 L.J.

Betrayal

Where did Jesus go alter the Last Supper and for what purpose? 264 L.J.
What did Jesus say in his prayer in the garden about God's will? 264 L.J.
How did Judas betray Jesus? 267 L.J.

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Trial

What occurred in the trial before Annas? 268 L.J.
What false witness was borne against Jesus in the trial before Caiaphas? 269 L.J.
What utterance of Jesus at this trial was said to be blasphemy? 269 L.J.
Describe Peter's denial. 270 L.J.
What were the questions and answers at the Jewish court? 270 L.J., 271 L.J.

Judgment

Give the conversation of Jesus and Pilate. 272 L.J., 275 L.J.
What was Pilate's decision? 275 L.J.
Describe the trial before Herod. 275 L.J., 276 L.J.
What offer did Pilate make to the people? 276 L.J.
What was the cry of the people in regard to Jesus? 276 L.J.
In spite of finding no fault in Jesus, Pilate delivered him to be crucified. What reasons can you give for his action? 279 L.J., 280 L.J.

Crucifixion

Who went with Jesus to the place of crucifixion? 281 L.J.
Where was Jesus crucified? 281 L.J.
Who were crucified with Jesus? 281 L.J.
What was written above Jesus on the cross? 282 L.J.
How did his enemies taunt Jesus while on the cross? 282 L.J.
Give the conversation between Jesus and the thieves. 282 L.J., 285 L.J.
What was Jesus' conversation with the disciple? 285 L.J.
What did the Roman centurion say when Jesus died? 285 L.J.

Burial

Describe the burial of Jesus. 286 L.J.
How and for what reason was the tomb guarded? 287 L.J.

Resurrection

Who came first on the Sabbath morning to the tomb of Jesus? 297 L.J.
What did she find? 297 L.J.
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Who came next to the tomb? 297 L.J.
What further did the disciples discover? 297 L.J.
Tell the story of Mary at the tomb of Jesus. 298 L.J.
How did Jesus reveal himself to the disciples on the way to Emmaus? 301 L.J., 302 L.J.
Why were the disciples meeting in secret at Jerusalem? 305 L.J.
Tell about Jesus appearing among them. 305 L.J.
What did Thomas say in regard to Jesus appearing? 306 L.J.
How was Thomas finally brought to believe? 306 L.J.
How were the disciples engaged when Jesus appeared to them again? 307 L.J.
What help did Jesus give the disciples? 307 L.J.
What commands did Jesus give Peter at this time? 308 L.J., 309 L.J.
What great command did Jesus give his disciples at the Mount in Galilee? 310 L.J.
For what purpose did Jesus tell the disciples to tarry in Jerusalem? 313 L.J.

Victories of the New Faith

What happened on the day of Pentecost? 325 L.J.
What did the people say of the disciples? 326 L.J.
What was the theme of Peter's sermon? 326-328 L.J.
Give the result of the preaching. 328 L.J., 329 L.J.
What miracle was performed by Peter and John at the temple? 330 L.J.
Give Peter's message to the astonished people. 331 L.J., 332 L.J.
What action did the authorities take? 332 L.J.
What was the result? 332-334 L.J.
What custom in regard to property prevailed at this time? 335 L.J.
What was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira? 335 L.J., 336 L.J.
For what reason was the first martyr, Stephen, put to death? 339 L.J.
What was the nature of Stephen's defense? 340-344 L.J.
What was the result of the martyrdom? 344 L.J., 345 L.J.
What new city was entered by the apostles, and what happened there? 346 L.J., 347 L.J.
Describe the meeting between Philip and the Ethiopian. 348 L.J.
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What was the result of the meeting? 349 L.J.
Give the name and character of the woman whom Peter restored to life at Lydda. 350 L.J.
What vision had a Roman captain at Caesarea? 353 L.J.
Describe Peter's vision at Joppa. 353 L.J., 354 L.J.
What was the result of Peter's visit to the captain? 355 L.J., 356 L.J.
For what act did the Jews at Jerusalem rebuke Peter? 357 L.J.
How did Peter justify his act? 357 L.J., 358 L.J.
Describe Peter's experience in prison. 359 L.J., 360 L.J.
Where did Peter go after his escape, and how was he received? 360 L.J., 361 L.J.

Paul, the Apostle

Tell in brief the life of Paul, the Apostle. 367-370 L.J.
For what purpose did Paul make the journey to Damascus? 371 L.J.
Describe what happened on the way. 371 L.J.
What part did Ananias have in Paul's conversion? 371 L.J., 372 L.J.
How did Paul show his changed purpose? 372 L.J.
Describe the plot against Paul and his escape. 375 L.J.
Where were the disciples first called Christians? 375 L.J.

First Missionary Journey

What was the general location of Paul's first missionary journey? 376 L.J., 381 L.J.
Who were Paul's companions on the first journey? 376 L.J.
To what island did Paul and his companions go first? 379 L.J.
What official did they interest in their message? 379 L.J., 380 L.J.
Who opposed them? 379 L.J.
Where did they go after leaving Cyprus? 380 L.J.
Give the gist of Paul's sermon at Antioch. 380-384 L.J.
What was the result among the Jews? 384 L.J., 385 L.J.
What was the result among the Gentiles? 385 L.J.
For what reason did Paul and Barnabas leave Antioch? 385 L.J.
Where did they go? 385 L.J.
What happened at Iconium? 385 L.J., 386 L.J.
Why did the people at Lystra call Paul and Barnabas gods? 386 L.J.
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How was Paul mistreated at Lystra? 387 L.J.
What was the main work of Paul and Barnabas on the remainder of the journey? 387 L.J.
What disturbance and discussion arose within the church? 388 L.J.
How was it settled? 388 L.J., 389 L.J.
What was the message sent to the Gentile Christians from the disciples at Jerusalem? 390 L.J., 391 L.J.

Second Missionary Journey

Where was the main campaign of Paul's second missionary journey located? 392 L.J.
For what reason did Paul and Barnabas part, and who was the companion of each? 395 L.J.
Why did Paul go to Macedonia? 396 L.J.
Describe what happened first at Philippi. 396 L.J., 399 L.J.
For what cause were Paul and Silas cast into prison? 399 L.J.
What happened in the prison in the night? 399 L.J., 400 L.J.
How did the disciples leave the prison? 400 L.J.
Where did the disciples go after leaving Philippi? 403 L.J.
What happened in Thessalonica? 403 L.J.
Describe the visit to Beroea and the reason for sudden departure from there. 403 L.J., 404 L.J.
To what famous city, the intellectual center of the Gentile world, did Paul now go? 404 L.J.
What difficulties did Paul encounter at Athens? 404 L.J.
Give the substance of Paul's speech at Athens. 407 L.J., 408 L.J.
What was the result? 408 L.J.
To what leading commercial city did Paul now go? 408 L.J.
With whom did he live at Corinth? 408 L.J.
How long a campaign did Paul wage here in the hope of evangelizing the city? 411 L.J.
What did the Jews in Corinth do to Paul? 411 L.J.
How was Paul released? 411 L.J., 412 L.J.
Where did Paul end this journey? 412 L.J.

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Third Missionary Journey

Give an outline of the third missionary journey, mentioning the main places visited. 417 L.J.
In what city did Paul have great success in evangelization? 418 L.J.
What great metropolis of the world did Paul purpose to visit? 418 L.J.
What was the reason for the riot at Ephesus? 418 L.J., 421 L.J.
What was the cry of the people? 421 L.J.
How was the riot ended? 422 L.J.
Where did Paul go after leaving Ephesus? 422 L.J.
How do you account for the change in the pronoun from "he" to "we"? 422 L.J., 425 L.J., 494 L.J.
Tell what happened at Troas. 425 L.J.
For what event was Paul hurrying back to Jerusalem? 425 L.J., 426 L.J.
What premonitions did Paul make known to the Ephesians whom he met at Miletus? 426 L.J., 429 L.J.
At what points did Paul touch on his journey to Jerusalem? 429 L.J., 430 L.J.

In the Hands of his Enemies

What objection to Paul did his enemies in Jerusalem raise? 433 L.J.
What did they do? 433 L.J., 434 L.J.
Give the substance of Paul's defense 434-438 L.J.
What was the effect upon the mob? 438 L.J.
What conversation did Paul have with the Roman commandant? 441 L.J.
What was the effect of this conversation? 441 L.J.

Before the Council

Describe Paul's hearing before the council. 442 L.J., 445 L.J.
What oath did about forty of the Jews take at this time? 445 L.J.
Describe their plot. 445 L.J., 446 L.J.
How was the conspiracy defeated? 446 L.J., 447 L.J.
To whom was Paul sent? 447 L.J.
Give the contents of the letter sent to Felix. 447 L.J.
What decision did Felix make in regard to the case? 447 L.J.

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Before Felix

Who appeared as accusers at the hearing against Paul? 448 L.J.
What were the charges brought against Paul? 448 L.J.
What was Paul's defense? 448-451 L.J.
What was the result of the hearing? 451 L.J.
What was the effect of Paul's private conversations with Felix? 452 L.J.

Before Festus

What was Paul's condition when Festus became governor? 452 L.J.
How did Festus arrange a hearing for Paul? 452 L.J.
What appeal did Paul make during his trial? 455 L.J.
Why could this appeal not be denied? 498 L.J.

Before Agrippa

Give the story of Paul as told by Festus to King Agrippa 455 L.J., 456 L.J.
What reason did Festus give for bringing Paul before Agrippa? 457 L.J.
Give the substance of Paul's speech before Agrippa? 457-461 L.J.
What confession did the king make to Paul? 461 L.J.
What did Agrippa say about Paul's innocence? 461 L.J.

Voyage to Rome

Give a general description of Paul's voyage to Rome. 462-466 L.J.
Why was there doubt about proceeding from Fair Havens? 469 L.J.
What was Paul's advice? 469 L.J.
For what reason was the advice not taken? 470 L.J.
Describe the weather when the ship sailed. 470 L.J.
What happened soon after? 470 L.J.
What did the sailors do after the storm struck? 470 L.J.
How did Paul try to encourage the hopeless sailors? 470 L.J., 473 L.J.
What happened on the fourteenth night? 473 L.J.
Tell what happened when it was day. 474 L.J.
What happened on the island of Malta? 474 L.J., 477 L.J.
Describe the remainder of the trip to Rome. 477 L.J.

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In Rome

What liberty was Paul permitted by the authorities at Rome? 478 L.J.
How did he employ his time there? 478 L.J., 481 L.J.
Name some of the perils that Paul says he has passed through in his life. 482 L.J.
What spirit did Paul show in his farewell words? 482 L.J.

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SONGS OF THE AGES

Most of the questions on this volume are of a literary nature and will be found in Part IV, "The Bible in Literature."

The Prophets

What broader meaning does the word prophet have than that of merely signifying a predicter of future events? 263 S.A.
Name the four great prophets. 263 S.A.
Why were the Minor Prophets so called? 263 S.A.
What was the work of the prophets? 263 S.A.

Isaiah

Who was the greatest prophet of the Old Testament? 264 S.A.
What was the condition of the kingdom of Judah when Isaiah came to prophesy? 264 S.A.
How did Isaiah respond to his vision? 264 S.A., 265 S.A.
What alliance did Ahaz form in spite of Isaiah's advice? 266 S.A., 267 S.A.
What do you think of the effectiveness of the words used by Isaiah where he threatens Judah against invasion by the Assyrians? 283 S.A.
What prophecy did Isaiah make to Hezekiah about the future of Judah? 268 S.A., 271 S.A.
For what purpose did Sennacherib invade Judah? 271 S.A.
Tell how Rabshakeh tried to turn the common people away from their allegiance to King Hezekiah. 271-273 S.A.
How did Isaiah encourage King Hezekiah? 274 S.A.
What further word did Sennacherib send to Hezekiah? 274 S.A.
How was Judah saved from the Assyrians? 275 S.A., 276 S.A.

(Questions on the literary value of Isaiah's poems may be found in Part IV.)

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Jeremiah

Give the condition of Judah in the time of Jeremiah. 297 S.A.
In what way does the life of Jeremiah compare with that of Savonarola? 297 S.A.
What were the circumstances of Jeremiah's call? 298-301 S.A.
Sum up in a few words Jeremiah's message to the people. 305 S.A.
What did the king do to the roll of Jeremiah's prophecy? 305-308 S.A.
When Jeremiah continued to rebuke the people, what happened to him? 309-312 S.A.
How did Jeremiah escape? 312 S.A., 313 S.A.
How was Jeremiah treated by the foreign conqueror? 314-318 S.A.
Who was appointed governor over the Jews who remained in their land? 318 S.A.
Where did Jeremiah and the royal governor make their headquarters? 318 S.A.
How did Gedaliah treat the Jews? 318-320 S.A.
What was Gedaliah's fate? 320 S.A.
What was Jeremiah's warning to the people who wished to take refuge in Egypt? 322-325 S.A.
What did the people do? 325 S.A., 326 S.A.
What does Jeremiah say is to be the punishment for the people who went into Egypt? 326-331 S.A.
Give the substance of Jeremiah's prophecy concerning the doom of Babylon. 331-343 S.A.

Ezekiel

How does the book of Ezekiel differ from every other book of prophecy? 344 S.A.
What was Ezekiel's great aim? 344 S.A.
The prophecy of Ezekiel falls into three divisions: (1) Prophecies concerning the fall of the Jewish nation; (2) Prophecies concerning the destruction of foreign nations; (3) Prophecies of restoration of the Jews. Pick out instances of the three and note the effective symbolism used. 344-353 S.A.
From Ezekiel's "Doom of Tyre," describe the commercial activity of a great city in ancient times. 346-351 S.A.

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Amos

In what kingdom did Amos prophesy? 354 S.A.
Tell something of Amos' early life and call to be a prophet. 354 S.A.
Where did Amos make his first appearance and what was his message? 354 S.A., 355 S.A.
How did Amos defy the priest? 355 S.A., 356 S.A.
What charges did Amos bring against the people? 356-361 S.A.
Against what abuse did Amos speak? 361 S.A., 362 S.A.

Hosea

What was Hosea's special message? 363 S.A.
What particular sins did Hosea ascribe to the people? 363-365 S.A.
What relation between God and his people did Hosea point out? 365 S.A., 366 S.A.

Micah

In what respect did Micah's prophecy resemble that of Isaiah? 367 S.A.
What social corruptions did Micah especially condemn? 367 S.A.
What did Micah mention as the enduring foundations of the spiritual world? 369 S.A.

Obadiah

What was the main theme of the prophecy of Obadiah? 370-373 S.A.

Joel

What was the occasion of the prophecy of Joel? 374 S.A.
How did the people receive Joel's warning? 378 S.A.
What words of Joel were quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost? 379 S.A., 326 L.J.

Zephaniah

Of what does the prophecy of Zephaniah consist? 380 S.A.
Of his declarations of threats and promises pick out strong examples. 380-384 S.A.

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Nahum

For what reasons was Nineveh so bitterly hated by the Hebrew people? 385 S.A.
What was the theme of Nahum's prophecy? 385 S.A.
What striking picture does Nahum draw in the "Doom of Nineveh"? 387-391 S.A.

Habakkuk

What new problem is dealt with in the prophecy of Habakkuk? 392 S.A.
What national condition of the Jews brought up this problem? 392 S.A.
What would you say is the great thought brought out in "Warnings of the Watchman"? 392 S.A., 393 S.A.

Haggai

What was the national condition of the Hebrews when Haggai prophesied? 397 S.A.
What was Haggai's particular message to the people? 397-400 S.A.
Was Haggai successful? 397 S.A.

Zechariah

What was Zechariah's aim in his prophecies? 401 S.A.
Compare the beginning of Zechariah's prophecy with that of Haggai in point of time. 398 S.A., 401 S.A.
Name some of the strange symbols that Zechariah used in his prophecy. 401-407 S.A.
What encouragements did the prophet give to Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple? 404 S.A.
What is the meaning of the vision of the flying book? 405 S.A.
What is the meaning of the vision of the woman in the barrel? 405 S.A., 406 S.A.
What is the meaning of the vision of the chariots of the four winds? 406 S.A., 407 S.A.

Malachi

What was the national condition of the Hebrews in the time of Malachi? 408 S.A.
What was Malachi's message to the people? 408 S.A.

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The Epistles

In what effective way did Paul follow up his visits to the various churches which he founded? 413 S.A.
Name some of the occasions that called forth Paul's letters. 413 S.A.
What influences other than Jewish are found in Paul's letters? 414 S.A., 415 S.A.
Number the commands given in Paul's message to the Romans 415-419 S.A.
Divide these exhortations into two classes, those for personal righteousness and those for social betterment. 415-419 S.A.
How many of these commands might be followed to-day? 415-419 S.A.
What did Paul say about obedience? 419 S.A.
What were Paul's words about contentment? 420 S.A.
What attitude did Paul say was worthy of the calling of a Christian? 420 S.A.
What particular gifts did Paul say were given men for the building up of Christ's kingdom? 421 S.A.
What did Paul say about being angry? 421 S.A.
What did Paul say about the fruits of the Spirit? 422 S.A., 423 S.A.
About what things did Paul say we should think? 424 S.A.
Of all the spiritual gifts to be desired what did Paul say was the greatest? 425 S.A.
Give Paul's definition of true love. 425 S.A.
Why can a person be joyful when falling into temptation? 426 S.A.
How does temptation begin? 427 S.A.
What did James lay down as the two elements of pure religion? 427 S.A., 428 S.A.
What did James say of faith and works? 428 S.A.
How large a part does the control of the tongue have in the making of character, according to James? 428 S.A., 429 S.A.
To what two things is the tongue compared? 428 S.A.
What three things did James declare the tongue to be? 428 S.A., 429 S.A.
How did James say the peaceable spirit could be obtained? 429 S.A., 430 S.A.
What did James say about the rich and the poor? 430 S.A., 433 S.A.
Give James' definition of sin and compare it to John's definition on page 435 S.A.. 434 S.A.
Name the two definitions of God as given by John. 435 S.A., 436 S.A.
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How does John say we may prove our fellowship with God? 435 S.A.
What does John say proves our love for God? 436 S.A.
Compare John's estimate of love with Paul's. 425 S.A., 436 S.A., 437 S.A.
Make a list of the rules laid down by Paul for the spiritual athlete. How do these rules compare with the requirements for the physical athlete? 438 S.A., 439 S.A.
What games do you think Paul may have referred to in this letter? 414 S.A., 438 S.A.
What does Paul say about the foundation of the Christian temple? 440 S.A.
What does Paul say dwells in the Christian temple? 443 S.A.
What does Paul say makes the Christian temple strong? 443 S.A.
What do you think may have suggested to Paul the figure of the Christian as a warrior? 414 S.A., 447 S.A.
Describe the spiritual armor. 447 S.A., 448 S.A.
What does Paul say are the enemies against which the Christian warrior must fight? 447 S.A.
What does Paul say of the immortality of the soul? 449-455 S.A.
What message did John write to the church in Ephesus? 460 S.A.
What promise for faithfulness was given the church in Smyrna? 460 S.A., 461 S.A.
What was the charge against the church in Pergamum? 461 S.A.
What was the message to the church in Thyatira? 462 S.A.
For what was the church in Sardis rebuked? 462 S.A., 463 S.A.
What promise was given to the church in Philadelphia? 463 S.A., 464 S.A.
What charge was brought against the church in Laodicea? 464 S.A.
What beautiful promise was held out to the Laodiceans? 464 S.A.
Name some of the symbols used in the successive scenes of this revelation. 467-478 S.A.
What name was given, in John's vision, to the Heavenly City? 476 S.A.
Name some of the characteristics of the Heavenly City. 477 S.A., 478 S.A.

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PART III

THE LAND OF THE BIBLE

Visiting Palestine with THE BIBLE STORY

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"A land not of sailors, not of traders, not of foresters, but a land of lonely highlanders who won their living from the soil, from grain fields, from vineyards, from orchards, and from sheepfolds. A land of paths, not of thoroughfares, with but one great city. A land, not far from the highroad between Europe and the East, yet secluded on its hilltops, where prophets and patriots dreamed in its safe caverns. A land which, because it had little possible outreach, reached upward."

--William Byron Forbush.
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RADIAL KEY MAP ILLUSTRATING THE OLD TESTAMENT (With approximate distances and directions from Jerusalem). Used by permission of the American Baptist Publication Society. Copyrighted by Geo. May Powell, 1901.


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VISITING PALESTINE WITH THE BIBLE STORY

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE LAND

The land of Palestine would be one of the most interesting even if sacred events had never occurred within its borders.

In the first place, it is part of the world's largest oasis. Have you ever thought that it is the most isolated country on earth? Hemmed in by the desert, on part of one end by high mountains and on the west by the sea, it seems separated from an other lands as for some peculiar purpose.

It is most astonishing in its physical contour. Though smaller than New Hampshire and of about the same shape, its elevation varies from the height of Mount Hermon, 9000 feet above the sea, to the lower level of the Jordan, 1300 feet below it. In the short distance of twenty miles from the Mount of Olives to the Dead Sea there is a drop of over 4000 feet. Within these limits flourish the pine and the palm, the wheat and the cane, the grackle and the skylark, the mountain wolf and the gazelle. The mountain may be covered with snow when the plain is green with verdure. From more than one hilltop the traveler can see at once the glaciers of Hermon and the steaming cauldron of the Dead Sea.

These diversities explain many interesting points of history, and we may understand them more clearly through some of the rare and attractive photographs in THE BIBLE STORY.

The Seacoast Plain

Palestine may be most easily described as consisting of four strips widening from north to south, and broken across by Mount Carmel and the Valley of Esdraelon. These strips are, from west to east: the lowland plain, the highlands, the Jordan valley, and the tablelands east of the Jordan.

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The lowland plain has several significant features. The coast line of Palestine, as you may see by the map (14 T.J.), is broken by only one indentation, that of the headland of Carmel, and has not a single harbor. The general character of its shores is admirably illustrated by the picture (110 S.A.), and their exposure by the picture of ancient Ascalon (474 T.J.). Jaffa, anciently Joppa, was then as now the common landing place for imports, but the small boats (168 T.J.) indicate how limited must have been the foreign commerce that could be carried among the rocks which fringe that shore. The plain farther inland was known at the north as the Plain of Sharon and at the south as the Plain of the Philistines. As the map (112 T.J.) shows, the main highroad from Asia Minor to Egypt ran through it. That Jerusalem was a spiritual rather than a commercial capital is seen in the fact that it was not on this road. Aijalon (364 H.T.) was one of those easy gateways at which Judea struggled with Philistia, and the valley of Sorek (180 T.J.), deeper among the hills, was the home of the individualistic patriot, Samson.

The Highlands

When Abraham came down over the backbone of Canaan and stood on the summit of Mount Ebal, which crowns the highlands, he chose for himself the hill country of Judah and Hebron. There may have been a stern prescience in this, as well as generosity to his luxury-loving nephew. Thenceforth the history of the Hebrews, like that of the Scotch, was largely that of highlanders. How suited were those hills for defense is suggested by photographs (304 H.T., 344 H.T., 356 H.T.). These highlands slope up gradually from the lowland plain on the west, but on the east they fall toward the Jordan with frightful rapidity, broken by kopjes, small canyons, and almost inaccessible swift streams. What this country is like is suggested by the picture (154 G.B.). It was a fitting home for such lonely prophets as Elijah and John the Baptist. Along these highlands rested the high towns of Hebron (44 H.T.), Bethlehem (14 H.T.), Jerusalem (496 H.T.), Shechem (82 H.T.), Samaria (156 T.J.), and, beyond Esdraelon, Nazareth (60 L.J.). Farther to the north lived the brave prophets of the Northern Kingdom among the mountain sanctuaries of the Lebanon (44 S.A., 460 H.T.) under the shadow of the King of the Land, Mount Hermon (60 S.A.). On these highlands this mere speck of a people intrenched themselves for ages against the mightiest of world powers. Here lived all their great men. Here were written their histories. Here were their two capitals. In one of their hill towns lived the Master for thirty years; in another, Jerusalem, he consummated his mission.

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The Jordan Valley

Jordan is more glorious in poetry than in history or in fact. As a stream it begins nowhere and ends in a salt lake. Its lower banks are a great hot muggy bowl (126 T.J., 394 T.J., 280 H.T., 290 H.T.). The stream has never been anything but a boundary, since it is not navigable and is too low for purposes of irrigation. Its fords have been the scene of many wars of conquest and defense (284 H.T., 64 L.J.), but the people living near it have always been weak and degenerate. It has been called the pantry of Canaan, fertile for food but ever open for easy attack. In literature, the stream has been often referred to as the symbol of the transition of death, and the outlet, the Dead Sea, as the emblem of judgment (34 H.T., 258 H.T.).

Esdraelon and the Lake of Galilee

Where the Kishon crosses northern Canaan is a long triangular valley, bounded on the south by the low range of Carmel (118 T.J.). This is Esdraelon, the fertile (328 H.T., 56 T.J.). It was Israel's natural battleground, and recalls Deborah, Gideon, Sisera, Saul, Ahab, Elijah, Jehu, Josiah, Pharaoh-necho, the Maccabees, the Romans, the Arabs, the Crusaders, and Napoleon. The seer of Patmos foresaw other world conflicts even more majestic in this valley of Armageddon.

A part of the Jordan valley, but upon the level of Esdraelon and sharing its salubrity, is the Lake of Galilee, unmentioned in the Old Testament, but in the time of Jesus a busy center of work and trade and the scene of his longest ministry. It is a sapphire sea, set in a golden frame (96 G.B., 108 G.B.).

The Eastern Tableland

The high levels east of the Jordan were the border of the desert (318 H.T.). They were always occupied, as now, by wandering tribes, and they were decidedly foreign country. To the North there is more irregularity, as in the valley of the Jabbok (78 H.T.) mentioned in the story of Jacob. Down this tableland was another caravan road into Egypt past Sinai (200 H.T., 206 H.T.), from Damascus (410 T.J.), the treasure-house of the East.

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UNDERSTANDING GEOGRAPHY BY PICTURES

The inscription on the back of each of the pictures referred to below will answer the question and the text, referred to in brackets, will tell the story more in detail.

Why is Hebron one of the most interesting spots in the world? 166 G.B., 44 H.T., 74 H.T.
Of what interesting events was the Ancient Shechem, now known as Nablous, the scene? 24 H.T., 82 H.T., (82-87 L.J.)
Who is associated with the town of Ramah? 136 H.T., 349 H.T.
What kind of boats were used on the Nile and what were they called? 154 H.T.
Of what value was the Nile to Egypt? 148 H.T.
Describe the wilderness where the children of Israel wandered for forty years. 200 H.T., 206 H.T., 224 H.T., 240 H.T.
What important discovery was made in the monastery of Saint Catherine near Mount Sinai? 210 H.T.
Why is Palestine called a "living Pompeii"? 234 H.T.
What is a Druse family? 134 G.B.
Why is Petra one of the strangest and most marvelous cities in the world? 252 H.T.
Locate it on the map. 14 T.J.
What happens when the muddy waters of the Jordan flow into the Dead Sea, and why? 258 H.T.
Tell the name of "the city of palm trees" and two important facts about it. 280 H.T., 290 H.T. (287-292 H.T.)
What is the modern condition of this once important city? 390 T.J., 394 T.J.
How does Smith explain this condition? 279 H.T.
Give three important facts about the Plain of Esdraelon. 328 H.T., 56 T.J.
Explain the meaning of the national saying, "from Dan to Beersheba." 340 H.T.

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What valley was called the "Valley of the Smiths," and why? 364 H.T.
What do you know about Endor? 378 H.T. (376-380 H.T.)
What were the two chief industries of Judea? In illustrating his mission by referring to these pursuits, what words did Jesus use? 410 H.T.
What do you know about the rock-hewn tombs used in Bible lands? 176 H.T., 310 H.T., 450 H.T.
What do you know of the Cedars of Lebanon, and what is the meaning of the word "Lebanon"? 454 H.T., 460 H.T.
What stands to-day on the old temple area in Jerusalem? 464 H.T., 468 H.T.
What awful contest between rival faiths was fought out for a full day on Mount Carmel? 118 T.J. (116-122 T.J.)
What influence did the great wilderness of the Brook Cherith have on the life and literature of the Hebrew people? 126 T.J.
Between what two important cities of Palestine does the road run that is made famous by the story of the Good Samaritan? Why is it called the "Ascent of Blood"? For what reasons have pilgrims, both in Jesus' time and ours, traveled this road? 132 T.J., 90 L.J.
What two great prophets are associated with the village of Shunem, and how? 136 T.J. (138-143 T.J.)
In whose reign was Samaria made capital of the Northern Kingdom? 384 T.J., 374 T.J.
How did the location of Samaria make it easy for it to resist assault? Tell the story of one dreadful siege there. 156 T.J. (152-157 T.J.)
How was Samaria finally brought low? (411-413 T.J.)
How does the city to-day justify Isaiah's name for it, "the crown of the pride of Ephraim"? 360 T.J.
What other ruins tell the story of the once proud city? 350 T.J.
Explain the statement made in the time of Jesus (82 L.J.) "For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans" 237 T.J., 488 L.J.
What great seaport, the only inside harbor between Egypt and Mount Carmel, was the scene of Jonah's attempt to escape from the command of the Lord? 167 T.J., 458 T.J. (165-171 T.J.)
Through what valley does the modern railroad from Jaffa to Jerusalem run? 180 T.J.
What great loss was suffered there in the time of Eli? 180 T.J. (342-346 H.T.)
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Give the name of some of the gates in the ancient wall of Jerusalem and explain their use 216 T.J. 322 L.J., 338 L.J.
What was the fate of the first wall that surrounded the city? 224 T.J.
Does any of the wall still exist? 224 T.J., 230 T.J.
When and for what reason did the ancient Jews gather at their wailing place in Jerusalem? 244 T.J.
What two important mounts are separated by the valley of Jehosaphat, also known as Kidron? 252 T.J.
Name something that distinguishes each mount. (264 L.J., 461 H.T.)
What important roads run through the valley of Jehosaphat? Tell some other interesting features of the valley. 260 T.J., 264 T.J.
What little village at the base of the Mount of Olives is remembered because of its pool, which was the scene of one of Jesus' miracles? 274 T.J. (197 L.J.)
What interesting discovery has been made in connection with this pool? 304 T.J.
What was the system of water supply in ancient Jerusalem? 298 T.J.
What astonishing discovery has been made by excavation concerning the mound that covers the ancient city of Lachish in Palestine? 310 T.J.
What mount was made a rival of Jerusalem by the erection of a temple which marked it as the central shrine of the nation? 366 T.J.
What range is the great mountain barrier of northern Palestine? 372 T.J., 60 S.A.
Locate this range on map. 213 L.J.
Tell the name and character of the famous monument of Mesha, king of Moab. 376 T.J.
What can be said of the city of Damascus both as to character and location? 406 T.J.
What great man of New Testament times is associated with this city? (371 L.J.)
In the midst of Mohammedan occupancy to-day, what portion of the old Christian city of Damascus is left to preserve the prophecy, "Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom"? 378 L.J.
What river at Damascus was once compared with the Jordan river? 410 T.J.

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By whom was it compared? (144 T.J.)
What two famous cities on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean held the commercial supremacy of the East? 436 T.J., 442 T.J.
How did a king of one of these cities come into business relations with a king of Israel? (457 H.T.)
What Judean city possessed such fertile soil that it was called the "House of Bread"? 478 T.J.
What beautiful character is associated with these harvest fields? (35 T.J.)
What is the meaning of the name "Gethsemane," and why was the garden so called? 260 L.J.
How did the location of Lydda make it a business center? 352 L.J.
Name and locate the Roman city in which Paul the Apostle grew to manhood; and give two sources of civic pride. 374 L.J.
What great prophet had his home in Anathoth, a little city near Jerusalem? 316 S.A.
What scenes in the lives of two great men of Judea were laid in the hill country of Judea now marked by the Convent of Mar-Sarba? 358 S.A.
What were some of the distinguishing features of the city of Corinth in the time of Paul? 418 S.A., 432 S.A.
How did her situation contribute to Corinth's greatness? 402 L.J.
For what characteristics did Corinth became proverbial in the ancient world? 410 L.J. (408-412 L.J.)
Name and describe the most pronounced object in Ancient Athens. 406 L.J.,442 S.A.
What Bible hero visited these scenes on his travels? 398 L.J. (404-408 L.J.)
Tell how the situation of Antioch made it a place of concourse for all classes and kinds of people. 446 S.A.
Locate Antioch on map. 381 L.J.
What historical ground did Paul's route in Macedonia cover? 428 L.J.
What natural cause accounts for the decay of the city of Miletus which was in Paul's day one of the leading centers of Greek civilization? 420 L.J. (425-426 L.J.)
Describe the aspect, as seen from the sea, of the city of Assos, visited by Paul on his third missionary journey. 424 L.J. (425 L.J.)
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What is the appearance of the AEgean Sea to-day, commercially speaking, as compared with classic times? 432 L.J.
Of what historical events was the city of Salonica the scene and by what name was it known in the time of Paul? 436 L.J. (403-404 L.J.)
What interesting points might have been viewed by Paul from the deck of the "Twin Brothers," as it lay in the port of Puteoli? 440 L.J.
Name and give the interesting events that centered about the mount known as the "Mount of God". 94 S.A.
What stands on the island of Malta to-day commemorating Paul's visit there? 480 L.J. (474-477 L.J.)
Describe and give the name of the great Way which has been called the "Queen of Roads". 476 L.J.

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LOCATING BIBLE CHARACTERS IN THE LAND

(Use map at the beginning of this chapter except when referred elsewhere. )

Abraham

Locate the place of Abram's birth, Ur in Chaldea. [Map] 21 H.T., 487 H.T.
Trace his migration, with his father and family, to Haran in Mesopotamia, 21 H.T., 487 H.T.; and his route from there to the land of Canaan, passing through: Shechem (also known as Sichem), his first stopping place, 22 H.T., 487 H.T.; Bethel, where he built an altar, 22 H.T., 487 H.T.; Hebron, where he made his permanent home and where later Sarah died, 25 H.T., 45 H.T. [Map]
Sodom and Gomorrah were situated in the valley of the Jordan where it broadens out in its southern part into a plain. The present Dead Sea is said to lie over the site of these two cities. Trace out on the map the distance covered by Abram when he pursued the five foreign kings "as far as Dan." [Map] 25 H.T., 26 H.T., 488 H.T.
How does the extent of land, "from the river of Egypt unto the great river Euphrates," which was promised to Abram and his family, correspond to that territory ruled over by the great king Solomon? [Map] 28 H.T., 455 H.T., 488 H.T.
Locate the town of Beer-sheba, one of the homes of Abram. [Map] 42 H.T., 488 H.T.
Solomon built the great temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. 461 H.T. What other event do some think happened at this place? [Map] 41 H.T., 491 H.T.

Isaac

Locate and give the meaning of the name of the far distant land where Isaac's wife was sought. [Map] 50 H.T., 491 H.T.

Jacob

Locate Paddan-aram, where Jacob fled from his home in Canaan to be with his uncle Laban. [Map] 68 H.T., 492 H.T.
Locate the ford of Jabbok near which Jacob wrestled with the angel. [Map] 80 H.T., 492 H.T.

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Joseph

Find the city of Dothan where Joseph's brothers conspired against him. [Map] 95 H.T., 492 H.T.
What other great man was associated with Dothan? 151 T.J., 492 H.T.
In what part of Egypt was the fat land of Goshen, which Pharaoh gave to Joseph's father and brothers for a dwelling place? [Map] 125 H.T., 493 H.T.
(Note, in the story of the plagues, 158 H.T., that the Hebrews still dwelt in this particular part of Egypt in the days of oppression.)

Moses

Trace out the general route taken by the children of Israel from Egypt to Canaan, locating the Red Sea, where the hosts of Pharaoh were drowned, 180 H.T.; Mount Sinai, where the Ten Commandments were given, 201 H.T.; the wilderness, between the arms of the Red Sea, where the people wandered so long, 242 H.T.; Hebron, to which the spies were sent, 243 H.T.; Kadesh, where the people abode for many years and where Miriam died, 248 H.T.; Edom, the hostile land through which the people wished to pass, 249 H.T.; Mount Hor, where Aaron died, 250 H.T.; Moab, where the Israelites encamped for some time, 255 H.T.; the Jordan river, at the head of the Dead Sea, where the Israelites finally crossed into the land of Canaan, 285 H.T. [Map]

Joshua

(See larger map of Palestine, 14 T.J., for conquests of Canaan.)

When the children of Israel crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, they found it full of foes. Joshua, the courageous warrior, won the land for the Israelites.
Locate the scene of many of his mighty conquests--Jericho, 287 H.T.; Ai, also known as Hai, 294 H.T.; Gibeon, 300 H.T.; Jerusalem, 305 H.T.
Where was Gilgal, the place of Joshua's camp? 300 H.T.

Ehud

From what section of the land did the Moabites come who warred against the Israelites in the time of the judge Ehud? 315 H.T.
This is the same Moab to which the family of Naomi and Elimelech went to escape famine in their native city of Bethlehem (35 T.J.), which was six miles south of Jerusalem.
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By what physical formation were the people of Bethlehem able to see that there was food in the land of Moab? 487 T.J.

Gideon

Locate the land of the Midianites, the Arab wanderers who oppressed Israel in the time of Gideon. [Map] 319 H.T.
(This is said to be the same country whither Moses fled when he killed the Egyptian, 141 H.T.)

Samuel

(Map, page 14 T.J.)

By noting the three great cities of Philistia, Ashdod, Askelon, and Gath, give the general location of the land of the Philistines, the people so long at enmity with the Israelites (342 H.T.,360 H.T., 375 H.T.) from whose hosts came the giant Goliath (386 H.T.) 493 H.T.

Saul

Locate the country of Gilead where at Jabesh Saul's first battle was fought. 359 H.T.
(Note how the people of Jabesh-gilead later remembered Saul's help. 359 H.T., 381 H.T., 494 H.T.)

David

(Map, page 14 T.J.)

Where was the town of Gath, the home of the giant Goliath? 386 H.T., 497 H.T.
(Note that later King Uzziah broke down the walls of Gath. 287 T.J., 288 T.J.)
Locate the land belonging to the tribe of Judah on whose hills David lived as a boy and tended sheep. 382 H.T.

Solomon

Describe the location of the city of Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom of David and Solomon. Give its position with respect to the Dead Sea, the Mediterranean, Dan, and Beer-sheba. 461 H.T.
Did the Queen of Sheba come far to visit Solomon? Trace what was probably her route. Note how far Solomon's fame had spread. 487 H.T., 498 H.T.
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Locate Ezion-geber, the town on the Red Sea from which Solomon sent his ships to trade in Egypt and Arabia. [Map] 482 H.T., 498 H.T.
(Note that the same people who were formerly in bitter bondage in Egypt were trading on equal terms with that nation. 498 H.T.).

Deborah

(Map, page 14 T.J.)

What general section of the Israelitish country was concerned in the story of Deborah? 487 T.J.
Locate the principal places: the hill country of Ephraim near the country belonging to the tribe of Naphtali from which Barak came to seek Deborah's help, 52 T.J., 53 T.J.; Bethel where Deborah lived, 52 T.J.

Elijah and Elisha

(Map, page 112 T.J.)

Trace out the journeys of Elijah from Samaria, the capital of Ahab's kingdom (113 T.J.) to Zarephath, where the widow served him, 114 T.J., 115 T.J.; Mount Carmel near Jezreel where he met the prophets of Baal, 116-122 T.J.; Beer-sheba, where he left his servant, 123 T.J.; Mount Horeb, where he received new courage, 123 T.J., 124 T.J.; Jezreel, the scene of Naboth's vineyard, 127-130 T.J.; the Jordan, near Jerusalem, where Elijah was taken in a chariot of fire and where Elisha took up his work, 130-134 T.J. leper who came to Elisha to be healed. 143-147 T.J.

Jonah

Locate Joppa, from which place Jonah sailed to Tarshish. Locate Nineveh to which he finally went. [Map] 165-171 T.J., 493 T.J.

Samson

(Map, page 14 T.J.)

Locate the city of Dan which was Samson's home, and in general the scenes of his raids into Philistia. 172-182 T.J., 493 T.J.

Daniel

Locate Babylon, where Daniel lived in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. [Map] 183 T.J.

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Esther, Nehemiah

Locate Shushan, prominent in the stories of Esther and Nehemiah. [Map] 60 T.J., 212 T.J., 488 T.J.

Life of Jesus

(Use map, page 24 L.J., in addition to map in this volume.)

The scenes of Jesus' life were laid in many places throughout the land of Palestine. These places are here tabulated and divided according to the periods of His life. Three practical tests are proposed:--

(1) How many of the places given below suggest to you familiar stories?

(2) How many of these scenes can you locate on the map?

(3) Make an outline of the life of Jesus from the sequence of events here given by writing out in brief the incident connected with each place.

The Boyhood

Bethlehem of Judea. 37 L.J.
Jerusalem. 49 L.J.
Egypt. 45 L.J.
Nazareth. 49 L.J.

Preparation for the Ministry

The Jordan River. 65 L.J.
The Wilderness near Jericho. 70 L.J.

The Ministry

Cana. 78 L.J.
Samaria. 82 L.J.
The Mount of Beatitudes. 105 L.J., 107 L.J., 108 L.J.
Capernaum. 125 L.J.
The City of Nain. 130 L.J.
The Lake of Gennesaret. 136 L.J., 489 L.J.
The Banquet Hall of Herod. 154 L.J.
The Pool of Bethesda. 167 L.J., 489 L.J.
Caesarea Philippi. 178 L.J.
Bethany. 215 L.J.
Jericho. 221 L.J.

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Passion Week

An Upper Chamber. 249 L.J.
The Mount of Olives. 264 L.J.
Palace of the High Priest. 269 L.J.
Pilate's Palace. 272 L.J.
The Palace of Herod. 275 L.J.
Pilate's Judgment Hall. 276 L.J.
Golgotha (Calvary) 281 L.J.
Joseph's Garden. 286 L.J.

The Resurrection

The Village of Emmaus. 301 L.J.
The Sea of Galilee. 307 L.J.
The Mount of Ascension. 310 L.J.


Trace out on the map on 381 L.J. the first missionary journey of Paul. 376 L.J.
Trace out on the map on 393 L.J. Paul's second missionary journey. 392 L.J.
Trace out on the map on 415 L.J. Paul's third missionary journey. 417 L.J.
Follow the route on 449 L.J. of Paul's journey to Rome. 462 L.J.

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PART IV

THE BIBLE IN LITERATURE

For Lovers of Literature

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"It is surely good that our youth, during the formative period, should have displayed to them, in a literary dress as brilliant as that of Greek literature, in lyrics which Pindar cannot surpass, in rhetoric as forcible as that of Demosthenes, or contemplative prose not inferior to Plato's--a people dominated by an utter passion for righteousness."

--Richard G. Moulton.

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THE BIBLE IN LITERATURE

THE BIBLE'S PLACE IN LITERATURE

It may well be said that, like our English speech, our literature has drawn its material and its inspiration from many tongues and peoples. Its sources are world-wide. Its stream flows from innumerable springs and fountains. Some of them have been shallow and some have given up only the waters of bitterness, but many there are which keep the current broad and pure and deep. And of those fountains that ever pour out living water the most abounding is our English Bible.

So abundantly has our literature drawn from the Bible that a study of it is the very beginning of the knowledge of English writings. He alone can be called educated who knows this Book; for its style, its substance and its spirit are thoroughly woven into the thought and language of English-speaking people.

In the age of Elizabeth, when the Bible was translated, our English words were coming fresh coined to our language from the mint of life. New words were being made out of men's experiences. Such words brought the pictures and images of things and actions vividly to the mind as our abstract speech of to-day can never do. It was this living, concrete language which men like Tindale and Coverdale wrought into what became the King James Version; and with such mastery that to this day the Bible has no peer in the vigor, the directness, and the simplicity of its style. Then, too, in those days religious belief was often a matter of life and death. Many of the translators finally gave up their lives rather than to renounce their convictions, and it could only be that such men would give to the Bible a style that breathes always the noble dignity and earnestness of martyrs.

Thus he who would appraise our English writings must weigh whatever they possess of the earnestness, the simplicity, the vigor, the directness of the Bible. He must himself have mastered well that great source of English style.

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Then who shall measure the treasures of the Bible substance that our writers have poured into their books? The Bible has contributed their language, their plots, their incidents, their characters, their moral lessons, even their names. Words can no more than faintly suggest how full to overflowing of the Bible is our literature. An allusion from the Scriptures adorns almost every page of such writers as Browning and Ruskin. Five hundred Biblical allusions appear in the Ring and the Book alone. Thousands of them are scattered through Shakespeare and in their use the poet climbs perhaps oftenest to the heights of his genius. It has been said that no other passage in Shakespeare has the sublimity of that one patterned by the lover of Jessica from the Book of Job:--

[Footnote: Lorenzo thus addresses Jessica. (See page 157.)]

  "Look how the floor of heaven
  Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold;
  There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st
  But in his motion like an angel sings."

Our masters of poetry and prose have thus become the Bible's messengers; but such also are the lesser writers and speakers of every day. The Bible words find a response that is universal; for Truth knows no chosen vessel but rather has chosen all. Story and lyric, epic and drama, alike carry onward the Bible's messages and continue to spread their truth among all people of the English tongue.

But perhaps most precious of all the Bible's contributions to our literature is the gift of its spirit. The creators of the best in English have shared that spirit in that their works have shared the Bible's lofty purposes. Who so earnestly preaches the living of a life as John Bunyan in Pilgrim's Progress? Who more resembles the Hebrew seer warning his people of their danger, than Lincoln, when with solemn prophecy he declares: "'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free"? Carlyle calling the world to repentance, Dickens and Thackeray calling it to reform, Emerson pointing new heights for reason and faith and love, Browning proclaiming "The best is yet to be"--each in his own way seeks to bring in the Kingdom. And what is the spirit of the Bible, unless it be the spirit of a people seeking after God if haply they might find Him?

If we should study what has called out the best in men or letters in order that we may understand that best, how much more ought we to know the Bible for itself. The deep experiences of the soul are the {115} stuff of which literature is made; and in language whose appeal is alike to the wise and the simple this Book dramatizes the life of the soul. Though struggling much between right and wrong and falling often, the Old Testament heroes groped their way upward to better things, and established their belief in one God upon a firm foundation. Their story is the epic of the soul's struggle and victory; but it is also the revelation of humanity's past, the mirror of its present of progress and defeat, the prophecy of its triumphant future. The Psalms, in the words of Heine, collect within themselves "sunrise and sunset, birth and death, promise and fulfillment--the whole drama of humanity." Excepting only those of the New Testament literature, no authors of any land or time have seized upon truths so unchanging and so everlasting as the writers of Job and the books of the Prophets. Ignoring life's vanities, soaring far above the things that are temporal, these writings ever summon the minds of men to dwell upon things eternal.

Finally in the literature of the New Testament the victories of faith replace the victories of war; the groping instinct of survival is justified in the Demonstration of Immortality; the Cult of the Chosen People gives way to the Gospel of Universal Brotherhood; the Omnipotent Creator is revealed also the God of Love; the Deity of Retribution and Justice becomes a Father; Man, the Child.

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QUESTIONS BRINGING OUT THE BIBLE'S LITERARY VALUE

1. The Poetry of the Bible

What is the difference between the rhythm of Hebrew poetry and that of English poetry? 11 S.A.
What three forms does this rhythm take? 12 S.A.
In the words quoted from Jesus are any of these forms used? 13 S.A.
What is the richest part of Biblical poetry? 13 S.A.

Rhythm and Feeling

What form of rhythm illustrated on page 12 S.A. is used in the psalms:

The Righteous Man. 19 S.A.
A Morning Prayer. 20 S.A.
A Song of Deliverance. 26 S.A.
A Song in Time of Trouble. 61 S.A.
The Cry of the Needy. 98 S.A.
Idols of Silver and Gold. 136 S.A.
Our Father. 118 S.A.
A Pilgrim Song. 156 S.A.
What two qualities, necessary to Hebrew poetry, are found in Deborah's Song of Triumph? 54-59 T.J., 11 S.A.
What deep feeling prompted the Song of Judith? 105-107 T.J.
How can the "Song of Songs" be compared with the lyrical poetry of the Elizabethan period in England? 234-239 S.A.

The Psalms a Collection of Lyric Poetry

For what purpose was the Book of Psalms written? 17 S.A.
What is the leading theme of the Psalms? 17 S.A.
Mention some of the other themes. 17 S.A.
Name the Psalm in which every verse, it is said, contains a reference to the law of God. 505 S.A.
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In what way is Psalm 119 (143 S.A.) an alphabetic Psalm? 505 S.A.

Ruskin says that, among others, Psalms 1, 8, 15, 19, 23, 24, well studied and believed, are sufficient for all personal guidance. What principles of conduct are enjoined in:--

The Righteous Man. 19 S.A.
Little Lower than God. 22 S.A.
The Upright Man. 23 S.A.
Song of the Earth and Sky. 30 S.A.
The Good Shepherd. 35 S.A.
The Earth is the Lord's. 36 S.A.
Ruskin says that Psalm 72 contains many principles of just government. State in modern terms some of the principles of government enjoined in "The Righteous King". 88 S.A.
Ruskin says that Psalm 104 anticipates the triumphs of natural sciences. From the reading of the Psalm can you suggest those anticipated? Read note 503 S.A. 120 S.A.
Compare Manasseh's prayer, 320 T.J., with the Prayer of Repentance. 75 S.A.
Can you suggest an act of David to which this Psalm is probably related? 75 S.A.

Job a Dramatic Poem

What characteristic makes Job a dramatic poem? 180 S.A.
What is the distinction between Hebrew drama, as illustrated in Job, and the Greek and English drama? 180 S.A.
What is the central theme of the book of Job? 179 S.A.
What are the characters of the book of Job? 178 S.A.
Trace the dramatic climax in the messages brought to Job. 182 S.A.
Locate Job's two sublime statements of faith, often quoted. 194 S.A., 200 S.A.
What description of man, noted in literature, does Job give? 195 S.A.
What great question asked by Job is the theme of many poems, such as Tennyson's "In Memoriam"? 195 S.A.
Give the summary of the thought contained in the first cycle of speeches. 195 S.A.
Give the summary of the thought contained in the second cycle. 204 S.A.
Give the summary of the thought contained in the third cycle. 213 S.A.
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What does Elihu add to the thought of the poem? 221 S.A.
What reply does the book of Job give to the question, "Why do good people suffer?" 231 S.A.

The Apocalypse a Rhapsody

Dr. Richard G. Moulton calls the Apocalypse a rhapsody, or a fusion of all other styles of Hebrew writing. Can you discover evidences of the dramatic lyric and narrative styles used? 456-478 S.A.
The proper preparation for appreciating the Apocalypse, it is said, is the study of other Hebrew rhapsodies, in particular Isaiah and Zechariah. What similarity can you find in "Visions of the Heavenly City" and Isaiah's "Awake, O Zion"? 286 S.A.
What similarity can you find both of style and content in the Apocalypse, 456-478 S.A., and Zechariah's "Vision Rhapsody"? 401-407 S.A.

Hero Poems

What is the book of Jashar? 306 H.T., 426 H.T., 493 H.T.

2. The Oratory in the Bible

Compare the opening sentences of the speech on Mars Hill with those of Paul's sermon at Antioch; how, or in what characteristic, does the contrast show that Paul was a great speaker? 380 L.J., 407 L.J.
Senator Albert J. Beveridge says Paul's speech on Mars Hill has never been excelled in brevity of statement and in force of thought, and that in these regards it compares favorably with Lincoln's speech at Gettysburg. How does Paul gain his audience's attention? How does he compliment the Greeks in the course of his speech? What is the substance of his argument against paganism? What thoughts form the principal message of this speech? 407 L.J., 408 L.J.
It is said that Moses' speeches to the children of Israel during their wanderings in the wilderness are examples of fine oratory, sometimes producing upon the people all the effect of drama. In his speech on pages 271 H.T., 272 H.T., what do you think of his methods of swaying his audience as compared to the modern orator's?
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Daniel Webster's customary preparation for the delivery of an oration was to read Isaiah's magnificent address, "Comfort Ye My People." What oratorical beauties can you discover from a reading of this address? 284 S.A., 285 S.A.

3. Other Literary Forms Found in the Bible

What is the nature of the book of Ecclesiastes and the author's view of life? 242-246 S.A.
What is the nature of the book of Proverbs? 248 S.A.
Give the gist of the teachings of the Proverbs. 248 S.A.
Give in modern terms three principles of conduct taught in "Enter not into the Path of the Wicked" 255 S.A.

Wisdom Literature

Dr. Richard G. Moulton says there are three characteristic methods employed in stating the Proverbs: antithesis, comparison, and imagery. In the selection, "Praise of the Wise and Virtuous Woman," can you find examples of these three methods? 256 S.A.
The literary forms of the Proverbs are fourfold: the single couplet; clusters of couplets, where several independent sayings are gathered about a common theme; the epigram; and wisdom sonnets. Note these four forms. 501 G.B. and 249-257 S.A.

Letters

In what literary form are the writings of Paul? 413 S.A.
What can be said of the style of Paul's letters? 413 S.A.
How did Paul's wide experience contribute to his writings? 414 S.A.

Varied Styles

What type of story common to-day is told by one of the brothers of Abimelech? 333 H.T.
Do you think Nathan's method of bringing David to repentance peculiarly effective? Give three literary devices used by Nathan in support of your opinion. 432 H.T.
What three stories in the Bible are recognized as among the most charming love stories in the world? 49 H.T., 60 T.J., 35 T.J.
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What is the circumstance of the only riddle in the Bible? 173 T.J.
What literary form did Jesus most often use in speaking to the people? 133 L.J.

4. The Literary Value of the Books of Prophecy

Isaiah

In what literary form are many of Isaiah's prophecies written? 277 S.A.
What qualities in Isaiah's poetry give it a high place in literature? 277 S.A.
Dr. Richard G. Moulton says that in Isaiah's poetry, men's thoughts are directed toward the great idea of a universal spiritual dominion. In "Comfort Ye My People," what passages do you think have this purpose? 284 S.A., 285 S.A.
Isaiah is said to be a master of satire and pathos, of proverb and parable, of simile and metaphor. In his sublime words, "The Triumph of the Man of Sorrows," can you find evidences of these literary forms? 288 S.A., 289 S.A.

Jeremiah

What was the theme of Jeremiah's prophecy? 297 S.A.
What symbolic use did Jeremiah make of the potter and his clay? 301 S.A.

Hosea

Through what personal experience was Hosea able to interpret the love of God? Can you discover in "The Longing of God for His Children" the strong feeling due to this experience? 365 S.A., 366 S.A.

Amos

Because of the circumstances of his early life Amos drew most of his figures from nature and agricultural occupations. How many such allusions can you find in the selections here given? 354-362 S.A.

Micah

In the prophecy of Micah appear probably the most striking words ever written predicting world peace. Locate them. 367-369 S.A.

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Nahum

In what regards do you consider the description of war in "The Doom of Nineveh" an adequate picture of modern day warfare? 387-391 S.A.

Habakkuk

Compare the theme of the prophecy of Habakkuk with the theme of the book of Job. 179 S.A., 392 S.A.
The prayer of Habakkuk is said to be a composition unrivaled for boldness of conception, sublimity of thought, and majesty of diction. After reading can you pick out passages that confirm this estimate of it? 393-396 S.A.

Haggai

What is said of the style of Haggai's writing? 397 S.A.

Zechariah

What is the meaning of the prophecy of Zechariah? 401 S.A.

5. The Bible-an Inspiration to Writers

Compare Victor Hugo's account of the Fall of Jericho with the Bible account. 293 H.T., 287-292 H.T.
Show how the wilderness journey of the children of Israel is traced out in the poem, "Lead Me On". 238 H.T.
How many of the twenty and more allusions to the Bible in Whittier's poem, "Palestine," can you pick out and explain? 15-17 H.T.
To what event of Israelitish history does the "Song of the Manna Gatherers" refer? 198 H.T. (196 H.T.)

Poems Inspired by the Bible

The following well-known poems were inspired by passages in the Old Testament. Bring out some of the beauty and power which the poets saw in these passages by comparing them with the poems.

The Finding of Moses. 134 H.T. (138 H.T.)
The Seventh Plague of Egypt. 162 H.T. (166 H.T.)
The Burial of Moses. 274 H.T. (272 H.T., 273 H.T.)
Saul and David 395 H.T. (396 H.T.)
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Cave of Adullam. 437 H.T. (438 H.T.)
Ruth. 49 T.J. (35 T.J.)
Belshazzar. 211 T.J. (201-206 T.J.)
The Destruction of Sennacherib. 315 T.J. (271-276 S.A.)
Hymn by the Euphrates. 316 T.J. (346 T.J., 347 T.J.)
How does Dante, in his "Divine Comedy," use Psalm 114 (134 S.A., 135 S.A.)? 504 S.A.
What famous writer at the age of fifteen composed a hymn founded on Psalm 136 (162 S.A., 163 S.A.)? 506 S.A.
What Psalm has been most often translated into English verse? 35 S.A.
Name some poets who have translated the Shepherd Psalm into verse. 498 S.A.
Consider the passages descriptive of the relation of the Eastern shepherd to his sheep, on pages 200 L.J. and 201 L.J. and 285 S.A., and study the pictures, noting the inscription on back, on pages 210 G.B. and 288 G.B. What qualities had this relationship peculiar to the East? State the peculiar qualities of this relationship that make the figure of the shepherd used in the first three lines of Psalm 23 particularly appropriate as applied to God. 35 S.A.
Find the lines in Psalm 72 (88 S.A.) on which is based the tradition, evidenced by many poems, that the three Wise Men from the East were Kings. 501 S.A., 29 L.J., 41 L.J.
What lines of Psalm 80 (91 S.A.) underlie Elizabeth Barrett Browning's, "The Measure," stanza 2? 501 S.A.
What lines in Psalm 86 (98 S.A.) are beautifully used by Tennyson in the verse quoted from "Rizpah"? 502 S.A.
What lines in Psalm 87 (100 S.A.) furnished the motto for Augustine's great work, "The City of God"? 502 S.A.
What well-known tune derived its name from the number of the Psalm which was used with it? 116 S.A., 503 S.A.

Story Suggested by the Bible

Can you name a popular modern story that has its inspiration in "The Wise Men"? 41 L.J.

Read the following stories from the volume, "The Life of Jesus," with your reading of Van Dyke's beautiful story, "The Other Wise Man," and note the interesting correspondence. Alternate Van Dyke's story with THE BIBLE STORY and read as follows:--

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The Other Wise ManThe Sign in the Sky By the Waters of Babylon
THE BIBLE STORYThe Wise Men, 41 L.J.
The Other Wise ManFor the Sake of a Little Child
THE BIBLE STORYA Journey to the Land of the Pharaohs, 45 L.J.
The Other Wise ManIn the Hidden Way of Sorrow
THE BIBLE STORYThe Crucifixion, 281 L.J.
The Other Wise ManA Pearl of Great Price

Book Titles Taken from the Bible

The fact that many books of every style and content bear names taken from the Bible and develop themes suggested by the Bible is a tribute to the beauty and picturesqueness of Bible diction and indicates the extensive scope of its writings. What would you expect the theme of each of the following books to be, judging by the thought which the titles suggest?

"The Inside of the Cup"Winston Churchill
"The Fruit of the Tree"Edith Wharton
"All the Days of My Life"Margaret Sangster
"From My Youth Up"Amelia Barr
"Titus"Florence Morse Kingsley
"Following the Star"Florence Barclay
"Barabbas"Marie Corelli
"The Yoke"Elizabeth Miller
"The Wages of Sin"M. S. Harrison
"The Sins of the Father"Bertha M. Clay
"The Eternal City"Hall Caine
"A Voice in the Wilderness"Grace Livingston Hill Lutz
"The Thirteenth Commandment"Rupert Hughes
"The Hands of Esau"Margaret Deland
"A Certain Rich Man"William Allen White
"The Promised Land"Mary Antin
"Prince of the House of David"J. H. Ingraham
"The Far Country"Winston Churchill
"Unleavened Bread"Robert Grant
"Judas Iscariot"L. N. Andrew
"These Twain"Arnold Bennett
"The Good Shepherd"John Roland
"Prodigals and Sons"John Ayscough
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"The Lost Boy"Henry Van Dyke
"God's Remnants"Samuel Gordon
"The Foolish Virgin"Thomas Dixon
"The Heritage of Cain"Isabel Ostrander
"Behold the Woman"T. Everett Horre
"If Any Man Sin"H. A. Cody
"The Crown of Life"Gordon Arthur Smith
"The Clean Heart"A. S. M. Hutchinson
"The House of Bondage"Reginald Wright Kauffman
"The Mark of the Beast"Reginald Wright Kauffman
"The House of the Lord"J. E. Talmage
"Where the Laborers are Few"Margaret Deland
"The Old Adam"Arnold Bennett

(These are only a few of the many books that have drawn their titles from the Bible.)

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THE BIBLE'S GIFT TO OUR LANGUAGE

How often in listening to a speaker or in reading our everyday literature we find our imagination stirred by a forceful phrase taken from the Bible. If we know the part of the Bible from which the phrase comes it always throws a flood of light upon the message. But due to ignorance of the Bible, too many of us grope for the phrase's meaning.

Ignorance of the Bible a Handicap to the Student

In these days even high school and college graduates cannot explain the simplest Bible allusions. Charles Dudley Warner, writing in Harper's Magazine, says that a "boy or girl at college, in the presence of the works set forth for either to master, without a fair knowledge of the Bible, is an ignoramus, and is disadvantaged accordingly. For example, in Shakespeare there are quotations from fifty-four books of the Bible, thirty-one from Genesis alone; in Tennyson there are two hundred and one quotations or allusions from the Old Testament. Wholly apart from its religious or its ethical value, the Bible is the one book of which no intelligent person, who wishes to come into contact with the world of thought, and to share the ideas of the great minds of the Christian era, can afford to be ignorant."

Dramatic Terms Used by a Greek Scholar

The Bible indeed holds supremacy over all other sources of literary allusion in the addresses and writings of public men. The Independent calls attention to a eulogy written by a prominent university professor in which were found, in an article of less than six pages, fourteen expressions from the Bible: "Every good word and work," "Fountain sealed," "Discernment of spirits," "Hid treasure," "Sinned with their lips," "Faith in his high calling," "Seeing him who is invisible," "Time would fail me," "Slept or slumbered," "Egyptian taskmaster," "Bloweth where it listeth," "Make a plain path," "Recompense of reward," and one direct quotation, "This is the way; walk ye in it." Against these fourteen cases is only one use of classical {126} phrases and one allusion each to Milton and Wordsworth. And Professor Gildersleeve is not known as a Bible scholar; he is past master of all our Grecians, and master also of a most delightful style. "He could have spattered his address over with Greek and Latin references and expressions without winking, so easy would it have been for him, but they could not have fitted into the serious purpose of plain and tender address as do the words of the two Testaments."

Superficial Knowledge of the Bible Prevalent

It makes no difference what a man's profession may be; whether he be a literary man, a lawyer, a teacher, or a clergyman, Bible words will unconsciously drop off his tongue, so familiar have the striking terms and phrases of the Bible become. And yet a mere superficial knowledge of the Book of books prevails to-day to such an extent that many grotesque mistakes and misquotations occur. London's leading newspaper solemnly affirmed one morning that if the Government of the day came to grief it would "fall, like the walls of Jericho, before the noise of empty pitchers." Can you discover the mistake in this simile? (287 H.T., 329 H.T.) A great lecturer on one occasion alluded to "Pharaoh and his hosts being overwhelmed in the Jordan." What two events are confused in this quotation? (184 H.T., 285 H.T.)

Whenever such an expression presents itself and is found to be vague or confusing, turn to the following list of allusions, which are those in most common use, and arranged alphabetically for easy reference. [Footnote: Note there are two lists of allusions, both alphabetically arranged.] Clear up the obscurity by reading the Bible passage that explains the doubtful phrase.

Each of these allusions has been used many times in common speech or in our great English writings, as illustrated by the many quotations that follow. A knowledge of the meaning and derivation of such phrases opens up a new world of interest and understanding and the ability to use them correctly infuses speech and writing alike with a new power of graphic expression.

How many of these allusions recall definitely a certain incident or story to your mind?

As strong as a spider's web. 190 S.A.
Ananias. 335 L.J.
Apples of gold in baskets of silver. 504 G.B.
Appeal unto Caesar. 452 L.J.
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Add a cubit to his stature. 106 G.B.
At their wits' end. 132 S.A.
All things to all men. 438 S.A.
As a lamb to the slaughter. 289 S.A.
As locusts for multitude, 319 H.T.
As a hart panteth after the water brooks. 61 S.A.
As sheep having no shepherd. 144 L.J.
As high as Haman. 73 T.J.
Balaam's ass. 259 H.T.
The beauty of holiness. 505 T.J.
Cast to the dogs. 172 L.J.
Clearer than the noonday. 193 S.A.
Carpenter of Nazareth. 50 L.J.
Cattle upon a thousand hills. 73 S.A.
City set on a hill. 106 L.J.
Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? 77 L.J.
Clothed and in his right mind. 139 L.J.
Cake not turned. 364 S.A.
Driving of Jehu. 160 T.J.
Doubting Thomas. 306 L.J.
The day of small things. 404 S.A.
Darkness which may be felt. 171 H.T.
Dan to Beer-sheba. 339 H.T., 342 H.T.
Doorkeeper in the house of God. 96 S.A.
Delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. 143 H.T., 357 H.T.
Draught of fishes. 307 L.J.
Earth thy footstool. 343 L.J.
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard. 502 T.J.
Ebenezer. 249 H.T.
Eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 110 L.J.
Earn thy bread by the sweat of thy brow. 20 T.J.
The ewe lamb. 432 H.T.
Every good and perfect gift. 427 S.A.
Faith hath made thee whole. 140 L.J.
Fishers of men. 94 L.J.
Flight into Egypt. 45 L.J.
Faithful unto death 506 H.T., 461 S.A.
Flesh pots of Egypt. 192 H.T.
Friend of publicans and sinners. 154 L.J.
A far country. 203 L.J.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth. 284 S.A.
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Gathered unto his fathers. 59 H.T.
Gallows fifty cubits high. 70 T.J.
The hills melted like wax. 502 T.J.
High calling. 504 H.T.
Half hath not been told. 481 H.T.
He that trod the sea. 148 L.J.
He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city. 502 G.B.
His enemies shall lick the dust. 88 S.A.
Hearing of the ear. 231 S.A.
Ishmaelite. 395 H.T.
Job's comforters. 197 S.A.
Kill the fatted calf. 204 L.J.
Kick against the goad, kick against the pricks. 458 L.J.
Loaves and fishes. 147 L.J.
Love is strong as death. 239 S.A.
Leaven in the lump. 439 S.A.
Law of the Medes and Persians. 207 T.J.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates. 503 H.T.
Let another man praise thee. 504 G.B.
Let your speech be yea, yea; and nay, nay. 109 L.J.
Looking for a sign. 92 L.J.
Man of sorrows. 288 S.A.
Mighty in words and works. 341 L.J.
A merry heart is a good medicine. 503 G.B.
Mighty man of valor. 352 H.T.
More than conquerors. 508 H.T.
Man goeth to his long home. 245 S.A.
Macedonian cry. 396 L.J.
A mother in Israel. 54 T.J.
Man shall not live by bread alone. 70 L.J.
Manger lowly. 37 L.J.
Man wise in his own conceit. 504 G.B.
Man hasty in his words. 504 G.B.
My lines are fallen in pleasant places. 24 S.A.
Not slothful in business. 505 L.J.
Not by might, nor by power. 404 S.A.
Outer darkness. 246 L.J..
One having authority. 118 L.J.
Prophet without honor. 92 L.J.
Pride goeth before destruction. 502 G.B.
Philistines be upon thee. 177 T.J.
Passover. 173 H.T.
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Purple and fine linen. 257 S.A., 206 L.J.
Pitched his tent toward Sodom. 25 H.T.
Prince of demons. 171 L.J.
Pass by on the other side. 88 L.J.
Quit yourselves like men. 345 H.T., 505 H.T.
Rain on the just and the unjust. 110 L.J.
Rod of iron. 476 S.A.
Sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. 425 S.A.
Speak with the tongues of men and of angels. 425 S.A.
Salt of the earth. 106 L.J.
Stone which the builders rejected. 239 L.J., 141 S.A.
Sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. 31 S.A.
Sojourners in a strange land. 340 L.J.
Spirit descending as a dove. 69 L.J.
She hath done what she could. 230 L.J.
Sackcloth and ashes. 67 T.J.
A soft answer turneth away wrath. 502 G.B.
Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. 365 S.A.
Sharper than a two-edged sword. 504 T.J.
Seat of the scornful. 19 S.A.
Shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 255 S.A.
Seed that fell on stony ground. 133 L.J.
Smite the Egyptian. 341 L.J.
Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. 264 L.J.
Son of perdition. 262 L.J.
The Sower. 133 L.J.
Take up thy bed and walk. 128 L.J., 167 L.J.
Tell it not in Gath. 426 H.T.
Tongues of fire. 325 L.J.
The twelve. 94 L.J.
Thirty pieces of silver. 248 L.J.
Tents of wickedness. 96 S.A.
The truth shall make you free. 194 L.J.
Turn the other cheek. 110 L.J.
Take up his cross. 504 H.T.
To thy tents, O Israel. 239 T.J.
They that go down to the sea in ships. 131 S.A.
Thine enemies thy footstool. 328 L.J.
To the ant, thou sluggard. 255 S.A.
The Lord will provide. 41 H.T.
Trees choosing a king. 333 H.T.
Unto the half of my kingdom. 154 L.J.
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The unjust steward. 204 L.J.
The upper room. 249 L.J.
Unprofitable servant. 246 L.J.
A very present help in trouble. 68 S.A.
Widow's mite. 243 L.J.
The wings of the wind. 26 S.A.
Wolf shall dwell with the lamb. 303 G.B.
Wiles of the devil. 506 H.T.
The way of all the earth. 451 H.T.
The wings of the morning. 164 S.A.
Without money and without price. 507 T.J.
Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, 502 T.J.
We shall reap, if we faint not. 506 L.J.
We piped unto you, and ye did not dance. 153 L.J.
Where moth and rust doth corrupt. 115 L.J.
Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 379 S.A.

From reading these literary passages can you clearly explain the incident or story each Bible phrase suggests?

Aaron's Serpent. 152 H.T.
  "And hence one master passion in the breast,
  Like Aaron's serpent, swallows up the rest."

--Pope, Essay on Man.

Abraham's Bosom. 206 L.J.
  "Sweet peace, conduct his soul
  to the bosom of good old Abraham."

--Shakespeare, Richard II 4:1.

The Alabaster Box. 169 L.J.
  "Thou wilt not let her wash thy dainty feet
  With such salt thing as tears or with rude hair
  Dry them."

--Lowell, A Legend of Brittany.

The Angel's Song. 37 L.J.
  "Blow, bugles of battle, the marches of peace,
  East, west, north and south let the long quarrel cease:
  Sing the song of great joy that the angels began,
  Sing of glory to God and of good will to man!"

--Whittier, A Christmas Carmen.

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The Apple of His Eye. 25 S.A.
  "Bestows on her too parsimonious lord,
  An infant for the apple of his eye."

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

As a Little Child. 188 L.J.
  "Once said a Man--and wise was He--
  Never shalt thou the heavens see,
  Save as a little child thou be."

--Sidney Lanier, The Symphony.

As Ye Sow, so shall Ye Reap. 423 S.A.
  "Look before you ere you leap;
  For as you sow y' are like to reap."

--Butler, Hudibras.

Babel. 32 T.J.
  "In vain a fresher mould we seek,
    Can all the varied phrases tell
  What Babel's wandering children speak,
    How thrushes sing or lilacs smell?"

--Holmes, To My Readers.

Barabbas. 276 L.J.
  "Thou hand'st sweet Socrates his hemlock sour;
  Thou sav'st Barabbas in that hideous hour,
  And stabb'st the good."

--Sidney Lanier, Remonstrance.

The Best till the Last. 78 L.J.
  "Perhaps like him of Cana in Holy Writ
  Our Arthur kept his best until the last."

--Tennyson, The Holy Grail.

Betrayed with a Kiss. 267 L.J.
  "So Judas kiss'd his master,
  And cried, 'all hail!' whenas he meant, all harm."

--Shakespeare, III Henry VI 5:7.

Bitter Waters 191 H.T.
  "The Gospel has the only branch that
  sweetens waters of a bitter popular discontent."

--Anonymous.

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Blood on the Lintel. 177 H.T.
  "I do not suppose that your troops are to be
  beaten in actual conflict with the foe, or that
  they will be driven into the sea; but I am certain
  that many homes in England in which there now
  exists a fond hope that the distant one may
  return, many such homes may be rendered desolate
  when the next mail shall arrive. There is no one
  to sprinkle with blood the lintel and the two side
  posts of our doors, that the Angel of Death may
  spare and pass on."

--John Bright.

Book of Life. 463 S.A.
  "The Power . . . .
  May hear well pleased the language of the soul,
  And in His Book of Life the inmates poor enroll."

--Burns, The Cotter's Saturday Night.

The Breastplate of Righteousness. 448 S.A.
  "What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted!"

--Shakespeare, II Henry VI 3:2.

Bricks without Straw. 150 H.T.
  "For long years," writes Teufelsdrockh, "had the
  poor Hebrew, in this Egypt of an
  Auscultatorship, painfully toiled, baking bricks
  without stubble, before ever the question once
  struck him with entire force: For What?"

--Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, Book II, Chapter 5.

The Broken Reed. 272 S.A.
  "He (the genius) becomes obstinate in his
  errors, no less than in his virtues, and the
  arrows of his aims are blunted, as the reeds of
  his trust are broken."

--Ruskin, A Joy For Ever.

The Burning Bush 142 H.T.
  "In wonder-workings, or some bush aflame,
    Men look for God, and fancy him concealed,
    But in earth's common things he stands revealed,
  While grass and flowers and stars spell out his name."

--Minot J. Savage.

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The Burning Fiery Furnace. 190 T.J.
  "Be it floor or blood the path that's trod,
  All the same it leads to God.
  Be it furnace fire voluminous
  One like God's Son will walk with us."

--Christina G. Rossetti.

By Their Fruits Ye shall Know Them. 109 G.B., 117 L.J.
  "If the tree be known by the fruit
  and fruit by the tree."

--Shakespeare, I Henry IV 2:4.

Carry Off the City's Gates. 176 T.J.
  "Samson, master: . . . he carried the
  town gates on his back like a porter."

--Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost 1:2.

Casting Lots for His Garments. 281 L.J.
  "They are now casting lots,
  Ay, with that gesture quaint and cry uncouth,
  For the coat of One murdered an hour ago."

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

Cast Out of Eden. 21 T.J.
  "What of Adam cast out of Eden?
       (Alas the hour)
  Lo! with care like a shadow shaken
  He tills the hard earth whence he was taken."

--Rossetti, Eden Bower.

Cedars of Lebanon. 457 H.T.
  "Feasted the woman wisest then,
  in halls of Lebanonian cedar."

--Tennyson, The Princess.

The Chariot of Fire. 134 T.J.
       "As he, whose wrongs
  The bears avenged, at its departure saw
  Elijah's chariot, when the steeds erect
  Raised their steep flight for heaven; his eyes, meanwhile,
  Straining pursued them, till the flame alone,
  Upsoaring like a misty speck, he kenned."

--Dante, Divine Comedy.

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The Chosen People. 51 S.A.
  "I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be an
  humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty,
  and of this, his almost chosen people, for
  perpetuating the object of that great struggle."

--Lincoln, Speech to the Senate of New Jersey.

The Chosen Vessel. 372 L.J.
  "He came who was the Holy Spirit's vessel;
  Barefoot and lean."

--Dante, Divine Comedy.

A Cloud by Day and a Pillar of Fire by Night. 179 H.T.
  "He is only a cloud and a smoke
  who was once a pillar of fire."

--Tennyson, Despair.

A Cloud Like a Man's Hand. 122 T.J.
  "And from that song-cloud shaped as a man's hand
  There comes the sound as of abundant rain."

--Rossetti, The House of Life.

Cloud of Witnesses. 506 H.T.
  "It is thus . . . that the Wise Man stands ever
  encompassed, and spiritually embraced, by a
  cloud of witnesses and brothers."

--Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, Book III, Chapter 7.

Coat of Many Colors. 91 H.T.
  "Not without meaning was the love of Israel to
  his chosen son expressed by the coat of many
  colors."

--Ruskin, The Stones of Venice.

Confusion of Tongues. 325 L.J.
  "There had been a confusion of tongues in the
  narrow streets for many days."

--Henry Van Dyke, The Other Wise Man.

Consider the Lilies. 116 L.J.
  "He who stills the raven's clam'rous nest
    And decks the lily fair in flow'ry pride,
  Would, in the way His wisdom sees the best,
    For them and for their little ones provide."

--Burns, The Cotter's Saturday Night.

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The Cool of the Day. 19 T.J.
  "At cool of day with God I walk
    My garden's grateful shade;
  I hear his voice among the trees,
    And I am not afraid."

--C. A. Mason.

The Covenant of the Rainbow. 31 T.J.
  "And bright as Noah saw it, yet
  For you the arching rainbow glows."

--Lowell, Ode.

The Cross. 281 L.J.
  "The lies that serve great parties well,
  While truths but give their Christ a cross."

--Sidney Lanier, To Beethoven.

Crown of Thorns. 279 L.J.
  "How was I worthy so divine a loss,
    Deepening my midnights, kindling all my morns?
  Why waste such precious wood to make my cross,
    Such far-sought roses for my crown of thorns?"

--Lowell, Das Ewig Weibliche.

The Curse of Cain. 22 T.J.
    "The curse of Cain
  Light on his head who pierced thy innocent breast,
  And seared the angel soul that was its guest."

--Shelley, Adonais.

David's Harp 396 H.T., 152 G.B.
  "Tune, to please a peasant's ear,
  The harp a king had loved to hear."

--Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel.

Deep Calleth unto Deep. 61 S.A.
  "Deep calling unto deep."

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

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Defrauded of His Birthright. 60 H.T.
  "An American child who is allowed to grow up
  without a knowledge of the Bible is defrauded of
  his birthright."

--Youth's Companion.

Den of Thieves. 237 L.J.
  "What makes a church a den of thieves?
  A dean and chapter, and white sleeves."

--Butler, Hudibras.

Devils in Swine. 139 L.J.
  "Bass. If it please you to dine with us!
   Shy.  Yes, to smell pork, to eat of the
         habitation which your prophet,
         the Nazarite, conjured the devil into."

--Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice 1:3.

Do Men Gather Grapes of Thorns, or Figs of Thistles? 109 G.B.
  "Conceits himself as God that he can make
  Figs out of thistles."

--Tennyson, The Last Tournament.

Dust Thou Art, and unto Dust shalt Thou Return. 21 T.J.
  "Dust to dust! but the pure spirit shall flow
  Back to the burning fountain whence it came."

--Shelley, Adonais.

Earthly House. 452 S.A.
  "All the angels that inhabit this temple of the
  body appear at the windows, and all the gnomes
  and vices also."

--Emerson, Essay on Love.

Easier for a Camel to Go through the Eye of a Needle. 212 L.J.
  "It is as hard to come as for a camel
  To thread through the postern of a needle's eye."

--Shakespeare, Richard II 5:5.

Eat, Drink, and be Merry. 212 L.J.
  "I built myself a lordly pleasure house,
    Wherein at ease for aye to dwell;
  I said, 'O soul, make merry and carouse,
    Dear soul, for all is well.'"

--Tennyson, The Palace of Art.

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Eden. 19 T.J.
  "He who is wearied of his village plain
  May roam the Edens of the world in vain."

--Holmes, Poetry.

Egyptian Taskmaster. 137 H.T.
  "Not a hard 'taskmaster,' ever on the watch to
  see that we are always at our brickmaking, but a
  Deliverer, who can bring us forth out of the
  'land of bondage' and lead us through the
  wilderness of difficulty onward to the Promised
  Land."

--T. Campbell Finlayson.

The Everlasting Hills. 394 S.A.
  "Changeless march the stars above,
    Changeless morn succeeds to even;
  And the everlasting hills
    Changeless watch the changeless heaven."

--Kingsley, Saint's Tragedy.

Faith and Works. 428 S.A.
  "Wi' sappy unction, has he burkes
  The hopes O' men that trust in works."

--Stevenson, A Lowden Sabbath Morn.

The Fall of Jericho. 287 H.T.
  "Toppling down the walls of his own Jericho."

--Charles Lamb, Essays of Elia.

Fallen among Thieves. 88 L.J.
  "Certain only that he has been, and is, a
  Pilgrim and Traveler from a far Country; more or
  less footsore and travel-soiled; has parted with
  road companions; fallen among thieves," etc.

--Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, Book I, Chapter II.

Fed by Ravens. 114 T.J.
  "One was the Tishbite
  Whom the ravens fed."

--Tennyson, The Palace of Art.

{138}

Feet of Clay. 188 T.J.
  "And judge all nature from her feet of clay."

--Tennyson, Merlin and Vivien.

Fight the Good Fight. 503 H.T.
    "Well hast thou fought
  The better fight, who single hast maintain'd
  Against revolted multitudes the cause
  Of truth, in word mightier than they in arms."

--Milton, Paradise Lost.

The Finger of God. 158 H.T.
  "She went first to the best adviser, God--
  Whose finger unmistakably was felt
  In all this retribution of the past."

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

The Firmament Showeth His Handiwork. 30 S.A.
  "The spacious firmament on high
  With all the blue ethereal sky
  And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
  Their Great Original proclaim."

--Joseph Addison.

Gethsemane. 264 L.J.
  "I am in the garden of Gethsemane now and my cup
  of bitterness is full and overflowing."

--Abraham Lincoln, Conversation with Judge Gillespie.

Get Thee Behind Me, Satan. 178 L.J.
  "Get thee behind me, Satan. Oft unfurled,
  Thy perilous wings can beat and break like lath
  Much mightiness of men to win thee praise."

--Rossetti, The House of Life.

Gideon's Fleece. 324 H.T.
  "His storms came near, but never touched us;
  contrary to Gideon's miracle, while all around
  were drenched, our fleece was dry."

--Charles Lamb, Essays of Elia.

{139}

God Save the King. 358 H.T.
  "When, crowned with joy, the camps of England ring,
  A thousand voices shout, 'God save the King.'"

--Holmes, Poetry.

The Golden Bowl. 246 S.A.
  "Ah, broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever!
  Let the bell toll!--A saintly soul floats on the Stygian river."

--Poe, Lenore.

A Good Name Rather than Riches. 503 G.B.
  "Who steals my purse, steals trash,
  But he that filches from me my good name
  Robs me of that which not enriches him
  And makes me poor indeed."

--Shakespeare, Othello 3:3.

Good Samaritan, Priest, and Levite. 88 L.J.
  "Grim-hearted world, that look'st with Levite eyes
  On those poor fallen by too much faith in man."

--Lowell, A Legend of Brittany.

The Golden Calf. 204 H.T.
  "We too, who mock at Israel's golden calf
  And scoff at Egypt's sacred scarabee,
  Would have our amulets to clasp and kiss."

--Holmes, Wind-Clouds and Star-Drifts.

The Golden Rule. 115 L.J.
  "The golden rule of Christ
  will bring the golden age to man."

--Frances Willard.

Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. 42 L.J.
  "'Tis not the weight of jewel or plate
    Or the fondle of silk and fur;
  'Tis the spirit in which the gift is rich
    As the gifts of the wise men were;
  And we are not told whose gift was gold
    Or whose the gift of myrrh."

--Edmund Vance Cooke.

{140}

Golgotha. 281 L.J.
  "Having seen thine evil doom
  In Golgotha and Khartoum."

--Stevenson, If This Were Faith.

A Grain of Mustard Seed. 134 L.J., 201 G.B.
  "World-renowned far-working Institution; like a
  grain of right mustard-seed once cast into the
  right soil, and now stretching out strong boughs
  to the four winds, for the birds of the air to
  lodge in."

--Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, Book II, Chapter 10.

Grapes of Canaan. 243 H.T.
  "Tis not the grapes of Canaan that repay
  But the high faith that failed not by the way."

--James R. Lowell.

The Greatest of These is Love. 425 S.A.
  "In faith and hope the world will disagree
  But all mankind's concern is charity:
  All must be false that thwart this one great end;
  And all of God, that bless mankind, or mend."

--Pope, Essay on Man.

Hands of Esau. 62 H.T.
  "A heart as rough as Esau's hand."

--Tennyson, Godiva.

The Handwriting on the Wall 201 T.J., 211 T.J.
  "Unhappy if we are but Half-men, in whom that
  divine handwriting has never blazed forth,
  all-subduing, in true sun-splendour."

--Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, Book II, Chapter 9.

The Healing of the Nations. 478 S.A.
  "O books, ye monuments of mind,
  concrete wisdom of the wisest;
  Sweet solaces of daily life,
  proofs and results of immortality;
  Trees yielding all fruits,
  whose leaves are for the healing of the nations."

--Tupper, Proverbial Philosophy of Reading.

{141}

Heap Coals of Fire upon His Head. 507 T.J., 504 G.B.
  "The furnace-coals alike of public scorn,
  Private remorse, heaped glowing on his head."

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

Her Children Rise up and Call Her Blessed. 257 S.A.
  "Her children shall rise up to bless her name,
  And wish her harmless length of days,
  The mighty mother of a mighty brood."

--Lowell, An Ode for the Fourth of July.

He Who Runs may Read. 392 S.A.
  "Perchance more careful whoso runs may read,
  Than erst when all, it seemed, could read who ran."

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

Herod of Jewry. 45 L.J.
  "Let me have a child to whom
  Herod of Jewry may do homage."

--Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, 1:2.

High as Haman. 73 T.J.
  "Will hang as high as Haman."

--Tennyson, The Foresters, Act IV, Scene 1.

A Hoary Head is a Crown of Glory. 502 G.B.
  "Honoured and even fair,
  Shines in the eye of the mind
  the crown of the silver hair."

--Stevenson, In Memoriam E. H.

A House Divided Against Itself. 171 L.J.
  "'A house divided against itself cannot stand.'
  I believe this Government cannot endure
  permanently, half slave and half free. I do not
  expect the Union to be dissolved--I do not expect
  the house to fall--but I do expect it will cease
  to be divided."

--Lincoln, Speech before the Illinois
State Convention, June 16, 1858
.

House not Made with Hands. 506 L.J.
  "His holy places may not be of stone,
  Nor made with hands, yet fairer far than aught
  By artist feigned or pious ardor reared,
  Fit altars for who guards inviolate
  God's chosen seat, the sacred form of man."

--Lowell, The Cathedral.

{142}

The House on the Sand. 118 L.J.
  "Sudden change is a house on sand;"

--Tennyson, Becket, Act III, Scene 3.

How are the Mighty Fallen. 426 H.T.
  "How are the mighty fallen, Master Cranmer."

--Tennyson, Queen Mary, Act IV, Scene 2.

I Go Whence I shall not Return. 192 S.A.
  "The undiscovered country from whose bourn
  No traveler returns."

--Shakespeare, Hamlet.

In Him We Live, and Move, and Have Our Being. 407 L.J.
  "Shall not the heart which has received so much,
  trust the Power by which it lives?"

--Emerson, New England Reformers.

In the Image of God. 17 T.J.
  "In native worth and honor clad,
  With beauty, courage, strength adorned,
  Erect with front serene he stands,
  A man, the lord and king of nature all,--
  The soul, the breath and image of his God."

--Haydn's Creation.

In the Twinkling of an Eye. 451 S.A.
  "In a moment, in the twinkle of an eye."

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

Jacob's Ladder. 68 H.T.
  "A Jacob's ladder falls."

--Tennyson, Early Spring.

Jonah's Gourd. 171 T.J.
  "That day whereof we keep record,
  When near thy city-gates the Lord
  Sheltered His Jonah with a gourd."

--Rossetti, The Burden of Nineveh.

{143}

Joshua's Moon. 306 H.T.
  "Joshua's moon in Ajalon."

--Tennyson, Locksley Hall.

Joseph of Arimathea. 286 L.J.
  "Arimathean Joseph."

--Tennyson, The Holy Grail.

Jot or Tittle. 106 L.J.
          . . . "Turn and see
  If, by one jot or tittle, I vary now!"

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

Joy Cometh in the Morning. 45 S.A.
  "Wait for the morning:--it will come, indeed,
  As surely as the night hath given need."

--Riley.

Judas. 253 L.J.
  "There walks Judas, he who sold
  Yesterday his Lord for gold,
  Sold God's presence in his heart
  For a proud step in the mart."

--Lowell, The Ghost-Seer.

King of Terrors. 199 S.A.
  "Death gives us more than was in Eden lost,
  This king of terrors is the prince of peace."

--Young, Night Thoughts.

A Lamp unto My Feet. 148 S.A.
  "God shall be my hope,
  My stay, my guide and lantern to my feet."

--Shakespeare, II Henry VI 2:3.

A Land Flowing with Milk and Honey. 144 H.T.
  "A land of promise flowing with the milk
  And honey of delicious memories."

--Tennyson, The Lover's Tale.

{144}

The Last Trump. 451 S.A.
  "So when the last and dreadful hour
  This crumbling pageant shall devour,
  The trumpet shall be heard on high
  The dead shall live, the living die,
  And Music shall untune the sky."

--Dryden, A Song for St. Cecilia's Day.

Let not Thy Left Hand Know What Thy Right Hand Doeth. 111 L.J.
  "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand
  doeth! Neither shalt thou prate even to thy own
  heart of 'those secrets known to all.'"

--Carlyle, Sartor Resartus. Book III, Chapter 3.

A Light Hid under a Bushel. 106 L.J.
  "How far that little candle throws his beams.
  So shines a good deed in a naughty world."

--Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice 5:1.

Lips Touched with Coal from off the Altar. 265 S.A.
  "Nor shall thy lips be touched with living fire,
  Who blow'st old altar-coals with sole desire
  To weld anew the spirit's broken chains."

--Lowell, Bibliolaters.

A Little Child shall Lead Them. 303 G.B.
  "She might have served a painter to portray
  That heavenly child which in the latter days
  Shall walk between the lion and the lamb."

--Rossetti, A Last Confession.

The Little Foxes That Spoil the Vineyards. 236 S.A.
  "O fox whose home is 'mid the tender grape--"

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

A Little Lower than the Angels. 22 S.A.
  "What a piece of work is man! how noble in
  reason, how infinite in faculty, in form and
  moving how express and admirable, in action
  how like an angel."

--Shakespeare, Hamlet 2:2.

{145}

Locusts and Wild Honey. 65 L.J.
  "In our wild Seer, shaggy, unkempt, like a
  Baptist living on locusts and wild honey, there
  is an untutored energy, a silent, as it were,
  unconscious strength, which, except in the
  higher walks of literature, must be rare."

--Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, Book I, Chapter 3.

Lord, How Long. 470 S.A.
  "O Lord, how long, how long be unavenged?"

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

The Lord is My Fortress. 106 S.A.
  "God is our fortress."

--Shakespeare, I Henry VI 2:-1.

The Lord Watch between Me and Thee when We are Absent One from Another. 75 H.T.
  "Deal between thee and me."

--Shakespeare, Macbeth 4:3.

Lot's Wife. 36 H.T.
  "Stiff as Lot's wife."

--Tennyson, The Princess.

Love, the Fulfilling of the Law. 416 S.A.
  "Charity itself fulfills the law
  And who can sever love from charity?"

--Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost 4:3.

Mammon of Unrighteousness. 205 L.J.
  "Mammon is after him."

--Abraham Lincoln.

A Man after His Own Heart. 362 H.T.
           "O Saul, it shall be
  A Face like my face that receives thee; a Man like to me,
  Thou shalt love and be loved by, forever: a Hand like this hand
  Shall throw open the gates of new life to thee! See the Christ stand!"

--Browning, Saul.

{146}

Manna in the Wilderness 162 L.J., 192 H.T.
  "As manna on my wilderness."

--Tennyson, Supposed Confessions.

The Mantle of Elijah. 134 T.J.
  "Tennyson rising in a heavenly chariot out of
  the temple of song, forgot to cast his mantle
  upon some waiting Elisha, but carried the divine
  garment into the realm beyond the clouds."

--Newell Dwight Hillis, Great Books as Life Teachers.

The Mark of Cain. 23 T.J.
  "He answered not but with a sudden hand
  Made bare his branded and ensanguined brow,
  Which was like Cain's or Christ's--oh! that it should be so!"

--Shelley, Adonais.

Mess of Pottage. 60 H.T.
  "A hungry imposter practising for a mess of pottage."

--Carlyle.

The Money-Changers in the Temple. 237 L.J.
             "Once more
  He may put forth his hand 'gainst such, as drive
  Their traffic in that sanctuary, whose walls
  With miracles and martyrdoms were built."

--Dante, Divine Comedy.

More Precious than Rubies. 252 S.A.
  "The drawing . . . is . . . a thing which I
  believe Gainsborough would have given one of
  his own pictures for--old-fashioned as red-tipped
  daisies are . . . and more precious than rubies."

--Ruskin, Academy Notes.

The Mote and Beam. 110 L.J.
  "You found his mote; the king your mote did see.
  But I a beam do find in each of three."

--Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost 4:3.

{147}

My Brother's Keeper. 22 T.J.
  "If not in word only, but in face of truth, he
  undoes the deed of Cain and becomes truly his
  brother's keeper."

--Ruskin, The Schools of Art in Florence.

My Cup Runneth Over. 35 S.A.
  "Through this concession my full cup runs o'er."

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

My Name is Legion. 139 L.J.
  "Does Legion still lurk in him, though
  repressed; or has he exorcised that Devil's
  Brood?"

--Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, Book II, Chapter 8.

Noah's Ark. 24 T.J.
        "Nobler is a limited command
  Given by the love of all your native land,
  Than a successive title, long and dark,
  Drawn from the mouldy rolls of Noah's ark."

--Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel.

The Nobleman's Son. 92 L.J.
  "We do not need Christ's visible presence to
  cope with the evils of our times any more than
  the father needed it for the cure of his boy."

--Wm. M. Taylor.

Now through a Glass Darkly, then Face to Face. 425 S.A.
  "I hope to see my Pilot face to face
  When I have crost the bar."

--Tennyson, Crossing the Bar.

O Generation of Vipers. 65 L.J.
  "Is love a generation of vipers?"

--Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida 3:1.

The Olive Leaf. 30 T.J.
  "One final deluge to surprise the Ark
  Cradled and sleeping on its mountain-top:
  Their outbreak-signal--what but the dove's coo,
  Back with the olive in her bill for news
  Sorrow was over?"

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

{148}
Out of the Mouth of Babes and Sucklings 22 S.A., 237 L.J.
  "He that of greatest works is finisher
  Oft does them by the weakest minister:
  So holy writ in babes hath judgment shown."

--Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well 2:1.

The Pale Horse. 470 S.A.
           "Behind her Death,
  Close following pace for pace, not mounted yet
  On his pale horse."

--Milton, Paradise Lost.

Parting of the Waters 184 H.T.
  "All things are fitly cared for and the Lord
  Will watch as kindly o'er the exodus
  Of us his servants now, as in old time.
  We have no cloud or fire, and haply we
  May not pass dry-shod through the ocean stream;
  But, saved or lost, all things are in his hand."

--Lowell, A Glance Behind the Curtain.

Peace, be Still. 136 L.J.
  "There are prayers that will plead with the
  storm when it raves, And whisper 'Be still!' to
  the turbulent waves."

--Holmes, Farewell.

The Peacemakers. 105 L.J.
          "I perceived
  Near me as 'twere the waving of a wing,
  That fanned my face, and whispered: 'Blessed they,
  The peace-makers: they know not evil wrath."

--Dante, Divine Comedy.

Pentecost. 325 L.J.
  "Hereafter thou, fulfilling Pentecost
  Must learn to speak the tongues of all the world."

--Tennyson, Sir John Oldcastle.

{149}
Peter's Denial. 270 L.J.
  "Treble denial of the tongue of flesh
  Like Peter's when he fell."

--Tennyson, Harold, Act III, Scene 1.

Peter's Sheet. 354 L.J.
  "White as the great white sheet that Peter saw in his vision,
  By the four corners let down and descending out of the heavens."

--Longfellow, Elizabeth.

Pharaoh's Kine 104 H.T.
  "If to be fat be to be hated then
  Pharaoh's lean kine are to be loved."

--Shakespeare, I Henry IV 2:3.

Picking up the Fragments. 147 L.J.
  "The immigrants that come to us ought to have
  plenty of bread to eat and enough fragments left
  over to be worth picking up, for while in the
  bread is the living, in the fragments is the
  life. To them America means economic fragments."

--Edward A. Steiner.

Pillar of Salt. 36 H.T.
  "One looks close for the glance forward in the
  eyes, which distinguishes such pillars from
  the pillars, not of flesh, but of salt, whose
  eyes are set backwards."

--Ruskin, The Cestus of Aglaia.

The Poor Ye Have Always with You. 230 L.J.
  "Yet Thy poor endure,
  And are with us yet."

--Swinburne, Christmas Antiphones.

Possess the Land 244 H.T., 278 H.T.
  "There is a loud call for courageous idealists
  and brave fighters to stand forth and summon
  other men to go forward and possess the land of
  a better social order. The giants of greed and
  the walls of difficulty cannot be allowed to
  shut us out nor to frighten us away."

--Charles Reynolds Brown.

{150}

The Potter's Clay 301 S.A.
  "Enough to throw one's thoughts in heaps
  Of doubt and horror,--what to say
  Or think,--this awful secret sway,
  The potter's power over the clay!
  Of the same lump (it has been said).
  For honour and dishonour made,
  Two sister vessels."

--Rossetti, Jenny.

The Precious Ointment 230 L.J., 169 L.J.
  "One Mary bathes the blessed feet
    With ointment from her eyes,
  With spikenard one, and both are sweet,
    For both are sacrifice."

--Lowell, Godminster Chimes.

Prince of Peace. 278 S.A.
    "No trumpet-blast profaned
  The hour in which the Prince of Peace was born;
    No bloody streamlet stained
  Earth's silver rivers on that sacred morn."

--Bryant, Christmas in 1875.

The Print of the Nails. 306 L.J.
  "Thou also hast had the world's buffets and scorns,
  And to thy life were not denied
  The wounds in the hands and feet and side."

--Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfal.

The Prodigal's Portion. 203 L.J.
  "What prodigal portion have I spent that I
  should stand to such penury?"

--Shakespeare, As You Like It 1:1.

Prodigal Son. 203 L.J.
  "Ready to meet the wanderer ere he reach
  The door he seeks, forgetful of his sin,
  Longing to clasp him in a father's arms,
  And seal his pardon with a pitying tear."

--Holmes, Wind-Clouds and Star-Drifts.

{151}

The Promised Land 268 H.T.
  "With foretaste of the Land of Promise."

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

Put not Your Trust in Princes. 170 S.A.
     "O, how wretched
  Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors."

--Shakespeare, Henry VIII 3:2.

Render unto Caesar the Things That are Caesar's. 240 L.J.
  "A kindly rendering
  Of 'Render unto Caesar.'"

--Tennyson, Harold, Act III, Scene 2.

Repent Ye. 65 L.J.
  "Let us be diverted by none of those sophistical
  contrivances, . . . reversing the divine rule,
  and calling, not the sinners, but the righteous
  to repentance."

--Lincoln.

Return Good for Evil. 416 S.A.
  "With a piece of Scripture
  Tell them that God bids do good for evil."

--Shakespeare, Richard III 1:3.

The Scarlet Thread in the Window 282 H.T.
    "No Rahab thread,
  For blushing token of the spy's success."

--Browning, The Red Cotton Night-cap Country.

A Serpent in Eden. 19 T.J.
  "We are our own devils;
   we drive ourselves out of our Edens."

--Goethe.

Shake Off the Dust That is under Your Feet. 143 L.J.
  "So from my feet the dust
  Of the proud World I shook."

--Lowell, The Search.

{152}

The Sheep and the Goats. 246 L.J.
  "Some great cause, God's new Messiah,
    offering each the bloom or blight,
  Parts the goats upon the left hand,
    and the sheep upon the right,
  And the choice goes by forever
    'twixt that darkness and that light."

--Lowell, The Present Crisis.

The Silver Cord. 246 S.A.
  "And here's the silver cord which--what's our word?
  Depends from the gold bowl, which loosed (not "lost")
  Lets us from heaven to hell,--one chop we're loose!"

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

Slaughter of the Innocents. 45 L.J.
  "Whiles the mad mothers with their howls confused,
  Do break the clouds, as did the wives of Jewry
  At Herod's bloody-hunting slaughtermen."

--Shakespeare, Henry V 3:3.

Smite the Rock 247 H.T.
    "That God would move
  And strike the hard, hard rock, and thence
  Sweet in their utmost bitterness,
  Would issue tears of penitence."

--Tennyson, Supposed Confessions.

The Snare of the Fowler. 106 S.A.
  "Twice it may be, or thrice, the fowler's aim;
  But in the sight of one whose plumes are full,
  In vain the net is spread, the arrow winged."

--Dante, Divine Comedy.

Son of Man. 246 L.J.
    "That claimest with a cunning face
  Those rights the true, true Son of man doth own
  By Love's authority."

--Sidney Lanier, Remonstrance.

Sparks Which Fly Upward. 186 S.A.
  "But the troubles which he is born to are as
  sparks which fly upward, not as flames burning
  to the nethermost Hell."

--Ruskin, Notes.

{153}

Star of Bethlehem. 41 L.J.
  "Some astronomers believe that they have found
  the great star around which the whole universe
  of stars revolves: whether that be true or not,
  it is undoubtedly true that the Star of
  Bethlehem is the center of this world's
  spiritual astronomy."

--Theodore L. Cuyler.

The Stars Fought in Their Courses. 58 T.J.
  "Promptings from heaven and hell, as if the stars
  Fought in their courses for a fate to be."

--Browning, The Ring and the Book.

A Still Small Voice. 124 T.J.
  "A still small voice spake unto me."

--Tennyson, The Two Voices.

The Stirring of the Waters. 167 L.J.
  "To-day a golden pinion stirred
    The world's Bethesda pool,
  And I believed the song I heard
    Nor put my heart to school;
  And through the rainbows of the dream
    I saw the gates of Eden gleam."

--Alfred Noyes, The Hill Flower.

The Stone Rolled Away. 297 L.J.
  "Pitiless walls of gray,
    Gathered around us, a growing tomb
    From which it seemed not death or doom
  Could roll the stone away."

--Alfred Noyes, The Enchanted Island.

Tables of Stone 207 H.T., 212 H.T.
    "Heard the voice
  Of him who met the Highest in the mount,
  And brought them tables, graven with His hand."

--Holmes, Wind-Clouds and Star-Drifts.

{154}

The Talent Hid in the Earth. 245 L.J.
  "When I consider how my light is spent
  Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
  And that one talent which is death to hide
  Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
  To serve therewith my Maker, and present
  My true account, lest He returning chide."

--Milton, Sonnet to His Blindness.

Temperate in All Things. 438 S.A.
  "'Tis to thy rules, O Temperance, that we owe
  All pleasures that from health and strength can flow;
  Vigor of body, purity of mind,
  Unclouded reason, sentiment refined."

--Chandler.

There the Wicked Cease from Troubling and the Weary are at Rest. 184 S.A.
  "To lie within the light of God,
    as I lie upon your breast--
  And the wicked cease from troubling
    and the weary are at rest."

--Tennyson, The May Queen.

Threescore Years and Ten. 104 S.A.
  "Worn to a thread by threescore years and ten."

--Browning The Ring and the Book.

To Eat Husks. 203 L.J.
  "You would think that I had a hundred and fifty
  tattered prodigals lately come from swine
  keeping, from eating draft and husks."

--Shakespeare, I Henry IV 4:2.

To Everything There is a Season. 243 S.A.
  "There is a time for all things."

--Shakespeare. Comedy of Errors 2:2.

To Touch His Garments. 140 L.J.
  "The world sits at the feet of Christ,
  Unknowing, blind and unconsoled.
  It yet shall touch his garment's fold
  And feel the heavenly alchemist
  Transform its very dust to gold."

--Anonymous.

{155}

Treading the Winepress. 476 S.A.
  "But ye that have seen how the ages have shrunk
  from my rod, And how red is the winepress
  wherein at my bidding they trod."

--The Paradox.

The Tree of Knowledge. 19 T.J.
  "Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
  Of that forbidden tree, whose Mortal taste
  Brought death into the World and all our woe
  . . .
  Sing Heavenly Muse."

--Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I.

Truth Endureth Forever. 139 S.A.
  "It fortifies my soul to know
  That, though I perish, Truth is so:
  That, howsoe'er I stray and range,
  Whate'er I do Thou dost not change.
  I steadier step when I recall
  That, if I slip, Thou dost not fall."

--Arthur Hugh Clough, Ambarvalia.

The Unknown God. 407 L.J.
  "Greece, Egypt, Rome,--did any god
  Before whose feet men knelt unshod
  Deem that in this unblest abode
  Another scarce more unknown god
  Should house with him, from Nineveh?"

--Rossetti, The Burden of Nineveh.

Unto Seventy Times Seven. 186 L.J.
  "We poor ill-tempered mortals--must forgive,
  Though seven times sinning threescore times and ten."

--Holmes, Manhood.

The Valley of the Shadow. 35 S.A.
  "Drew to the valley
  Named of the shadow."

--Tennyson, Merlin and the Gleam.

{156}

Vine and Fig Tree 456 H.T., 369 S.A.
  "You may see as thorough patriarchs as Abraham
  was any day, and as carefully visited by angels,
  sitting under their vine and fig tree."

--Ruskin, Notes.

Voice Crying in the Wilderness. 65 L.J.
  "In this bleak wilderness I hear
  A John the Baptist crying."

--Lowell, An Interview with Miles Standish.

Walking on the Waters. 148 L.J.
  "So Lycidas sunk low, but mounted high
  Through the dear might of Him that walked the waves."

--Milton, Lycidas, line 172.

The Water of Life. 508 L.J.
  "The natural thirst ne'er quenched but from the well
  Whereof the woman of Samaria craved."

--Dante, Divine Comedy.

Weaver's Beam. 386 H.T.
  "Then for her spear she might have a weaver's beam."

--Ruskin, Crown of Wild Olive.

Weighed in the Balance. 206 T.J.
  "Their errors have been weighed and found to
  have been dust in the balance."

--Shelley, A Defence of Poetry.

We Spend Our Years as a Tale That is Told. 104 S.A.
  "Ay! when life seems scattered apart,
    Darkens, ends as a tale that is told,
  One, we are one, O heart of my heart,
    One, still one, while the world grows old."

--Alfred Noyes, Unity.

What is Man That Thou art Mindful of Him? 22 S.A.
  "A man is but a little thing among the objects
  of nature, yet, by the moral quality radiating
  from his countenance, he may abolish all
  considerations of magnitude, and in his manners
  equal the majesty of the world."

--Emerson, Essay on Manners.

{157}

When the Morning Stars Sang Together. 222 S.A.
  "Look how the floor of heaven
  Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold;
  There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st
  But in his motion like an angel sings."

--Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice 5:1.

The Wind Fulfills His Word. 173 S.A.
  "The snow, the vapour and the stormy wind
  fulfill his word."

--Ruskin, The Seven Lamps of Architecture.

Wisdom, Crying in the Streets. 249 S.A.
  "Wisdom cries out in the streets and no man regards it."

--Shakespeare, I Henry IV 1:2.

Wisdom shall Die with You. 194 S.A.
  "A man of superior sagacity may be pardoned for
  thinking with the friends of Job, that Wisdom
  will die with him."

--Ruskin.

Wrestling Jacob. 80 H.T.
  "Like that strange angel which of old,
  Until the breaking of the light
  Wrestled with wandering Israel."

--Tennyson, To--.

Ye Cannot Serve God and Mammon. 205 L.J.
  "We mean by war all that war ever meant,
  Destruction's ministers, Death's freemen, Lust's
  Exponents, daily like a blood-red dawn
  In flames and crimson seas we shall advance
  Against the ancient immaterial reign
  Of Spirit, and our watchword shall be still,
  Get thee behind me, God,--I follow Mammon."

--John Davidson, Mammon and His Message.

Yoke of Bondage. 507 H.T.
  "Judah was a captive by the waters of Babylon
  and the sons of Jacob were in bondage to our
  kings . . . from the remnant that dwells in Judea
  under the yoke of Rome neither star nor sceptre
  shall arise."

--Henry Van Dyke, The Other Wise Man.

{158}

Zeal That Consumes. 151 S.A.
  "The zeal for truth and righteousness and
  goodness anywhere, in politics, or in
  literature, or in education, does not seize hold
  of men with the vigor which may be described, in
  the Bible phrase, as a zeal that eats one up."

--Samuel Valentine Cole.

Zion 470 H.T.
  "Why should we fly? Nay, why not rather stay
  And rear again our Zion's crumbled walls."

--Lowell, A Glance behind the Curtain.

{159}

PART V

THE BIBLE AND THE TEACHER

For the Bible School Teacher

{160}

"Talk about the questions of the time: There is but one question:--How to bring the truths of God's Word into vital contact with the minds and hearts of all classes of the people."

--William E. Gladstone.

{161}

THE BIBLE AND THE TEACHER

FOR THE BIBLE SCHOOL TEACHER

The two greatest needs of the Bible School teacher are thorough preparation of the lesson, and enthusiasm in presenting it. These needs are effectively and abundantly met in THE BIBLE STORY. This volume is so arranged that the teacher in any department may find what is best adapted to a particular age. The following definite suggestions as to how THE BIBLE STORY may be used in the Bible School will be found interesting and helpful for teachers in the accomplishment of their great aims of imparting knowledge, developing character, and leading the pupil on to service.

1. In the Primary Department:--

Supplementary Work

Many primary teachers use a few minutes of the Bible School hour for supplementary work, in which they follow any desired line of teaching regardless of the prescribed lesson. For this supplementary work the following suggestions in this volume may be used:--

Memorizing Bible Verses, page 15.
Teaching God's Relation to the World, page 16.
Understanding Life in Bible Times, page 19.

Story Telling

"Of all the things that a teacher should know how to do," says a great educator, "the most important, without any exception, is telling a story." The most beautiful Bible stories, especially suited to little children, are listed on pages 17, 18, and 19 of this volume, and teachers will find those referring to "The Golden Book" (G.B.) very attractively told for children. The stories are graded from the very simple to the more difficult and so may be adapted to the different classes.

{162}

The Art of Questioning

Questioning is an art only when it stirs the imagination and leads to thinking. The true teacher can always stimulate interest by his wise questions. The questions at the end of Part I of this volume are designed for use as a review of the lessons given from "The Golden Book."

Memory Gems

"The Golden Book" is especially rich in children's poems, carrying practical, helpful thoughts. Verses and couplets from these make beautiful Memory Gems.

2. In the Junior, Intermediate, and Senior Departments:--

Indirect Precept

The central teaching of a lesson, whether it be generosity, charity, forgiveness, or some other virtue, is brought home most effectively by illustration and example. As an educative force, emulation far surpasses exhortation.

From Foundation Stones, page 33 of this volume, may be selected the stories of all those men and women of the Bible who wrought out in their lives whatever quality of character may be central in the lesson. Here also such words of Jesus, of the prophets, or of the Psalms as emphasize and enforce the teaching, are grouped and may readily be found.

Historical Connections

A great deal of Bible School teaching touches only the mountain peaks of history without traversing the connecting valleys. Study of lesson after lesson with no attention to their connections leaves but a series of detached thoughts.

Often lessons, which have become an old story to boys and girls, become interesting and fascinating when linked up with the history of the world in Bible times, or when the Bible events themselves are joined in connected narrative.

THE BIBLE STORY presents an unusual opportunity to a teacher for establishing these connections.

{163}

(A) The Table of Contents of "Hero Tales" suggests the chronology of Hebrew history as far as the minor kings.

(B) The chart on page 236 T.J. links up the minor kings with the prophets in point of time.

(C) The life of Jesus may be traced out chronologically from the sequence of places given on pages 109 and 110 of this volume.

(D) The questions on The World in Bible Times beginning at page 38 of this volume will increase interest in Hebrew history itself by showing the relationship between the Jews and surrounding nations.

Geographical Setting

"Teaching, like pictures, must have background and foreground." The central group of characters in the lesson must have prominence, but their setting must be clearly defined, too, that the whole may be appreciated. By many pupils the Bible is regarded as a Book entirely apart from life. If asked to recall a well-known historical incident connected with Egypt or Assyria or Rome, a pupil does not naturally think of a Bible incident. A teacher may often open an entirely new field of thought for pupils by bringing the Holy Land down out of the skies and "placing it on the map."

In Part III of this volume are given a bird's-eye view of Palestine for general reference; questions on the well-known places in Bible lands and of especial interest because they refer to pictures which may be used in class; and questions which locate the Bible characters in the land. For the latter section it is well to use a blackboard or sand map in class to make plain the setting of each lesson. All of Part III furnishes helpful material for the teacher's study and presents interesting sidelights to give what has seemed a commonplace lesson new meaning and new interest.

The Question Method

To hold attention in class the question method is best. It is most effective because in order to give the answers the pupil must think for himself.

Questions are so important that a wise teacher will always prepare them in advance. If put in order they will form an outline or plan to be followed in presenting the lesson.

At the end of Part II of this volume are one thousand questions on the Bible passages listed according to names and periods for easy {164} reference. They are useful in many ways: As an outline for the teacher, as suggested above; as review questions when two classes may unite for a contest; and as an incentive to the pupils to study the lesson. Give out a striking question on the coming lesson each week instead of the general request to "study the lesson."

Use of Pictures

In teaching little children pictures have long been considered invaluable, but their practical value in the more advanced departments is not so generally conceded. The adult mind, however, has not outgrown its love for the truths of life as expressed in pictorial form and the teacher of adult classes who owns THE BIBLE STORY is fortunate indeed in having right at hand impressive illustrations for a great many Bible lessons.

There is a threefold advantage in using these pictures:--

To Save Time--Pictures suggest ideas more forcibly than words. For example, much time would be wasted in trying to convey by words any idea of such a ship as Paul used in traveling to Rome, but the picture on page 464 L.J. is at once striking and accurate. The index of illustrations in the back of the volume "Songs of the Ages" suggests the wealth of illustrations in THE BIBLE STORY and indicates their location.

To Give Correct Impressions--For understanding Oriental conditions no agency is so helpful as pictures of Eastern customs and life. Many of these customs are referred to in Part 1 on page 19 of this volume, and much of the life of the Hebrews is brought out by the questions beginning at page 100, which refer, for their answers, to pictures.

To Inspire Beautiful Ideals--THE BIBLE STORY reproduces many beautiful pictures by artists who have thrown their religious conceptions into their work and thus infused it with the highest devotional spirit. Holding these pictures before a class will often create the atmosphere most desired for teaching the story depicted. For example, a conception of the spirit of the conversation between Jesus and the woman at Jacob's well may be obtained from Hofmann's beautiful picture (84 L.J.). Many others may be used to instill the greatest spiritual ideas.

{165}

Illuminating Points

A careful study of Part IV of this volume will enable a teacher of adults to give from Bible characters and books many striking points appropriate to the lesson.

"Living with the Bible," beginning at page 42 of this volume, will suggest to the adult teacher many passages to use in developing the different lessons.

"Jesus' Character-Building Stories," on page 32 of this volume, will give Jesus' teaching on the various subjects taken up in the lessons.

Part III of this volume will furnish the teacher of adults with the lesson setting, both by picture and by map.

{166}

{167}

PART VI

PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY

{168} "The knowledge of words is a gate to scholarship." --Wilson. {169}

KEY

Marked letters are pronounced as in the following words. Vowels found in unaccented syllables are unmarked and are given the natural, or long, sound.

{170}

{171}

{172}

{173}

{174}

{175}

{176}

{177}

{178}

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[End of "HOW TO USE THE BIBLE STORY"]
-------------------------------------
[Start of "VOLUME ONE: THE GOLDEN BOOK"]
{1}

{2}

{3}

THE BIBLE STORY

{4}

{5}

{6}

Magi following the Star of Bethlehem.

{7}

THE BIBLE STORY

VOLUME ONE
THE GOLDEN BOOK

ARRANGED AND EDITED BY
REV. NEWTON MARSHALL HALL, D.D.
MINISTER OF THE NORTH CHURCH, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
AND
REV. IRVING FRANCIS WOOD, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE AND COMPARATIVE RELIGION AT SMITH COLLEGE
Authors of "The Early Days of Israel" "Advanced Bible Studies" Etc.

THE KING-RICHARDSON COMPANY
SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
CHICAGO, CLEVELAND

{8}

COPYRIGHT, 1906,
COPYRIGHT, 1917,

BY THE KING-RICHARDSON COMPANY,

SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

{9}

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES

The editors of this series believe that no task can be more important than that of winning the interest of children to their precious heritage, the Bible. The stories of the old Greek and Roman mythologies, the folk and fairy tales, have been given the child in beautiful form, suitably graded and arranged, with significant illustrations. The editors of this series attempt to do the same thing for the Bible: to take the matchless prose and poetry of the Bible and put it in the form which will make it most attractive to the child, to give the Bible an equal chance in the child's library with the "King Arthur Stories" and the tales of mythology.

Every parent desires to have the children of the home gain an acquaintance with the best that is in the Bible. Heretofore no text has been prepared which exactly met this need, giving appropriate passages for children of various ages. These volumes are especially designed to make "Sunday afternoon" reading attractive to children, putting the fascinating stories of the Bible in the same dress and on the same footing with the secular classics which have {10} always charmed. With such an arrangement it is believed that the child will read the Bible as freely as any book.

The plan of the Readers gives unity to each story and selection. Each story or episode is given in a complete form, and not merely as an extract. Passages which are clearly not relevant to the story or which involve unnecessary difficulties to a young reader are omitted. Obsolete words are modernized. Many versions, both ancient and modern, together with the original texts, have been compared in determining the translation. In every case the graphic, pictorial word which would appeal to the imagination of the child and enlarge its vocabulary has been sought. At the same time the effort has been made not to impair the literary strength and beauty of the older versions. Nothing has been omitted which is suitable to the mind of the child, and everything has been arranged with the end in view of meeting the needs of the child.

This series does not aim to supplant the ordinary texts of the Bible nor to take the place of the common versions any more than literature readers take the place of literature. The editors have endeavored to select such passages of the Bible as are particularly suited to the child's mind, to present them in a novel and attractive form, and thus to arouse the interest of children, stimulating them to more careful study in later years.

This series is not, however, intended simply for children's reading. The editors believe that for general {11} reading for the older members of the family no version of the Bible will be found more satisfactory.

There is no Book which so lends itself to illustration as the Bible. Palestine in relation to the New Testament has been called a "Fifth Gospel." For the child especially the actual locality is the best commentary on the text and the best means of arousing interest in the text.

The Bible makes contact with the great civilizations in a way which is not fully appreciated. The attempt has been made to illustrate very fully the contact with Egypt in the Old Testament and with Greece and Rome in the New Testament.

The editors believe that the three hundred and fifty illustrations which have been provided form a collection which has never been surpassed in fullness and accuracy. Many friends have freely offered their fine collections. A large number of pictures taken by friends are unique in their individual interest, and have never before been published. We are especially indebted to the following: Prof. David G. Lyon, D.D., of the Department of Semitic Languages of Harvard University, Prof. H. G. Mitchell, D.D., of the Department of Theology of Boston University, Rev. Warren J. Moulton, Ph.D., of Athol, Mass., for the use of valuable private collections; the Departments of Greek and Latin at Smith College, the Public Library at Springfield and the Forbes Public Library at Northampton, Mass., for {12} constant courtesy and the use of rare books, photographs, and engravings; Miss Clara L. Bodman, Miss Julia W. Snow, Mr. S. E. Bridgman of Northampton, and Prof. Louis F. Giroux of the International College, Springfield, for the loan of photographs; Mrs. Fontaine Meriwether of Sedalia, Missouri, for selections from a remarkably fine collection of views personally taken while on a trip to the East; Rev. Frank L. Goodspeed, Ph.D., and Mrs. Goodspeed for unique and valuable views taken by themselves; W. J. Aitchison, Esq., of Hamilton, Canada, for fine views; the officers of the Palestine Exploration Fund, and the Detroit Photograph Company, for permission to use pictures in their possession; Prof. Arthur S. Cooley, Ph.D., of Auburndale, the well known lecturer, for permission to use unique views illustrating the journeys of Paul; Miss Mary Medlicott of Longmeadow for the use of a rare book.

We are also especially indebted to Prof. Henry D. Sleeper, head of the Music Department of Smith College, for the charming airs to which he has set some of the poems for children in the first volume.

On the literary side the editors wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to Miss Esther M. Carver of Northampton for suggestions from her experience as a teacher, to Miss Caroline M. Yale and Miss Frances W. Gawith of the Clarke School for the Deaf, to Prof. Charles F. Richardson, and Prof. Fred P. Emery of Dartmouth College, {13} Prof. Clyde W. Votaw of Chicago University, Mr. William Orr, Principal of the High School, Springfield, Mass. We are much indebted to President George T. Angell for suggestions for the chapter, "Little Brothers of the Air and Fields," in the first volume, also to a very wide circle of friends for their interest and for valuable suggestions, many of which have been incorporated in the work. The help of various versions of the Bible is also acknowledged, as well as the version of the prophets by George Adam Smith. Thanks are rendered to Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons, E. P. Dutton & Co., J. B. Lippincott, Biglow & Main, Mr. Theodore E. Perkins, and Charles Ray Palmer, D.D., for permission to use copyrighted material.

Without the co-operation of these and many other friends we feel that so large a measure of excellence as we believe the volumes possess could not have been attained.

{14}

{15}

PREFACE

The editors have endeavored to make this volume a treasure house of all the good things, new and old, which would serve to assist in the moral training of little children. The volume includes a Primer, arranged on the plan of the ordinary school primer, designed to give the elemental religious truths in the simplest form. Any child who is learning to read at school can learn also to read these sentences. The texts at the bottom of the pages are to be read by the parent to the child, and may with profit be committed to memory by the child. The short Bible stories which follow may also be easily read by children. The hymns and poems and most of the pictures are "classic." They should be known by every child for their own worth, and as an antidote for the rubbish which constitutes so large a proportion of the reading of children. Parents will be pleased to find the fine old hymns of Watts and Jane Taylor, some of them set to delightful music by Prof. Sleeper of Smith College. These poems should not be allowed by neglect to pass out of the possession of modern children.

It is hoped that this volume will go far toward solving the problem of Sunday afternoon occupation for children, and will meet the constant demand for such a collection of religious literature.

{16}

{17}

CONTENTS

A BIBLE PRIMER 23

HYMNS FOR THE MORNING 69
When Morning Gilds the Skies. From the German 71
A Song of Thanksgiving. From the German 75
Heaven is Not Reached at a Single Bound. J. G. Holland 77
Still, Still With Thee. Harriet Beecher Stowe 78
SHORT BIBLE STORIES 79
God Sees Me. 81
What Does God Want Me To Do? 82
What God Gives. 85
Jesus and His Friends. 86
Jesus Had No Home. 89
The People Loved Jesus. 93
The Sea of Galilee. 94
The Boyhood of Jesus. 97
Jesus and Sick People. 98
Talking With Our Father. 101
God is Our Father. 105
What Jesus Said About Birds and Flowers. 106
What Jesus Said About Trees. 109
Jesus and the Little Girl. 110
The Baby Hid in a Basket. 117
An Old Book of Songs. 121
A Story Which Jesus Told. 126
Some Words Which Jesus Taught the People. 130
The Boy Who Came When He Was Called. 132
{18}
Stories of David:
The Shepherd Boy Who Killed a Giant.
139
David and King Saul.
151
David and Jonathan.
156
David and His Three Brave Soldiers.
163
David and His Son Absalom.
167
The Story of a Good King. 170
Joseph and His Brethren. 177
The Boy Who Was Raised from the Dead. 193
The Kingdom of Heaven. 201
The Little Captive Maid. 205
How the People Traveled in the Lands of the Bible. 208
Houses in the Lands of the Bible. 214
Children in the Lands of the Bible. 217
Jerusalem. 218
The Jordan. 224
The Dead Sea. 226
Beth-lehem. 229
HYMNS FOR THE DAY. 231
Lord of All Being, Throned Afar. Oliver Wendell Holmes 233
On Our Way Rejoicing John S. B. Monsell 234
Of Such is the Kingdom Jemima Thompson Luke 237
Sun of My Soul. John Keble 238
Day by Day. 239
What Can Little Hands Do? Fabin 240
How Gentle God's Commands Philip Doddridge 241
Above the Clear Blue Sky John Chandler 242
BEDTIME STORIES 243
The Story of the First Christmas. 245
The Story of Palm Sunday. 251
How Jesus Gave His Life for the World. 257
{19}
The Story of the First Easter Day. 265
The Story of the First Thanksgiving. 270
Who Was the Neighbor? 279
The Good Shepherd. 282
Little Brothers of the Air and Fields. 292
SHEPHERD HYMNS. 305
Saviour, Like a Shepherd Lead Us Dorothy A. Thrupp 309
Was There Ever Kindest Shepherd? Frederick William Faber 310
Gracious Saviour, Holy Shepherd Jane E. Leeson and J. Whittemore 313
In Heavenly Love Abiding Anna L. Waring 314
The King of Love My Shepherd Is. Sir H. W. Baker 315

PRAYERS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN.317

OLD TIME VERSES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN. 325
Against Idleness and Mischief. Isaac Watts 327
Against Pride in Clothes. Isaac Watts 328
The Ant, or Emmet. Isaac Watts 329
A Morning Song. Isaac Watts 330
An Evening Song. Isaac Watts 333
The Sluggard. Isaac Watts 334
Praise for Mercies, Spiritual and Temporal. Isaac Watts 337
The Rose. Isaac Watts 338
Praise for Creation and Providence. Isaac Watts 341
A General Song of Praise to God. Isaac Watts 342
Innocent Play. Isaac Watts 343
Against Quarreling and Fighting. Isaac Watts 344
Love Between Brothers and Sisters. Isaac Watts 345
A Summer Evening. Isaac Watts 346
Summer. Jane Taylor 349
{20}
The Star (with music). Jane Taylor 350-351
The Flower and the Lady, About Getting Up. Jane Taylor 352
The Field Daisy. Jane Taylor 353
The Little Child. Jane Taylor 354
Going to Bed. Jane Taylor357
Time to Get Up. Jane Taylor 358
The Snowdrop. Jane Taylor 359
Getting Up (with music). Jane Taylor 360-361
A Fine Thing. Jane Taylor 362
A Pretty Thing. Ann Taylor 365
The Sheep. Jane Taylor 366
The Cow. Jane Taylor 369
Going to Bed (with music). Jane Taylor 370-371
Baby and Mamma. Jane Taylor 372
The Tempest. Jane Taylor 375
The Violet. Jane Taylor 376
May Day Song. John Keble 379
The Lamb. William Blake 380
Some Murmur When Their Sky is Clear. Archbishop Trench 383
Little Drops of Water. Ebenezer C. Brewer 384
CHRISTMAS HYMNS385
Christmas Lullaby John Addington Symonds 389
The Star 390
A Christmas Carol. 393
The Guiding Star William C. Dix 394
A Christmas Carol. Dinah Maria Mulock 397
Hail the Night! All Hail the Morn. Old German Choral 398
The Christmas Tree. 401
A Christmas Carol. Charles Kingsley 402
Song of the Angels Ancient Christmas Songs 405
Carol, Sweetly Carol. 406
{21}
Cradle Hymn. Martin Luther 409
Cradle Hymn. (with music) Isaac Watts 410-411
Chorus. Robert Herrick 412
Once in Royal David's City. Mrs. C. F. Alexander 415
Calm on the Listening Ear of Night. Edmund Hamilton Sears 419

HYMNS AND POEMS FOR THE TWILIGHT HOUR. 421
Ready for Bed. Ida Fay 423
Baby's Boat. George Cooper 424
Little Voices. 427
The Twilight Falls, the Night is Near. 429
Saviour, Breathe an Evening Blessing. James Edmeston 430
Summer Rain. 433
The Glorious Heavens. Addison 434
Twilight. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 437
The Pebble and the Acorn. Gould 438
A Psalm of Life. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 440
While Thee I Seek, Protecting Power. Helen Maria Williams 442
Oft in the Stilly Night. Thomas Moore 445
The Bridge. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 446
Kindness. Colesworthy 448
Perseverance. 451
The Light of Stars. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 452
We Are Seven. William Wordsworth 454
Children. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 459
One by One. Adelaide Ann Procter 461
To-day and To-morrow. 463
Still with Thee. James Drummond Burns 464
Lead, Kindly Light. John Henry Newman 467
Now the Day is Over. S. Baring-Gould 468
A Farewell. Charles Kingsley 471
Good Night and Good Morning. Lord Houghton 472
{22}
New Year's Eve. Alfred Tennyson 473
All Things Beautiful. John Keble 476
The Chambered Nautilus. Oliver Wendell Holmes 477
The Day is Done. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 481
A Child's Thought of God. Elizabeth Barrett Browning 483
Lullaby Song. From the German 484
The Pilgrims of the Night. Frederick William Faber 487

MEMORY VERSES AND PROVERBS. 489

{23}

A BIBLE PRIMER


{24}

{25}

A BIBLE ALPHABET

A Ask and ye shall receive.
B Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
C Create in me a clean heart, O God.
D Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you.
E Even Christ pleased not himself.
F Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
G Give us this day our daily bread.
H Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
I I am the bread of life.
J Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.
K Keep thy tongue from evil.
L Little children, love one another.
M My son, give me thine heart.
N Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
{26}
O Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness.
P Pray without ceasing.
Q Quit you like men, be strong.
R Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.
S Suffer the little children to come unto me.
T Teach me thy way, O Lord.
U Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks.
V Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
W What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
X Examine yourselves.
Y Ye are bought with a price.
Z Zealous of good works.

From an old alphabet belonging to Miss Clara L. Bodman, and used by her kind permission.


{27}

my father mother dear

My father.

My mother.

My dear father.

My dear mother.


"Honor thy father and thy mother."
--Exodus 20:12.

"Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord."
--Colossians 3:20.

"My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother."
--Proverbs 1:8.

{28}
I brother sister love

I love my father.

I love my mother.

I love my brother.

I love my sister.


"Have love one to another."
--John 13:35.

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."
--Colossians 3:20

"Let us love one another: for love is of God."
--I John 4:11
{29} {30}

THE DIVINE MOTHER AND THE CHILD
By Murillo (1618-1682)

Bartolome Esteban Murillo was born at Seville, Spain, January 1, 1618. Very poor at first, he afterward gained wealth and fame by his masterly work, which made him an artist of the first rank. "The peasant-painter of Spain," as he has been called, was a man of deep religious convictions. "He alone in the seventeenth century kept alive the pure flame of religious fervor which burned within the devout Italians of the early school." His Madonnas are all of an especially sweet and gentle and motherly type.


{31}
God me is

My father loves me.

My mother loves me.

God loves me.

God is my Father.

God loves me.

I love God.


"God is love."
--I John 4:8.

"We love him because he first loved us."
--I John 4:19.

"Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God."
--I John 3:1.

{32}
a gives all have home

I have a home.

I have a father.

I have a mother.

God gives me my father.

God gives me my mother.

God gives me my home.

God gives me all I have.


"Every good gift, and every perfect gift,
is from above and cometh down from the Father."
--James 1:17.

"Give us this day our daily bread."
--Matt. 6:11.

{33}{34}

A QUIET AFTERNOON IN THE UPLAND PASTURES

"Go out in the springtime among the meadows that slope from the shores of the Swiss lakes to the roots of their lower mountains There, mingled with the taller gentians and the white narcissus, the grass grows deep and free; and as you follow the winding mountain paths, beneath arching boughs, all veiled and dim with blossom--paths that forever droop and rise over the green banks and mounds sweeping down in scented undulation, steep to the blue water, studded here and there with new mown heaps, filling all the air with fainter sweetness,--look up toward the higher hills, where the waves of everlasting green roll into their long inlets among the shadows of the pines: and we may perhaps at last know the meaning of those quiet words of the 147th Psalm, 'He maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.'"--John Ruskin

{35}
see the grass
makes grow green

See the grass.

I see the grass.

The grass grows.

The grass is green.

I see the green grass.

God makes the grass.

God makes the grass grow.

God makes the green grass grow.


"He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass,
As showers that water the earth."
--Psalms 72:6.

{36}
flower lily white
rose red you

I see a flower.
The flower is a lily.
The lily is white.
I see a rose.
The rose is red.
I have a lily and a rose.
I love the lily and the rose.
Have you a flower?
I have a white flower.
God loves the flowers and makes them grow.


"Consider the lilies, how they grow.
They toil not neither do they spin."
--Matthew 6:28.

{37}{38}

RESTING BENEATH THE TREES
By Corot (1796-1875)

Jean Baptiste Camille Corot was a famous painter of landscapes. He was born at Paris, and while his work was not at first appreciated he is now recognized as one of the greatest of the French school.

  "The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned
  To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave,
  And spread the roof above them--ere he framed
  The lofty vault, to gather and roll back
  The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood,
  Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down,
  And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks
  And supplication. . . ."
--William Cullen Bryant

{39}
bird sparrow nest flies in
sorry when it hurt

Do you see the bird?
It is a sparrow.
The sparrow flies.
The sparrow makes a nest.
It makes a nest in the green grass.
See the nest in the grass!
See the sparrow fly!
God loves the sparrow.
God is sorry when the sparrow is hurt.
Do not hurt the sparrow.

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings?
And not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God."
--Luke 12:6.

{40}
day done bed will go
hear say prayer to heaven

The day is done.
The sparrow will go to bed.
It will go to bed in its nest.
The lily and the rose will go to bed.
I will go to bed.
I go to bed in my dear home.
My mother will hear me say my prayer.
I say my prayer to my Father in heaven.
My Father in heaven loves to hear me say my prayer.


"I laid me down and slept;
I awaked, for the Lord sustained me."
--Psalms 3:5.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
and cometh down from the Father of lights."
--James 1:17.

{41}{42}

THE "MATER AMABILIS IN GLORIA"
By Bodenhausen

"The extremely popular 'Mater Amabilis in Gloria,' where a girlish young mother, her long hair streaming about her, stands in upper air, poised above the great ball of the earth, holding her sweet babe to her heart. Pictures like these constantly reiterate the story of a mother's love--an old, old story, which begins again with every new birth."--Hurll

{43}
star sky above trees
shines night twinkle them

It is night.
I see a star.
The star shines at night.
The star twinkles.
The star twinkles in the sky.
Do you see the star?
It shines above the trees.
I love to see the birds, and the flowers, and the stars.
God made them all.
God loves them all.
God loves you.


"He telleth the number of the stars;
He calleth them all by their names."
Psalms 147:4.

{44}
morning sun rises hills
glad here are awaken

The night is done.
The day is here.
I awaken when it is day.
The birds awaken when it is day.
The flowers awaken when it is day.
I see the sun in the sky.
The sun rises above the hills.
The sun rises above the trees.
The birds and the flowers are glad to see the sun.
Are you glad the night is done?

"Day unto day uttereth speech,
And night unto night showeth knowledge."
--Psalms 19:2.

{45}{46}

THE INFANT SAMUEL
By Reynolds (1723-1792)

Sir Joshua Reynolds is thought by many to have been the greatest of English painters. He was a Devonshire lad, and was intended by his father for the medical profession. He early showed such aptitude for painting that he was permitted to have his way, and after studying in Italy, returned to England, where an exhibition of his work aroused great enthusiasm, and his popularity continued through his life.


{47}
this saying kneeling thanking
his beside goodness child

See this little child.
He is going to bed.
He is saying his prayer.
He is kneeling beside his bed.
He is thanking his Father in heaven for his goodness.
Do you say your prayer?
I say my prayer night and morning.

"Ask, and it shall be given you."
--Matthew 7:7.

"For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,
and his ears are open unto their prayers."
--I Peter 3:12.

{48}
sheep cows cover rain falls
eat for waters garden earth

Clouds cover the sky.
The rain falls.
The rain waters the earth.
The flowers in the garden are glad.
The red rose is glad.
The white lily is glad.
The green grass is glad.
The rain makes the grass grow.
The sheep and the cows eat the grass.
God gives the rain.
God makes the grass grow for the sheep and the cows.


"Praise ye the Lord;
Who covereth the heavens with clouds,
Who prepareth rain for the earth,
Who maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains."
Psalms 147:8.

{49}{50}

PLOWING IN PALESTINE

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission

Very little advance has been made in methods of agriculture in Palestine since the early days of which the Bible tells. The plow is often still the crooked stick, sometimes strengthened by iron, but still very primitive. It is no wonder that crops are so poor and life is so hard under these conditions


{51}
spring-time snow ice gone
robin blue-bird seeds help

The Spring-time has come.
The birds have come.
The blue-birds are flying in the air.
I see a robin in my garden.
I will go to my garden.
I will plant seeds in my garden.
The seeds will grow to be flowers.
I love to see them grow.
Have you a garden?
Do you see the birds in your garden?
What seeds do you plant in your garden?
God makes the flowers grow.
He gives the rain and the sun.
The rain and the sun help to make the flowers grow.

"Thou makest it soft with showers; thou blessest the springing thereof."
--Psalms 65:10

{52}
summer warm cool woods who
brightly bees sing pick hum

Summer is here.
The birds sing in the trees.
I hear the robins sing.
The flowers have come.
I will go to my garden and pick the roses and the lilies.
The sun shines brightly.
I love the warm sun.
The bees hum in the garden.
The woods are cool.
I love the cool woods.
Who gives us the warm summer days?
God gives us the summer days.


"Thou hast made summer and winter."
--Psalms 74:17.

{53}{54}
THE AUTUMN WOODS

 "The autumn-time has come;
  On woods that dream of bloom,
  And over purpling vines,
  The low sun fainter shines.

  The aster-flower is failing,
  The hazel's gold is paling;
  Yet overhead more near
  The eternal stars appear!"
--John Greenleaf Whittier

{55}
autumn frosty yellow large
peaches moon with nuts
gather crack fire before

This is autumn.
The summer has gone.
The nights are frosty.
The days are cool.
The trees are red and yellow.
The leaves are falling from the trees.
Soon the snow will come.
The moon is large in the sky.
It looks like a great yellow ball.
The stars shine brightly.
I love to see the moon and the stars. {56}
I love the large red apples.
Have you apples in your garden?
I love the peaches and the pears.
I go with my father to the woods, and gather nuts.
I will crack the nuts on the frosty nights, and eat them before the fire.
God made the apples, and nuts, and peaches, and pears.
I will thank God for his goodness.

"Thou crownest the year with thy goodness."
--Psalms 65:11.

"The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord."
--Psalms 33:5.

"The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof."
--Psalms 24:1.

"The pastures are clothed with flocks:
the valleys also are covered over with grain."
--Psalms 65:18.

{57}{58}
WINTER
 "Leafless are the trees; their purple branches
  Spread themselves abroad, like reefs of coral,
     Rising silent
  In the Red Sea of the winter sunset."
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"A chill no coat, however stout,
Of homespun stuff could quite shut out,
A hard, dull bitterness of cold,
That checked, mid-vein, the circling race
Of life blood in the sharpened face,
The coming of the snowstorm told."
--John Greenleaf Whittier


{59}
winter play sleep
cold frozen covers
under lake fort

It is winter.
Summer and autumn have gone.
The air is cold.
The robins and the bluebirds have gone.
The snow falls from the sky.
The snow covers the hills and the woods and the fields.
The flowers sleep under the snow in my garden.
They will wake when it is spring. {60}
The lake is frozen.
I see the white snow in my garden.
I love to play in the snow.
I will make a fort of the white snow in my garden.
I love the cold winter days.
God gives us the winter days as well as the summer days.

"He giveth snow like wool;
He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes."
--Psalms 147:16.

{61}{62}
THE SEA
"Unchangeable save to thy wild waves' play,
Time writes no wrinkles on thine azure brow--
Such as creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now."
--Lord Byron

{63}
Harold beach man
sea-shore dug owns
went sand sailing
ships

Harold went to the sea-shore.
He went with his father and his mother.
It was summer when he went.
The days were long and bright.
He played all day on the beach.
He dug in the sand.
He made hills in the sand.
When he went to bed at night, he heard the sea. {64}
He said his prayer beside his mother, and the sea sang him to sleep with its song.
He saw the sea when the sun rose in the morning.
The sun rose above the sea, when the night was gone, and the stars went to sleep.
In the bright morning, he saw the ships sailing on the sea.
No man owns the sea.
God made it, and it is his.

"The sea is his, and he made it."
--Psalms 95:5.

{65}{66}
THE MOUNTAINS
"You should have seen that long hill-range
  With gaps of brightness riven,
How through each pass and hollow streamed
  The purpling lights of heaven,--

"Rivers of gold-mist flowing down
  From far celestial fountains,--
The great sun flaming through the rifts
  Beyond the wall of mountains."
--John Greenleaf Whittier

{67}
Margaret high brooks
flow down climb
look beautiful think
often near

The mountains are high.
They are often covered with trees.
Brooks flow down the mountains.
Margaret went to the mountains in summer.
She could not climb the mountains.
She played in the woods and fields near the mountains.
She picked the red and white and yellow flowers in the fields.
She saw the birds and the bees and the beautiful trees. {68}
She loved the brook.
She loved to see the mountains.
They were beautiful when the sun set.
When she said her prayer at night, she looked at the beautiful hills and mountains.
It made her think of God to see the mountains which he made.

"I will lift mine eyes unto the hills,
From whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the Lord,
Which made heaven and earth."
--Psalms 121:1,2.

{69}

HYMNS FOR THE MORNING


{70}

{71}
WHEN MORNING GILDS THE SKIES

  When morning gilds the skies,
  My heart awaking cries,
    May Jesus Christ be praised!
  Alike at work and prayer,
  To Jesus I repair;
    May Jesus Christ be praised!

  To Thee, O God above,
  I cry with glowing love,
    May Jesus Christ be praised!
  This song of sacred joy,
  It never seems to cloy,
    May Jesus Christ be praised!

  Does sadness fill my mind?
  A solace here I find,
    May Jesus Christ be praised!
  Or fades my earthly bliss?
  My comfort still is this,
    May Jesus Christ be praised!

  When evil thoughts molest,
  With this I shield my breast,
    May Jesus Christ be praised!
  The powers of darkness fear,
  When this sweet chant they hear,
    May Jesus Christ be praised!

  When sleep her balm denies,
  My silent spirit sighs,
    May Jesus Christ be praised!   {72}
  The night becomes as day,
  When from the heart we say,
    May Jesus Christ be praised!

  Be this, while life is mine,
  My canticle divine,
    May Jesus Christ be praised!
  Be this the eternal song,
  Through all the ages long,
    May Jesus Christ be praised!
--From the German.

{73}{74}

THE BOY JESUS
By Winterstein

"Whatever father or mother wanted done in the house, fetching water, drink, bread, meat, looking after the house and other things of that sort, whatever he was bidden, that did the dear little Jesus, like any other child."

--Martin Luther

{75}
A SONG OF THANKSGIVING

  We plough the fields and scatter
    The good seed on the land,
  But it is fed and watered
    By God's almighty hand;
  He sends the snow in winter,
    The warmth to swell the grain,
  The breezes and the sunshine,
    And soft refreshing rain.
      All good gifts around us
        Are sent from heaven above,
      Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
        For all His love!

  He only is the Maker
    Of all things near and far;
  He paints the wayside flower,
    He lights the evening star;
  The winds and waves obey Him,
    By Him the birds are fed;
  Much more to us, His children,
    He gives our daily bread.
      All good gifts around us
        Are sent from heaven above,
      Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
        For all His love!

  We thank Thee, then, O Father,
    For all things bright and good,
  The seedtime and the harvest,
    Our life, our health, our food;   {76}
  Accept the gifts we offer
    For all Thy love imparts,
  And what Thou most desirest,
    Our humble, thankful hearts.
      All good gifts around us
        Are sent from heaven above,
      Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
        For all His love!
--From the German of Mathias Claudius.

{77}
HEAVEN IS NOT REACHED AT A SINGLE BOUND

  Heaven is not reached at a single bound,
    But we build the ladder on which we rise,
    From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,
  And we mount to the summit round by round.

  I count this thing to be grandly true,
    That a noble deed is a step toward God,--
    Lifting a soul from the common clod,
  To a purer air and a broader view.
--J. G. Holland.

By permission of Charles Scribner's Sons.

{78}
STILL, STILL WITH THEE

  Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
    When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee:
  Fairer than morning, lovelier than the daylight,
    Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.

  Alone with Thee, amid the mystic shadows,
    The solemn hush of Nature newly born;
  Alone with Thee, in breathless adoration,
    In the calm dew and freshness of the morn.

  When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,
    Its closing eye looks up to Thee in prayer;
  Sweet the repose, beneath Thy wings o'ershadowing,
    But sweeter still to wake and find Thee there.

  So shall it be at last in that bright morning
    When the soul waketh, and life's shadows flee;
  O in that hour, and fairer than day's dawning,
    Shall rise the glorious thought, I am with Thee.
--Harriet Beecher Stowe.

{79}

SHORT BIBLE STORIES

{80}

{81}

GOD SEES ME

When does God see me?
God sees me when I am good, and it makes him glad.
God sees me when I am bad, and it makes him sorry.
God sees me when I play, and knows if I am kind.
God sees me when I am at school, and knows if I am faithful.
God sees me when I am at home, and knows if I obey my father and my mother.
God sees me when I am cross, and knows how ugly I look and feel.
God sees me when I am happy, and knows how glad I am.
God sees me all day long, and wants me to love him.
God sees me all night long, and watches over me while I sleep.

  "When I run about all day,
  When I kneel at night to pray,
    God sees.
  Need I ever know a fear
  Night and day, my Father near?
    God sees."

"Thou God seest me."--Genesis 16:13.

{82}

WHAT DOES GOD WANT ME TO DO?

God wants me to be kind to other children.
God wants me to be gentle and loving.
God wants me to be kind to animals.
God wants me to obey my father and my mother.
God wants me to care more for others than for myself.
God wants me to keep the Sabbath day.
God wants me to pray to him every day.
God wants me to tell the truth.
God wants me to be happy all the day.
God wants me to be good, and then I shall be happy.
God wants me to do these things because he loves me.
I ought to want to do the things he wants me to do.

{83}{84}

PLOWING IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE
From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.

How strange it looks to see a camel harnessed to a plow! If you look closely you will see that the plow is strange, too. It is a crooked branch with a plowshare fastened to it. It has only one handle. It was a plow almost exactly like this that was used in the times of the Bible. This picture was taken in the plains of old Philistia.

{85}

WHAT GOD GIVES

God is always giving.
God gives to the trees their leaves and fruit.
God gives to the earth the rain in summer to make the grass grow, and the snow in winter to cover the ground.
God gives to the beasts and to the birds their food.
God gives to us our homes and friends and all that makes us happy.
God gives us the Bible to tell us how he loves us.
God gives us sweet sleep at night.
God gives us health to enjoy all his gifts.
What has God given you to-day? Have you thanked him for it?

"Who giveth food to the hungry."
--Psalms 146:7.

"Who giveth to the beast his food."
--Psalms 147:9.

"So he giveth his beloved sleep."
--Psalms 127:2.

"He giveth snow like wool."
--Psalms 147:16.

"Give us this day our daily bread."
--Matthew 6:11.

"My peace I give unto you."
--John 14:27.

"Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all."
--I Timothy 2:6.

{86}

JESUS AND HIS FRIENDS

Jesus had many friends.
Some of them were people whom he had healed.
Some of them had heard him talk, and had learned to love him.
Sometimes they stayed with him, day after day.
Jesus loved his friends.
Jesus told his friends about God.
Jesus was so kind and loving to his friends that they could not help loving him.
The friends of Jesus were called disciples.
Disciple means learner.
The disciples learned what Jesus had taught.
Jesus picked out from his friends a few to be with him all the time.
They were sometimes called disciples, too.
Sometimes they were called apostles.
Apostle means one who is sent.
Jesus sent the apostles out to tell others about himself.
There were twelve of the apostles.
The names of three of them were Peter, James, and John.

{87}{88}

BEAUTIFUL NAZARETH: OUTLOOK FROM HILLS ABOVE TOWN TO HISTORIC ESDRAELON
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

After he began his active ministry Jesus had no home, but while he was a boy his home was in the town of Nazareth, beautifully situated among the hills of Galilee. A traveler there describes the town as it now is;--

"Almost in the center of this chain of hills there is a singular cleft in the limestone, forming the entrance to a little valley. As a traveler leaves the plain he will ride up a steep and narrow pathway, broidered with grass and flowers, through scenery which is neither colossal nor overwhelming, but infinitely beautiful and picturesque. Beneath him, on the right-hand side, the vale will gradually widen, until it becomes about a quarter of a mile in breadth. The basin of the valley is divided by hedges of cactus into little fields and gardens, which, about the fall of the spring rains, wear an aspect of indescribable calm, and glow with a tint of the richest green. Beside the narrow pathway, at no great distance apart from each other, are two wells, and the women who draw water there are more beautiful, and the ruddy, bright-eyed shepherd boys who sit or play by the well sides, in their gay-colored Oriental costume, are a happier, bolder, brighter-looking race than the traveler will have seen elsewhere. Gradually the valley opens into a little natural amphitheater of hills, supposed by some to be the crater of an extinct volcano; and there, clinging to the hollows of a hill, which rises to the height of some five hundred feet above it, lie, 'like a handful of pearls in a goblet of emerald,' the flat roofs and narrow streets of a little Eastern town. There is a small church; the massive buildings of a convent; the tall minaret of a mosque; a clear, abundant fountain; houses built of white stone, and gardens scattered among them, umbrageous with figs and olives, and rich with the white and scarlet blossoms of orange and pomegranate. In spring, at least, everything about the place looks indescribably bright and soft; doves murmur in the trees; the hoopoe flits about in ceaseless activity; the bright blue roller-bird, the commonest and loveliest bird of Palestine, flashes like a living sapphire over fields which are enameled with innumerable flowers."


{89}

JESUS HAD NO HOME

Jesus had no home of his own after he grew up.
Once a man wanted to be his disciple.
Jesus wanted this man to know that he had no fine house where he could entertain him.
He said that the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but that he had not where to lay his head.
His friends asked him to visit them.
They were always glad when he came to see them.
Sometimes a rich man asked Jesus and his friends to dinner.
He made no difference between the rich and the poor among his friends.
One of the homes where he liked to be was the home of a fisherman.
The fisherman's name was Simon. {90}
Sometimes he was called by another name, Peter.
He caught fish in the lake of Galilee.
His house stood near the lake.
His fishing boat was drawn up upon the shore.
Another home where Jesus liked to stay was the home of Lazarus.
Lazarus had two sisters. Their names were Mary and Martha.
The brother and the sisters lived in a little town called Bethany.
Jesus loved these people very much.
Why was Jesus so poor?

"Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor,
that ye through his poverty might become rich."
--2 Corinthians 8:90

{91}{92}

BETHANY
From a picture taken by Mrs. Frank L. Goodspeed, and used by her kind permission.

This is a picture of the village of Bethany, not far from Jerusalem. It was here in the home of Mary and Martha that Jesus liked so much to stay.


{93}

THE PEOPLE LOVED JESUS

The people loved Jesus.
They crowded about him to hear him talk.
Sometimes Jesus and his friends did not have time to eat.
Sometimes the people came after sunset.
Sometimes they came early in the morning.
Sometimes so many people came that the house would not hold them.
Then they had to go out of doors.
Jesus loved to talk with the people out of doors.
He loved to look up and see the blue sky and the green hills.
He told the people many stories while out of doors.
Jesus never turned the people away without trying to help them.

"Many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them."
--Mark 2:2.

"And he went forth again by the seaside, and many came unto him, and he taught them."
--Mark 2:13.

"And all the city was gathered together at the door where Jesus was."
--Mark 1:33.

"And Jesus with his disciples withdrew to the sea . . . and a great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came unto him."
--Mark 3:7, 8.

{94}

THE SEA OF GALILEE

Do you know what a lake is?
Did you ever see a lake?
There was a lake in the country where Jesus lived.
It was a pretty lake.
There were hills and mountains all about it.
There were towns and villages on its shores.
Jesus sometimes stayed in these villages.
The lake had a long name.
It was called Gennesaret.
It also had other names.
Sometimes it was called the Sea of Tiberias.
Sometimes it was called the Sea of Galilee.
There were many boats on the Lake of Gennesaret.
How swiftly they sailed along!
How the little waves danced on the waters!
How pretty the hills were on either side!
Some of the boats belonged to the friends of Jesus.
Sometimes these friends took Jesus in their boats.
One day he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
The people were crowding about him.
He could not talk because they crowded so.
He had the boat pushed out a little way from shore.
Then he sat down and taught the people.
The people all sat on the shore and listened.

{95}{96}

TIBERIAS, ON THE COAST OF THE SEA OF GALILEE
Used by special permission of the Detroit Photograph Company.

On this beautiful lake Jesus very often sailed with his fishermen disciples.
At that time there were many towns and cities on its shores, but now, except for a few small hamlets, the once populous shores are desolate. But the lake is still as beautiful, its blue waters sparkle in the sun, and the stars looking down from the brilliant eastern sky are reflected in its bosom as when Jesus "walked in Galilee".


{97}

THE BOYHOOD OF JESUS

When Jesus was a boy, he lived at Nazareth.
Nazareth was a village among the hills.
It was itself on a hill.
All about it were green fields.
In the spring, the fields were filled with pretty flowers.
Jesus' father was a carpenter.
He made doors and chairs and tables.
Jesus helped about the shop.
He was a good boy and loved to help his father.
He helped his mother to draw water from the well.
He went to school and learned to read and write.
He went to church on the Sabbath.
The church to which he went was called a synagogue.
Do you suppose Jesus played with other boys and girls?
He played with them in the village streets.
He was always kind to them.
He never teased them or did things that were mean.
There is still a village of Nazareth.
The hills and the fields about it are the same as then.

{98}

JESUS AND SICK PEOPLE

Jesus was very sorry for people who were sick.
How pale and thin some of them looked!
How some of them suffered!
Jesus loved to heal them.
He was glad to see them get well again.
How happy they and their friends were when they were made well!
How glad the little children were to see their fathers and mothers come home again, well!
As soon as people knew that Jesus could heal the sick, they brought all their friends who were sick to Jesus.
Sometimes they brought sick children.
How glad Jesus was to make the children well!

"And at even when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were sick . . . And all the city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many that were sick."
--Mark 1:32-34.

"And when they were come out of the boat, straightway the people knew him, and ran round about that whole region, and began to carry about on their beds those that were sick, where they heard he was."
--Mark 6:54-56.

{99}{100}

NAZARETH

From an old photograph in the possession of the Springfield Public Library, and used by kind permission.

This is a picture of the village of Nazareth, where Jesus lived when he was a boy. When he climbed the hills about the town he had a most beautiful view of the mountains and valleys of Palestine. Looking westward, the waters of the Mediterranean were spread out before him, and he could see the white sails of the passing ships.

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TALKING WITH OUR FATHER

Because God is our Father we want to talk with him.
We want to tell him about many things.
We want to tell him how happy we are.
If we have been naughty, we want to tell him how sorry we are.
Sometimes we want to tell him how much we love him.
Why do we do this?
When people give us gifts, it is polite to say, "thank you."
God gives us gifts, and we should say "thank you," to him.
When we love people we want to talk with them.
If we love God we will want to talk with him.
When we have been naughty to anyone, we are sorry, and we want to say "please forgive me."
When we have been naughty, we ought also to ask God to forgive us. {102}
It makes God sorry when we are naughty.
Would it be right to get up in the morning, and play all day when your father was at home, without saying one word to him?
Would it make your father glad or sorry?
Is it right, then, to take gifts from your Father in heaven all day long, and not say a word to him?
Does it make him glad or sorry?
Talking with our Father in heaven, we call praying.
It is telling him all the things we want to tell a loving father.

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JESUS HEALING THE SICK
By Heinrich Hofmann

Jesus was rightly called the "Great Physician." In the picture are shown some of the sufferers whom Jesus delighted to help--the poor little child, white and still in its mother's arms, the lame, and the blind.

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GOD IS OUR FATHER

We call God our Father.
The prayer which Jesus taught us to pray, begins, "Our Father."
Why do we call God our Father?
Because God does for us what a good father does for his children.
A good father loves his children.
God loves his children.
A good father gets food and clothing, and other things which his children need.
God gets for his children what he sees they need.
A good father wants his children to be good.
God wants his children to be good.
A good father will not let his children have what would be bad for them.
God will not let us have what will be bad for us.
When we call God our Father, it is a way of saying, "God loves me, God will take care of me."

"Our Father who art in heaven."
--Matthew 6:9.

"One is your father, even he who is in heaven."
--Matthew 23:9.

"One God and Father of all."
--Ephesians 4:6.

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WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT BIRDS AND FLOWERS

"Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto his stature? And why are ye anxious concerning raiment?

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field, . . . shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

--Matt. 6:26-30.


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THE LAKE OF GALILEE

Another picture of the beautiful lake on which Jesus so often sailed with his disciples. The lake abounded in fish, and there was a great fleet of fishing boats which sailed about the lake and brought the fish to the many towns and cities on its shores. Some of Jesus' disciples were fishermen.

"And walking by the lake of Galilee, he saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake; for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

"And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

"And going on from thence he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they straightway left the boat and their father, and followed him."

--Matt. 4:18-22


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WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT TREES

"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits ye shall know them."

--Matt. 7:16-20.

"And he spake to them a parable: Behold the fig tree and all the trees; when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that the summer is now nigh at hand."

Luke 21:29-30.

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JESUS AND THE LITTLE GIRL

Beseech Beg.
Suffered Allowed.
Many weeping and wailing In the Bible times, when a person died, women were hired to weep and wail. This was supposed to honor the dead.

Once upon a time, there was a man named Jairus. He was a very important man among the Jews. He was one of the rulers of the synagogue; that means that he was one of those who had charge of the worship in the synagogue or church of the town. This man had a dear little daughter. This little girl was twelve years old, and her father and her mother loved her very much. One day she was taken sick. Her parents were very anxious about her, for each day she seemed to be growing worse. Then her father remembered that Jesus could cure people who were sick. So he went to find Jesus, and ask him if he would come and make his little girl well. Jesus was very busy when Jairus found him. He was talking to a great multitude of people. Jairus pushed through the crowd, and fell down at Jesus' feet, and begged him to come and make his little girl well. Jesus was very glad to come, but there were so many people about him that he had to walk very slowly. He stopped to heal a poor sick woman on the way. At last he drew near Jairus' house, but people came out of the house and said it was too late, for the little girl was dead. How badly the poor father felt then! But Jesus told him not to be afraid, just to have faith in him. Here is the whole story, as it is told in the Bible:--


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JESUS AND THE LITTLE GIRL

By Gustav Richter (1823-1884)

  "The healing of His seamless dress
    Is by our beds of pain;
  We touch Him in life's throng and press,
    And we are whole again.

  "Through Him the first fond prayers are said
    Our lips of childhood frame,
  The last low whispers of our dead
    Are burdened with His name."
--John Greenleaf Whittier


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One day a great multitude was gathered about Jesus as he taught by the sea. And there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and seeing him, he falleth at his feet, and beseecheth him much, saying:--

"My little daughter is at the point of death: I pray thee, that thou come and lay hands on her, that she may be made whole, and live."

And he went with him; and a great multitude followed him.

As he approached the house, people came out, who said to Jairus:--

"Thy daughter is dead; why troublest thou the Master any further?"

But Jesus, not heeding the word spoken, saith unto the ruler of the synagogue:--

"Fear not, only believe."

And they come to the house of the ruler of the synagogue; and he beholdeth a tumult, and many weeping and wailing greatly. And when he had entered in, he saith unto them:-- {114}

"Why make ye a tumult, and weep? The child is not dead but sleepeth."

And they laughed him to scorn. But he, having put them all forth, taketh the father of the child and her mother and them that were with him, and goeth in where the child was. And taking the child by the hand, he saith unto her:--

"Talitha cumi," which means in the language of the country, "Little girl, I say unto thee, Arise."

And straightway the little girl rose up, and walked.

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EGYPTIAN TEMPLE ON THE ISLAND OF PHILAE

From an old photograph in the possession of the Springfield Public Library, and used by kind permission.

This is one of the beautiful temples of Egypt on an island in the river Nile. This island has lately been covered by the waters of the great artificial lake formed by the dam built by the English government across the Nile to control the flow of the river. In the foreground is seen a "dahabiyeh," one of the peculiar boats for sailing upon the Nile.

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THE BABY HID IN A BASKET

Flags Plants which grow in the water at the edges of ponds and rivers.
Bulrushes Plants which were used for the weaving of baskets.
Ark A woven basket.
Pitch A sticky substance daubed on the basket to keep out the water.
Handmaid A servant.

Once upon a time a little boy was born to some poor Hebrew people who were slaves in Egypt. The pharaoh, or king of that country, did not like the Hebrew people, and he said that all the little boy babies born to them must be killed. But the mother of this little boy wanted to save her pretty baby if she could. So she hid him three months. And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with pitch; and she put the child therein, and laid it in the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done with him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river; and her maidens walked {118} along by the river side; and she saw the ark among the flags, and sent her handmaid to fetch it. And she opened it, and saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."

Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I call thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?"

And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go."

And the maid went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, "Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages."

And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses.

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THE RIVER NILE

From an old photograph in the possession of the Springfield Public Library, and used by kind permission.

The great river Nile was the very life of the country of Egypt which lies along its banks. A little way back from the river the desert begins. On the little green strip of the banks lived the proud and powerful people who enslaved the Israelites. A fleet of dahabiyehs is being loaded by the shore.

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AN OLD BOOK OF SONGS

Gates and Courts The gates and open spaces of the temple of God.
Endureth Lasteth.
Faithfulness God will keep his promises.
Unto all generations Always.

In a city of the Bible land, called Jerusalem, there was a great temple, a sort of big church. Every day people came to this temple to worship in it. On the Sabbath, all the people came to worship in it. They did not sit in seats as we do in church, but stood up and listened. In front of where they stood were steps. Here, where all the people could see, stood a great band of singers dressed in white robes. Near by, were men with silver trumpets. When they blew the trumpets, all the people bowed down to pray. Then the singers sang praises to God, and the musicians played upon all the instruments of music, and the great temple was filled with glad, joyous song. The book of songs from which they sang is the book of Psalms in our Bible. Many of the songs were calls to the people to praise God for his goodness. Here is one of them:--

  Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
  Serve the Lord with gladness:
  Come before his presence with singing.   {122}
  Know ye that the Lord he is God:
  It is he that hath made us, and we are his;
  We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
  And into his courts with praise:
  Give thanks unto him, and bless his name.
  For the Lord is good; and his mercy endureth for ever;
  And his faithfulness unto all generations.

Here is another beautiful song of praise:--
  O come, let us sing unto the Lord:
  Let us make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation.
  Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving,
  Let us make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
  In his hand are the deep places of the earth;
  The heights of the mountains are his also.
  The sea is his, and he made it;
  And his hands formed the dry land.
  O come, let us worship and bow down;
  Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker:
  For he is our God,
  And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

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THE PYRAMIDS AND THE SPHINX

From an old photograph in the possession of the Springfield Public Library, and used by kind permission.

The great pyramids of Egypt are among the wonders of the world. They are the tombs of some of the Pharaohs. They are great masses of stone, and we can hardly imagine how in those days it was possible to build them. The sphinx is a great stone figure of a beast with a human face. The pyramids and the sphinx were built before Joseph came to Egypt.


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Here is a song of trust in God, who watches over us day and night:--

  I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains:
  From whence shall my help come?
  My help cometh from the Lord,
  Which made heaven and earth.
  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved;
  He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
  Behold, he that keepeth Israel
  Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
  The Lord is thy keeper:
  The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
  The sun shall not smite thee by day,
  Nor the moon by night.
  The Lord shall keep thee from all evil;
  He shall keep thy soul.
  The Lord shall keep thy going out and thy coming in,
  From this time forth and for evermore.

The shortest song of all those in the book is a song of praise:--

  O praise the Lord, all ye nations:
  Praise him, all ye peoples.
  For his merciful kindness is great toward us:
  And the truth of the Lord endureth for ever.
  Praise ye the Lord.

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A STORY WHICH JESUS TOLD

Straightway At once.
Tribulation Trouble.
Persecution Injury done one by an enemy.

Jesus often told the people little stories when he was teaching them to be good. These little stories he called parables. Here is one of the parables:--

THE STORY OF THE SOWER

And Jesus said, "Behold the sower went forth to sow; and, as he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them: and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth; and straightway they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth, and when the sun was risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And others fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them: and others fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty."


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THRESHING IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE:

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.

What a strange company of animals we have here! A camel, two oxen, and a little white donkey! And is this not a hard way to thresh out the grain? This field, with its beasts at work, does not much resemble a great wheat field in the western states of America, with its wonderful machinery. It shows how little progress has been made in the East, to find the same methods employed now as in Bible times.


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Then Jesus explained the story to his disciples in this way. He said, "When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the wayside. And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth. And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. And he that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; who verily beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty."

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SOME THINGS WHICH JESUS TAUGHT THE PEOPLE

At one time Jesus went up the slopes of a mountain, and many people gathered about him and he taught them these words, which are called

THE BEATITUDES.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God.

"Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. {131} Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

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THE BOY WHO CAME WHEN HE WAS CALLED

Wax To grow.
Ark of God A box of wood which was kept in the temple, and which the Jews thought was very precious and sacred.

There was once a woman who lived in the Bible land, and her name was Hannah. She had a little boy named Samuel. When Samuel was a baby, his mother made up her mind that she would give him to God, to serve in the temple. So she took him to the temple, and as soon as he was old enough he helped the good priest Eli about his work. Every year Hannah made a little coat for her boy, and gave it to him, when she came to see him at the temple. It was very hard for Hannah to have her dear little boy away from home, but she was very happy when she came to see him every year, and heard what a good boy he was. The old priest Eli was very fond of him. His own sons were very bad men, and that made him love Samuel all the more. Here is a story about Samuel and Eli, which shows what a good and obedient boy he was. Samuel grew up to be a very wise and a very great man, and served his country and God faithfully all his life.


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A DRUSE FAMILY

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.

The Druses are a remarkable people living on the mountains of Lebanon in the northern part of Palestine. For a thousand years they have been a separate people, preserving many of the customs and manners of living of Bible times. This makes them a very interesting people to us. Most of them are well to do, but there is occasionally a poor family like the one shown in our picture. You will notice the cow shed at the front door, and the family dog, but can you see the donkey? What looks like a great brush heap in the middle of the picture is really a little donkey loaded with brush! If you look sharply you may see his little feet. At the left of the picture, on the hilltop, are the ruins of an old castle built by the Crusaders.


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And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; and ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; that the Lord called Samuel; and he answered:--

"Here am I."

And he ran unto Eli and said, "Here am I; for thou calledst me."

And he said, "I called not; lie down again."

And he went and lay down.

And the Lord called yet again, "Samuel."

And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here am I; for thou didst call me."

And he answered, "I called not, my son; lie down again."

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here am I; for thou didst call me." And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel:-- {136}

"Go, lie down: and it shall be if he call thee, that thou shalt say, 'Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.'"

So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, "Samuel, Samuel."

Then Samuel answered, "Speak, for thy servant heareth."


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BETHLEHEM

This is a picture of the village as seen close at hand, the Church of the Nativity in the foreground.

"Seated on the summit level of the hill country of Judah, with deep gorges descending east to the Dead Sea, and west to the plains of Philistia, the shepherds of Bethlehem had to contend not only with bears and lions, but also with human enemies, the Philistines on the west, and Arab robbers on the east. They would therefore from childhood be accustomed to bear fatigue, hunger, heat and cold, both by night and by day, and also to brave every kind of danger and fight with every kind of antagonist. Thus the youthful David learned to sling stones when he led his father's flocks over the hills, and thus was he prepared to conquer Goliath; and so, too, by defending his charge against lions and bears, he learned to face lion-like men in war and conquer them."--"The Land and the Book"

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STORIES OF DAVID

THE SHEPHERD BOY WHO KILLED A GIANT

Cubit. A measure used in Bible lands, thought to be about nineteen inches. The span was another measure, about half a cubit. According to this, the height of Goliath was about ten feet. A very tall giant indeed!
Greaves Armor for the legs.
Target A round shield.
Weaver's Beam The heavy round piece of wood used in old looms.

Once upon a time there lived in the little village of Bethlehem among the hills of Judea, a shepherd lad whose name was David. Every day he led his flock of sheep to the greenest pasture and then watered them at the still pools of water.

This work was very pleasant when the weather was fair and warm, but sometimes it grows very cold in the hill country of Judea. The wind blows and the ground is covered with snow. Sometimes the shepherd is forced to stay out all night with his flock. Sometimes a lamb {140} is lost, and the shepherd has to search all night in the darkness, along dangerous paths in the hills. Sometimes wild beasts attack the flock and the shepherd must beat them off. Sometimes the wild people of the East try to carry off the sheep, and the shepherd is in danger of his life.

But this hard work and constant danger made David a strong, brave boy. He grew very skillful with the sling, which was a weapon much used in those days. With it even a boy could throw a stone very hard and far. Once when he was keeping the flock, a bear came to steal a lamb, and, at another time, a mountain lion, and David killed them both.

While David was still no more than a big boy, war broke out between his country and the Philistines. These people lived in the lower country to the west of Judea, and the two nations were very often at war. This time the two armies camped on opposite sides of a narrow valley.

The Philistines had a giant in their army, who used to come out every day and challenge anyone in the army of the Israelites to fight. This is how the giant is described:--


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WATER WORKS IN OLD PHILISTIA

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.

This unusual picture was taken at the village of Yebnah, between. Jaffa and Ashdod, in the country of old Philistia. The camel is harnessed to a pole, and, walking in a circle, turns the clumsy machinery which lifts the water from the well.

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"And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders, and the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and a servant bearing a shield went before him."

Every day this great giant came out before the army and shouted out his challenge. "Choose you a man for you," he cried, "and let him come to me. If he be able to fight with me and kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants and serve us."

What a terrible sight he must have been with the sun shining on his bright brass armor, and his great roaring voice, which echoed among the hills! It is no wonder that the whole army of the Israelites was afraid, and that no champion was brave enough to come out to meet him.

All this time David was at home taking care of the sheep. He had three older brothers who were away with the army, but David was thought too young to be a soldier. It must have {144} been very hard for such a brave boy to stay at home, but he was a good boy as well as a brave one, and he patiently did his work.

One day David's mother had made some very nice bread, and some cheese, and she remembered that the boys in camp would have very poor food. So David's father said he might go up to camp and take some roasted corn and the bread to his brothers, and he sent, too, ten cheeses to the captain of the boys' company.

David was delighted to go. He came quickly to the camp, and, leaving his bread, and corn, and cheese with a servant in the rear, went right up to the front where the line of battle was intrenched. He was just in time to see Goliath come out and shout his challenge. Just then David's oldest brother caught sight of him, and thought he had run away from home to see the battle.

"What are you doing here, David?" he shouted angrily. "Why have you left that little flock of sheep to be eaten up by wild beasts in the pastures? You are a naughty boy, and you have just come here to see the battle."

David replied, "What have I done now? Isn't there a good reason why I have come?"


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AN EASTERN SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.

This is an exceptionally fine picture of a flock of sheep and their shepherd as they appear in the country of the Bible. This picture was taken in the springtime on the beautiful plain of Sharon which borders the seacoast from Joppa to Mt. Carmel. The prophet Isaiah says, "Sharon shall be a pasturage for flocks." The picture shows how the whole plain is carpeted with bright colored flowers.


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And there was good reason, when no one in all the army was brave enough to fight Goliath.

David went to king Saul, who was the general of the army, and offered to fight the giant. The king was very much surprised, and told him he was only a boy, while the giant had been a soldier for many years.

But David told Saul how he had killed the lion and the bear, and said that the God who helped him in his fight with these wild beasts would help him in his fight with the giant.

Then Saul allowed him to try, and offered him a suit of armor. David tried it on, but it was not what the shepherd boy had been used to wear, so he would not take it.

He went down to the brook and picked out five smooth, round stones, just right for his sling. Then, with his shepherd's staff and bag and his sling, he went out of the lines of the army to meet the giant.

When the great giant saw the shepherd lad, he laughed, and then he grew very angry.

"Am I a dog," he said, "that you come to fight me with a shepherd's stick? Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field."

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Then little David answered, "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied."

Then Goliath marched forward in all his brass armor to kill David; and David ran, too, straight toward the giant. When he was at the right distance he put a stone into his sling and took good aim. Away went the stone and struck the giant right in the middle of the forehead! Down he fell on his face with a crash.

Then David marched up and drew the giant's great sword out of its sheath and cut off his head.

What a shout arose from the army of Israel when they saw that the great giant whom they so much feared, was dead! And this is the way a brave boy killed a great boastful giant, with all his bragging words and his brass armor.

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THE "TOMB OF RACHEL" WITH BETHLEHEM IN THE DISTANCE

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Fontaine Meriwether, and used by her kind permission.

This picture is chiefly interesting for the beautiful view it gives of Bethlehem, lying white against the hillside in the distance.


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DAVID AND KING SAUL

After David had killed the giant Goliath, King Saul would not let him go back to his father's house at Bethlehem, but made him stay at the court, and gave him a high command in the army. King Saul was not well. He had a disease of the mind which made him at times almost, if not quite, insane. At such times he was very sad and gloomy. David could play very sweetly on the harp. When the king felt this trouble in his mind, he would send for David, who would play on the harp and the playing would soothe and calm the king so that he would be himself again.

David was a poet; he not only played upon the harp but he wrote some of the beautiful songs or psalms which he sang. In some of these songs he told about the love of God, who cares for his children as the shepherd cares for his flock.

The poet Browning wrote a beautiful poem about Saul and David and how the skillful playing of the shepherd had helped the king. Here {152} is a stanza of the poem. David is supposed to be telling someone about his playing to the king.

  "Then I tuned my harp,--took off the lilies
    we twine round its chords
  Lest they snap 'neath the stress of the noontide
    --those sunbeams like swords!
  And I first played the tune all our sheep know,
    as, one after one,
  So docile they come to the pen-door
    till folding be done.
  They are white and untorn by the bushes,
    for lo, they have fed
  Where the long grasses stifle the water
    within the stream's bed;
  And now one after one seeks its lodging,
    as star follows star
  Into eve and the blue far above us,
    --so blue and so far!"

But in spite of David's playing the king's health grew worse. He became very jealous of David. David was young and strong and handsome, and a favorite with everyone. Saul at last came to hate him. Once he threw his spear at David, but missed his aim and David escaped. David was afraid that the king would kill him, so he gathered a few bold men about him, and became an outlaw. Day after day Saul and his soldiers pursued David but he always managed to escape, hiding in caves by day and marching by night.


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THE CONVENT OF MAR-SARBA IN THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA

From an old photograph in the possession of the Springfield Public Library, and used by kind permission.

It was in this wild and desolate country on the eastern edge of Palestine that David hid in caves and ravines when pursued by his enemy, King Saul.



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More than once David had Saul in his power and might have put him to death, but he was too brave and generous to take advantage of his weakness, and besides he felt that it was wrong to harm the nation's king. One night Saul and his soldiers had encamped near the place where David and his men were hiding. The night was dark. All the sentries were asleep. Quietly, David and one of his men stole into the camp, and came to the spot where Saul lay asleep with his spear stuck in the ground beside his head. The soldier wanted David to kill his enemy, but he would not do it. He took Saul's spear and the water skin which was beside him and crept safely past the sentries and out of the camp again.

When he had gone to a safe distance, he stood on a hill and shouted and awakened the men in the camp, and told them to look for the spear and the water skin. So they knew that David had truly been in the camp and had spared the king's life.

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DAVID AND JONATHAN

While David was living at the king's court his dearest friend was Jonathan, Saul's son. These two young men loved each other as soon as they met, which was after David had killed the giant. They went everywhere together. They hunted and played their games together. They were like two brothers. Jonathan was never jealous of David. He wanted him to be liked by others. He gave him the best that he had himself. He was a very kind hearted and generous young man. It made him very sad because his father was so cruel to David. He could not believe that his father really wished to kill his friend.

At last David did not dare to come to the king's court nor to take his place at the king's table. Still Jonathan did not believe that his father really meant to do harm to his friend. To test the king they planned to leave David in a hiding place in the field while Jonathan went home to see his father. When David did not take his place at the table, the king grew very gloomy. "Where is David?" he said.

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WINNOWING IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.

In the East, after the grain is threshed out by the trampling of cattle or by driving over it with sledges, it is tossed up in the air by a kind of fork. The wind blows the light chaff away, while the heavier grain falls in a heap. This explains many of the allusions in the Bible.

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"He asked permission to run home to Bethlehem to offer the sacrifice with his family," replied Jonathan.

At that the king grew furious in his rage. He told his son that David wanted to steal the kingdom away from him (for Jonathan was the oldest son and would be king when Saul died).

Saul was so angry that he even threw his spear at his own son, and so Jonathan knew that his father had determined to kill his friend.

David was hiding behind a great rock in the field, and, according to a plan they had made beforehand, Jonathan came out the next day with his bow and arrows and pretended to shoot at a mark. He had a little boy with him to run for the arrows.

The plan was this: If Jonathan said to the boy, "The arrows are on this side of you," David would know that all was safe. But if he said, "The arrows are beyond you," he would know that he was in great danger.

Jonathan came and shot his arrows, and cried, "The arrows are beyond you."

So David knew that the king intended to kill him. They waited until the boy had gone and then David came out, and Jonathan told {160} him how sorry he was that the friend he loved so much must go away. In many other ways Jonathan showed his great love for his friend.

At last both Saul and Jonathan were killed in a great battle with the Philistines. Then David mourned deeply for Jonathan and he made a song of mourning about their friendship. This is a part of it:--

  "Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives,
  And in their death they were not divided;
  They were swifter than eagles,
  They were stronger than lions.
  How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!
  O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places!
  I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan:
  Very pleasant hast thou been to me,
  Thy love was wonderful,
  Passing the love of women.
  How are the mighty fallen,
  And the weapons of war perished!"
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WINNOWING OF GRAIN AFTER THRESHING IN EGYPT

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

After the grain was threshed it was winnowed. The mixture of grain, chaff, and broken straw was turned over and shaken with a wooden fork. It was thrown high in the air so that the wind might carry away the chaff. This work was often carried on at night to take advantage of the night wind, which was usually stronger than during the day. After the first process another was carried on by the "fan," a kind of shovel by which there was a still further separation of impurities. The final cleansing was accomplished by a sieve. The chaff was burned or blown away by the wind. In the picture the blurred appearance is the chaff which has just been tossed up and is being blown away.

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DAVID AND HIS THREE BRAVE SOLDIERS

Once when David was fighting against the Philistines the little town of Beth-lehem was in the hands of the enemy. David had a great longing for a drink of the cool water of the well which was near the gate of the town. It seemed to him that he would be perfectly happy if he could taste that water which he used to enjoy so much when he was a boy. He wanted it so much that he spoke out loud and said, "Oh, that one would give me a drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem which is near the gate!"

Some of his men overheard him as he said this to himself, and three of his brave soldiers left the cave where they were hiding, and broke through the enemy's lines and brought back a drink of the water to David. But when David saw them all bleeding from the wounds which they had received, he would not drink the water which they brought, because it had cost so much in the blood of his men.

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So he poured it out upon the ground as an offering to God of something very sacred and precious, and as a way of showing his friends that he prized their love more than the water for which he longed.

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HEBRON

From an old photograph in the possession of the Springfield Public Library, and used by kind permission.

It was here that perhaps the oldest city in Palestine was built. The picture shows the character of the country, the hills and valleys with the towns showing white on the hillsides or nestling in the valleys.

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DAVID AND HIS SON ABSALOM

After Saul and Jonathan had been killed in battle David became king. He did many brave and wise things and some foolish and evil things. For the wrong deeds he was punished by great sorrows.

He had a favorite son named Absalom. Absalom grew up to be a very bad boy. No doubt David was foolish in his affection and did not train the boy as he should.

He grew so bad at last that he gathered an army and rebelled against the king. At first he was successful and actually drove his father out of Jerusalem.

But David's army rallied and defeated Absalom and his bad friends in a great battle.

When Absalom knew that his army was defeated he tried to escape by riding away on the back of a swift mule. But as he passed under a great oak in the dark forest where the battle was fought, his long hair was caught in the low hanging branches: Here he hung helplessly {168} until the soldiers of David came up and killed him.

David was very sorrowful while the battle was being fought, because he loved the boy so much. He sat at the gate of the city and watched and waited. Suddenly the watchman on the tower called out that he saw a man running, and in a few moments he said that he saw another.

In the lands of the Bible, messengers, swift of foot and trained in running, always brought the news to the city as quickly as they could run.

When the first messenger came the king said quickly, "Is the young man Absalom safe?"

"I saw a great tumult when I left the battle field," said the runner, "but I knew not what it meant."

"Stand aside here," said the king.

Then came the second man and he called out, "Tidings, my lord the king!"

"Is my boy Absalom safe?" again cried the king.

Then the messenger replied, "The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise up against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is."

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The king knew that this meant that the boy he loved so much was dead.

And the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept, and as he went there he said, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee. O Absalom, my son, my son!"

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THE STORY OF A GOOD KING

When King David died, Solomon his son became king. He was the wisest and best king the people ever had. He is often called "the wise king." One night soon after he became king he had a dream. In his dream he seemed to see the Lord, who said, "Ask what I shall give thee."

Instead of asking for great riches or honor or power, Solomon asked for wisdom.

He said, "I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart."

And the Lord replied, "Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked for the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding, behold, I have done according to thy word; I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, and I have given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like thee all thy days."


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CHILDREN AT CANA

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Fontaine Meriwether and used by her kind permission.

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Then Solomon awoke and knew it was a dream, but in after years the dream came true, and Solomon became the wisest and richest king in the world.

Every year his ships sailed away and brought many rare and costly things from the East. They brought gold, and silver, and precious stones, and ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

At one time Solomon had a visit from the Queen of Sheba, who had heard of his great wisdom and wished very much to see him. She came with a great many servants riding upon camels, and she brought him as presents, gold, and precious stones, and spices.

Many kings came also to see him and they brought as presents, gold, and silver, and costly cloths, and spices, and horses, and mules with their harnesses.

Solomon's greatest wish was to build a beautiful house in which to worship God. So he sent to King Hiram, who lived in the north country where the great cedars of Lebanon grew, and Hiram sent his woodcutters into the forest and they cut down the great cedars {174} and squared the logs into beams. Then the lumber was taken to the coast and floated on rafts in the sea along the shore and then brought over the land to Jerusalem.

There were also men working in the stone quarries hewing out the great stones for the foundation, and skillful workmen making the golden ornaments and the beautiful carving.

So carefully were the stones and timbers cut and marked that they were all put together without the sound of hammer or axe. This beautiful building was the first temple which the Israelites built and it has always been called "Solomon's Temple."

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CAMEL MERCHANTS

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.

These men are on the way from Palestine to sell their camels in Egypt. Every year great herds of camels are still brought from the East to sell for the carrying of merchandise in caravans, just as they were used in the days of the Bible.

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JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN

Vesture Clothing.
Famine A time when the crops fail and there is no food, and people often starve.
Hostage One who is held by an enemy to be sure that promises are kept.
Myrrh and balm Precious gums very much used in the East.

There was once a boy whose father loved him very much indeed. The boy's name was Joseph. His father's name was Jacob. The father gave the boy a coat of many colors. It was a very fine coat and he was very proud of it. He had eleven brothers, and they hated him because he was his father's favorite. He had a dream in which he saw the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowing down before him. This made the brothers hate him still more, and even his father was none too well pleased.

One day the brothers were taking care of the sheep in a distant pasture, and Jacob sent Joseph to see how the boys were getting along.

The shepherd boys saw him while he was still a long way off, and they said, "Here comes {178} the dreamer. Let us kill him and put him into some pit, and say to father, 'Some wild beast has killed him,' and then see what will become of his dreams!" They were very bad boys indeed.

They all agreed but Reuben, who was the only one who had any pity for Joseph. He really wanted to save his brother, but in order to deceive the others he said, "Do not kill him, but put him alive into some pit, in an out-off the-way place." He said this hoping to come back and rescue Joseph when the others had gone.

They finally consented; so, when Joseph came up, they took off his coat of many colors and put him into a pit. Probably they did not handle him at all gently!

Then Reuben went away and the others calmly sat down to eat their dinner. While they were eating, they looked up and saw a long caravan with camels loaded with spices and balm and myrrh going from the East down to Egypt.

Then an idea came to Judah, one of the brothers. "Let us sell Joseph," he said, "so we shall get rid of him and no guilt of his blood will be on our hands."

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ONE OF THE PYRAMIDS

From an old photograph in the possession of the Springfield Public Library, and used by kind permission.

Another one of the great pyramids which rise above the level country of Egypt, monuments to the departed greatness of her rulers. Recent explorations show that the civilization of Egypt goes back more than four thousand years before the time of Christ.

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They drew Joseph, who must have been well frightened by this time, out of the pit, and sold him to the traders for twenty pieces of silver.

When Reuben came back he was very much distressed, but he did not dare to tell his father the truth. They agreed to dip Joseph's coat of many colors in blood and say that a wild beast had eaten him. Then they went home and pretended to be very sorry and told their poor old father this lie which they had made up. The father believed it because they showed him the coat of many colors which they had dipped in blood. Jacob was very sad and mourned a long time for his boy.

The traders carried Joseph to Egypt and sold him as a slave. He was treated badly and at last put into prison. While he was there the Pharaoh, the king of the country, had a dream. He dreamed that he saw seven fat oxen come up out of a river and feed in a meadow. Then seven lean and hungry oxen came out of the river and ate up the fat oxen. Then he saw seven fine full ears of corn on one stalk, but there grew also seven poor thin ears, which destroyed the good ears.

No one could tell the king what his dream {182} meant, until he heard that Joseph, who was in prison, was able to tell the meaning of dreams. So he called Joseph, who was very glad to come out of the dark prison. Joseph told the king at once what his dream meant. He said that there would be seven years of plenty in Egypt, when there would be great crops of grain. Then would come seven years of famine, when no crops would grow. Joseph advised the king to build great store houses and to store up the grain during the years of plenty, so that the people might not starve during the years of famine.

Pharaoh was much pleased because Joseph told him the meaning of the dream, and at once appointed him as the man to gather the grain during the years of plenty.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt."

And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had, and they cried before him, "Bow the knee!" and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.

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TEMPLE AT THEBES

From an old photograph in the possession of the Springfield Public Library, and used by kind permission.

This is another of the great Egyptian temples, built thousands of years ago, with the massive columns still standing.

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And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without thy consent no man shall lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." So the shepherd boy, who had been sold as a slave in Egypt, became next to Pharaoh the chief man in all the country!

During the next seven years, there never had been such harvests, and Joseph went about gathering up the great loads of grain into all the storehouses.

Then came the terrible famine. No grain grew in the fields. But Joseph was ready. The people came to him and bought grain to keep them from starving.

All this time Joseph's father thought he was dead and he never ceased to mourn for his boy. By and by the famine reached the land where Joseph's father lived and he sent his sons down to Egypt to buy food, but of course they did not know that the ruler of Egypt was Joseph.

Ten of Jacob's sons, each with his donkey, went to Egypt, but the youngest boy, Benjamin, Jacob kept at home.

When they came to the palace where Joseph lived, he knew at once that they were his {186} brothers, but they did not know him. At first Joseph treated them roughly. He said they were spies. But they told him they were all brothers who lived in the land of Canaan and their youngest brother and their father they had left at home. Joseph still seemed to be very angry and put them in prison for three days.

Then he let them out and told them to go home, all but Simeon, whom he would keep as a hostage, and bring back their youngest brother, and then he would believe that they spoke the truth.

They started back, each with his donkey loaded with grain. When they stopped at an inn they found that the money which they had paid for the grain was in the top of each sack.

They reached home at last and told their father all that had happened. The story made the old man very sad. He would not let them go back to Egypt. He said that he had lost two sons, Joseph and Simeon, and he could not let Benjamin, whom he loved next to Joseph, go with them.

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AN EASTERN HOUSE

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.

This house is made of mud--that is, sun-dried clay, with a roof of thatch, and shows how houses were made and looked in Bible times. The children of the village have come to have their eyes treated by the doctor. Many of the children in the hot countries of the East have trouble with their eyes, and blindness. The little village of mud houses where this was taken is on the site of the ancient Ashdod, one of the five powerful cities of the Philistines.


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But the famine kept on. They had nothing to eat and at last Jacob was forced to let them go. They promised to take the best of care of Benjamin and started on their journey.

When they reached Egypt Joseph was more kind. He asked them how they were and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?"

And they answered, "Thy servant, our father, is yet alive. He is in good health."

Then he saw Benjamin and said, "Is this your younger brother of whom ye spoke unto me?"

And he said, "God be gracious unto thee, my son."

He gave them a feast, and told them to go home, but as soon as they were gone he sent an officer after them. The officer caught up with them and opened the bags of grain, and there was Joseph's own golden cup in the mouth of Benjamin's sack!

They were wild with fear. They said that their poor old father would die if anything happened to Benjamin. But the stern officer took them back to Joseph.

Then Joseph told them who he was, and forgave them for the evil they had once done him.

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He said to them, "Go home and say to Jacob, 'Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt; come down unto me, tarry not; and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou and thy children's children, and thy flocks and thy herds, and all that thou hast.' And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that ye have seen, and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither."

The brothers went home and the old man Jacob and all his family came to Egypt to live. So Jacob saw Joseph again before he died.

And Joseph ruled wisely and well over Egypt all the days of his life.

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THE GREAT STATUES OF MEMNON

From a photograph in the possession of the Springfield Public Library, and used by kind permission.

These great statues, carved out of the solid rock, were erected to the honor of two of the Pharaohs of Egypt. You may realize something of the immense size of these monuments by noticing how small the camel standing at the base seems in comparison.

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THE BOY WHO WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Once upon a time there was a widow who lived, with her only son, in a city in the land of the Bible. She was very poor, and one year she found herself still poorer. Everybody was poor that year, for there was a famine in the land. How thin and hungry some of the children became! How glad they were to get even poor food! How carefully the poor widow watched her barrel of flour and her jar, or cruse, of oil, with which the flour was mixed for baking! How hard she worked to get more! At last she had only a little flour and a little oil left. She was almost starving. There was just enough left to make one more cake for herself and her boy, and after that was gone she did not know what they would do. Perhaps they must die. She went out to gather some sticks for a fire. While she was gathering them, a man came by. He was a prophet, named Elijah, but she did not know him. He called to {194} her, and said, "Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink."

And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, "Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand."

And she said, "As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

And Elijah said to her, "Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it to me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

"For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, 'The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.'"

And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Elijah.

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ON THE ROAD NEAR TIBERIAS, WITH THE LAKE OF GALILEE IN THE DISTANCE

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Fontaine Meriwether, and used by her kind permission.

This interesting picture, with laden camel and group of native people, shows very well the nature of the country about the lake of Galilee, the hill rising above the lake and the village nestling on its shore. In the distance can be seen the waters of the lake and the shadowy hills upon the farther shore. It is thus that the country must have looked in the old days when it was the center of so much active life.


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And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

And she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?"

And he said to her, "Give me thy son."

And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

And he cried to the Lord; and said, "O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?"

And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, and said, "O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again."

And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him to his mother: and Elijah said, "See, thy son liveth!"

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And the woman said to Elijah, "Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth."

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GOING TO THE DOCTOR

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.

These poor women of the East have brought their poor little sick children on the patient old donkey to the doctor. As the custom is in the East, the faces of the women are covered by veils. This is the way the Eastern mothers used to bring their sick little children to Jesus in the old days.

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THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

The people of the Bible land had lost their kingdom before the time of Christ. They had no king of their own, but governors came from Rome, a city hundreds of miles away, and ruled them. But the people hoped that this would not last. They wanted a kingdom of their own. They believed God would give it to them some day. They prayed that it might come. When Jesus began to teach and hear people, they thought perhaps he would be a king to bring this kingdom that God would give them. But Jesus had something better than a great kingdom on earth. He tried to make them understand what it was. He called it the kingdom of heaven. By that he meant the rule of God in the world.

God's rule is not in a great palace, with soldiers and a throne and great splendor. It is in the heart, and grows up very quietly, like the plants in the field. Jesus once told a story to show this. It was the story of

THE MUSTARD SEED

"The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field.

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"Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."

So the kingdom of heaven grows very quietly. But it is very precious, even if it is hidden away so closely. One might better let anything else go than that.

Again, he told them, the kingdom of heaven is like to a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind.

Again, the kingdom is like to a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls.

How proud a man is to be a citizen of a great country! In this country we are proud to be Americans. Do you suppose you could be a citizen of the kingdom of God? Yes. Jesus said once that children and people who were like children belong to this kingdom.

"Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

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LOADING CAMELS AT JERUSALEM

From a photograph taken by Prof. D. G. Lyon, and used by his kind permission.

In the East much of the commerce is still carried on by means of caravans of camels; sometimes there are several thousand camels in one of these great caravans conveying all kinds of merchandise from one point to another. The camel will carry a very heavy load, but it utters piteous cries of complaint when it thinks the load is too heavy.

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THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID

Leprosy. A very dreaded disease.
Leper. One who has leprosy.
Rent his clothes. To show great sorrow or trouble.
Chariot. A small wagon with two wheels, used in war.
Flesh shall come again. In leprosy the flesh dries up, and the person becomes very thin.

In the old times war was very cruel. Houses were burned and men and women killed, and very often the little children were taken far away and sold for slaves. Sometimes they never came back to their homes or friends again.

There had been war between the people in Israel and the people who lived in a country called Syria, which lay to the north of Israel. In this war a little girl had been taken away, and sold as a slave. She was bought by a great general named Naaman, who took her home, and she waited on Naaman's wife. Naaman and his wife must have been kind to the little slave girl, for when he was sick she wished that he could be made well.

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Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. And the little maid said to her mistress, "Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would heal him of his leprosy." And one went in, and told his lord, saying, "Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel." And the king of Syria said, "I will send a letter unto the king of Israel."

And he departed, and took with him a large present of money and fine clothes.

And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest heal him of his leprosy."

And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to heal a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me."

And it was so, when Elisha the man of God {207} had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, "Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."

So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, "Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean."

Then Naaman was angry, and turned to go away in a rage.

And his servants came near, and spoke unto him, and said, "My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, 'Wash, and be clean'?"

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

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HOW THE PEOPLE TRAVELED IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE

Did they have railroads? Oh, no. Railroads were first built less than a hundred years ago, and the Bible times were many hundreds of years ago.

Then they must have traveled in wagons? Not often.

There were few roads, and wagons were not very common.

Then they went on horseback? Sometimes, but not often. In the earliest Bible times horses were only used in war, and only the kings of great countries kept a few, for their most honored soldiers to ride on.

How did they travel, then? Very often they rode on the backs of donkeys and asses. These are smaller than horses, but can go almost as fast. Do you remember how Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an ass, with the children shouting and waving palm branches before him? For short journeys, or in the land of Palestine itself, the ass was the animal most used.

But on many sides of the land of Palestine the roads that go out pass over country that is more and more bare, until finally the green grass is seen no more and only here and there is a small tree, and there are no flocks of white sheep, for there is nothing on which they can feed, and it is a long way, sometimes a whole day's journey, from one spring of water to another. Nothing but yellow sand and bare rocks!

{209}{210}

SHEPHERD BOY ON THE HILLS NEAR BETHLEHEM

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

This attractive picture of the shepherd lad shows that the work of the shepherd still goes on in Judea as it did in the days of the shepherd boy, David. A writer gives this picture of the shepherd life at the present day: "Sometimes we enjoyed our noonday rest beside one of those Judean wells, to which two or three shepherds come down with their flocks. The flocks mixed with each other, and we wondered how each shepherd would get his own again. But after the watering and the playing were over, the shepherds one by one went up different sides of the valley, and each called out his peculiar call; and the sheep of each drew out of the crowd, to their own shepherd, and the flocks passed away as orderly as they came. 'The Shepherd of the Sheep, . . . when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow,' 'I am the Good Shepherd, and know my sheep and am known of mine.' These words our Lord spake in Judea."


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How the hot sun beats down in the summer! How dry all the ground looks! That is a desert. The little donkeys find it hard to travel on the long, stony desert roads. They must carry water to drink, or they would die of thirst. But if they carry water, they cannot carry much else.

Did you ever see a camel? They have long legs and broad feet, that can walk over the sand without sinking in. What long necks and queer humped backs they have! They are not beautiful animals. I am sorry to say that they are not very good tempered either, but are often very cross and stubborn. Sometimes they reach out that long neck and try to bite. Sometimes they refuse to go if they think they are loaded too heavily. But often they are very patient. They carry heavy loads and travel long distances. They can go a long time without drinking, where a horse or an ass would die of thirst. They are made for a desert country. Men call them "the ship of the desert." They were often used for long journeys in Bible times, as they are still in the same countries. Here is a story which tells how a servant of Abraham made a long journey on camels, and how the camels were given drink at the close of the journey.


"And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of {212} Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water," and Rebekah, a niece of Abraham, "came out with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the maiden was very fair to look upon: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, 'Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.'

"And she said, 'Drink, my lord': and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him to drink.

"And when she had done giving him drink, she said, 'I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.'

"And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels."

Then she went home and told of him, and her brother ran and came out to the servant and said, "'Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.'

"And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and {213} provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the men's feet that were with him. And there was set food before him to eat."

A few days later Rebekah, with her servant, mounted the camels, too, and went back with Abraham's servant, the long desert journey, to be the wife of Abraham's son Isaac.

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HOUSES IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE

The people in Bible lands did not have houses like those we live in to-day. You would not like to live in their houses. They were low, and small, and dark. Some were built of stone, but many were built of a sun-dried brick. They had flat roofs, where the people often went and where they slept in warm weather. A stair led up to the roof from the outside. Those that were made of the sun-dried brick were not very durable. Thieves could easily "break through and steal." The house which the man "built upon the sand" crumbled into mud and was swept away when "the winds blew and the floods came" and "great was the fall of it."

Of course the king lived in a beautiful palace and rich people had fine houses, but the houses of the poor people were only huts.

{215}{216}

CHILDREN OF NAZARETH

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Fontaine Meriwether. and used by her kind permission.


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CHILDREN IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE

The children of Bible lands were very well cared for. They were sent to school. They were taught the Bible very carefully and every Sabbath they went to church. The children were very busy. They learned early to watch over the sheep, to work in the fields, to card and spin the wool and weave the cloth. Every child was taught some special trade or business. Still they had time to play and enjoyed their games as much as you do.

Jesus was taught to be a carpenter like Joseph. Nazareth, where he lived when he was a boy, is a small town in Galilee. There are beautiful fields and hills about. When he climbed the hills he could see, far away, the sea. He must have loved to pick the lovely lilies which grew in the fields. All the little boys and girls must have liked to play with Jesus, for he must have been always gentle and kind.

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JERUSALEM

The city that the Bible tells most about is Jerusalem. It is on a high ridge of hills in the middle of the land. On one side of it is a deep valley, and across the valley a hill called the Mount of Olives. On that hill there was a village, Bethany, where some of Jesus' friends lived. Deep valleys were on two other sides of the city.

Why did they build cities on the hilltops, and not in the valleys? Because, in the old days when wars often took place, a city on a hilltop could not be so easily taken. It was a safe place to live. To make it still safer, a wall was built around it, very thick and high. On the top there was a path, with a low wall outside, so that in war armed men could go up and shoot from the wall. In the walls there were great gates, that were shut at night and when there was a war.

In the city of Jerusalem was the palace of the Jewish kings, and the temple. King Solomon built the first temple. It stood for over three hundred and fifty years, then it was destroyed in a war. The city was burned and the walls thrown down, and many of the people were killed. After more than fifty years, another temple was built on the same spot. It was later added to and made more beautiful. It was built of white stone. A man who saw it wrote that it looked, when the sun shone on it, like a mountain of snow.

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THE SISTINE MADONNA
By Raphael (1483-1520)

Raphael is generally considered the greatest of all painters, and the Sistine Madonna is the most famous Madonna in the world.

"The Sistine Madonna is above all words of praise; all extravagance of expression is silenced before her simplicity. Not one false note, not one exaggerated emphasis, jars upon the harmony of body, soul, and spirit. Confident, but entirely unassuming; serious, but without sadness; joyous, but not to mirthfulness; eager, but without haste; she moves steadily forward with steps timed to the rhythmic music of the spheres."--Estelle M. Hurll


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This stood a long time, almost six hundred years, then in another war it also was thrown down, and never has been built again. It was this temple that was standing when Christ lived. He often taught in the open spaces about it. When he was a boy of twelve he first visited it, and the last days of his life he spent teaching in it. Jesus loved the temple and Jerusalem very much. He was very sorry that it must be destroyed. He said once, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!"

A Jewish poet wrote a little poem about Jerusalem, to show how he loved it. Here it is:--

  "I was glad when they said unto me,
  Let us go into the house of the Lord.

  "Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.

  "Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:

  "Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the
  Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give
  thanks unto the name of the Lord.

  "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
  they shall prosper that love thee.        {222}

  "Peace be within thy walls,
  and prosperity within thy palaces.

  "For my brethren and companions' sakes,
  I will now say, Peace be within thee.

  "Because of the house of the Lord our God
  I will seek thy good."

Another poet who was living in a foreign land, wrote another poem:--

  "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat
  down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

  "We hung our harps upon the willows in
  the midst thereof.

  "For there they that carried us away captive
  required of us a song; and they that
  wasted us required of us mirth, saying,
  Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

  "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

  "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
  let my right hand forget her cunning.

  "If I do not remember thee, let my tongue
  cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer
  not Jerusalem above my chief joy."

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When one Bible writer hoped for some great good in the future, and wanted to make a very glorious picture, as splendid as he could, he told of a city coming down from heaven, and called it the New Jerusalem, because that city was dearer to him than any other place he knew, and he said:--

"AND I JOHN SAW THE HOLY CITY,
NEW JERUSALEM,
COMING DOWN FROM GOD OUT OF HEAVEN."

{224}

THE JORDAN

Up among the mountains in the North of the land of the Bible a little stream flows down from a rocky valley. After wandering through beautiful hills with many trees and vines, it comes into a wide valley and passes through a little lake. Then it goes tumbling and roaring down a narrow gorge with high rocks on each side.

After that it widens out into the beautiful lake of Gennesaret, or Sea of Galilee. In the time of Jesus there were many towns about this lake and many boats sailing over it.

After leaving this lake, the river flows through a valley, winding from one side of it to the other. The valley grows deeper and deeper, until at last to get into it one must go down, down long, steep hills by winding roads, down narrow valleys where the rocks are piled high above one. At last the river flows through a wide, sandy plain into the Dead Sea.

The Jordan is the largest river of the Bible {225} land. The Hebrews used to tell their little children that in the ancient time, when they first came into the land, the Jordan stopped flowing so that their fathers, with all their little children, and cattle and sheep, crossed it on dry ground. Later King David crossed it, once when he found that all his country had gone over to his enemies. A few weeks later he came back, and many people went down to the river to welcome him. The great general who had leprosy was sent to wash in the river, and he was healed.

Jesus was baptized in the river. He often crossed it, and he lived and taught on the banks of the Sea of Galilee, through which it flows.

{226}

THE DEAD SEA

The strangest lake in the world is the lake that is called the Dead Sea. It is east of Canaan. The Jordan runs into it, but no river runs out of it. It lies deep down between mountains. On one side the hills rise so steep that one cannot climb them. On the other, there is only here and there a place where a man on horseback can scramble down the rocks into the valley.

Why is it called the Dead Sea? Because the water is so salt that no fish live in it. It looks very clear and beautiful as it lies in the sunshine, but no one can drink it, it is so salt. Sometimes people bathe in it. It is so heavy that no one can sink. No towns were ever on its shore. Not a single person lives near it. Few people have ever sailed on its waters. The valley in which it lies is so deep that it is much lower than the ocean. All these things make it the strangest lake in the world.

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ON THE SHORES OF THE DEAD SEA

From a photograph in the possession of Rev. Louis F. Giroux of the American International College, Springfield, Mass., and used by his kind permission.

"The water is very nauseous to the taste and oily to the touch, leaving on the skin when it dries a thick crust of salt. But it is very brilliant. Seen from far away no lake on earth looks more blue and beautiful. Swim out upon it, and at a depth of twenty feet you can count the pebbles through the transparent water. It is difficult to sink the limbs deep enough to swim; if you throw a stick on the surface it seems to rest as on a mirror, so little of it actually penetrates the water. No fish or any living thing can exist in its waters."

--Smith

{229}

BETH-LEHEM

Moab A country east of Palestine.
Glean To follow after the reapers and pick up what they have left behind.

The "little town of Beth-lehem," as it lies among the hills of Judaea, is one of the most famous places in all the world. But it is not famous because of its wealth or its size, it is famous because of the people who lived there. Beth-lehem means in the Hebrew language, "House of Bread," and it was in the fields of Boaz about Beth-lehem that the beautiful Ruth of Moab gleaned.

Then it was David's home. In the pastures beyond the town he used to feed his father's flocks. Sometimes it has been called "the city of David."

But what makes it more famous than all else is the fact that in "Beth-lehem's manger" the little child Jesus was born, and over the old town hung in the night the star of Beth-lehem. It was here that the shepherds {230} who were keeping their flocks outside the town came to see the newborn child, and it was here that the Wise Men came to worship him and bring him gifts. It is true that Jesus did not stay here long. The wicked King Herod wished to kill him, and Mary and Joseph took him to Egypt. When they came back they lived in the town of Nazareth. But all the world loves the little town of Beth-lehem because it was Jesus' birthplace.

{231}

HYMNS FOR THE DAY

{232}

{233}
LORD OF ALL BEING

  Lord of all being; throned afar,
  Thy glory flames from sun and star;
  Center and soul of every sphere,
  Yet to each loving heart how near!

  Sun of our life, Thy quickening ray
  Sheds on our path the glow of day;
  Star of our hope, Thy softened light
  Cheers the long watches of the night.

  Our midnight is Thy smile withdrawn;
  Our noontide is Thy gracious dawn;
  Our rainbow arch Thy mercy's sign;
  All, save the clouds of sin, are Thine.

  Lord of all life, below, above,
  Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love,
  Before Thy ever-blazing throne
  We ask no luster of our own.

  Grant us Thy truth to make us free,
  And kindling hearts that burn for Thee,
  Till all Thy living altars claim
  One holy light, one heavenly flame.
--Oliver Wendell Holmes.

By permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

{234}
ON OUR WAY REJOICING

  On our way rejoicing,
    As we homeward move,
  Hearken to our praises,
    O Thou God of love.
  Is there grief or sadness?
    Thine it cannot be.
  Is our sky beclouded?
    Clouds are not from Thee.

  If with honest-hearted
    Love for God and man,
  Day by day Thou find us
    Doing what we can,
  Thou who giv'st the seedtime
    Wilt give large increase,
  Crown the head with blessings,
    Fill the heart with peace.

  On our way rejoicing
    Gladly let us go;
  Conquered hath our Leader;
    Vanquished is our foe.
  Christ without, our safety;
    Christ within, our joy;
  Who, if we be faithful,
    Can our hope destroy?
--John Samuel Bewley Monsell.

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JESUS BLESSING THE LITTLE CHILDREN

By Bernard Plockhorst (1825- )

GOING TO JESUS

  "The Master has come over Jordan."
    Said Hannah the mother one day;
  He is healing the people who throng Him
    With a touch of His finger, they say.

  "And now I shall carry the children,
    Little Rachel and Samuel and John;
  I shall carry the baby Esther
    For the Lord to look upon."

  The father looked at her kindly,
    But he shook his head and smiled.
  "Now who but a doting mother
    Would think of a thing so wild?

  "If the children were tortured by demons,
    Or dying of fever, 't were well;
  Or had they the taint of the leper,
    Like many in Israel."

  "Nay, do not hinder me. Nathan,
    I feel such a burden of care;
  If I carry it to the Master,
    Perhaps I shall leave it there.

  "If He lay His hands on the children,
    My heart will be lighter, I know;
  For a blessing for ever and ever
    Will follow them as they go."

  So over the hills of Judah,
    Along the vine-rows green.
  With Esther asleep on her bosom,
    And Rachel her brothers between,

  'Mong the people who hung on His teaching,
    Or waited His touch or His word,
  Through the row of proud Pharisees listening
    She passed to the feet of her Lord.

  "Now why shouldst thou hinder the Master,"
    Said Peter, "with children like these?
  Seest not how from morning to evening
    He teacheth, and healeth disease?"

  Then Christ said, "Forbid not the children;
    Permit them to come unto Me:"
  And He took in His arms little Esther,
    And Rachel He set on His knee.

  And the heavy heart of the mother
    Was lifted all earth-care above,
  As He laid His hands on the brothers,
    And blest them with tenderest love;

  As He said of the babes in His bosom,
    "Of such is the kingdom of heaven:"
  And strength for all duty and trial
    That hour to her spirit was given.
--Julia Gill

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OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

  I think, when I read that sweet story of old,
    When Jesus was here among men,
  How He called little children as lambs to His fold,
    I should like to have been with them then.

  I wish that His hands had been placed on my head,
    That His arm had been thrown around me,
  And that I might have seen His kind look when He said,
    "Let the little ones come unto Me."

  Yet still to His footstool in prayer I may go,
    And ask for a share in His love;
  And if I thus earnestly seek Him below,
    I shall see Him and hear Him above,

  In that beautiful place He has gone to prepare
    For all who are washed and forgiven;
  And many dear children shall be with Him there,
    For "of such is the kingdom of heaven."

  But thousands and thousands who wander and fall
    Never heard of that heavenly home;
  I wish they could know there is room for them all,
    And that Jesus has bid them to come.

  I long for the joy of that glorious time,
    The sweetest, the brightest, the best,
  When the dear children of every clime
    Shall crowd to His arms and be blest.
--Jemima Thompson Luke.

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SUN OF MY SOUL

  Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear,
  It is not night if Thou be near;
  Oh, may no earth-born cloud arise
  To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes!

  When soft the dews of kindly sleep
  My weary eyelids gently steep,
  Be my last thought--how sweet to rest
  Forever on my Saviour's breast.

  Abide with me from morn till eve,
  For without Thee I cannot live;
  Abide with me when night is nigh,
  For without Thee I dare not die.

  Be near to bless me when I wake,
  Ere through the world my way I take;
  Abide with me till in Thy love
  I lose myself in heaven above.
--John Keble.

{239}
DAY BY DAY

  Every day has its dawn,
    Its soft and silent eve,
  Its noontide hours of bliss or bale,--
    Why should we grieve?

  Why do we heap huge mounds of years
    Before us and behind,
  And scorn the little days that pass
    Like angels on the wind?

  Each turning round a small, sweet face,
    As beautiful as near;
  Because it has so small a face
    We will not see it clear:

  We will not clasp it as it flies,
    And kiss its lips and brow:
  We will not bathe our wearied souls
    In its delicious Now.

  And so it turns from us, and goes
    A way in sad disdain:
  Though we would give our lives for it,
    It never comes again.

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WHAT CAN LITTLE HANDS DO?

  Oh, what can little hands do
    To please the King of heaven?
  The little hands some work may try
  To help the poor in misery:
    Such grace to mine be given.

  Oh, what can little lips do,
    To please the King of heaven?
  The little lips can praise and pray,
  And gentle words of kindness say:
    Such grace to mine be given.

  Oh, what can little eyes do,
    To please the King of heaven?
  The little eyes can upward look,
  And learn to read God's holy Book:
    Such grace to mine be given.

  Oh, what can little hearts do,
    To please the King of heaven?
  Our hearts, if God His Spirit send,
  Can love and trust their Saviour-Friend:
    Such grace to mine be given.

  When hearts, and hands, and lips unite
    To please the King of heaven,
  And serve the Saviour with delight,
  They are most precious in His sight:
    Such grace to mine be given.
--Fabin.

{241}
HOW GENTLE GOD'S COMMANDS

  How gentle God's commands,
    How kind His precepts are!
  Come cast your burdens on the Lord,
    And trust His constant care.

  While Providence supports,
    Let saints securely dwell;
  That hand which bears all nature up
    Shall guide His children well.

  Why should this anxious load
    Press down your weary mind?
  Haste to your heavenly Father's throne,
    And sweet refreshment find.

  His goodness stands approved,
    Down to the present day;
  I'll drop my burden at His feet,
    And bear a song away.
--Philip Doddridge.

{242}
ABOVE THE CLEAR BLUE SKY

  Above the clear blue sky,
    In heaven's bright abode,
  The angel host on high
    Sing praises to their God:
      Alleluia!
    They love to sing
    To God their King
      Alleluia!

  But God from children's tongues
    On earth receiveth praise;
  We then our cheerful songs
    In sweet accord will raise:
      Alleluia!
    We, too, will sing
    To God our King
      Alleluia!

  O blessed Lord, Thy truth
    To all Thy flock impart,
  And teach us in our youth
    To know Thee as Thou art.
      Alleluia!
    Then shall we sing
    To God our King
      Alleluia!
--John Chandler.

{243}

BEDTIME STORIES

{244}

{245}

THE STORY OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS

Once there were two little children who lived in a large, red brick house, on a quiet street in the city. The names of these little children were Margaret and Harold. Margaret was five years old, and Harold was eight. Margaret and Harold used to have the best of times together. They played with their dog Sport and their cat Spot. They built houses of blocks. They colored pictures with their crayons. In winter, Harold drew Margaret on his sled, and in summer they played in the garden. But, better than all else, they loved to hear their mamma tell stories. Every night, before they went to bed, she told them a story.

"What shall it be to-night?" said mamma, as they sat before the fire after a cold winter's day.

"A Bible story," said Margaret.

"Very well," replied mamma. "It shall be a Bible story to-night, and since it is almost Christmas-time, I will tell you about the dear little Christ-child who was born in Bethlehem, and the first Christmas."

So Margaret cuddled up in her mamma's lap, and Harold sat at her feet, and she began.

THE STORY OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS.

"Once upon a time, there was a little town called Bethlehem of Judea, and late one afternoon in winter, a man named Joseph, and his wife named Mary, came to this {246} town. They were very glad to reach the village, for they were cold and hungry. But they were disappointed. No one would take them in. There is an old song which tells about it:--

  "'O, dark was the night,
    And cold blew the wind,
  But Joseph and Mary
    No shelter could find.

  "'In all the fair city
    Of Bethlehem,
  In cottage or inn,
    Was no room for them.'"

"Wouldn't anyone let them in?" said Margaret.

"No," said mamma. "They went to the inn, or hotel, of Bethlehem, and the keeper of the inn said, 'No room for you here, go away.' They went to each one of the houses, and the people who lived in them said crossly, 'No room for you here, go away.'"

"I would have let them in if I had been there," said Harold, earnestly.

"I would, too," said Margaret. "Were they very cold, dear mamma?"

"Yes, my dears," said mamma, smiling, "I know that you would have been kind to them. But you see this was before Jesus had taught people to be good and kind to others. Well, they were very cold and very sad, but at last the keeper of the inn let them go into his stable, and there were oxen there, and hay, and stalls for the cattle, and mangers."

{247}{248}

BETHLEHEM AT SUNSET

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Frank L. Goodspeed, and used by her kind permission.

This beautiful picture of Bethlehem was taken just at sunset, with a cloud effect unusual in Eastern skies. "So must the little town have looked when Joseph and Mary, weary from their long journey, approached it. The short winter's day was probably closing in as the two travelers from Nazareth neared their journey's end. The way had been long and weary. A sense of rest and peace must almost unconsciously have crept over the travelers when at last they reached the rich fields that surrounded the ancient 'House of Bread,' and, passing through the valley, which, like an amphitheater, sweeps up to the twain heights along which Bethlehem stretches, ascended through the terraced vineyards and gardens."

--Edersheim

{249}

"Like grandpapa's barn?" asked Harold.

"Yes," answered mamma, "only not so nice and comfortable, for this stable was a cave, cut out of the rock. That night, in the stable, the little baby Jesus was born, and his dear mother Mary wrapped him all warmly up, and laid him in one of the cattle mangers for a cradle."

"Was he a little tiny, tiny baby, like Grace's little brother?" asked Margaret.

"Yes, my dear," said mamma, "and the sweetest little tiny baby you ever saw.

"And in the fields near by there were shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night, and while they watched they saw suddenly a great light, and an angel stood before them and said, 'Be not afraid, for I bring you good tidings of great joy for all the people. For there is born in Bethlehem a little child Jesus, who is to be the Saviour of the world.' And when the angel had finished speaking, they heard voices, singing like a great chorus in the sky, and this was the song they sang,--

  "'Glory to God in the highest,
    And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.'

"Then the shepherds went to Bethlehem, and found the little child Jesus lying in the manger, and loved him, and told everyone what they had seen and heard.

"And later, wise men from the East came on their three white camels, guided by the star of Bethlehem, which shone in the sky. And as they came near to Bethlehem, they {250} said to everyone, 'Where is he which is born king of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.'

"And the star led them at last to the stable where Jesus was, and they brought beautiful gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh, and they worshiped him."

"And that is how Christmas came!" said Margaret.

"I am very glad that the little child Jesus was born."

"You must love him very much," said mamma, "for he was born, and grew up, and died at last, for our sakes. And now I want to read you a sweet little poem, which a very good man, named Phillips Brooks, once wrote about Bethlehem. I want you both to learn it to say to papa. Now listen while I read."

  "O little town of Bethlehem,
    How still we see thee lie;
  Above thy deep and dreamless sleep.
    The silent stars go by;
  Yet in thy dark streets shineth
    The everlasting light;
  The hopes and fears of all the years
    Are met in thee to-night.

  "O holy child of Bethlehem,
    Descend to us we pray,
  Cast out our sin, and enter in,
    Be born in us to-day.
  We hear the Christmas angels
    The great glad tidings tell;
  Oh, come to us, abide with us,
    Our Lord Immanuel."

[Footnote: By courtesy of E. P. Dutton & Co.]

{251}

THE STORY OF PALM SUNDAY

One Sunday Harold noticed that all the people who came from one of the churches wore a little piece of palm, or evergreen.

"What does that mean?" said Harold.

"Oh, this is Palm Sunday," said mamma. "This was one of the glad days in Jesus' life. To-night I will tell you all about it."

When it grew dark mamma called Margaret and Harold, and began

THE STORY OF PALM SUNDAY.

"You know that Jesus was poor and homeless, yet he was very rich in the love of his friends. He was never honored but once as his friends liked. That was on Palm Sunday, and the children helped to do it.

"It happened at the great city of Jerusalem. Jesus did not go to the city very often. He liked to live in the villages and in the country better. At this time there was a great feast in the city, and Jesus was going to the feast with his friends."

"What sort of a feast was it, mamma?" asked Harold.

"It was not exactly what we call a feast," mamma replied. "It was more like a great celebration. It recalled a great event in the nation's history, the escape of the Jews from captivity. It was called the 'Feast of the Passover.' {252} The Jewish people from all over the world came to Jerusalem to celebrate it."

"Why, it must have been the Fourth of July of the Jews," said Harold.

"Something like that," replied mamma, smiling. "Only the little Jewish boys did not make as much noise as my small son makes on his country's birthday.

"Well, the friends of Jesus who came with him to this feast wanted to show how much they loved him. They often wanted to treat him as though he were a king. Once they did treat him in this way, and Jesus did not forbid it. It does people good to show their friends how much they love them.

"Jesus stayed at night with his friends, in a village not far from the city, and every morning he came into the city. One morning he came over the hill, on the road which leads into the city, riding on an ass. It was a beautiful morning, and all his friends who were with him were filled with gladness. They shouted and sang as they marched along. They shouted 'Hosanna!' just as you shout 'Hurrah!' when you are marching in your processions. 'This man is going to be our king!' they called. 'Praise God for our king!' People from the city saw them coming and went out to meet them, so that there was a great multitude. They broke off branches of the palm trees along the way, and waved them in the air, just as the soldiers wave the royal banners of the king. Some of the people took off their cloaks and laid them on the ground for him to ride over, just as if he were a great king. They placed their palm branches on the ground, too, so that they seemed like a beautiful green carpet."

{253}{254}

JESUS ENTERING JERUSALEM IN TRIUMPH

By Bernard Plockhorst (1825- )

"And as he went, they spread their garments in the way. And as he was now drawing nigh, even at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen; saying, Blessed is the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest."--Luke 19:36-38


{255}

"Oh," said Margaret, "how pleased Jesus must have been!"

"Yes," said mamma, "Jesus was pleased to know that the people loved him. And he was a king, you know, though he never sat upon a throne. The Bible sometimes calls him, 'King of kings, and Lord of lords.'

"When they reached the city, there were many little children in the streets and about the temple. Now the children always loved Jesus, and when they saw him coming in this procession they all ran to meet him. They all joined in the procession, and sang songs, and shouted 'Hosanna!' and waved their hands for the children's king. Some of those people who did not like Jesus tried to stop the children. But Jesus would not tell them to stop."

"If I had been there, I would have shouted for Jesus," said Harold.

"That is my brave boy," said mamma. "But you must remember that there is just as much chance to let people know that you stand up for Jesus now, as then. You must never be afraid to let it be known that you are Jesus' friend.

"Now we will sing that hymn that you like so much. It is a good hymn for Palm Sunday."

So they sang,--

  "Onward, Christian soldiers,
    Marching as to war,
  With the cross of Jesus
    Going on before. {256}
  Christ, the royal Master,
    Leads against the foe;
  Forward into battle,
    See, His banners go.

  "Like a mighty army
    Moves the church of God;
  Brothers, we are treading
    Where the saints have trod;
  We are not divided,
    All one body we,
  One in hope and doctrine,
    One in charity.

  "Crowns and thrones may perish,
    Kingdoms rise and wane,
  But the church of Jesus
    Constant will remain;
  Gates of hell can never
    'Gainst that church prevail;
  We have Christ's own promise,
    And that cannot fail.

  "Onward, then, ye people,
    Join our happy throng,
  Blend with ours your voices
    In the triumph song;
  Glory, laud, and honor
    Unto Christ the King;
  This through countless ages
    Men and angels sing."

{257}

HOW JESUS GAVE HIS LIFE FOR THE WORLD

One afternoon in the springtime, just before Easter, Margaret was playing with her dolls. Her mamma came into the room and said:--

"I want my little girl to be good while I am gone; I am going to church."

"Why, mamma," said Margaret, "this is not Sunday, this is Friday."

"Yes," said mamma, "and this evening I will tell you and Harold why I am going to church on Friday."

At bedtime, mamma said, "Now I will tell you

HOW JESUS GAVE HIS LIFE FOR THE WORLD.

"It is a very sad and yet a very sweet story. It is very sad to think that Jesus had enemies who hated him so much that they could kill him, and yet we love the story because it tells us how much Jesus loved us.

"If we love anyone very much, we are willing to give up things for him."

"Yes," said Margaret, "Harold loves me, and he gave up his party when I was sick, and noise troubled me."

"That was a very kind and unselfish thing for Harold to do," said mamma, "but Jesus gave up very much more than that for our sakes.

"You would have to love anyone very much indeed to give up your home for him. You would have to love {258} anyone better than you love yourself to give up your life for him."

"Do you mean like Frank's papa," said Harold, "when he ran into the fire when his house burned, to get Frank, and almost died?"

"Yes," said mamma, "Frank's papa loved his little boy better than he loved his own life, and he was ready to give his own life that his little boy might be saved."

"But why is the story sad, then?" said Margaret.

"It is sad," replied mamma, "because his death was such a cruel one, and because he suffered so much.

"One night Jesus gathered his dearest friends about him, and they had supper together, and he told them how much he loved them, and that they must never forget him.

"After the supper was over he went out into the night, to a place called the Garden of Gethsemane. Then his enemies came with torches, and found him there, and seized hold upon him, and bound him with ropes, and led him away.

"After they had treated him with great cruelty, they took him to a hill called Calvary outside the city, and there, before a great multitude of people, they nailed his hands and his feet to a cross of wood, and after he had suffered very much, he died there upon the cross. Then it grew dark upon the hill, and an earthquake shook the ground, and the people ran away in terror, because they began to see what a wicked thing they had done."

"Oh, what wicked people," said Margaret, "to kill dear Jesus!"

{259}{260}

JESUS IN THE HOME OF MARY AND MARTHA

By Siemiradski (1843- )

  "And fast beside the olive-bordered way
  Stands the blessed home where Jesus deigned to stay;
  The peaceful home, to zeal sincere
  And heavenly contemplation dear,
  Where Martha loved to wait with reverence meet,
  And wiser Mary lingered at Thy sacred feet."
--John Keble


{261}

"Jesus loved even them," said mamma, softly. "He was so good that he loved them, even while they were killing him, and asked his Father in heaven to forgive them, too.

"You must remember that when we do what is wrong, we hurt our Father in heaven very much, but Jesus has taught us that he loves us still, and is ready to forgive us when we ask him.

"So this is the reason why we love Jesus so much. 'We love him because he first loved us.' This is the reason why mamma went to church to-day, to thank God for sending to the world such a loving Jesus, and to remember the day on which he died for us, and for all the world.

"Now mamma will sing you a beautiful hymn about the cross. The cross was dreadful then, but we love it now because it makes us remember the love of Jesus."

  "In the cross of Christ I glory;
    Towering o'er the wrecks of time;
  All the light of sacred story
    Gathers round its head sublime.

  "When the woes of life o'ertake me,
    Hopes deceive and fears annoy,
  Never shall the cross forsake me;
    Lo! it glows with peace and joy.

  "When the sun of bliss is beaming
    Light and love upon my way,
  From the cross the radiance streaming
    Adds new luster to the day.         {262}

  "Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure,
    By the cross are sanctified;
  Peace is there that knows no measure,
    Joys that through all time abide.

  "In the cross of Christ I glory;
    Towering o'er the wrecks of time;
  All the light of sacred story
    Gathers round its head sublime."

{263}{264}

THE FIRST EASTER DAWN

By J. K. Thompson

  "The day of resurrection,
    Earth, tell it out abroad:
  The Passover of gladness,
    The Passover of God.
  From death to life eternal,
    From earth unto the sky,
  Our Christ hath brought us over
    With hymns of victory."
--John of Damascus


{265}

THE STORY OF THE FIRST EASTER DAY

It was Easter Day. Both Margaret and Harold went to church. It was a beautiful day, warm and pleasant. The grass was green, and the tulips and the crocuses were blossoming in the gardens. Everybody was glad that the snow and the cold of winter had gone. When they were on their way to church, they saw a robin on a branch of a tree. The children laughed with pleasure to see Mr. Robin Redbreast back again. At church there were beautiful flowers, and the choir sang Easter songs and hymns. One of the hymns Harold liked very much indeed. He said it made him feel that the world was so glad that it couldn't help singing its gladness right out. This hymn began--

  "Christ the Lord is risen to-day
    Sons of men and angels say,
  Raise your joys and triumphs high,
    Sing, ye heavens, and, earth, reply."

In the evening they sat with their mamma, watching the beautiful sunset.

"Mamma," said Harold, "I don't think that I just understand about that long word the minister used so much this morning--resurrection; won't you explain it, please?"

{266}

"Well," said mamma, "it is not very easy for little folks to understand, but I will try. I will tell you the

STORY OF THE FIRST EASTER DAY.

"You know that the enemies of Jesus crucified him as I told you, and he died upon the cross."

"Yes," said Margaret, soberly, "I know about that. My little kittie died. She went to sleep, and couldn't wake up any more. Poor little kittie!"

"Yes," said mamma, "and you know that dear Grand-mamma White went to sleep and didn't wake up, and God took her dear, beautiful soul to be with him.

"After Jesus had suffered on the cross, he went to sleep, that sound, sound sleep that we call death. Then they took him from the cross, and placed his body in a tomb dug out of the rock, and rolled a great stone before the door. His disciples and all his friends were very, very sad, because they thought they would never see him again."

"But they did, mamma," said Harold.

"Oh, yes," said Margaret, "he wasn't truly dead."

"Ah, yes, my dears," said mamma, "he was truly dead, but after he had lain there quietly for three days, a wonderful thing happened. He came to life again. He came out from the tomb. He went to see his friends and his disciples. He made them very happy. He told them that soon he must go back to his Father in heaven, and that they must go everywhere in all the world, telling people about him.

"Now I will read you the beautiful story of the first Easter Day, as it is told in the Bible:--

{267}

"'Now on the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, while it was yet dark, unto the tomb, and seeth the stone taken away from the tomb. She runneth, therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we know not where they have laid him."

"'Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. And they both ran together: and the other disciple outran Peter, and came first to the tomb; and stooping and looking in he seeth the linen cloths lying, yet entered he not in. Simon Peter therefore cometh, following him, and entered into the tomb; and he beholdeth the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, that was upon his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. Then entered in therefore the other disciple also, which came first to the tomb, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again unto their own home.

"'But Mary was standing without at the tomb weeping. So, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she beholdeth two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, "Woman, why weepest thou?"

"'She said unto them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him."

"'When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and beholdeth Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.

{268}

"'Jesus saith unto her, "Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?"

"'She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, "Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away."

"'Jesus saith unto her, "Mary!"

"'She turneth herself, and saith unto him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" which is to say, "Master."

"'Jesus saith to her, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God."

"'Mary Magdalene cometh and telleth the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and how that he had said these things unto her.'"


"That is a very beautiful story, is it not?" said mamma, when she had finished reading. "And how glad Mary and all the friends of Jesus must have been to see him again! Now the sunset has faded, and I will sing you an Easter hymn."

[Footnote: Tune, "The Son of God goes forth to war."]

  "The terror of the night has fled,
    Its shadows fade away;
  The tomb wherein our Lord lay dead
    Is open to the day.

  "That Easter morn when He came forth,
    Who gave Him greeting there?
  The flowers, the birds, the radiant earth,
    And all the garden fair.        {269}

  "Once more the glorious day is here,
    The day that saw Him rise,
  When Love was victor over fear,
    And glory filled the skies.

  "Who comes to greet our risen King?
    Not birds and flowers alone,
  Our loyal hearts to Him we bring,
    And worship at His throne."

{270}

THE STORY OF THE FIRST THANKSGIVING

Harold and Margaret had been hoping for a snowy Thanksgiving, and they were very happy when, two days before Thanksgiving, the snow began to fall in great flakes. The sun shone again on Thanksgiving morning, and at nine o'clock the sleigh with the two dapple gray horses was ready to take all the family to Grandpa Emerson's over the river and away four miles across the snowy fields in the country. How they enjoyed the ride in the fresh cold air! What a merry tune was sung by the jingling of the sleighbells! And how happy they were after they reached the big old farmhouse! First, of course, they were kissed and hugged by Grandpa Emerson and Grandma Emerson. Then they went out to the barn to see the horses and cows. Then they went sliding down the hill behind the barn. Then they made a beautiful snow man, and by that time they were ready for Grandma Emerson's Thanksgiving dinner. They were to stay at the farm for a few days, and toward evening as they sat before the roaring fire in the big fireplace they asked mamma for a story. "I will tell you," she said,

THE STORY OF THE FIRST THANKSGIVING.

"The first settlers of New England were the Pilgrims who came across the sea from England in the ship Mayfower."

{271}

"Oh, yes," said Harold, "I remember when we went to Plymouth and saw the Plymouth Rock and the old houses and the monument on the hill."

"Yes," said mamma, "that is where they landed and built their log houses. I will recite a poem which I learned when I was a girl and went to school like Margaret."

  "The breaking waves dashed high
    On a stern and rockbound coast,
  And the woods against a stormy sky
    Their giant branches tossed;

  "And the heavy night hung dark
    The hills and waters o'er,
  When a band of exiles moored their bark
    On the wild New England shore.

  "Not as the conqueror comes,
    They, the true-hearted, came,
  Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
    And the trumpet that sings of fame;

  "Not as the flying come,
    In silence and in fear,--
  They shook the depths of the desert gloom
    With their hymns of lofty cheer.

  "Amidst the storm they sang,
    And the stars heard and the sea!
  And the sounding aisles of the dim wood rang
    To the anthem of the free!             {272}

  "The ocean eagle soared
    From his nest by the white wave's foam,
  And the rocking pines of the forest roared--
    This was their welcome home!

  "There were men with hoary hair
    Amidst that pilgrim band--
  Why had they come to wither there
    Away from their childhood's land?

  "There was woman's fearless eye,
    Lit by her deep love's truth;
  There was manhood's brow, serenely high,
    And the fiery heart of youth.

  "What sought they thus afar?
    Bright jewels of the mine?
  The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?--
    They sought a faith's pure shrine.

  "Ay, call it holy ground,
    The soil where first they trod!
  They have left unstain'd what there they found--
    Freedom to worship God!"

"Did they have a very hard time at Plymouth?" said Margaret.

"Yes, my dear," replied mamma, "a very hard time. There were little children, and they often had to go cold and hungry. After the Mayflower brought them to Plymouth, it had to sail away again to England and leave them in the wilderness alone."

"There were Indians, too," said Harold.

{273}{274}

THRESHING

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.

In the East the grain is threshed by the trampling of beasts, or sometimes, as in this picture, by a rude kind of threshing wheel. The wheels are carried in the framework on which the man is sitting. Sometimes a sledge with iron or stone teeth driven into the bottom is used.


{275}

"Yes," said mamma, "but they had the brave Miles Standish to protect them. At one time, so the story goes, they were almost starving. The winter was coming on, and they did not know what to do. So they set apart a certain day to fast and ask God's help in their distress. I am not sure that it is true, but we will suppose that a little girl and boy like you had climbed the hill to gather a few sticks of wood for the fire. We will suppose that the little girl was looking out to sea, and suddenly she cried, 'Oh, John, what can that be, is it a sail?'

"And we will suppose that John said, 'Oh, no, Priscilla, that is nothing but a seagull; there is no ship coming.'

"But Priscilla insisted.

"'It is, John, it is a sail.' And John looked again and cried, 'Yes! yes! it is, it is a sail!'

"Then how they ran to the village shouting, 'A sail! a sail!' and how the people came crowding out of the little church where they had gathered to pray, and how happy they all were!

"I do not know whether the children caught sight of the sail first, but it is true that on the day appointed for fast and prayer, a ship came from England, and the fast day was turned into a day of feasting and thanksgiving to God for his mercies. And ever after in New England, and now all over this country, the people keep this day; a day for feasting and joy, but a day also of humble thankfulness to God for all his goodness to his children.

"Now, we will draw the curtains and sing a Thanksgiving hymn."

{276}
  "O God, beneath Thy guiding hand
    Our exiled fathers crossed the sea,
  And when they trod the wintry strand
    With prayer and psalm they worshiped Thee.

  "Thou heard'st well pleased the song, the prayer:
    Thy blessing came; and still its power
  Shall onward through all ages bear
    The memory of that holy hour.

  "Laws, freedom, truth, and faith in God,
    Came with those exiles o'er the waves.
  And where their pilgrim feet have trod,
    The God they trusted guards their graves.

  "And here Thy name, O God of love,
    Their children's children shall adore
  Till these eternal hills remove,
    And spring adorns the earth no more."

{277}{278}

SHEEP

By Jacque

  "Little lambs, so white and fair,
  Are the shepherd's constant care;
  Now he leads their tender feet
  Into pastures green and sweet.

  "Now they listen and obey,
  Following where he leads the way;
  Heavenly Father, may we be
  Thus obedient unto Thee."
--Selected


{279}

WHO WAS THE NEIGHBOR?

"What is that long word?" asked Harold.

"That is 'neighbor,'" said mamma. "Can you tell me what it means?"

"Oh, yes," said Harold. "It means the people who live close by. Ralph and Elizabeth are our neighbors, because they live in the house next door."

"Yes," said mamma, "and in the old times when people did not travel as much as they do now, they did not know much about any except their neighbors. The Old Testament says that you should love your neighbor. That meant the people you meet day by day. The people of Jesus' time said that you should love your neighbor, but you might hate your enemy. Jesus said that was not right. Do you remember what he said about that, Harold?"

"I know," said Margaret, "we had it in our Sunday School class last Sunday. 'Love your enemies.'"

"Yes," said mamma, "and he once told a story about neighbors. It is called the story of

THE GOOD SAMARITAN.

"'And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

"'He said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou?

{280}

"'And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.

"'And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

"'But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

"'And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

"'And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

"'And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

"'But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him.

"'And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

"'And on the morrow when he departed, he took, out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee.

"'Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves?

"'And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.'

"What do you think that story means?" asked mamma.

{281}

"I think," said Harold, "that it means that to be neighbor to anybody is to help him."

Margaret thought a minute. "It seems to me," she said, "that neighbors can live a long way off, then. Our teacher said she would tell us next Sunday how we could help poor little children in a big city five hundred miles away. That will make us neighbors to them, won't it, mamma?"

"Why, yes," said mamma. "So it will." Then she smiled a little and said, "I think we have some neighbors living in China and some others living in India."

What do you suppose mamma meant?

{282}

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Harold and Margaret were looking at a picture of an Eastern shepherd with his flocks.

"Mamma," said Harold, "is this our country? This man is not dressed as men are here."

"No," said mamma, "it is a picture of a shepherd and his sheep in the country of the Bible."

"What makes the shepherd go before the sheep, mamma?" asked Harold.

"In that country," said mamma, "the sheep are not driven, but led."

"Were sheep more plenty in the Bible land than in ours? I have never seen many sheep," said Harold.

"Yes," answered mamma, "most of the children in the Bible land knew all about sheep. Many of the hillsides had little white flocks of sheep on them. They were not kept in fields with fences. They wandered about over the open pasture lands; and so a man or a boy must be with them to watch over them. He was called the shepherd. He took them to the best pastures. At some seasons of the year he had to lead them a long way to find water. He kept the bears and the wolves and the lions away. He kept away the thieves who might come to steal the sheep. At night he drove the sheep to a fold, or shed, or sometimes he slept with them all night in the open air, beneath the stars.

{283}{284}

AN EASTERN SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP

From a photograph taken by W. J. Aitchison, Esq., of Hamilton, Canada, and used by his kind permission.

These sheep are feeding just outside Jerusalem. "All the plateaus east of the Jordan, and the mountains of Palestine and Syria, are pasture grounds for innumerable flocks and herds. In the spring there is plenty of grass. Later, when the rain has ceased, the sheep still nibble the dry herbage and stubble and flourish where, to a western eye, all is barren desert. They require water but once a day. The descendants of the same shepherds who tended the flocks in Bible days still occupy the great sheep walks of Palestine"


{285}

The shepherd named the sheep, and the sheep all knew him and loved him. They would follow him, but they would not follow a stranger. Because the people of the Bible land knew so much about the sheep and the shepherds, the writers of the Bible said a good deal about them. Now get the Bible and I will read you some of the things which it says about sheep."


Margaret brought the Bible, and mamma read first what Jesus said about himself as the good shepherd:--


"'Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. When he hath put forth all his own, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.'


"'Jesus said unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall go in and out, and shall find pasture. The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. He that is a hireling, and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, beholdeth the wolf coming, {286} and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf snatcheth them, and scattereth them: he fleeth because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know mine own, and mine own know me, even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.'"


"This means, my dears," said mamma, "that Jesus cares for you and for all his children, just as a good and faithful shepherd cares for his sheep. The good shepherd brings his sheep safely home at night, and the porter, or keeper of the fold, opens the door and lets them in. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls each one by name and they follow him, but they will not follow a stranger."

"What does 'hireling' mean?" said Margaret.

"It means, dear," replied mamma, "one who is hired to care for the sheep, but who does not know them or love them as the good shepherd does."

"I know," said Harold; "it means that Jesus can take care of us better than anyone else."

"Yes," said mamma, "that is just what it means. And here is another story from the Bible, which Jesus told to show how very tenderly he loves and cares for his little ones":--


"'Jesus said, See that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. How think ye? If any man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and go unto the mountains and seek that which goeth astray?

{287}{288}

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

By W. C. T. Dobson

"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. He that is a hireling, and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, beholdeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf snatcheth them, and scattereth them: he fleeth because he is a hireling, and careth not for his sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know mine own, and mine own know me, even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and they shall become one flock, one shepherd."--The Words of Jesus


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And if so be that he find it, verily, I say unto you, he rejoiceth over it more than over the ninety and nine which have not gone astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones shall perish.'"

"In the book of the Bible called the Psalms," continued mamma, "the twenty-third is often called the Shepherd Psalm."

"Oh, we know that psalm," said Margaret.

"Suppose," said mamma, "that one of the sheep in our picture could talk and think like you. Would he not wish to say something about his shepherd, very much like this psalm? The sheep would tell you how the shepherd led him to the green pastures, and let him rest by the brooks that flow gently through the meadows, and kept him safe in the valleys where no wild beasts were hiding to kill him, and put out his long staff to guide him and to help him up the steep paths of the hills. Now let us say the psalm together."

  "'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
  He leadeth me beside the still waters.
  He restoreth my soul:
  He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
  I will fear no evil; for thou art with me:
  Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:  {290}
  Thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
  And I will dwell in the House of the Lord for ever.'"

"Mamma," said Harold, "sheep don't eat at tables, or have cups."

"No," said mamma, smiling, "that shows us that, after all, this psalm is about a man, and not about a sheep. It means that when troubles and dangers are all about us God still gives all that we need. Sometime that will mean a great deal more to you than it does now."

"I don't understand," said Margaret, "about anointing the head with oil, and dwelling in the house of the Lord."

"In the Bible land," said mamma, "when a man wished to honor a guest whom he had invited to a feast, he poured out a little sweet-smelling oil upon his head. The psalm means that God makes his people, even when they are in the midst of danger, feel as happy as though they were honored guests at a feast. To dwell in the house of the Lord forever means that we are to feel always perfectly secure, as though we were living in God's own house, where nothing could ever harm us."

Harold thought a moment, and then he said, "I think that I know what all the stories about sheep in the Bible mean. They mean that people are like sheep, and they can't take care of themselves, but that God loves them very much, and that he will always take care of them."

"Yes, that is just it," said mamma, "and now! as it is {291} growing dark, let us sing that song which is the twenty-third psalm put into different words."

  "The Lord is my shepherd; no want shall I know;
    I feed in green pastures, safe-folded I rest;
  He leadeth my soul where the still waters flow,
    Restores me when wandering, redeems when oppressed.

  "Through the valley and shadow of death though I stray,
    Since Thou art my guardian, no evil I fear;
  Thy rod shall defend me, Thy staff be my stay;
    No harm can befall, with my Comforter near.

  "In the midst of affliction my table is spread;
    With blessings unmeasured my cup runneth o'er;
  With perfume and oil Thou anointest my head;
    O what shall I ask of Thy providence more?

  "Let goodness and mercy, my bountiful God,
    Still follow my steps till I meet Thee above;
  I seek, by the path which my forefathers trod
    Through the land of their sojourn, Thy kingdom of love."

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LITTLE BROTHERS OF THE AIR AND FIELDS

Margaret and Harold had learned to be kind to animals. They belonged to a "Band of Mercy," a company of boys and girls who were pledged never to be unkind to any dumb creature, and to rescue any poor beast who might be in distress or suffering cruel treatment. They had many chances to help poor dogs and cats which were being persecuted by cruel boys. One day they came home from school and told about a poor little kitten which they had protected when it was almost dead from fright. "That was very kind," said mamma, "and to-night I will read you some stories and poems about kindness to animals which I have been saving. Margaret and Harold played with their dog Sport and their big cat Spot until supper time. After supper they were ready for the stories and poems.

"Once upon a time," said mamma, "there lived a very good man who came to be known as St. Francis of Assisi. He was very kind to all birds and animals. He called the birds 'little brothers of the air' and the animals 'little brothers of the field and woods.' These stories are told about him:--

"'Once, full of joy, he was going on his way when, perceiving some flocks of birds, he turned aside a little from the road to go to them. Far from taking flight, they flocked around him as if to bid him welcome.

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HEAD OF DOG


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"Brother birds," he said to them, "you ought to praise and love your Creator very much. He has given you feathers for clothing, wings for flying, and all that is needful for you. He has made you the noblest of his creatures; he permits you to live in the pure air; you have neither to sow nor to reap, and yet he takes care of you, watches over you and guides you." Then the birds began to arch their necks, to spread out their wings, to open their beaks, to look at him, as if to thank him, while he went up and down in their midst stroking them with the border of his tunic, sending them away at last with his blessing.'

"'In this same tour, passing through Alviano, he began to preach to the people, but the swallows so filled the air with their chirping that he could not make himself heard. "It is my turn to speak," he said to them; "little swallow sisters, hearken to the word of God; keep silent and be very quiet until I have finished.'"

"'At Rieti a family of redbreasts were the guests of the monastery, and the young birds made marauding expeditions on the very table where the Brothers were eating. Not far from there, at Greccio, at another time, they brought to Francis a little rabbit that had been taken alive in a trap. "Come to me, Brother Rabbit," he said to it. And as the poor creature, being set free, ran to him for refuge, he took it up, caressed it, and finally put it on the ground that it might run away; but it returned to him again and again, so that he was obliged to send it to the neighboring forest before it would consent to return to freedom.'

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"'One day he was crossing the Lake of Rieti. The boatman in whose bark he was making the passage offered him a fish of uncommon size. Francis accepted it with joy, but, to the great amazement of the fisherman, put it back into the water, bidding it bless God.'

"Here is a story which I once read about a very good and distinguished man who tells how he learned when he was a boy not to kill even the smallest animal needlessly.

"'I saw one day a little spotted turtle sunning itself in the shallow water, and I lifted the stick in my hand to kill it, for, though I had never killed any creature, I had seen other boys kill birds, squirrels, and the like, and I had a disposition to follow their wicked example; but all at once something checked my little arm, and a voice within me said, clear and loud, "It is wrong," and so I held my uplifted stick until the turtle vanished from my sight. Then I went home and told my mother, and asked her what it was that told me it was wrong. She wiped a tear from her eye, and took me in her arms, and said: "Some call it conscience, but I call it the voice of God in the human soul. If you listen to it and obey it, then it will speak clearer and clearer, and always guide you right. But if you do not listen to it, or disobey it, then it will fade out, little by little, and leave you in the dark without a guide. Your life, my child, depends on heeding that little voice."'

"And here are some poems which teach us to be gentle and kind to the dumb animals who depend upon us for life and look to us for mercy. The poet Cowper says:--

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BOY AND DOG

By Blume


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  "'I would not enter on my list of friends,
  Though graced with polished manners and fine sense,
  Yet wanting sensibility, the man
  Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.'

"Coleridge in a great poem, 'The Ancient Mariner,' which I will read to you when you are a little older, says:--

  "'He prayeth well who loveth well
    Both man and bird and beast.

  "'He prayeth best who loveth best
    All things, both great and small;
  For the dear God who loveth us,
    He made and loveth all.'

"And here are two verses whose author I do not know:--

  "'Maker of earth, and sea, and sky,
    Creation's Sovereign Lord and King;
  Who hung the starry worlds on high
    And formed alike the sparrow's wing:
  Bless the dumb creatures of Thy care,
    And listen to their voiceless prayer.

  "'All-Father! who on Mercy's throne
    Hear'st Thy dumb creatures' faintest moan,--
  Thy love be ours, and ours shall be
    Returned in deeds to these and Thee.'

"There is a poem by John Ruskin which speaks of that good time coming when cruelty shall cease and terrible wars shall be no more."

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A SONG OF PEACE.

  "'Put off, put off your mail, ye kings, and beat your brands to dust;
  A surer grasp your hands must know, your hearts a better trust.
  Nay, bend aback the lance's point, and break the helmet bar,
  A noise is in the morning winds, but not the note of war!

  "'Among the grassy mountain paths the glittering troops increase;
  They come! they come! how fair their feet--they come that publish peace.
  Yea, Victory, fair Victory, our enemies are ours,
  And all the clouds are clasped in light, and all the earth with flowers.

  "'Ah! still depressed and dim with dew, but wait a little while,
  And radiant with the deathless rose the wilderness shall smile,
  And every tender, living thing shall feed by streams of rest,
  Nor lamb shall from the fold be lost, nor nursling from the nest.'"

"That reminds us of what the prophet said about the time when all the beasts even shall lose their cruel traits and live at peace with each other, and even play with little children."

"Could that ever be true, mamma?" interrupted Harold.

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ON GUARD


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"Well, even now, my dear," replied mamma, "wild and fierce animals have been wholly tamed by kindness. We cannot tell what beautiful things might happen if all evil and unkindness should be driven from the world and men should live as Christ taught us to live.

"Here are the prophet's words: 'And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.'

"These verses are from the Psalms and the Proverbs:--

"'For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

"'I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.'

"'The merciful man doeth good to his own soul; but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.'

"'A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.'

"And here are some of the words of Jesus about animals and birds and about kindness:--

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"'Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.'

"'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.'

"'The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.'

"'Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of the heavens, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not of much more value than they?'

"'Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father; but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.'"

"And now it is late and my little lambs must go to their beds. I am sure that you both will be kind in every way to your little brothers of the air and the woods and fields, and your little dumb brothers in the streets of the city."

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SHEPHERD HYMNS


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THE GOOD SHEPHERD

By Bernard Plockhorst (1825- )

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. When he hath put forth all his own, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers."

--The Words of Jesus


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SAVIOUR, LIKE A SHEPHERD LEAD US

  Saviour, like a shepherd lead us,
    Much we need Thy tenderest care;
  In Thy pleasant pastures feed us,
    For our use Thy folds prepare;
      Blessed Jesus,
    Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.

  We are Thine, do Thou befriend us,
    Be the guardian of our way;
  Keep Thy flock, from sin defend us,
    Seek us when we go astray;
      Blessed Jesus,
    Hear the children when they pray.

  Early let us seek Thy favor,
    Early let us do Thy will;
  Holy Lord, our only Saviour,
    With Thy grace our bosoms fill;
      Blessed Jesus,
    Thou hast loved us, love us still.
--Dorothy Ann Thrupp.

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WAS THERE EVER KINDEST SHEPHERD?

  Was there ever kindest shepherd
    Half so gentle, half so sweet
  As the Saviour, who would have us
    Come and gather round His feet?
  There's a wideness in God's mercy,
    Like the wideness of the sea;
  There's a kindness in His justice,
    Which is more than liberty.

  For the love of God is broader
    Than the measure of man's mind;
  And the heart of the Eternal
    Is most wonderfully kind.
  If our love were but more simple,
    We should take Him at His word;
  And our lives would be all sunshine
    In the sweetness of our Lord.
--Frederick William Faber

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THE LOST LAMB FOUND

By P. Giradet

Sometimes in winter the sheep suffer greatly from the cold and heavy snowstorms. This is a description of sheep covered by the snow in winter:--

"The flock was buried Beneath a great white billow as high as a barn and as broad as a house. This great drift was rolling and curling beneath the violent blast, tufting and combing with rustling swirls, and carved as if patterns of cornice where the grooving-chisel of the wind swept round. Ever and again the tempest snatched little whiffs from the channeled edges, twirled them round and made them dance over the chine of the monster pile, then let them lie like herringbones or the seams of the sand where the tide has been. And all the while, from the smothery sky, more and more fiercely at every blast, came the pelting pitiless arrows winged with murky white and pointed with the barbs of the frost."--Blackmore


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GRACIOUS SAVIOUR, HOLY SHEPHERD

  Gracious Saviour, holy Shepherd,
    Little ones are dear to Thee;
  Gathered with Thine arms, and carried
    In Thy bosom, may they be
  Sweetly, fondly, safely tended,
    From all want and danger free.

  Let Thy holy words instruct them;
    Fill their minds with heavenly light;
  Let Thy love and grace constrain them
    To approve whate'er is right;
  Let them feel Thy yoke is easy,
    Let them prove Thy burden light.

  Taught to lisp Thy holy praises
    Which on earth Thy children sing,
  With both lips and hearts, unfeigned,
    Glad thank-offering may they bring;
  Then with all Thy saints in glory
    Join to praise their Lord and King.
--Jane E. Leeson and J. Whittemore.

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IN HEAVENLY LOVE ABIDING

  In heavenly love abiding,
    No change my heart shall fear,
  And safe is such confiding,
    For nothing changes here.
  The storm may roar without me,
    My heart may low be laid;
  But God is round about me,
    And can I be dismayed?

  Wherever He may guide me,
    No want shall turn me back;
  My Shepherd is beside me,
    And nothing can I lack.
  His wisdom ever waketh,
    His sight is never dim,
  He knows the way He taketh,
    And I will walk with Him.

  Green pastures are before me,
    Which yet I have not seen;
  Bright skies will soon be o'er me,
    Where darkest clouds have been.
  My hope I cannot measure,
    My path to life is free;
  My Saviour has my treasure,
    And He will walk with me.
--Anna L. Waring.

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THE KING OF LOVE

  The King of love my Shepherd is,
    Whose goodness faileth never;
  I nothing lack if I am His,
    And He is mine forever.

  Where streams of living water flow
    My ransomed soul He leadeth,
  And where the verdant pastures grow,
    With food celestial feedeth.

  Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
    But yet in love He sought me,
  And on His shoulder gently laid,
   And home, rejoicing, brought me.

  In death's dark vale I fear no ill
    With Thee, dear Lord, beside me;
  Thy rod and staff my comfort still,
    Thy cross before to guide me.

  And so, through all the length of days
    Thy goodness faileth never;
  Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
    Within Thy house forever.
--Sir H. W. Baker.

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PRAYERS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN

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PRAYERS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN


  Our Father which art in heaven,
  Hallowed be Thy name.
  Thy kingdom come.
  Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
  Give us this day our daily bread.
  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
  For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
     AMEN.

  Jesus, take this heart of mine,
  Make it pure, and only Thine.
  I Thy little child would be,
  Help me, Lord, to live for Thee. AMEN.



  I thank Thee, Lord, for quiet rest,
    And for Thy care of me;
  Oh, let me through this day be blest,
    And kept from harm by Thee.
  Oh, let me thank Thee, kind Thou art
    To children such as I,
  Give me a gentle, loving heart;
    Be Thou my friend on high. AMEN.
--Beginner's Reading Book.


  Dear Lord, for these three things I pray:
    To know Thee more clearly,
    To love Thee more dearly,
    To follow Thee more nearly.
  Every day.   AMEN.

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  Father in heaven, help Thy little children
    To love and serve Thee throughout this day.
  Help us to be truthful, help us to be kindly,
    That we may please Thee in all we do or say.

  Dear Lord, we pray Thee, keep Thy little children
    From doing wrong throughout this happy day.
  Hear our morning promises. Father, help us keep them,
    That we may please Thee in all we do or say.     AMEN.


  For Jesus Christ, the children's friend,
    We thank Thee, heavenly Father.
  For Jesus Christ, who keeps us to the end,
    We thank Thee, heavenly Father.           AMEN.


  Father, we thank Thee for the night,
    And for the pleasant morning light;
  For rest and food and loving care,
    And all that makes the day so fair.

  Help us to do the things we should,
    To be to others kind and good;
  In all we do in work or play,
    To grow more loving every day.      AMEN.


  Dear Lord, we thank Thee for Thy care,
    And all Thy mercy sends;
  For food we eat, the clothes we wear,
    Our health and home and friends.       AMEN.

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THE SOUL'S AWAKENING

By James Sant (1820- )

  "Can a little child like me,
  Thank the Father fittingly?
  Yes, oh, yes,--be good and true,
  Patient, kind in all you do,
  Love the Lord and do your part,
  Learn to say with all your heart,--
    Father, we thank Thee;
    Father in heaven, we thank Thee."
--Mary Mapes Dodge


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  Loving Jesus, meek and mild,
  Look upon a little child.
  Make me gentle as Thou art,
  Come and live within my heart.

  Take my childish hand in Thine,
  Guide these little feet of mine,
  And the world shall ever see
  Christ, the holy child, in me.       AMEN.


  Lord, though Thy home is in the sky,
    Thou art not far away;
  Thou lookest down with loving eye
    When little children pray.

  We thank Thee for Thy tender care,
    And for Thy precious love,
  For all the beauty Thou hast made
    Of earth and heaven above.          AMEN.


  Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me;
    Bless Thy little lamb to-night.
  Through the darkness be Thou near me;
    Keep me safe till morning light.

  All this day Thy hand has led me,
    And I thank Thee for Thy care;
  Thou hast warmed me, clothed and fed me,
    Listen to my evening prayer.

  Let my sins be all forgiven,
    Bless the friends I love so well;
  Take us all at last to heaven,
    Happy there with Thee to dwell.     AMEN.

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My Father in heaven, I thank Thee for my many blessings. I love Thee
very much. Help me to love Thee more and to obey Thee better. Forgive
all my sins, I pray Thee. Give me good thoughts. Give me
understanding. Bless all my friends and keep them and me, both now and
forever.   AMEN.
--By courtesy of the Clarke School, Northampton, Mass.

A CHILD'S GRACE

  Some hae meat and canna eat,
    And some wad eat that want it;
  But we hae meat and we can eat,
    And sae the Lord be thankit.   AMEN.
--Robert Burns.

GRACE FOR A CHILD

  Here, a little child, I stand,
  Heaving up my either hand;
  Cold as paddocks though they be,
  Here I lift them up to Thee,
  For a benison to fall
  On our meat and on us all.   AMEN.
--Robert Herrick.

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OLD TIME VERSES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN

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AGAINST IDLENESS AND MISCHIEF

  How doth the little busy bee
    Improve each shining hour,
  And gather honey all the day
    From every opening flower!

  How skillfully she builds her cell!
    How neat she spreads the wax!
  And labors hard to store it well.
    With the sweet food she makes.

  In works of labor or of skill
    I would be busy, too:
  For Satan finds some mischief still
    For idle hands to do.

  In books, or work, or healthful play,
    Let my first years be pass'd;
  That I may give for every day
    Some good account at last.
--Isaac Watts.

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AGAINST PRIDE IN CLOTHES

  How proud we are! how fond to show
  Our clothes, and call them rich and new,
  When the poor sheep and silkworm wore
  That very clothing long before.

  The tulip and the butterfly
  Appear in gayer coats than I;
  Let me be dress'd fine as I will,
  Flies, worms, and flowers exceed me still.
  Then will I set my heart to find
  Inward adornings of the mind;
  Knowledge and virtue, truth and grace!
  These are the robes of richest dress.
  No more shall worms with me compare,
  This is the raiment angels wear;
  The Son of God, when here below,
  Put on this best apparel, too.

  It never fades, it ne'er grows old,
  Nor fears the rain, nor moth, nor mould;
  It takes no spot, but still refines;
  The more 't is worn the more it shines.
  In this on earth would I appear,
  Then go to heaven and wear it there;
  God will approve it in His sight,
  'Tis His own work and His delight.
--Isaac Watts.

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THE ANT, OR EMMET

  These emmets, how little they are in our eyes!
  We tread them to dust, and a troop of them dies,
    Without our regard or concern;
  Yet, as wise as we are, if we went to their school,
  There's many a sluggard and many a fool
    Some lessons of wisdom might learn.

  They wear not their time out in sleeping or play,
  But gather up corn in a sunshiny day,
    And for winter they lay up their stores;
  They manage their work in such regular forms
  One would think they foresaw all the frosts and the storms,
    And so brought their food within doors.

  But I have less sense than a poor creeping ant
  If I take not due care for the things I shall want,
    Nor provide against dangers in time;
  When death or old age shall once stare in my face,
  What a wretch shall I be in the end of my days
    If I trifle a way all their prime!

  Now, while my strength and my youth are in bloom,
  Let me think what shall serve me when sickness shall come,
    And pray that my sins be forgiven;
  Let me read in good books, and believe, and obey,
  That, when death turns me out of this cottage of clay,
    I may dwell in a palace in heaven.
--Isaac Watts.

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A MORNING SONG

  My God, who makes the sun to know
    His proper hour to rise,
  And, to give light to all below,
    Doth send him round the skies.

  When from the chambers of the east
    His morning race begins,
  He never tires, nor stops to rest,
    But round the world he shines.

  So, like the sun, would I fulfill
    The business of the day;
  Begin my work betimes, and still
    March on my heavenly way.

  Give me, O Lord, Thine early grace,
    Nor let my soul complain,
  That the young morning of my days
    Has all been spent in vain.
--Isaac Watts.

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MADONNA OF THE ANGELS

By Adolph Bouguereau (1825-1905)

 "The mother with the Child,
    Whose tender winning arts
  Have to His little arms beguiled
    So many wounded hearts."
--Matthew Arnold

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AN EVENING SONG
  And now another day is gone,
    I'll sing my Maker's praise;
  My comforts every hour make known
    His providence and grace.

  But how my childhood runs to waste!
    My sins, how great their sum!
  Lord, give me pardon for the past,
    And strength for days to come.

  I lay my body down to sleep,
    Let angels guard my head;
  And, through the hours of darkness, keep
    Their watch around my bed.

  With cheerful heart I close my eyes,
    Since Thou wilt not remove;
  And in the morning let me rise,
    Rejoicing in Thy love.
--Isaac Watts.

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THE SLUGGARD
  'T is the voice of the Sluggard: I heard him complain,
  "You have waked me too soon! I must slumber again!"
  As a door on its hinges, so he on his bed
  Turns his sides, and his shoulders, and his heavy head.

  "A little more sleep and a little more slumber!"
  Thus he wastes half his days and his hours without number;
  And when he gets up he sits folding his hands,
  Or walks about sauntering, or trifling he stands.

  I pass'd by his garden and saw the wild brier,
  The thorn and the thistle grow broader and higher;
  The clothes that hang on him are turning to rags,
  And his money still wastes, till he starves or he begs.

  I made him a visit, still hoping to find
  He had took better care for improving his mind:
  He told me his dreams, talked of eating and drinking;
  But he scarce reads his Bible, and never loves thinking.

  Said I then to my heart, "Here's a lesson for me!
  That man's but a picture of what I might be;
  But thanks to my friends for their care in my breeding,
  Who have taught me betimes to love working and reading."
--Isaac Watts.

{335}{336}

THE DIVINE SHEPHERD

By Murillo (1618-1682)

{337}
PRAISE FOR MERCIES, SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL

Whene'er I take my walks abroad,
  How many poor I see!
What shall I render to the Lord
  For all His gifts to me!

Not more than others I deserve,
  Yet God hath given me more;
For I have food, while others starve,
  Or beg from door to door.

How many children in the street
  Half naked I behold!
While I am clothed from head to feet
  And cover'd from the cold.

While some poor wretches scarce can tell
  Where they may lay their head,
I have a home wherein to dwell,
  And rest upon my bed.

While others early learn to swear,
  And curse, and lie, and steal;
Lord, I am taught Thy name to fear,
  And do Thy holy will.

Are these Thy favors, day by day,
  To me above the rest?
Then let me love Thee more than they,
  And try to serve Thee best.
--Isaac Watts.

{338}
THE ROSE

  How fair is the Rose! What a beautiful flower!
    The glory of April and May;
  But the leaves are beginning to fade in an hour,
    And they wither and die in a day.

  Yet the Rose has one powerful virtue to boast,
    Above all the flowers of the field!
  When its leaves are all dead and fine colors are lost,
    Still how sweet a perfume it will yield!

  So frail is the youth and the beauty of man,
    Though they bloom and look gay like the Rose;
  But all our fond care to preserve them is vain,
    Time kills them as fast as he goes.

  Then I'll not be proud of my youth and my beauty,
    Since both of them wither and fade;
  But gain a good name by well doing my duty:
    This will scent like a rose when I'm dead.
--Isaac Watts.

{339}{340}

MADONNA AND CHILD

By Carlo Dolci (1616-1686)

{341}
PRAISE FOR CREATION AND PROVIDENCE

  I sing th' Almighty power of God,
    That made the mountains rise,
  That spread the flowing seas abroad,
    And built the lofty skies.

  I sing the wisdom that ordain'd
    The sun to rule the day;
  The moon shines full at His command,
    And all the stars obey.

  I sing the goodness of the Lord,
    That fill'd the earth with food;
  He formed the creatures with His word,
    And then pronounced them good.

  Lord, how Thy wonders are display'd
    Where'er I turn mine eye!
  If I survey the ground I tread,
    Or gaze upon the sky!

  There's not a plant or flower below
    But makes Thy glories known:
  And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
    By order from Thy throne.

  Creatures (as numerous as they be)
    Are subject to Thy care:
  There's not a place where we can flee,
    But God is present there.
--Isaac Watts.

{342}
A GENERAL SONG OF PRAISE TO GOD

  How glorious is our heavenly King,
    Who reigns above the sky!
  How shall a child presume to sing
    His dreadful majesty?

  How great His power is none can tell,
    Nor think how large His grace:
  Not men below, nor saints that dwell
    On high before His face.

  Not angels, that stand round the Lord,
    Can search His secret will;
  But they perform His heavenly word,
    And sing His praises still.

  Then let me join this holy tram,
    And my first offerings bring;
  The eternal God will not disdain
    To hear an infant sing.

  My heart resolves, my tongue obeys,
    And angels shall rejoice,
  To hear their mighty Maker's praise
    Sound from a feeble voice.
--Isaac Watts.

{343}
INNOCENT PLAY

  Abroad in the meadows, to see the young lambs
  Run sporting about by the side of their dams,
    With fleeces so clean and so white;
  Or a nest of young doves in a large open cage,
  When they play all in love, without anger or rage,
    How much we may learn from the sight!

  If we had been ducks, we might dabble in mud;
  Or dogs, we might play till it ended in blood:
    So foul and so fierce are their natures;
  But Thomas and William, and such pretty names,
  Should be cleanly and harmless as doves or as lambs,
    Those lovely, sweet innocent creatures.

  Not a thing that we do, nor a word that we say,
  Should injure another in jesting or play,
    For he's still in earnest that's hurt:
  How rude are the boys that throw pebbles and mire;
  There's none but a madman will fling about fire,
    And tell you, "'T is all but in sport!"
--Isaac Watts.

{344}
AGAINST QUARRELING AND FIGHTING

  Let dogs delight to bark and bite,
    For God hath made them so;
  Let bears and lions growl and fight,
    For 't is their nature, too:

  But, children, you should never let
    Such angry passions rise;
  Your little hands were never made
    To tear each other's eyes.

  Let love through all your actions run,
    And all your words be mild;
  Live like the blessed Virgin's Son,
    That sweet and lovely Child.

  His soul was gentle as a lamb;
    And as His stature grew,
  He grew in favor both with man
    And God, His Father, too.

  Now, Lord of all, He reigns above,
    And from His heavenly throne
  He sees what children dwell in love,
    And marks them for His own.
--Isaac Watts.

{345}
LOVE BETWEEN BROTHERS AND SISTERS

  Whatever brawls disturb the street,
    There should be peace at home;
  Where sisters dwell and brothers meet,
    Quarrels should never come.

  Birds in their little nests agree,
    And 't is a shameful sight,
  When children of one family
    Fall out, and chide, and fight.

  Hard names at first, and threatening words
    That are but noisy breath,
  May grow to clubs and naked swords,
    To murder and to death.

  The devil tempts one mother's son
    To rage against another;
  So wicked Cain was hurried on
    Till he had killed his brother.

  The wise will make their anger cool,
    At least before 't is night;
  But in the bosom of a fool
    It burns till morning light.

  Pardon, O Lord, our childish rage,
    Our little brawls remove;
  That, as we grow to riper age,
    Our hearts may all be love.
--Isaac Watts.

{346}
A SUMMER EVENING

  How fine has the day been! How bright was the sun!
  How lovely and joyful the course that he run;
  Though he rose in a mist when his race he begun,
    And there follow'd some droppings of rain:
  But now the fair traveler's come to the West,
  His rays are all gold, and his beauties are best;
  He paints the skies gay as he sinks to his rest,
    And foretells a bright rising again.

  Just such is the Christian. His course he begins,
  Like the sun in the mist, when he mourns for his sins,
  And melts into tears; then he breaks out and shines,
    And travels his heavenly way:
  But when he comes nearer to finish his race
  Like a fine setting sun, he looks richer in grace,
  And gives a sure hope, at the end of his days,
    Of rising in brighter array.
--Isaac Watts.

{347}{348}

THE PITTI MADONNA

By Murillo (1618-1682)

"The Pitti Madonna is one of this sweet company, and perhaps the loveliest of them all. Both she and her beautiful boy are full of gentle earnestness, and if they are too simple-minded to realize what is in store for them, they are none the less ready to do the Father's will."

--Hurll


{349}
SUMMER

  The heats of Summer come hastily on,
    The fruits are transparent and clear;
  The buds and the blossoms of April are gone,
    And the deep colored cherries appear.

  The blue sky above us is bright and serene,
    No cloud on its bosom remains;
  The woods and the fields and the hedges are green,
    And the haycock smells sweet from the plains.

  But, hark! from the woodlands what sound do I hear?
    The voices of pleasure so gay;
  The merry young haymakers cheerfully bear
    The heat of the hot summer's day.

  While some with bright scythe, singing shrill to the tone,
    The tall grass and buttercups mow,
  Some spread it with rakes, and by others 't is thrown
    Into sweet smelling cocks in a row.

  Then since joy and glee with activity join,
    This moment to labor I'll rise;
  While the idle love best in the shade to recline,
    And waste precious time as it flies.
--Jane Taylor

{350}

Music for "The Star"

{351}
THE STAR

  Twinkle, twinkle, little star
  How I wonder what you are!
  Up above the world so high,
  Like a diamond in the sky.

  When the blazing sun is gone,
  When he nothing shines upon,
  Then you show your little light,
  Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

  Then the traveler in the dark
  Thanks you for your tiny spark.
  He could not see which way to go,
  If you did not twinkle so.

  In the dark blue sky you keep,
  And often through my curtains peep;
  For you never shut your eye
  Till the sun is in the sky.

  As your bright and tiny spark
  Lights the traveler in the dark,
  Though I know not what you are,
  Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
--Jane Taylor.

{352}
THE FLOWER AND THE LADY, ABOUT GETTING UP

  Pretty flower, tell me why
    All your leaves do open wide,
  Every morning, when on high
    The noble sun begins to ride.

  This is why, my lady fair,
    If you would the reason know,
  For betimes the pleasant air
    Very cheerfully doth blow.

  And the birds on every tree
    Sing a merry, merry tune,
  And the busy honey bee
    Comes to suck my sugar soon.

  This is, then, the reason why
    I my little leaves undo.
  Little lady, wake and try
    If I have not told you true.
--Jane Taylor.

{353}
THE FIELD DAISY

  I'm a pretty little thing,
  Always coming with the spring.
  In the meadows green I'm found,
  Peeping just above the ground;
  And my stalk is covered flat
  With a white and yellow hat.

  Little Mary, when you pass
  Lightly o'er the tender grass,
  Skip about, but do not tread
  On my bright but lowly head;
  For I always seem to say,
  "Surely winter's gone away."
--Jane Taylor.

{354}
THE LITTLE CHILD

  I'm a very little child,
    Only just have learned to speak;
  So I should be very mild,
    Very tractable and meek.

  If my dear mamma were gone,
    Oh, I think that I should die,
  When she left me all alone,
    Such a little thing as I.

  Now what service can I do,
    To repay her for her care?
  For I cannot even sew,
    Nor make anything I wear.

  Well, then, I will always try
    To be very good and mild;
  Never now be cross or cry,
    Like a fretful little child.

  How unkind it is to fret,
    And my dear mamma to tease,
  When my lesson I should get,
    Sitting still upon her knees!

  Oh, how can I serve her so,
    Such a good mamma as this?
  Round her neck my arms I'll throw,
    And her gentle cheek I'll kiss.

  Then I'll tell her that I will
    Try not any more to fret her,
  And as I grow older still,
    Try to show I love her better.
--Jane Taylor.

{355}{356}

THE "GRANDUCA MADONNA"

By Raphael


  "Around the mighty master came
    The marvels which his pencil wrought,
  Those miracles of power, whose fame
    Is wide as human thought.

  "There drooped thy more than mortal face,
    O Mother, beautiful and mild!
  Enfolding in one dear embrace
    Thy Saviour and thy Child!"
--John Greenleaf Whittier


{357}
GOING TO BED

  The moon is up, the sun is gone,
  Now nothing here he shines upon;
  The pretty birds are in their nest,
  The cows are lying down to rest,
  Or wait, beneath the farmer's shed,
  To hear the merry milkmaid's tread.

  The pleasant flowers that opened wide,
  And smelt so sweet at morning-tide,
  Fold up their leaves, as if to say,
  "Good-by, we'll come another day;
  And now, dear little lady, you
  Must sleep, as we shall seem to do."

  Yes,--here's my pretty bed, and I
  Will kiss mamma, and say "by, by!"
  So nice and warm, so smooth and white,
  So comfortable all the night!
  And when my little prayer is said,
  How could I cry to go to bed?
--Jane Taylor.

{358}
TIME TO GET UP

  The cock, who soundly sleeps at night,
  Rises with the morning light;
  Very loud and shrill he crows;
  Then the sleeping ploughman knows
  He must rise and hasten, too,
  All his morning work to do.

  And the little lark does fly
  To the middle of the sky.
  You may hear his merry tune,
  In the morning very soon;
  For he does not like to rest
  Idly in his downy nest.

  While the cock is crowing shrill,
  Leave my little bed I will,
  And I'll rise to hear the lark,
  Now it is no longer dark.
  'T would be a pity there to stay,
  When 't is bright and pleasant day.
--Jane Taylor.

{359}
THE SNOWDROP

  Now the spring is coming on,
  Now the snow and ice are gone,
  Come, my little snowdrop root,
  Will you not begin to shoot?

  Ah! I see your pretty head
  Peeping on the flower bed,
  Looking all so green and gay
  On this fine and pleasant day.

  For the mild south wind doth blow,
  And hath melted all the snow,
  And the sun shines out so warm,
  You need not fear another storm.

  So come up, you pretty thing,
  Just to tell us it is spring,
  Hanging down your modest head
  On my pleasant flower bed.
--Jane Taylor.

{360}

{361}
GETTING UP

  Now, my baby, ope your eye,
  For the sun is in the sky,
  And he's peeping once again
  Through the frosty windowpane.
  Little baby, do not keep
  Any longer fast asleep.

  There now, sit in mother's lap,
  That she may untie your cap;
  For the little strings have got
  Twisted into such a knot.
  Yes, you know you've been at play
  With the bobbin as your lay.

  There it comes, now let us see
  Where your petticoats can be;
  Oh, they're in the window seat,
  Folded very smooth and neat;
  When my baby older grows
  She shall double up her clothes.

  Now one pretty little kiss,
  For dressing you so nice as this.
  But before we go downstairs,
  Don't forget to say your prayers,
  For 't is God who loves to keep
  Little babies fast asleep.
--Jane Taylor.

{362}
A FINE THING

  Who am I with noble face,
  Shining in a clear blue place?
  If to look at me you try,
  I shall blind your little eye.

  When my noble face I show,
  Over yonder mountain blue,
  All the clouds away do ride,
  And the dusky night beside.

  Then the clear wet dews I dry
  With the look of my bright eye;
  And the little birds awake,
  Many a merry tune to make.

  Cowslips, then, and harebells blue,
  And lily-cups their leaves undo;
  For they shut themselves up tight,
  All the dark and foggy night.

  Then the busy people go,
  Some to plow, and some to sow;
  When I leave, their work is done,
  Guess if I am not the Sun.
--Jane Taylor.

{363}{364}

MADONNA AND CHILD

By Georg Papperitz


{365}
A PRETTY THING

  Who am I that shines so bright
  With my pretty yellow light,
  Peeping through your curtains gray?
  Tell me, little girl, I pray.

  When the sun is gone, I rise
  In the very silent skies;
  And a cloud or two doth skim
  Round about my silver rim.

  All the little stars do seem
  Hidden by my brighter beam;
  And among them I do ride,
  Like a queen in all her pride.

  Then the reaper goes along,
  Singing forth a merry song,
  While I light the shaking leaves
  And the yellow harvest sheaves.

  Little girl, consider well,
  Who this simple tale doth tell;
  And I think you'll guess it soon,
  For I only am the Moon.
--Ann Taylor.

{366}
THE SHEEP

  Lazy sheep, pray tell me why
  In the pleasant fields you lie,
  Eating grass or daisies white,
  From the morning till the night?
  Everything can something do,
  But what kind of use are you?

  Nay, my little master, nay,
  Do not serve me so, I pray.
  Don't you see the wool that grows
  On my back to make your clothes?
  Cold, and very cold you'd be,
  If you had not wool from me.

  True, it seems a pleasant thing
  To nip the daisies in the spring;
  But many chilly nights I pass
  On the cold and dewy grass,
  Or pick a scanty dinner where
  All the common's brown and bare.

  Then the farmer comes at last,
  When the merry spring is past,
  And cuts my woolly coat away,
  To warm you in the winter's day.
  Little master, this is why
  In the pleasant fields I lie.
--Jane Taylor.

{367}{368}

THE WOUNDED LAMB

By Von Bremen

"How think ye? if any man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and go unto the mountains, and seek that which goeth astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth over it more than over the ninety and nine which have not gone astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish."

--The Words of Jesus

{369}
THE COW

  Thank you, pretty cow, that made
  Pleasant milk to soak my bread,
  Every day, and every night,
  Warm, and fresh, and sweet, and white.

  Do not chew the hemlock rank,
  Growing on the weedy bank;
  But the yellow cowslips eat,
  They perhaps will make it sweet.

  Where the purple violet grows,
  Where the bubbling water flows,
  Where the grass is fresh and fine,
  Pretty cow, go there and dine.
--Jane Taylor.

{370}

Music for "Going to Bed".

{371}
GOING TO BED

  Little baby, lay your head
  On your pretty cradle-bed;
  Shut your eye-peeps, now the day
  And the light are gone away.
  All the clothes are tucked in tight;
  Little baby dear, good night!

  Yes, my darling, well I know
  How the bitter wind doth blow;
  And the winter's snow and rain
  Patter on the window pane.
  But they cannot come in here,
  To my little baby dear;

  For the window shutteth fast,
  Till the stormy night is past;
  Or the curtains we may spread
  Round about her cradle-bed.
  So, till morning shineth bright,
  Little baby dear, good night!
--Jane Taylor.

{372}
BABY AND MAMMA

  What a little thing am I!
  Hardly higher than the table.
  I can eat, and play, and cry,
  But to work I am not able.

  Nothing in the world I know,
  But mamma will try and show me.
  Sweet mamma, I love her so,
  She's so very kind unto me.

  And she sets me on her knee,
  Very often, for some kisses.
  Oh! how good I'll try to be,
  For such a dear mamma as this is.
--Jane Taylor.

{373}{374}

CHILD WITH DOG

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792)


{375}
THE TEMPEST

  See the dark vapors cloud the sky,
    The thunder rumbles round and round;
  The lightning's flash begins to fly,
    Big drops of rain bedew the ground:
  The frightened birds with ruffled wing,
    Fly through the air and cease to sing.

  'T is God who on the tempest rides
    And with a word directs the storm,
  'T is at His nod the wind subsides,
    Or heaps of heavy vapors form.
  In fire and cloud He walks the sky,
    And lets His stores of tempest fly.
--Jane Taylor.

{376}
THE VIOLET

  Down in a green and shady bed
    A modest violet grew;
  Its stalk was bent, it hung its head,
    As if to hide from view.

  And yet it was a lovely flower,
    Its colors bright and fair.
  It might have graced a rosy bower,
    Instead of hiding there.

  Yet there it was content to bloom,
    In modest tints arrayed;
  And there diffused its sweet perfume,
    Within the silent shade.

  Then let me to the valley go,
    This pretty flower to see,
  That I may also learn to grow
    In sweet humility.
--Jane Taylor.

{377}{378}

SHEEP

By Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899)

One of the most famous artists of the world, born at Bordeaux, France, March 22, 1822, died 1899. Her best known pictures are the "Horse Fair" and "Tillage in Nivernais." During the siege of Paris her studio was saved by the special order of the crown prince of Prussia. She received the cross of the Legion of Honor in 1865

{379}
MAY DAY SONG

  April's gone, the king of showers;
  May is come, the queen of flowers;
  Give me something, gentles dear,
  For a blessing on the year.
  For my garland give, I pray,
  Words and smiles of cheerful May:
  Birds of spring, to you we come,
  Let us pick a little crumb.
--John Keble.

{380}
THE LAMB

  Little lamb, who made thee?
  Dost thou know who made thee,
  Gave thee life and bade thee feed
  By the stream and o'er the mead;
  Gave thee clothing of delight,
  Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
  Gave thee such a tender voice,
  Making all the vales rejoice?
  Little lamb, who made thee?
  Dost thou know who made thee?

  Little lamb, I'll tell thee;
  Little lamb, I'll tell thee.
  He is called by thy name,
  For He calls Himself a Lamb.
  He is meek and He is mild,
  He became a little child.
  I a child and thou a lamb,
  We are called by His name.
  Little lamb, God bless thee.
  Little lamb, God bless thee.
--William Blake.

{381}{382}

THE AGE OF INNOCENCE

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792)


{383}
SOME MURMUR WHEN THEIR SKY IS CLEAR

  Some murmur when their sky is clear
    And wholly bright to view,
  If one small speck of dark appear
    In their great heaven of blue.

  And some with thankful love are filled,
    If but one streak of light,
  One ray of God's good mercy gild
    The darkness of their night.

  In palaces are hearts that ask,
    In discontent and pride,
  Why life is such a dreary task
    And all good things denied.

  And hearts in poorest huts admire
    How love has in their aid,
  Love that not ever seems to tire,
    Such rich provision made.
--Archbishop Trench.

{384}
LITTLE DROPS OF WATER

  Little drops of water,
    Little grains of sand,
  Make the mighty ocean,
    And the pleasant land.

  Then the little minutes,
    Humble though they be,
  Make the mighty ages
    Of eternity.
--Ebenezer Cobham Brewer.

{385}

CHRISTMAS HYMNS

{386}

{387} {388}

THE ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE SHEPHERDS

By Bernard Plockhorst (1825- )

"And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this is the sign unto you; Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.'

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,--

'Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.'"

--Luke 2:8-14


{389}
CHRISTMAS LULLABY

  Sleep, baby, sleep. The mother sings:
  Heaven's angels kneel and fold their wings.
    Sleep, baby, sleep!

  With swaths of scented hay Thy bed
  By Mary's hand at eve was spread.
    Sleep, baby, sleep!

  At midnight came the shepherds, they
  Whom seraphs wakened by the way.
    Sleep, baby, sleep!

  And three kings from the East afar,
  Ere dawn, came, guided by the star.
    Sleep, baby, sleep!

  They brought Thee gifts of gold and gems,
  Pure orient pearls, rich diadems.
    Sleep, baby, sleep!

  But Thou who liest slumbering there,
  Art King of kings, earth, ocean, air.
    Sleep, baby, sleep!

  Sleep, baby, sleep. The shepherds sing:
  Through heaven, through earth, hosannas ring.
    Sleep, baby, sleep!
--John Addington Symonds.

{390}
THE STAR

  They followed the star the whole night through;
  As it moved with the midnight, they moved, too;
  And cared not whither it led, nor knew,
    Till Christmas day in the morning.

  We have followed the star a whole long year,
  And watched it beckon, now faint, now clear,
  And now it stands still as we draw near
    To Christmas day in the morning.

  And just as the wise men did of old,
  In the hush of the winter's dawning, cold,
  We come to the stable, and we behold
    The Child on the Christmas morning.

  And just as the wise men deemed it meet
  To offer Him gold and perfumes sweet,
  We would lay our gifts at His holy feet,
    Our gifts on Christmas morning.

  O Babe, once laid in the oxen's bed,
  With never a pillow for Thy head,
  Now throned in the highest heaven instead,
    O Lord of the Christmas morning!

  Because we have known and have loved Thy star
  And have followed it long and have followed it far
  From the land where the shadows and darkness are
    To find Thee on Christmas morning,--

  Accept the gifts we dare to bring,
  Though worthless and poor the offering,
  And help our souls to rise and sing
    On Christmas day in the morning.

{391}{392}

MADONNA AND CHILD By Sichel


  "All my heart this night rejoices
    As I hear, far and near,
  Sweetest angel voices:
    'Christ is born!' their choirs are singing,
  Till the air everywhere
    Now with joy is ringing."
--Paul Gerhardt


{393}
A CHRISTMAS CAROL

  What sweeter music can we bring,
  Than a carol for to sing
  The birth of this our heavenly King?
  Awake the voice! A wake the string!
  Heart, ear, and eye, and everything
  Awake! the while the active finger
  Runs divisions with the singer.

  Dark and dull night, fly hence away,
  And give the honor to this day,
  That sees December turned to May.
  If we may ask the reason, say
  The why, and wherefore all things here
  Seem like the springtime of the year?

  Why does the chilling winter's morn
  Smile like a field beset with corn?
  Or smell like to a mead new shorn,
  Thus on the sudden? Come and see
  The cause why things thus fragrant be:
  'Tis He is born, whose quickening birth
  Gives light and luster, public mirth,
  To heaven and the under earth.

{394}
THE GUIDING STAR

  As with gladness men of old
  Did the guiding star behold,
  As with joy they hailed its light,
  Leading onward, beaming bright;
  So, most gracious Lord, may we
  Evermore be led by Thee.

  As with joyful steps they sped
  To that lowly manger bed,
  There to bend the knee before
  Him whom heaven and earth adore;
  So may we with willing feet
  Ever seek the mercy seat.

  As they offered gifts most rare
  At that manger rude and bare;
  So may we with holy joy,
  Pure and free from sin's alloy,
  All our costliest treasures bring,
  Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.
--William C. Dix.

{395}{396}

THE HOLY NIGHT

By Correggio (1493-1534)

Antonio Allegri Correggio, named from the Italian town in which he was born.

  "We sate among the stalls at Bethlehem;
  The dumb kine from their fodder turning there,
  Softened their horned faces
  To almost human gazes
  Toward the newly born.
  The simple shepherds from the starlit brooks
  Brought visionary looks,
  As yet in their astonied hearing, rung
  The strange, sweet angel tongue;
  The Magi from the East in sandals worn
  Knelt reverent, sweeping round
  With long pale beards, their gifts upon the ground,
  The incense, myrrh, and gold,
  These baby hands are impotent to hold;
  So let all earthlies and celestials wait
  Upon thy royal state:
  Sleep, O my kingly One!"
--Elizabeth Barrett Browning


{397}
A CHRISTMAS CAROL

  God rest ye, merry gentlemen; let nothing you dismay,
  For Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was born on Christmas day.
  The dawn rose red o'er Bethlehem, the stars shone through the gray,
  When Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was born on Christmas day.

  God rest ye, little children; let nothing you affright,
  For Jesus Christ, your Saviour, was born this happy night;
  Along the hills of Galilee the white flocks sleeping lay,
  When Christ, the child of Nazareth, was born on Christmas day.

  God rest ye, all good Christians; upon this blessed morn,
  The Lord of all good Christians was of a woman born:
  Now all your sorrows He doth heal, your sins He takes away;
  For Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was born on Christmas day.
--Dinah Maria Mulock.

{398}
HAIL THE NIGHT! ALL HAIL THE MORN!

  Hail the night! All hail the morn!
  When the Prince of Peace was born;
  When, amid the watchful fold,
  Tidings good the angel told.

  Now our solemn chant we raise
  Duly to the Saviour's praise;
  Now with carol hymns we bless
  Christ the Lord, our Righteousness.

  While resounds the joyful cry,
  "Glory be to God on high,
  Peace on earth, good-will to men!"
  Gladly we respond "amen!"
--Old German Carol.

{399}{400}

THE NATIVITY

  "Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes,
  Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
  The bird of dawning singeth all night long;
  And then, they say, no spirit can walk abroad;
  The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike;
  No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm;
  So hallowed and so gracious is the time."
--Shakespeare.


{401}
THE CHRISTMAS TREE

  There's a wonderful tree, a wonderful tree,
  The happy children rejoice to see,
  Spreading its branches year by year,
  It comes from the forest to flourish here;
  Oh! this beautiful tree, with its branches wide,
  Is always blooming at Christmas-tide.

  'T is not alone in the summer's sheen
  Its boughs are broad and its leaves are green,
  It blooms for us when the wild winds blow,
  And earth is white with feathery snow:
  And this wonderful tree with its branches wide,
  Bears many a gift for the Christmas-tide.

  'T is all alight with its tapers' glow,
  That flash on the shining eyes below,
  And the strange sweet fruit on each laden bough
  Is all to be plucked by the gatherers now.
  Oh! this wonderful tree, with its branches wide,
  We hail it with joy at the Christmas-tide.

  And a voice is telling, its boughs among,
  Of the shepherds' watch and angels' song;
  Of a holy babe in a manger low,
  The beautiful story of long ago,
  When a radiant star threw its beams so wide
  To herald the earliest Christmas-tide.

  Then spread thy branches, wonderful tree,
  And bring some dainty gift to me,
  And fill my heart with a burning love
  To Him who came from His home above--
  From His beautiful home with the glorified,
  To give us the joys of the Christmas-tide.

{402}
A CHRISTMAS CAROL

  It chanced upon the merry, merry Christmas eve
    I went sighing past the church, across the moorland dreary,--
  "Oh! never sin and want and woe this earth will leave,
    And the bells but mock the wailing round, they sing so cheery.
  How long, O Lord, how long, before Thou come again?
    Still in cellar, and in garret, and on moorland dreary,
  The orphans moan, and widows weep, and poor men toil in vain,
    Till the earth is sick of hope deferred, though Christmas bells be cheery."

  Then arose a joyous clamor from the wild fowl on the mere,
    Beneath the stars, across the snow, like clear bells ringing,
  And a voice within cried, "Listen! Christmas carols even here!
    Though thou be dumb, yet o'er their work the stars and snows are singing.
  Blind! I live, I love, I reign; and all the nations through
    With the thunder of my judgments even now are ringing;
  Do thou fulfill thy work, but as yon wild fowl do,
    Thou wilt heed no less the wailing yet hear through it angels singing."
--Charles Kingsley.

{403}{404}

THE HOLY FAMILY

By Carl Mueller

  "Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
  Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
  Within my heart that it may be,
  A quiet chamber kept for Thee.

  "My heart for very joy doth leap,
  My lips no more can silence keep;
  I, too, must sing with joyful tongue
  That sweetest ancient cradle song."
--Martin Luther


{405}
SONG OF THE ANGELS

  While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
    All seated on the ground,
  The angel of the Lord came down;
    And glory shone around.

  "Fear not," said he, for mighty dread
    Had seized their troubled minds;
  "Glad tidings of great joy I bring
    To you and all mankind.

  "To you, in David's town, this day,
    Is born of David's line,
  The Saviour, who is Christ the Lord;
    And this shall be the sign:

  "The heavenly babe you there shall find
    To human view displayed,
  All meanly wrapped in swathing bands
    And in a manger laid."

  Thus spoke the seraph, and forthwith
    Appeared a shining throng
  Of angels, praising God, and thus
    Addressed their joyful song:

  "All glory be to God on high,
    And to the earth be peace;
  Good-will henceforth from heaven to men
    Begin, and never cease."
--Ancient Christmas Song.

{406}
CAROL, SWEETLY CAROL

  Carol, sweetly carol,
    A Saviour born to-day;
  Bear the joyful tidings,
    Oh, bear them far away!
  Carol, sweetly carol,
    Till earth's remotest bound
  Shall hear the mighty chorus,
    And echo back the sound.


CHORUS.

  Carol, sweetly carol,
    Carol sweetly to-day;
  Bear the joyful tidings,
    Oh, bear them far away.


  Carol, sweetly carol,
    As when the angel throng,
  O'er the vales of Judah,
    Awoke the heavenly song:
  Carol, sweetly carol,
    Good will, and peace, and love,
  Glory in the highest
    To God who reigns above.

  Carol, sweetly carol,
    The happy Christmas time:
  Hark! the bells are pealing
    Their merry, merry chime:
  Carol, sweetly carol,
    Ye shining ones above,
  Sing in loudest numbers,
    Oh, sing redeeming love!

{407} {408}

THE COMING OF THE MAGI

  "'What means this glory round our feet,'
    The Magi mused, 'more bright than morn?'
  And voices chanted, clear and sweet,
    'To-day the Prince of Peace is born.'"
--James Russell Lowell

  "Lo! star-led chiefs Assyrian odors bring,
    And bending Magi seek their Infant King."
--Heber


{409}
CRADLE HYMN

  Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
  The little Lord Jesus laid down His head.
  The stars in the bright sky looked down where He lay--
  The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

  The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
  But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.
  I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky,
  And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.
--Martin Luther.

{410}


{411}
CRADLE HYMN

  Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber;
    Holy angels guard thy bed;
  Heav'nly blessings without number
    Gently falling on thy head.

  Sleep, my babe, thy food and raiment,
    House and home, thy friends provide;
  All without thy care or payment,
    All thy wants are well supplied.

  How much better thou'rt attended
    Than the Son of God could be,
  When from heaven he descended,
    And became a child like thee.

  Soft and easy is thy cradle;
    Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay,
  When his birthplace was a stable,
    And his softest bed was hay.
--Isaac Watts.

{412}
CHORUS

  We see Him come, and know Him ours,
  Who, with His sunshine and His showers,
  Turns all the patient ground to flowers.

  The Darling of the world is come,
  And fit it is we find a room
  To welcome Him. The nobler part
  Of all the house here, is the heart,

  Which we will give Him; and bequeath
  This holly, and this ivy wreath,
  To do Him honor, who's our King,
  And Lord of all this reveling.
--Robert Herrick.

{413}{414}

THE ADORATION OF THE CHILDREN

Gherado delle Notte

  "O come, all ye faithful, joyfully triumphant,
    To Bethlehem hasten now with glad accord,
  Lo! in a manger lies the King of angels;
    O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord"


{415}
ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID'S CITY

  Once in royal David's city,
    Stood a lowly cattle shed,
  Where a mother hid her baby
    In a manger for his bed;
  Mary was that mother mild,
  Jesus Christ her little child.

  He came down to earth from heaven,
    Who is God and Lord of all,
  And His shelter was a stable,
    And His cradle was a stall:
  With the poor, and mean, and lowly,
  Lived on earth our Saviour holy.

  And thro' all His wondrous childhood,
    He would honor and obey,
  Love and watch the lowly maiden
    In whose gentle arms He lay;
  Christian children all must be
  Mild, obedient, good as He.

  For He is our childhood's pattern,
    Day by day like us He grew,
  He was little, weak and helpless,
    Tears and smiles like us He knew:
  And He feeleth for our sadness,
  And He shareth in our gladness.

  And our eyes at last shall see Him,
    Through His own redeeming love,
  For that Child so dear and gentle
    Is our Lord in heaven above:       {416}
  And He leads His children on
  To the place where He is gone.

  Not in that poor lowly stable,
    With the oxen standing by,
  We shall see Him; but in heaven,
    Set at God's right hand on high;
  When like stars His children crowned
  All in white shall wait around.
--Mrs. C. F. Alexander.

{417}{418}
MADONNA AND CHILD
  "Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown
    When Thou camest to earth for me;
  But in Bethlehem's home there was found no room
    For Thy holy nativity.
  O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
    There is room in my heart for Thee."
--Emily Elizabeth Elliott.


{419}
CALM ON THE LISTENING EAR OF NIGHT

  Calm on the listening ear of night
    Come heaven's melodious strains,
  Where wild Judea stretches far
    Her silver-mantled plains;
  Celestial choirs from courts above
    Shed sacred glories there;
  And angels with their sparkling lyres
    Make music on the air.

  The answering hills of Palestine
    Send back the glad reply,
  And greet from all their holy heights
    The Dayspring from on high.
  O'er the blue depths of Galilee
    There comes a holier calm;
  And Sharon waves in solemn praise,
    Her silent groves of palm.

  "Glory to God!" the lofty strain
    The realm of ether fills;
  How sweeps the song of solemn joy
    O'er Judah's sacred hills.
  "Glory to God!" the sounding skies
    Loud with their anthems ring:
  "Peace on the earth; good will to men,
    From heaven's eternal King."

  Light on thy hills, Jerusalem!
    The Saviour now is born!
  More bright on Bethlehem's joyous plains
    Breaks the first Christmas morn;         {420}
  And brighter on Moriah's brow,
    Crowned with her temple-spires,
  Which first proclaim the newborn light,
    Clothed with its orient fires.

  This day shall Christian tongues be mute,
    And Christian hearts be cold?
  O catch the anthem that from heaven
    O'er Judah's mountains rolled!
  When nightly burst from seraph-harps
    The high and solemn lay,--
  "Glory to God; on earth be peace;
    Salvation comes to-day!"
--Edmund Hamilton Sears.

{421}

HYMNS AND POEMS
FOR THE TWILIGHT HOUR


{422}

{423}
READY FOR BED

  Hark! the clock strikes from the steeple;
  Now good-night to all good people;
  Bed is ready to receive us;
  Yet you say, "Oh, do not leave us!"
  Thank you, friends, but we must hurry,
  Else our dear old nurse will worry.

  Good-bye, father; good-bye, mother;
  Come now, baby; come now, brother:
  By your sisters three attended,
  All must go, for play is ended.--
  Early go, if wise and wealthy
  We would be, and also healthy.

  So good-night to all good people!
  Hark! from yet another steeple,
  One, two, three, four, five, six, seven:
  Now to bed, and bless you, Heaven.
  Good advice comes from the steeple:
  So good-night to all good people!
--Ida Fay.

{424}
BABY'S BOAT

  Baby's in the boat,
    Rocking to and fro;
  Tautest craft afloat,--
    Baby's watch below.

  Snowy sails are set:
    Little lullabies,
  Hush the pretty pet,
    Close the laughing eyes.

  Storms can never harm;
    Mother watches near:
  Oh! her loving arm
    Knows the way to steer.

  Quiet now, at last,
    Till the morning beams;
  Baby's anchored fast
    In the port of dreams.
--George Cooper.

{425}{426}
THE ADORATION OF THE ANGELS

By William Adolph Bouguereau (1825-1905)

  "Angels from the realms of glory,
    Wing your flight o'er all the earth,
  Ye who sang creation's story,
    Now proclaim Messiah's birth;
      Come and worship,
  Worship Christ, the newborn King."
--James Montgomery


{427}
LITTLE VOICES

  What says the little brook?
    "I am but a little brook;
      Yet on me
    The stars as brightly gleam
    As on the mighty stream;
    I sparkle on my way
      To the sea."

  What says the little ray?
    "I am but a little ray,
      Sent to earth
    By the sun so great and bright,
    Giving food and heat and light;
    Yet I gladden every spot
    The palace and the cot
      Hail my birth."

  What says the little flower?
    "I am but a little flower
      At your feet;
    Yet on the path you tread,
    Some joy and grace I shed;
    So I am happy too
    For the little I can do
      When we meet."

  What says the little lamb?
    "I am but a little lamb
      Soft and mild;
    Yet in the meadows sweet
    I ramble and I bleat;       {428}
    And soon my wool will grow,
    To clothe you with, you know,
      Darling child."

  What says the little bird?
    "I am but a little bird
      With my song;
    Come, hear me singing now,
    As I hop from bough to bough;
    For I cheer the old and sad
    With my voice, and I am glad
      All day long,"

  What says the little child?
    "I am but a little child
      Fond of play;
    Yet in my heart, I know
    The grace of God will grow,
    If I try to do His will,
    And His law of love fulfill,
      And obey."

{429}
THE TWILIGHT FALLS, THE NIGHT IS NEAR

  The twilight falls, the night is near.
    I fold my work away,
  And kneel to One who bends to hear
    The story of the day.

  The old, old story; yet I kneel
    To tell it at Thy call,
  And cares grow lighter as I feel
    That Jesus knows them all.

  Thou knowest all: I lean my head;
    My weary eyelids close;
  Content and glad awhile to tread
    This path, since Jesus knows.

  And He has loved me: all my heart
    With answering love is stirred,
  And every anguished pain and smart
    Finds healing in the word.

  So here I lay me down to rest,
    As nightly shadows fall,
  And lean confiding on His breast
    Who knows and pities all.

{430}
SAVIOUR, BREATHE AN EVENING BLESSING

  Saviour, breathe an evening blessing
    Ere repose our spirits seal;
  Sin and want we come confessing,
    Thou canst bless, and Thou canst heal.

  Though destruction walk around us,
    Though the arrow past us fly,
  Angel-guards from Thee surround us,
    We are safe if Thou art nigh.

  Though the night be dark and dreary,
    Darkness cannot hide from Thee;
  Thou art He who, never weary,
    Watchest where Thy people be.
--James Edmeston.

{431}{432}

THE MADONNA OF THE HARPIES

By Andrea del Sarto (1487-1583)

One of the most famous painters of the Florentine school. He lived and worked in his native city of Florence except for a sojourn at Paris, where he was invited by Francis I. This picture is called the "Madonna of the Harpies" because of the strange figures of harpies in the border, not shown in this reproduction

{433}
SUMMER RAIN

  The mountain streams are silent,
    Or whisper faint and low;
  The earth is grateful to the dews
  For moisture which the clouds refuse;
    Blow, west wind, blow!
   And fall, O gentle rain!
  Awake the music of the bowers,
  Unfold the beauty of the flowers;
  The cornfields long to hear thy voice,
  And woods and orchards will rejoice
    To see thee, gentle rain!

  It comes! The gushing wealth descends!
    Hark! how it patters on the leaves!
    Hark! how it drops from cottage eaves!
  The pastures and the clouds are friends.
    Drop gently, gentle rain!
  The fainting cornstalk lifts its head,
  The grass grows greener at thy tread,
    The woods are musical again;
  And from the hillside springing,
  Down comes the torrent singing,
  With grateful nature in accord,
  A full-voiced anthem to the Lord,
    To thank Him for the rain.

{434}
THE GLORIOUS HEAVENS

  The spacious firmament on high,
  With all the blue ethereal sky,
  And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
  Their great Original proclaim.
  Th' unwearied sun, from day to day,
  Does his Creator's power display,
  And publishes to every land
  The work of an almighty hand.

  Soon as the evening shades prevail
  The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
  And nightly to the listening earth
  Repeats the story of her birth;
  Whilst all the stars that round her burn,
  And all the planets in their turn,
  Confirm the tidings as they roll,
  And spread the truth from pole to pole.

  What though in solemn silence all
  Move round the dark terrestrial ball?
  What though nor real voice nor sound
  Amidst the radiant orbs be found?
  In reason's ear they all rejoice,
  And utter forth a glorious voice,
  Forever singing as they shine,
  "The hand that made us is divine."
--Addison.
Adapted from the nineteenth Psalm.

{435}{436}

JESUS AND JOHN

By Murillo (1618-1682)

{437}
TWILIGHT

  The twilight is sad and cloudy,
    The wind blows wild and free,
  And like the wings of sea-birds
    Flash the white caps of the sea.

  But in the fisherman's cottage
    There shines a sudden light;
  And a little face at the window
    Peers out into the night.

  Close, close it is pressed to the window,
    As if those childish eyes
  Were looking into the darkness
    To see some form arise.

  And a woman's waving shadow
    Is passing to and fro,
  Now rising to the ceiling,
    Now bowing and bending low.

  What tale do the roaring ocean,
    And the night wind, bleak and wild,
  As they beat at the crazy casement,
    Tell to that little child?

  And why do the roaring ocean,
    And the night wind, wild and bleak,
  As they beat at the heart of the mother,
    Drive the color from her cheek?
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

By permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co.


{438}
THE PEBBLE AND THE ACORN

  "I am a Pebble and yield to none!"
  Were the swelling words of a tiny stone;
  "Nor change nor season can alter me:
  I am abiding while ages flee.
  The pelting hail and the drizzling rain
  Have tried to soften me long in vain;
  And the tender dew has sought to melt
  Or to touch my heart,--but it was not felt.

  "None can tell of the Pebble's birth;
  For I am as old as the solid earth.
  The children of men arise and pass
  Out of the world like blades of grass;
  And many a foot on me has trod
  That's gone from sight and under the sod!
  I am a Pebble! but who art thou,
  Rattling along from the restless bough?"

  The Acorn was shocked at this rude salute,
  And lay for a moment abashed and mute;
  And she felt for a while perplexed to know
  How to answer a thing so low.
  But to give reproof of nobler sort
  Than the angry look or the keen retort,
  At length she said, in a gentle tone,
  "Since it has happened that I am thrown

  "From the lighter element, where I grew,
  Down to another so hard and new,             {439}
  And beside a personage so august,
  Abashed I will cover my head with dust,
  And quickly retire from the sight of one
  Whom time nor season, nor storm nor sun,
  Nor the gentler dew, nor the grinding wheel,
  Has ever subdued or made to feel."

  And soon in the earth she sunk away
  From the comfortless spot where the Pebble lay;
  But it was not long ere the soil was broke
  By the peering head of an ancient oak;
  And as it arose, and its branches spread,
  The Pebble looked up, and, wondering, said,--
  "A modest acorn never to tell
  What was enclosed in her simple shell--

  "That the pride of the forest was thus shut up
  Within the space of her little cup!
  And meekly to sink in the darksome earth
  To prove that nothing could hide her worth.
  And, O, how many will tread on me
  To come and admire that beautiful tree,
  Whose head is towering toward the sky,
  Above such a worthless thing as I!

  "Useless and vain, a cumberer here,
  I have been idling from year to year;
  But never from this shall a vaunting word
  From the humble Pebble again be heard,
  Till something without me, or within,
  Can show the purpose for which I've been!"
  The Pebble could not its vow forget
  And it lies there wrapped in silence yet.
--Gould.

{440}
A PSALM OF LIFE

  Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
    Life is but an empty dream!
  For the soul is dead that slumbers,
    And things are not what they seem.

  Life is real! Life is earnest!
    And the grave is not its goal;
  "Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"
    Was not spoken of the soul.

  Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
    Is our destined end or way;
  But to act, that each to-morrow
    Find us farther than to-day.

  Art is long and Time is fleeting,
    And our hearts, though stout and brave,
  Still, like muffled drums, are beating
    Funeral marches to the grave.

  In the world's broad field of battle,
    In the bivouac of Life,
  Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
    Be a hero in the strife!

  Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
    Let the dead Past bury its dead!
  Act,--act in the living Present!
    Heart within, and God o'erhead!    {441}

  Lives of great men all remind us
    We can make our lives sublime,
  And, departing, leave behind us
    Footprints on the sands of time;--

  Footprints, that perhaps another,
    Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
  A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
    Seeing, shall take heart again.

  Let us, then, be up and doing,
    With a heart for any fate;
  Still achieving, still pursuing,
    Learn to labor and to wait.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

By permission of Houghton. Mifflin & Co.


{442}
WHILE THEE I SEEK, PROTECTING POWER

  While Thee I seek, protecting Power,
    Be my vain wishes stilled;
  And may this consecrated hour
    With better hopes be filled.
  Thy love the power of thought bestowed,
    To Thee my thoughts would soar,
  Thy mercy o'er my life has flowed,
    That mercy I adore.

  In each event of life, how clear
    Thy ruling hand I see;
  Each blessing to my soul more dear,
    Because conferred by Thee.
  In every joy that crowns my days,
    In every pain I bear,
  My heart shall find delight in praise,
    Or seek relief in prayer.

  When gladness wings my favored hour,
    Thy love my thoughts shall fill;
  Resigned, when storms of sorrow lower,
    My soul shall meet Thy will.
  My lifted eye, without a tear,
    The lowering storm shall see;
  My steadfast heart shall know no fear,
    That heart will rest on Thee.
--Helen Maria Williams.

{443}{444}
MADONNA DELLA TENDA

By Raphael (1483-1520)

  "Think ye the notes of holy song
    On Milton's tuneful ear have died?
  Think ye that Raphael's angel throng
    Has vanished from his side?

  "Oh, no!--We live our life again;
    Or warmly touched, or coldly dim,
  The pictures of the Past remain,--
    Man's works shall follow him!"
--John Greenleaf Whittier.


{445}
OFT IN THE STILLY NIGHT

  Oft in the stilly night,
    Ere slumber's chain has bound me,
  Fond memory brings the light
    Of other days around me;
      The smiles, the tears,
      Of boyhood's years,
    The words of love then spoken,
      The eyes that shone,
      Now dimmed and gone,
    The cheerful hearts now broken!
  Thus in the stilly night
    Ere slumber's chain has bound me,
  Sad memory brings the light
    Of other days around me.

  When I remember all
    The friends, so link'd together,
  I've seen around me fall,
    Like leaves in wintry weather;
      I feel like one
      Who treads alone,
    Some banquet hall deserted,
      Whose lights are fled,
      Whose garlands dead,
    And all but he departed.
  Thus in the stilly night,
    Ere slumber's chain has bound me,
  Sad memory brings the light
    Of other days around me.
--Thomas Moore.

{446}
THE BRIDGE

  I stood on the bridge at midnight,
    As the clocks were striking the hour,
  And the moon rose o'er the city,
    Behind the dark church tower.

  I saw her bright reflection
    In the waters under me,
  Like a golden goblet falling
    And sinking into the sea.

  And far in the hazy distance
    Of that lovely night in June,
  The blaze of the flaming furnace
    Gleamed redder than the moon.

  Among the long, black rafters
    The wavering shadows lay,
  And the current that came from the ocean
    Seemed to lift and bear them away;

  As, sweeping and eddying through them,
    Rose the belated tide,
  And, streaming into the moonlight,
    The seaweed floated wide.

  And like those waters rushing
    Among the wooden piers,
  A flood of thoughts came o'er me
    That filled my eyes with tears.

  How often, O how often,
    In the days that had gone by,
  I had stood on that bridge at midnight
    And gazed on that wave and sky!       {447}

  How often, O how often,
    I had wished that the ebbing tide
  Would bear me away on its bosom
    O'er the ocean wild and wide!

  For my heart was hot and restless,
    And my life was full of care,
  And the burden laid upon me
    Seemed greater than I could bear.

  But now it has fallen from me,
    It is buried in the sea;
  And only the sorrow of others
    Throws its shadow over me.

  Yet whenever I cross the river
    On its bridge with wooden piers,
  Like the odor of brine from the ocean
    Comes the thought of other years.

  And I think how many thousands
    Of care encumbered men,
  Each bearing his burden of sorrow,
    Have crossed the bridge since then.

  I see the long procession
    Still passing to and fro,
  The young heart hot and restless,
    And the old subdued and slow!

  And forever and forever,
    As long as the river flows,
  As long as the heart has passions,
    As long as life has woes;

  The moon and its broken reflection
    And its shadows shall appear
  As the symbol of love in heaven,
    And its wavering image here.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

By permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co.


{448}
KINDNESS

  A little word in kindness spoken,
    A motion or a tear,
  Has often healed the heart that's broken,
    And made a friend sincere.

  A word--a look--has crushed to earth
    Full many a budding flower,
  Which, had a smile but owned its birth,
    Would bless life's darkest hour.

  Then deem it not an idle thing
    A pleasant word to speak;
  The face you wear, the thoughts you bring,
    A heart may heal or break.
--Colesworthy.

{449}{450}
MADONNA

By Murillo (1618-1682)

  "Bright angels are around thee,
  They that have served thee from thy birth are there;
  Their hands with stars have crowned thee;
  Thou, peerless Queen of Air,
  As sandals to thy feet the silver moon doth wear."
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.


{451}
PERSEVERANCE

    A swallow in the spring
  Came to our granary, and 'neath the eaves
  Essayed to make her nest, and there did bring
    Wet earth, and straw, and leaves.

    Day after day she toiled
  With patient art; but ere her work was crowned
  Some sad mishap the tiny fabric spoiled
    And dashed it to the ground.

    She found the ruin wrought;
  Yet not cast down, forth from her place she flew
  And with her mate fresh earth and grasses brought
    And built her nest anew.

    But scarcely had she placed
  The last soft feather on its ample floor,
  When wicked hands, or chance, again laid waste,
    And wrought the ruin o'er.

    But still her heart she kept
  And toiled again; and, last night hearing calls,
  I looked, and lo! three little swallows slept
    Within the earth-made walls.

    What trust is here, O man!
  Hath Hope been smitten in its early dawn?
  Have clouds o'ercast thy purpose, trust, or plan?
    Have faith, and struggle on!

{452}
THE LIGHT OF STARS

  The night is come, but not too soon;
    And sinking silently,
  All silently, the little moon
    Drops down behind the sky.

  There is no light in earth or heaven,
    But the cold light of stars;
  And the first watch of night is given
    To the red planet Mars.

  Is it the tender star of love?
    The star of love and dreams?
  O no! from that blue tent above
    A hero's armor gleams.

  And earnest thoughts within me rise,
    When I behold afar,
  Suspended in the evening skies
    The shield of that red star.

  O star of strength! I see thee stand
    And smile upon my pain;
  Thou beckonest with thy mailed hand,
    And I am strong again.

  Within my breast there is no light,
    But the cold light of stars;
  I give the first watch of the night
    To the red planet Mars.           {453}

  The star of the unconquered will.
    He rises in my breast
  Serene, and resolute, and still.
    And calm, and self-possessed.

  And thou, too, whosoe'er thou art
    That readest this brief psalm,
  As one by one thy hopes depart,
    Be resolute and calm.

  O fear not in a world like this,
    And thou shalt know ere long,
  Know how sublime a thing it is
    To suffer and be strong.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

By permission of Houghton, Mifflin & CD.


{454}
WE ARE SEVEN

  I met a little cottage girl;
    She was eight years old she said;
  Her hair was thick with many a curl
    That clustered round her head.

  She had a rustic woodland air,
    And she was wildly clad;
  Her eyes were fair, and very fair,
    --Her beauty made me glad.

  "Sisters and brothers, little maid,
    How many may you be?"
  "How many? Seven in all," she said,
    And wondering looked at me.

  "And who are they? I pray you tell."
    She answered, "Seven are we;
  And two of us at Conway dwell
    And two are gone to sea.

  "Two of us in the churchyard lie,
    My sister and my brother;
  And in the churchyard cottage, I
    Dwell near them with my mother."

  "You say that two at Conway dwell
    And two are gone to sea,
  Yet ye are seven! I pray you tell,
   Sweet maid, how this may be."      {455}

  Then did the little maid reply,
    "Seven boys and girls are we;
  Two of us in the churchyard lie
    Beneath the churchyard tree."

  "You run about, my little maid,
    Your limbs they are alive;
  If two are in the churchyard laid,
    Then ye are only five."

  "Their graves are green, they may be seen,"
    The little maid replied,
  "Twelve steps or more from my mother's door,
    And they are side by side.

  "My stockings there I often knit,
    My kerchiefs there I hem;
  And there upon the ground I sit
    And sing a song to them.

  "And often after sunset, sir,
    When it is light and fair,
  I take my little porringer
    And eat my supper there.

  "The first that died was sister Jane;
    In bed she moaning lay
  Till God released her from her pain;
    And then she went away.

  "So in the churchyard she was laid;
    And, when the grass was dry,
  Together round her grave we played,
    My brother John and 1.

  "And when the ground was white with snow,
    And I could run and slide,
  My brother John was forced to go,
    And he lies by her side."        {456}

  "How many are you then," said I,
    "If there are two in heaven?"
  Quick was the little maid's reply,
    "O master! We are seven."

  "But they are dead: those two are dead;
    Their spirits are in heaven!"
  'T was throwing words away; for still
  The little maid would have her will,
    And said, "Nay, we are seven!"
--William Wordsworth.

{457}{458}

JESUS IN THE TEMPLE

By William Holman Hunt (1827-1910)

One of the famous English school of so called pre-Raphaelite painters. This picture, "Jesus in the Temple," is one of his most celebrated paintings

{459}
CHILDREN

  Come to me, O ye children!
    For I hear you at your play,
  And the questions that perplexed me
    Have vanished quite away.

  Ye open the eastern windows,
    That look toward the sun,
  Where thoughts are singing swallows
    And the brooks of morning run.

  In your hearts are the birds and the sunshine,
    In your thoughts the brooklet's flow,
  But in mine is the wind of autumn
    And the first fall of the snow.

  Ah! what would the world be to us
    If the children were no more?
  We should dread the desert behind us
    Worse than the dark before.

  What the leaves are to the forest,
    With light and air for food,
  Ere their sweet and tender juices
    Have been hardened into wood,--

  That to the world are children;
    Through them it feels the glow
  Of a brighter and sunnier climate
    Than reaches the trunks below.    {460}

  Come to me, O ye children!
    And whisper in my ear
  What the birds and the winds are singing
    In your sunny atmosphere.

  For what are all our contrivings,
    And the wisdom of our books,
  When compared with your caresses,
    And the gladness of your looks?

  Ye are better than all the ballads
    That ever were sung or said;
  For ye are living poems,
    And all the rest are dead.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

By permission of Houghton. Mifflin & Co.


{461}
ONE BY ONE

  One by one the sands are flowing,
    One by one the moments fall;
  Some are coming, some are going;
    Do not strive to grasp them all.

  One by one thy duties wait thee,
    Let thy whole strength go to each;
  Let no future dreams elate thee,
    Learn thou first what these can teach.

  One by one (bright gifts from heaven)
    Joys are sent thee here below;
  Take them readily when given,--
    Ready, too, to let them go.

  One by one thy griefs shall meet thee,
    Do not fear an armed band;
  One will fade as others greet thee--
    Shadows passing through the land.

  Do not look at life's long sorrow;
    See how small each moment's pain;
  God will help thee for to-morrow;
    So each day begin again.

  Every hour, that fleets so slowly,
    Has its task to do or bear;
  Luminous the crown and holy,
    When each gem is set with care.   {462}

  Do not linger with regretting,
    Or for passing hours despond;
  Nor, the daily toil forgetting,
    Look too eagerly beyond.

  Hours are golden links, God's token,
    Reaching heaven; but one by one
  Take them, lest the chain be broken,
    Ere the pilgrimage be done.
--Adelaide Ann Procter.

{463}
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW

  If Fortune, with a smiling face,
    Strew roses in our way,
  When shall we stoop to pick them up?--
    To-day, my friend, to-day.
  But should she frown with face of care
    And talk of coming sorrow,
  When shall we grieve, if grieve we must?--
    To-morrow, friend, to-morrow.

  If those who've wronged us own their faults
    And kindly pity pray,
  When shall we listen and forgive?--
    To-day, my friend, to-day.
  But if stern Justice urge rebuke,
    And warmth from memory borrow,
  When shall we chide, if chide we dare?--
    To-morrow, friend, to-morrow.

  For virtuous acts and harmless joys
    The minutes will not stay;
  We've always time to welcome them
    To-day, my friend, to-day.
  But care, resentment, angry words,
    And unavailing sorrow,
  Come far too soon, if they appear
    To-morrow, friend, to-morrow.

{464}
STILL WITH THEE

  Still, still with Thee, my God,
    I would desire to be,
  By day, by night, at home, abroad,
    I would be still with Thee.

  With Thee when dawn comes in,
    And calls me back to care,
  Each day returning to begin
    With Thee, my God, in prayer.

  With Thee amid the crowd
    That throngs the busy mart,
  To hear Thy voice, 'mid clamor loud,
    Speak softly to my heart.

  With Thee when day is done,
    And evening calms the mind;
  The setting, as the rising, sun
    With Thee my heart would find.

  With Thee when darkness brings
    The signal of repose,
  Calm in the shadow of Thy wings
    Mine eyelids I would close.

  With Thee, in Thee, by faith
    Abiding I would be;
  By day, by night, in life, in death,
    I would be still with Thee.
--James Drummond Burns.

{465}{466}

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

By William Holman Hunt (1827-1910)

The original of this famous picture is owned by Keble College, Oxford, and is hung in a small room adjoining the chapel.

"The legend beneath it is the beautiful verse--'Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.' REV. iii. 26. On the left-hand side of the picture is seen this door of the human soul. It is fast barred; its bars and nails are rusty; it is knitted and bound to its stanchions by creeping tendrils of ivy, shewing that it has never been opened. A bat hovers about it; its threshold is overgrown with brambles, nettles, and fruitless corn,--the wild grass, 'whereof the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth the sheaves his bosom.' Christ approaches it in the night-time,--Christ, in his everlasting offices, of Prophet, Priest, and King. He wears the white robe, representing the power of the Spirit upon him; the jeweled robe and breastplate, representing the sacerdotal investiture; the rayed crown of gold, inwoven with the crown of thorns; not dead thorns, but now bearing soft leaves, for the healing of the nations.

"Now, when Christ enters any human heart, he bears with him a twofold light: first, the light of conscience, which displays past sin, and afterwards the light of peace, the hope of salvation. The lantern, carried in Christ's left hand, is this light of conscience. Its fire is red and fierce; it falls only on the closed door, on the weeds which encumber it, and on an apple shaken from one of the trees of the orchard, thus marking that the entire awakening of the conscience is not merely to committed, but to hereditary guilt.

"The light is suspended by a chain wrapt about the wrist of the figure, shewing that the light which reveals sin appears to the sinner also to chain the hand of Christ. The light which proceeds from the head of the figure, on the contrary, is that of the hope of salvation; it springs from the crown of thorns, and, though itself sad, subdued, and full of softness, is yet so powerful that it entirely melts into the glow of it the forms of the leaves and boughs, which it crosses, shewing that every earthly object must be hidden by this light, where its sphere extends."--Ruskin, "Arrows of the Chace."


{467}
LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT

  Lead, kindly Light, amid th' encircling gloom,
      Lead Thou me on;
  The night is dark and I am far from home,
      Lead Thou me on;
  Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
  The distant scene; one step enough for me.

  I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
      Should'st lead me on;
  I loved to choose and see my path, but now
      Lead Thou me on!
  I loved the garish day, and spite of fears
  Pride ruled my will; remember not past years.

  So long Thy power has blest me, sure it still
      Will lead me on
  O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
      The night is gone,
  And with the morn those angel faces smile
  Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!
--John Henry Newman.

{468}
NOW THE DAY IS OVER

  Now the day is over,
    Night is drawing nigh,
  Shadows of the evening
    Steal along the sky.

  Now the darkness gathers,
    Stars begin to peep;
  Birds and beasts and flowers
    Soon will be asleep.

  Jesus, give the weary
    Calm and sweet repose:
  With Thy tenderest blessing
    May our eyelids close.

  Grant to little children
    Visions bright of Thee;
  Guard the sailors tossing
    On the deep blue sea.

  Comfort every sufferer
    Watching late in pain;
  Those who plan some evil
    From their sin restrain.

  Through the long night watches
    May Thine angels spread
  Their white wings above me,
    Watching round my bed.

  When the morning wakens,
    Then may I arise,
  Pure, and fresh, and sinless
    In Thy holy eyes.
--S. Baring-Gould.

{469}{470}

THE LITTLE MOTHER

By Ferruzzi


{471}
A FAREWELL

  My fairest child, I have no song to give you,
    No lark could pipe to skies so dull and gray,
  Yet ere we part, one lesson I can leave you,
      For every day.

  Be good, sweet child, and let who will be clever;
    Do noble things, not dream them all day long,
  And make life, death, and that vast forever,
      One grand, sweet song.
--Charles Kingsley.

{472}
GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD MORNING

  A fair little girl sat under a tree
  Sewing as long as her eyes could see;
  Then smoothed her work and folded it right,
  And said, "Dear work, good night, good night!"

  Such a number of rooks came over her head
  Crying "Caw, caw!" on their way to bed;
  She said, as she watched their curious flight,
  "Little black things, good night, good night!"

  The horses neighed and the oxen lowed;
  The sheep's "Bleat, bleat!" came over the road,
  All seeming to say, with a quiet delight,
  "Good little girl, good night, good night!"

  She did not say to the sun "Good night!"
  Though she saw him there like a ball of light;
  For she knew that he had God's own time to keep
  All over the world, and never could sleep.

  The tall pink foxglove bowed his head,
  The violets curtsied and went to bed;
  And good little Lucy tied up her hair,
  And said, on her knees, her favorite prayer.

  And while on her pillow she softly lay,
  She knew nothing more till again it was day,
  And all things said to the beautiful sun,
  "Good morning, good morning! our work is begun!"
--Lord Houghton.

{473}{474}
CHRISTMAS BELLS

By Edwin Howland Blashfield (1848- )

  "It is the calm and solemn night!
    A thousand bells ring out, and throw
  Their joyous peals abroad, and smite
    The darkness, charmed and holy now!
  The night that erst no name had worn,
    To it a happy name is given;
  For in that stable lay new born,
    The peaceful Prince of Earth and Heaven,
        In the solemn midnight
          Centuries ago!"
--Alfred Domett

{475}
NEW YEAR'S EVE

  Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
    The flying cloud, the frosty light;
    The year is dying in the night;
  Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

  Ring out the old, ring in the new;
    Ring, happy bells, across the snow;
    The year is going, let him go;
  Ring out the false, ring in the true.

  Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
    For those that here we see no more;
    Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
  Ring in redress to all mankind.

  Ring out a slowly dying cause,
    And ancient forms of party strife;
    Ring in the nobler modes of life,
  With sweeter manners, purer laws.

  Ring out false pride in place and blood,
    The civic slander and the spite;
    Ring in the love of truth and right,
  Ring in the common love of good.

  Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
    Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
    Ring out the thousand wars of old,
  Ring in the thousand years of peace.

  Ring in the valiant man and free,
    The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
    Ring out the darkness of the land,
  Ring in the Christ that is to be.
--Alfred Tennyson.

{476}
ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL

  All things bright and beautiful,
    All creatures great and small,
  All things wise and wonderful,
    The Lord God made them all.

  Each little flower that opens,
    Each little bird that sings,
  He made their glowing colors,
    He made their tiny wings.

  The purple-headed mountains,
    The river running by,
  The morning and the sunset
    That lighteth up the sky.

  The tall trees in the greenwood,
    The pleasant summer sun,
  The ripe fruits in the garden,
    He made them everyone.

  He gave us eyes to see them,
    And lips that we might tell,
  How great is God Almighty,
    Who hath made all things well.
--John Keble.

{477}
THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS

  This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign,
  Sails the unshadowed main,--
      The venturous bark that flings
      On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings
      In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,
  And coral reefs lie bare,
  Where the cold sea maids rise to sun their streaming hair.

  Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl;
  Wrecked is the ship of pearl!
      And every chambered cell,
      Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell,
      Before thee lies revealed,--
  Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed!

  Year after year beheld the silent toil
  That spread his lustrous coil;
      Still, as the spiral grew,
      He left the past year's dwelling for the new,
      Stole with soft step its shining archway through,
  Built up its idle door,
  Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.

  Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,
  Child of the wandering sea,
      Cast from her lap forlorn!
      From thy dead lips a clearer note is born
      Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn.
  While on mine ear it rings,
  Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:--

{478}

  Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
  As the swift seasons roll!
      Leave thy low-vaulted past!
      Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
      Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
  Till thou at length art free,
  Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!
--Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Used by the kind permission of Houghton, Mifflin and Company.

{479}{480}

THE CHILDREN OF THE SHELL

By Murillo (1618-1682)

This is one of the famous pictures of the great artist Murillo. The little child John is giving the little Jesus a drink from a shell. "The child nature is charmingly portrayed, so innocent and gentle--seeming to suggest a lovable nature in the artist himself. His pictures always arouse the reverential feeling--which puts the stamp of artistic greatness upon them."

{481}
THE DAY IS DONE

  The day is done, and the darkness
    Falls from the wings of Night,
  As a feather is wafted downward
    From an eagle in his flight.

  I see the lights of the village
    Gleam through the rain and the mist,
  And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
    That my soul cannot resist:

  A feeling of sadness and longing,
    That is not akin to pain,
  And resembles sorrow only
    As the mist resembles the rain.

  Come, read to me some poem,
    Some simple and heartfelt lay,
  That shall soothe this restless feeling,
    And banish the thoughts of day.

  Not from the grand old masters,
    Not from the bards sublime,
  Whose distant footsteps echo
    Through the corridors of Time.

  For, like strains of martial music,
    Their mighty thoughts suggest
  Life's endless toil and endeavor;
    And to-night I long for rest.

  Read from some humbler poet,
    Whose songs gushed from his heart,
  As showers from the clouds of summer,
    Or tears from the eyelids start;      {482}

  Who, through long days of labor,
    And nights devoid of ease,
  Still heard in his soul the music
    Of wonderful melodies.

  Such songs have power to quiet
    The restless pulse of care,
  And come like the benediction
    That follows after prayer.

  Then read from the treasured volume
    The poem of thy choice,
  And lend to the rhyme of the poet
    The beauty of thy voice.

  And the night shall be filled with music,
    And the cares that infest the day,
  Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
    And as silently steal away.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Used by the kind permission of Houghton, Mifflin and Company.


{483}
A CHILD'S THOUGHT OF GOD

  They say that God lives very high.
    But if you look above the pines
  You cannot see God. And why?

  And if you dig down in the mines
    You never see Him in the gold
  Though from Him all that's glory shines.

  God is so good, He wears a fold
    Of heaven and earth across His face--
  Like secrets kept, for love, untold.

  But still I feel that His embrace
    Slides down by thrills, through all things made,
  Through sight and sound of every place:

  As if my tender mother laid
    On my shut lids her kisses' pressure,
  Half waking me at night; and said,
    "Who kissed through the dark, dear guesser?"
--Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

{484}
LULLABY SONG

      Sleep, baby, sleep!
      Thy father watches his sheep;
  Thy mother is shaking the dreamland tree,
  And down comes a little dream on thee.
      Sleep, baby, sleep!

      Sleep, baby, sleep!
      The large stars are the sheep;
  The little stars are the lambs, I guess;
  And the gentle moon is the shepherdess.
      Sleep, baby, sleep!

      Sleep, baby, sleep!
      Our Saviour loves His sheep:
  He is the Lamb of God on high,
  Who for our sakes came down to die.
      Sleep, baby, sleep!
--From the German.

{485}{486}

HEAD OF ANGEL

"See that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."--The Words of Jesus


{487}
THE PILGRIMS OF THE NIGHT

  Hark, hark, my soul, angelic songs are swelling
    O'er earth's green fields and ocean's wave-beat shore.
  How sweet the truth those blessed strains are telling
    Of that new life, when sin shall be no more.
        Angels of Jesus,
          Angels of light,
        Singing to welcome
          The pilgrims of the night.

  Onward we go, for still we hear them singing,
    "Come, weary souls, for Jesus bids you come."
  And through the dark, its echoes sweetly ringing,
    The music of the gospel leads us home.
        Angels of Jesus,
          Angels of light,
        Singing to welcome
          The pilgrims of the night.

  Far, far away, like bells at evening pealing,
    The voice of Jesus sounds o'er land and sea;
  And laden souls by thousands meekly stealing,
    Kind Shepherd, turn their weary steps to Thee.
        Angels of Jesus,
          Angels of light,
        Singing to welcome
          The pilgrims of the night.      {488}

  Rest comes at last; though life be long and dreary,
    The day must dawn, and darksome night be past;
  All journeys end in welcomes to the weary,
    And heaven, the heart's true home, will come at last.
        Angels of Jesus,
          Angels of light,
        Singing to welcome
          The pilgrims of the night.

  Angels, sing on, your faithful watches keeping,
    Sing us sweet fragments of the songs above,
  While we toil on, and soothe ourselves with weeping,
    Till life's long night shall break in endless love.
        Angels of Jesus,
          Angels of light,
        Singing to welcome
          The pilgrims of the night.
--Frederick William Faber.

{489}

MEMORY VERSES

{490}

{491}

MEMORY VERSES

One for Each Week of the Year.


  I said, "Thou art my God."
  My times are in thy hand.
--Psalms 31:14-15.

  Let the words of my mouth,
  and the meditations of my heart,
  be acceptable in thy sight,
  O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
--Psalms 19:14.

  Let your speech be always with grace.
--Colossians 4:6.

  O Lord, thou hast searched me,
  and known me.
--Psalms 139:1.

  Bless the Lord, O my soul;
  and all that is within me,
  bless his holy name.
--Psalms 103:1.

  Blessed are the peacemakers:
  for they shall be called
  the children of God.
--Matthew 5:9.

  Ye are of God, little children.
--I John 4:4.

  Mark the perfect man,
  and behold the upright,
  for the end of that man is peace.
--Psalms 37:37.

{492}

  Let not your heart be troubled:
  ye believe in God,
  believe also in me.
  In my Father's house are many mansions.
--John 14:1.

  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
  whose mind is stayed on thee:
  because he trusteth in thee.
--Isaiah 26:3.

  Ask, and it shall be given you.
--Matthew 7:7.

  Blessed are the pure in heart:
  for they shall see God.
--Matthew 5:8.

  Be not overcome of evil,
  but overcome evil with good.
--Romans 12:21.

  Let us therefore follow after
  the things which make for peace.
--Romans 14:19.

  Keep yourselves in the love of God.
--Jude 21.

  The Lord is merciful and gracious,
  slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
--Psalms 103:8.

  Be not weary in well-doing.
--II Thessalonians 3:13.

  Bear ye one another's burdens,
  and so fulfill the law of Christ.
--Galatians 6:2.

  Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
  and a light unto my path.
--Psalms 119:105.

{493}
  He that loveth not, knoweth not God;
  for God is love.
--I John 4:8.

  Blessed is the nation
  whose God is the Lord.
--Psalms 33:12.

  The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
--Psalms 118:6.

  Abstain from every form of evil.
--I Thessalonians 5:22.

  If ye love me keep my commandments.
--John 14:15.

  Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
  with all thine heart,
  and with all thy soul,
  and with all thy might.
--Deuteronomy 6:5.

  The heavens declare the glory of God;
  and the firmament showeth his handiwork.
--Psalms 19:1.

  Seek ye the Lord while he may be found,
  call ye upon him while he is near.
--Isaiah 55:6.

  Hear instruction, and be wise,
  and refuse it not.
--Proverbs 8:33.

  Suffer the little children
  to come unto me; forbid them not:
  for of such is the kingdom of God.
--Mark 10:14.

  Prove all things.
  Hold fast that which is good.
--I Thessalonians 5:21.

  Blessed are the merciful:
  for they shall obtain mercy.
--Matthew 5:7.

{494}
  For there is not a word in my
  tongue, but, lo, O Lord,
  thou knowest it altogether.
--Psalms 139:4.

  Like as a father pitieth his children,
  so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
--Psalms 103:13.

  Come unto me, all ye that
  labor and are heavy laden,
  and I will give you rest.
--Matthew 11:28.

  This is my commandment,
  that ye love one another,
  as I have loved you.
--John 15:12.

  Be strong in the Lord,
  and in the strength of his might.
--Ephesians 6:10.

  Rejoice in the Lord always.
--Philippians 4:4.

  Honour thy father and thy mother;
  that thy days may be long upon the land
  which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
--Exodus 20:12.


  Bless them which persecute you;
  bless, and curse not.
--Romans 12:14.

  Thou shalt not steal.
--Exodus 20:15.

  Give to him that asketh thee.
--Matthew 5:42.

  Thou shalt not bear false witness
  against thy neighbor.
--Exodus 20:16.

{495}
  Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
--Matthew 22:39.

  I will say of the Lord,
  He is my refuge, and my fortress:
  my God; in him will I trust.
--Psalms 91:2.

  In the day of my trouble
  I will call upon thee:
  for thou wilt answer me.
--Psalms 86:7.

  The eyes of the Lord
  are upon the righteous,
  and his ears are open unto their cry.
--Psalms 34:15.

  Show me thy ways,
  O Lord, teach me thy paths.
--Psalms 25:4.

  Be ye therefore followers of God,
  as dear children.
--Ephesians 5:1.

  I am the good shepherd,
  and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
--John 10:14

  Ye are the light of the world.
  A city that is set on a hill
  cannot be hid.
--Matthew 5:14

  God is our refuge and strength,
  a very present help in trouble.
--Psalms 46:1

  My peace I give unto you:
  not as the world giveth,
  give I unto you.
--John 14:27.

{496}

God tells us in the Bible.

  Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.
--Matthew 22:37.

  Love one another.
--I John 3:23.

  Be ye kind one to another.
--Ephesians 4:23.

  Pray to thy Father.
--Matthew 6:6.

  Lie not.
--Colossians 3:9.

  Speak the truth.
--Zechariah 8:16.

  Thou shalt not steal.
--Exodus 20:15.

  Thou shalt not kill.
--Exodus 20:13.

  Children, obey your parents.
--Ephesians 6:1.

  Give to the poor.
--Matthew 19:21.

  Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
--Exodus 20:8.

  Search the Scriptures (study the Bible).
--John 5:39.

  Do no wrong.
--Jeremiah 22:3.

  Do that which is right.
--Exodus 15:26.

  Sin not.
--John 5:14.

[By courtesy of the Clarke School, Northampton. Mass.]

{497}{498}

JESUS KNOCKING AT THE DOOR

By Heinrich Hofmann (1824- )


{499}

PROVERBS

{500}

{501}

PROVERBS

These wise and true sayings are taken from the book in the Bible called "Proverbs." Some of them are said to have been written by Solomon, the wise king of Israel.

  My son, if sinners entice thee,
  Consent thou not.

  A wise son maketh a glad father:
  But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

  He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand:
  But the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

  The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver:
  The heart of the wicked is little worth.

  The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich:
  And he addeth no sorrow therewith.

  A false balance is an abomination to the Lord:
  But a just weight is His delight.

  A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast:
  But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

  A wise son heareth his father's instruction:
  But a scorner heareth not rebuke.

{502}
  Walk with wise men, and thou shalt be wise:
  But the companion of fools shall smart for it.

  Righteousness exalteth a nation:
  But sin is a reproach to any people.

  A soft answer turneth away wrath:
  But a grievous word stirreth up anger.

  The eyes of the Lord are in every place:
  Keeping watch upon the evil and the good.

  A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance:
  But by sorrow of heart is the spirit broken.

  Better is a little with the fear of the Lord:
  Than great treasure and trouble therewith.
  Better is a dinner of herbs where love is:
  Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.

  A wise son maketh a glad father:
  But a foolish man despiseth his mother.

  A wrathful man stirreth up contention:
  But he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

  Pride goeth before destruction:
  And a haughty spirit before a fall.

  The hoary head is a crown of glory,
  If it be found in the way of righteousness.

  He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;
  And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

{503}
  A merry heart is a good medicine:
  But a broken spirit drieth up the bones.

  Wine is a mocker,
  Strong drink is a brawler;
  And whoso erreth thereby is not wise.

  Even a child maketh himself known by his doings,
  Whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

  Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor,
  He also shall cry, but shall not be heard.

  He that followeth after righteousness and mercy
  Findeth life, righteousness, and honour.

  A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches,
  And loving favour rather than silver and gold.

  The rich and the poor meet together:
  The Lord is the maker of them all.

  Train up a child in the way he should go,
  And when he is old he will not depart from it.

  He that loveth pureness of heart,
  For the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.

  Remove not the ancient landmark,
  Which thy fathers have set.

  Seest thou a man diligent in his business?
    He shall stand before kings;
    He shall not stand before mean men.

{504}
  A word fitly spoken
    Is like apples of gold
    In baskets of silver.

  Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit?
  There is more hope for a fool than for him.

  If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat;
  And if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
  For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head,
  And the Lord shall reward thee.

  Seest thou a man hasty in his words?
  There is more hope for a fool than for him.

  Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth;
  A stranger, and not thine own lips.

{505}

PROVERBS

The following proverbs are from various sources outside the Bible.

  An idle youth becomes in age a beggar.
  Idle people take the most pains.
  Let honesty and industry be thy constant companions.
--Franklin.

  Haste makes waste and waste makes want.
  The more haste the less speed.
  Ill habits gather by unseen degrees,
  As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.
--Dryden.

  Small habits well pursued betimes
  May reach the dignity of crimes.
--Hannah More.

  God is always at leisure to do good to those that ask it.
  God helps those who help themselves.
    What we gave we have,
    what we spent we had,
    what we left we lost.
--Epitaph of Edward, Earl of Devon.

  You may know him by the company he keeps.
  Better alone than in bad company.

  A guilty conscience needs no accuser.

  Content is more than a kingdom.

  Deeds not words.

  A goodly outside apple rotten at the heart,
  O what a goodly outside falsehood hath.
--Shakespeare.

{506}
  Cleanliness is next to godliness.
--Wesley.

  They conquer who believe they can.
--Virgil.

  Never make a mountain out of a mole hill.
  Employ thy time well, and since thou art
  not sure of a minute throw not away an hour.
  Virtue is its own reward.
--Prior.

  Early to bed and early to rise,
  Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
--Franklin.

  Count that day lost whose low descending sun
  Views from thy hand no worthy action done.

  Never leave that till to-morrow
  which you can do to-day.
--Franklin.

  Kind hearts are the gardens,
  Kind thoughts are the roots,
  Kind words are the blossoms,
  Kind deeds are the fruits.
--New Education Reader.

  Do you know how many children,
    Go to little beds at night,
  And, without a care or trouble,
    Wake up with the morning light?
  God in heaven each name can tell;
    Knows you, too, and knows you well.
--New Education Reader.

  Be kind and be gentle,
    To those who are old,
  For kindness is dearer
    And better than gold.
--New Education Reader.


{507}
  Please is a very little word,
  And thank-you is not long.

  Jesus loves me, this I know,
  For the Bible tells me so.
  Little ones to Him belong,
  I am weak, but He is strong.

  Love God with all your soul and strength,
    With all your heart and mind,
  And love your neighbor as yourself,
    Be faithful, just, and kind.
  Deal with another as you'd have
    Another deal with you:
  What you're unwilling to receive,
    Be sure you never do.
--New England Primer.

  Politeness is to do or say
  The kindest thing in the kindest way.
--New Education Reader.

  Do all the good you can
  In all the ways you can,
  For all the people you can
  Just as long as you can.
--Lippincott's Beginner's Reading Book.

  Be to others kind and true,
  As you'd have others be to you.
--New Education Reader.

[End of "VOLUME ONE: THE GOLDEN BOOK"]
-------------------------------------
[Start of "VOLUME TWO; HERO TALES"]
{1}
{2}
{3}

THE BIBLE STORY

{4}
{5}
{6}

Joseph, the Prime Minister, Greeting his family.

"And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while."

{7}

THE BIBLE STORY

VOLUME TWO
HERO TALES

ARRANGED AND EDITED BY
REV. NEWTON MARSHALL HALL, D.D.
MINISTER OF THE NORTH CHURCH, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
AND
REV. IRVING FRANCIS WOOD, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE AND COMPARATIVE RELIGION AT SMITH COLLEGE
Authors of "The Early Days of Israel" "Advanced Bible Studies" Etc.

THE KING-RICHARDSON COMPANY
SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
CHICAGO, CLEVELAND

{8}

COPYRIGHT, 1906,
COPYRIGHT, 1917,

BY THE KING-RICHARDSON COMPANY,

SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

{9}

PREFACE

This volume contains those Old Testament stories of heroic lives, which never lose their charm. No better nor more fascinating stories were ever written than those of Abraham, and Joseph, and Gideon, and Moses. In the ordinary volume, however, they are scattered over many chapters and even books, and the reader has great difficulty in piecing them together. Here they are told as continuous narratives, with illustrations of the famous places, which enhance their charm. We believe that the old heroic figures will come, in this way, before the children, and older people as well, with a vividness and reality never before realized.

{10}

{11}

CONTENTS

THE PATRIARCHS. PAGE
1 Abraham 21
2 Isaac 49
3 Jacob 60
4 Joseph 91

THE GREAT CAPTAINS.
1 Moses 137
2 Joshua 277

THE JUDGES.
1 Ehud 315
2 Gideon 319
3 Abimelech 332
4 Samuel 338

THE GREAT KINGS.
1 Saul 349
2 David 382
3 Solomon 452

NOTES 485

MEMORY VERSES 503

{12}

{13}{14}

ON THE WEST OF JERUSALEM, LOOKING TOWARD BETHLEHEM

From a photograph belonging to the Forbes Library, Northampton, Mass., and used by special permission.

{15}
PALESTINE

  Blest land of Judea! thrice hallowed of song,
  Where the holiest of memories pilgrim-like throng;
  In the shade of thy palms, by the shores of thy sea,
  On the hills of thy beauty, my heart is with thee.

  With the eye of a spirit I look on that shore,
  Where pilgrim and prophet have lingered before;
  With the glide of a spirit I traverse the sod
  Made bright by the steps of the angels of God.

  Blue sea of the hills!--in my spirit I hear
  Thy waters, Gennesaret, chime on my ear;
  Where the Lowly and Just with the people sat down.
  And thy spray on the dust of His sandals was thrown.

  Beyond are Bethulia's mountains of green,
  And the desolate hills of the wild Gadarene;
  And I pause on the goat-crags of Tabor to see
  The gleam of thy waters, O dark Galilee!

  Hark, a sound in the valley! where, swollen and strong
  Thy river, O Kishon, is sweeping along;
  Where the Canaanite strove with Jehovah in vain,
  And thy torrent grew dark with the blood of the slain.

  There down from his mountains stern Zebulon came,
  And Naphtali's stag, with his eyeballs of flame,
  And the chariots of Jabin rolled harmlessly on,
  For the arm of the Lord was Abinoam's son!     {16}

  There sleep the still rocks and the caverns which rang
  To the song which the beautiful prophetess sang,
  When the princes of Issachar stood by her side,
  And the shout of a host in its triumph replied.

  Lo, Bethlehem's hill-site before me is seen,
  With the mountains around, and the valleys between;
  There rested the shepherds of Judah, and there
  The song of the angels rose sweet on the air.

  And Bethany's palm-trees in beauty still throw
  Their shadows at noon on the ruins below;
  But where are the sisters who hastened to greet
  The lowly Redeemer, and sit at His feet?

  I tread where the Twelve in their wayfaring trod,
  I stand where they stood with the Chosen of God,--
  Where His blessing was heard and His lessons were taught,
  Where the blind were restored and the healing was wrought.

  Oh, here with His flock the sad Wanderer came,--
  These hills He toiled over in grief are the same,--
  The founts where He drank by the wayside still flow,
  And the same airs are blowing which breathed on His brow!

  And throned on her hills sits Jerusalem yet,
  But with dust on her forehead, and chains on her feet;
  For the crown of her pride to the mocker hath gone,
  And the holy Shechinah is dark where it shone.

  But wherefore this dream of the earthly abode
  Of Humanity clothed in the brightness of God?
  Were my spirit but turned from the outward and dim,
  It could gaze, even now, on the presence of Him!

  Not in clouds and in terrors, but gentle as when,
  In love and in meekness, He moved among men;
  And the voice which breathed peace to the waves of the sea
  In the hush of my spirit would whisper to me!    {17}

  And what if my feet may not tread where He stood,
  Nor my ears hear the dashing of Galilee's flood,
  Nor my eyes see the cross which He bowed Him to bear,
  Nor my knees press Gethsemane's garden of prayer?

  Yet, Loved of the Father, Thy Spirit is near,
  To the meek, and the lowly, and penitent here;
  And the voice of Thy love is the same even now
  As at Bethany's tomb on Olivet's brow.

  Oh, the outward hath gone!--but, in glory and power,
  The Spirit surviveth the things of an hour;
  Unchanged, undecaying, its Pentecost flame
  On the heart's secret altar is burning the same!
--John Greenleaf Whittier.

[By permission of Houghton. Mifflin & Co.]


{18}

{19}

The Patriarchs

The earliest years of Jewish history are called the Patriarchal Age, and the men who were the leaders of the people were called Patriarchs. It was a very simple age. The people were nomadic, wandering from place to place to find pasturage for their great flocks and herds. They lived in tents. The patriarchs were the sheiks of the tribes, like sheik Ilderim in the story of "Ben-Hur." It must be remembered that they lived in a rude and uncivilized time. They had none of the high moral teaching which we have. They often did things which were evil, but they also sought earnestly after God, and often in the silence of the desert, under the stars of night, found him, and worshiped him as truly as we do. Their story is the common human tale of struggle and defeat and victory, which is repeated under different circumstances in every age.

{20}

{21}

ABRAHAM

The Story of the First Great Hero of Israel's History. How He Tented with His Flocks on the Upland Pastures of Palestine, and Became the Father of a Great Nation.

THE MIGRATION.

He Leaves His Father's Home and Journeys to a New Country.

There was a man named Abram, who lived in the city of Ur of the Chaldees.

Now the Lord said unto Abram, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth he blessed."

So Abram went, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and all their families and servants; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

And Abram passed through the land unto the place of {22} Shechem, unto the oak of Moreh. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, "Unto thy family will I give this land": and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.

And he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ai on the east; and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.


ABRAM AND LOT.
The Division of the Land.

And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to hold them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herd men of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle.

And Abram said unto Lot, "Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left."

And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the Plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt.

{23}{24}

THE TRADITIONAL OAK OF ABRAHAM, NEAR HEBRON

From a photograph belonging to Miss Julia W. Snow and used by her kind permission.

"And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the Oak of Moreh."


{25}

So Lot chose for himself all the Plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the Plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly. And the Lord said unto Abram, after Lot was separated from him, "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy family for ever. And I will make thy family as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy family also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it."

And Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar un to the Lord.


THE FIGHT OF THE FIVE KINGS AGAINST THE FOUR.
The Capture of Lot, and His Rescue by Abram.

And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar); and they set the battle in array against them in the vale of Siddim; against Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar; four kings against the five.

Now the vale of Siddim was full of pitch pits; and the {26} kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew.

And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him, and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be God Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand." And he gave him a tenth of all.

And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, "Give me the persons and take the goods to thyself." And Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or a shoelatchet nor aught that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, 'I have made Abram rich': {27} save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me; let them take their portion."


GOD'S PROMISES.
The Making of the Covenant.

After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, "Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."

And Abram said, "O Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I am childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is my servant, Eliezer of Damascus?"

And Abram said, "Behold, to me thou hast given no child: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir." And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, "This man shall not be thine heir; but he that shall be thine own son shall be thine heir."

And he brought him forth abroad, and said, "Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them": and he said unto him, "So shall thy family be."

And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, "I am the Lord who brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it." And he said, "O Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?"

And he said unto him, "Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon."

And he took him all these, and divided them in the {28} midst, and laid each half over against the other: but the birds divided he not. And the birds of prey came down upon the carcases, and Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, "Know of a surety that thy family shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."

And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces. In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto thy family have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river Euphrates."


THE BIRTH OF ISHMAEL.
Abram Receives a New Name. Visit of the Messengers.

(Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had no children, and, as the custom sometimes was in those days, she gave him her handmaid Hagar, to be his wife. And Hagar had a child, and Abram called the name of the child Ishmael.)

And when Abram was ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I {29} will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly."

And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, "As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy family after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy family after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy family after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."

And God said unto Abraham, "And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou, and thy family after thee throughout their generations."

And God said unto Abraham, "As for Sarai, thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and moreover I will give thee a son of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; she shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his family after him."

And the Lord appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood over against {30} him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: let now a little water be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your heart; after that ye shall pass on: forasmuch as ye are come to your servant."

And they said, "So do, as thou hast said."

And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, "Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes."

And Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it to the servant; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; to the end that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."

And the Lord said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; {31} I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the report of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know."

And the men turned from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near, and said, "Wilt thou consume the righteous within the city: wilt thou consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from thee: shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

And the Lord said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake."

And Abraham answered and said, "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes: peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous; wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five?"

And he said, "I will not destroy it, if I find there forty and five."

And he spake unto him yet again, and said, "Peradventure there shall be forty found there."

And he said, "I will not do it for the forty's sake."

And he said, "Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: peradventure there shall be thirty found there."

And he said, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there." And he said, "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: peradventure there shall be twenty found there."

{32}

And he said, "I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake." And he said, "Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but this once: peradventure ten shall be found there."

And he said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake." And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had done communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.


DESTRUCTION OF THE CITIES OF THE PLAIN.
The Fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.

And the two angels came to Sodom at evening; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot saw them and rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face to the earth; and he said, "Behold now, my lords, turn aside, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way."

And they said, "Nay; but we will abide in the street all night."

And he urged them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

And the men said unto Lot, "Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city; bring them out of the place: for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them has grown great before the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it."

{33}{34}

THE DEAD SEA

The five "Cities of the Plain" are supposed to have been situated to the north of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is 47 miles long, with an extreme breadth of about 10 miles. It lies 1290 feet below the sea level and is itself 1300 feet deep in the deepest part. (See note on page 257)


{35}

And Lot went out, and spoke to his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, "Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons in law as one who mocked.

And when the morning came, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, "Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters who are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city."

But he lingered; and the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, "Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the Plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed."

And Lot said to them, "Oh, not so, my lord: behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die: behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live."

And he said unto him, "See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar, that is, "Little."

The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah {36} brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord: and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the Plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.


BIRTH OF ISAAC.
Hagar and Ishmael Are Cast Out. Treaty with Abimelech.

And a child was born to Sarah, according as the Lord had promised, and Abraham called the name of his son, Isaac. And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac."

{37}{38}

HAGAR AND ISHMAEL

By Cazin


{39}

And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son. And God said unto Abraham, "Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy family be called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy son."

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, "Let me not look upon the death of the child."

And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, "What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation."

And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol, the captain of his host, spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with thee in all that thou doest: now therefore swear {40} unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned."

And Abraham said, "I will swear."

And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of the well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. And Abimelech said, "I know not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to-day."

And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and they two made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, "What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?"

And he said, "These seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that it may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well."

Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them. So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba: and Abimelech rose up, and Phicol, the captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.

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THE TESTING OF ABRAHAM.
God Provides the Sacrifice.

And it came to pass after these things, that God proved Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!"

And he said, "Here am I."

And he said, "Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, "Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and come again to you."

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac, his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spoke unto Abraham, his father, and said, "My father": and he said, "Here am I, my son."

And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

And Abraham said, "God will himself provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son": so they went both of them together.

And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in {42} order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham."

And he said, "Here am I."

And he said, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me."

And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh (that is, Jehovah will provide): as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the Lord it shall be provided." And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said, "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that I will certainly bless thee, and I will certainly multiply thy family as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy family shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy family shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."

So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

{43}{44}

HEBRON

Used by special permission of the Palestine Exploration Fund.

This is one of the most interesting spots in all the world; for here is the cave of Machpelah, the one ancient burial place which has been handed down from remote antiquity as the genuine site. The spot, as the burial place of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah, has been venerated always by the adherents of the three great religions--Jews, Moslems, and Christians. The space containing the caves is inclosed by a great quadrangle of masonry 197 feet long and 111 feet wide called the Haram. Within this inclosure, directly over the caves, is built a mosque. For six hundred years no European except, in disguise was known to have set foot in the sacred precincts. In 1862 the Prince of Wales was given permission, with much reluctance, to visit the inclosure. Since then a few visits have been made, but the cave itself has never been explored. A few visitors have been permitted to look down a shaft in the rock beneath the mosque, but there is no positive information as to what exists below the surface.

{45}

DEATH AND BURIAL OF SARAH.
Abraham Buys a Place to Lay His Dead.

And the life of Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years: these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke unto the children of Heth, saying, "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."

And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, "Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead."

And Abraham rose up and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. And he communed with them, saying, "If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron, the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in the midst of you for a possession of a burying place."

Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, "Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it {46} thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead."

And Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. And he spoke unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, "But if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me: I will give the price of the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there."

And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, "My lord, hearken unto me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead."

And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant. So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the border thereof round about, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of the city.

And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the children of Heth.

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REBEKAH AND ELIEZER

From the Sculpture by Therwaldsen.

"And she said, 'Drink, my Lord.' And she hasted and let down her pitcher upon her hand and gave him drink."

{49}

ISAAC

The Story of a Man Who Was Quiet and Gentle in His Nature, Who Lived in Peace with God and Man.

ISAAC AND REBEKAH.
How Abraham Sought a Fair Maiden of Nahor to be His Son's Wife.

And Abraham was old, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

And Abraham said to his servant, who ruled over all that he had, "Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac."

And the servant said unto him, "Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?"

And Abraham said to him, "Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house, and from the land of my nativity, and that spoke unto me, and that swore unto me, saying, 'Unto thy family will I give this land'; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt {50} take a wife for my son from thence. And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath; only thou shalt not bring my son thither again."

And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his master, and departed; having all goodly things of his master's in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water.

And he said, "O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray thee, good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: and let it come to pass, that the maiden to whom I shall say, 'Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink'; and she shall say, 'Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also': let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master.'"

And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the maiden was very fair to look upon, and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water out of thy pitcher."

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And she said, "Drink, my lord": and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.

And when she had done giving him drink, she said, "I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking."

And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels. And the man looked steadfastly on her; holding his peace, to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold; and said, "Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in?"

And she said unto him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor." She said moreover unto him, "We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in."

And the man bowed his head, and worshiped the Lord. And he said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who hath not forsaken his mercy and his truth toward my master: as for me, the Lord hath led me in the way to the house of my master's brethren."

And the maiden ran, and told her mother's house according to these words. And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the fountain. And it came to pass, when he saw the {52} ring, and the bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah, his sister, saying, "Thus spoke the man unto me"; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the fountain.

And he said, "Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels."

And the man came into the house, and he ungirded the camels; and he gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the men's feet that were with him.

And there was set food before him to eat: but he said, "I will not eat, until I have told mine errand."

And he said, "Speak on."

And he said, "I am Abraham's servant. And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and menservants and maidservants, and camels and asses. And Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. And my master made me swear, saying, 'Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son.' And I said unto my master, 'Peradventure the woman will not follow me.' And he said unto me, 'The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father's house: then shalt thou be clear from my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give her not to thee, thou shalt be clear from my oath.'


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REBEKAH

By Goodall.


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"And I came this day unto the fountain, and said, 'O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go: behold, I stand by the fountain of water; and let it come to pass, that the maiden which cometh forth to draw, to whom I shall say, "Give me, I pray thee, a little water out of thy pitcher to drink"; and she shall say to me, "Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels": let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed for my master's son.' And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the fountain, and drew: and I said unto her, 'Let me drink, I pray thee.' And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, 'Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also': so I drank, and she made the camels drink also. And I asked her, and said, 'Whose daughter art thou?' And she said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore unto him': and I put the ring upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands. And I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter for his son. And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left."

Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, "The {56} thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken."

And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth unto the Lord. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.

And they ate and drank, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, "Send me away unto my master."

And her brother and her mother said, "Let the maiden abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go."

And he said unto them, "Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master."

And they said, "We will call the maiden, and inquire of her."

And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, "Wilt thou go with this man?"

And she said, "I will go." And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men.

And they blessed Rebekah, and said to her, "Our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let thy family possess the gate of those who hate them."


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A CAMEL RIDER

From a photograph belonging to Miss Clara L. Bodman and used by her kind permission.


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And Rebekah arose, and her maidservants, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah and went his way.

And Isaac came from the way of Beer-lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the land of the South. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, there were camels coming.

And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel. And she said unto the servant, "What man is this who walketh in the field to meet us?"

And the servant said, "It is my master": and she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. And Isaac brought her to his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.


THE DEATH OF ABRAHAM.

And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. And Abraham died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah, his wife. And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son.

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JACOB
The Story of the Man Who Struggled Much Between Right and Wrong and Who Suffered Many Things.

THE STRIFE BETWEEN THE BROTHERS.
Esau Sells His Birthright. Jacob Deceives His Father and Receives the Blessing Intended for Esau.

(Isaac, the son of Abraham, and Rebekah, his wife, had twin sons, named Jacob and Esau. Esau was a bold, rough, reckless boy, fond of hunting and adventure. Jacob was more quiet, but also more cunning. The recklessness of Esau and the cunning of Jacob many times cost them dear in later life.)

And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his venison: and Rebekah loved Jacob. And Jacob boiled pottage: and Esau came in from the field, and he was faint: and Esau said to Jacob, "Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint."

And Jacob said, "Sell me this day thy birthright."

And Esau said, "Behold, I am at the point of death: and what profit shall the birthright be to me?"

And Jacob said, "Swear to me this day"; and he swore unto him: and he sold his birthright to Jacob.

And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and {61} he ate and drank, and rose up, and went his way: so Esau despised his birthright.

And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, "My son": and he said to him, "Here am I."

And he said, "Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death. Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison; and make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die."

And Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, "Behold, I heard thy father speak to Esau thy brother, saying, 'Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death.' Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth: and thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, so that he may bless thee before his death."

And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing."

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And his mother said unto him, "Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them."

And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved. And Rebekah took the goodly garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son: and she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck: and she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came unto his father, and said, "My father": and he said, "Here am I; who art thou, my son?"

And Jacob said unto his father, "I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me."

And Isaac said unto his son, "How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son?"

And he said, "Because the Lord thy God sent me good speed."

And Isaac said unto Jacob, "Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not."

And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau."

And he knew him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.

And he said, "Art thou my very son Esau?"

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JACOB'S DREAM

By Murillo


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And he said, "I am."

And he said, "Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee."

And he brought it near to him, and he ate: and he brought him wine, and he drank. And his father Isaac said unto him, "Come near now, and kiss me, my son." And he came near, and kissed him.

And he smelled the smell of his garment, and blessed him, and said,--

   "See, the smell of my son
   Is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed:
   And God give thee of the dew of heaven,
   And of the fatness of the earth,
   And plenty of corn and wine:
   Let peoples serve thee,
   And nations bow down to thee:
   Be lord over thy brethren,
   And let thy mother's sons bow down to thee:
   Cursed be everyone that curseth thee,
   And blessed be everyone that blesseth thee."

And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he also made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father; and he said unto his father, "Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me."

And Isaac his father said unto him, "Who art thou?"

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And he said, "I am thy son, thy firstborn, Esau." And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, "Who then is he that hath taken venison and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before thou earnest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed."

When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said unto his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father."

And he said, "Thy brother came with guile, and hath taken away thy blessing."

And he said, "Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing."

And he said, "Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?"

And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, "Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what then shall I do for thee, my son?"

And Esau said unto his father, "Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father."

And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him:--

  "Behold, of the fatness of the earth shall be thy dwelling,
  And of the dew of heaven from above;
  And by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother;  {67}
  And it shall come to pass when thou shalt break loose,
  That thou shalt shake his yoke from off thy neck."

And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob."

And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, "Behold, thy brother Esau comforts himself, purposing to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; and tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away; until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"


JACOB GOES FORTH FROM HOME.
He Dreams a Dream of of Ladder Reaching to Heaven.

And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, "Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a company of peoples; and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy family with thee; that thou mayest {68} inherit the land of thy sojournings, which God gave unto Abraham."

And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, "Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan"; and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan-aram.

And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. And he came upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy family; and thy family shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy family shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for {69} I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."

And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not."

And he was afraid, and said, "How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."


JACOB AND RACHEL.
How Jacob Served Seven Years for the Woman He Loved.

Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east. And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, three flocks of sheep lying there by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and the stone upon the well's mouth was great. And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and {70} put the stone again upon the well's mouth in its place. And Jacob said unto them, "My brethren, whence are ye?" And they said, "Of Haran are we." And he said unto them, "Know ye Laban the son of Nahor?"

And they said, "We know him."

And he said unto them, "Is it well with him?"

And they said, "It is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep."

And he said, "Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them."

And they said, "We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well's mouth; then we water the sheep."

While he yet spoke with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep; for she kept them. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's nephew, and that he was Rebekah's son: and she ran and told her father. And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.

And Laban said to him, "Surely thou art my bone and my flesh."

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And he abode with him the space of a month.. And Laban said unto Jacob, "Because thou art my nephew, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me what shall thy wages be?"

And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. And Leah's eyes were tender; but Rachel was beautiful and well favored. And Jacob loved Rachel; and he said, "I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter."

And Laban said, "It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me."

And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.


JACOB SETS OUT FOR HIS NATIVE LAND.
He Is Pursued by Laban, but a Covenant of Peace Is Made Between Them.

(Jacob also took Leah to be his wife. After many years of service, in which time many sons and daughters were born to him, Jacob, who increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and asses, wished to depart from the household of his father-in-law to his native land. So he went away secretly, with his wives and all his possessions. )

Now Laban was angry, and pursued Jacob, and Laban came up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountain of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, "What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters as captives of the {72} sword? Wherefore didst thou flee secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp; and hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? now hast thou done foolishly. It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spoke unto me yesternight, saying, 'Take heed to thyself that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.'"

And Jacob was wroth with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, "What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast hotly pursued after me? This twenty years have I been with thee. The sheep of the flock which were torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bore the loss of them; of my hand didst thou require them, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from mine eyes. These twenty years have I been in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock: and thou hast changed my wages ten times. Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now hadst thou sent me away empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight."

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HEBRON

Hebron, famous in Old Testament story, is to-day one of the four sacred cities of the Moslems. It is in a little valley surrounded by hills, which are still covered with vineyards.


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And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have borne? And now come, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee."

And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. And Jacob said unto his brethren, "Gather stones"; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they ate there by the heap. And Laban called it "Jegar-sahadutha": but Jacob called it Galeed.

And Laban said, "This heap is witness between me and thee this day." Therefore was the name of it called Galeed: and "Mizpah" (that is, watchtower), for he said,

"The Lord watch between me and thee,
When we are absent one from another."

"If thou shalt afflict my daughters, and if thou shalt take wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness between me and thee."

And Laban said to Jacob, "Behold this heap, and behold the pillar, which I have set between me and thee. This heap be witness, and the pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.

"The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us."

And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. And Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mountain. And early in the morning {76} Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.

And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's host": and he called the name of that place Mahanaim (that is, Two Hosts).


JACOB FEARS THE WRATH OF ESAU.
He Wrestles with the Angel. The Brothers Meet and are Reconciled.

And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, "Thus shall ye say unto my lord Esau; 'Thus saith thy servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now: and I have oxen, and asses and flocks, and menservants and maidservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.'"

And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him."

Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies; and he said, "If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the company which is left shall escape."

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THE VALLEY OF THE JABBOK

From a photograph taken by Prof. H. G. Mitchell and used by his kind permission.

Over this stream Jacob sent his family and his flock while he remained to wrestle with the angel through the night.


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And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who saidst unto me, 'Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good': I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two companies. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children. And thou saidst, 'I will surely do thee good, and make thy family as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'"

And he lodged there that night; and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother; two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and said unto his servants, "Pass over before me, and put a space between drove and drove."

And he commanded the foremost, saying, "When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, 'Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?' then thou shalt say, 'They are thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, he also is behind us.'"

And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, "On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him; and ye shall say, 'Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us.'"

For he said, "I will appease him with the present that {80} goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me."

So the present passed over before him: and he himself lodged that night in the company.

And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven children, and passed over the ford of Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him. And he said, "Let me go, for the day breaketh."

And he said, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me."

And he said unto him, "What is thy name?"

And he said, "Jacob."

And he said, "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed."

And Jacob asked him and said, "Tell me, I pray thee, thy name."

And he said, "Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?"

And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Penuel: for, said he, "I have seen God face, to face, and my life is preserved."

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NABLOUS, THE ANCIENT SHECHEM, IN THE VALLEY BETWEEN MOUNTS EBAL AND GERIZIM

Used by special permission of the Detroit Photograph Company.

The first camping place of Abraham. Jacob built an altar here, and dug a well, and here Joseph was buried. Joshua set up a great stone "as a witness" here at the end of his life. It was here at "Jacob's well," about a mile and a half from the town, that Jesus met the woman of Samaria.


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And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Penuel, and he limped upon his thigh.

And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. And he himself passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, "Who are these with thee?"

And he said, "The children which God hath graciously given thy servant."

Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. And Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. And he said, "What meanest thou by all this company which I met?"

And he said, "To find grace in the sight of my lord." And Esau said, "I have enough; my brother, let that which thou hast be thine."

And Jacob said, "Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. Take, I {84} pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough."

And he urged him, and he took it.

And he said, "Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee."

And he said unto him, "My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young: and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come unto my lord unto Seir."

And Esau said, "Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me."

And he said, "What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord."

So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram; and encamped before the city. And he bought the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money. And he erected there an altar, and called it "God, the God of Israel."

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BETHEL

Photograph taken by Mrs. Frank L. Goodspeed, of Springfield, Mass., and used by her kind permission.

One of Abraham's camping grounds and the place of Jacob's dream.


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JACOB ERECTS AN ALTAR AT BETH-EL.
He Is Given a New Name. The Death of Rachel.

And God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, who appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother."

Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments: and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went."

And they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. And they journeyed: and a great terror was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz (the same is Beth-el), he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place, "The God of Beth-el": because there God was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother. And Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried below Beth-el under the oak: and the name of it was called "The Oak of Weeping."

And God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, "Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any {88} more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name:" and he called his name Israel.

And God said unto him, "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come from thee; and the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy family after thee will I give the land."

And God went up from him in the place where he spoke with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone: and he poured out a drink offering thereon, and poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, "Beth-el."

And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem). And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave: the same is the Pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.

(In this place Jacob lived for many years; but the sorrow that came to him, and the wonderful things that befell him in his old age, and how he journeyed to Egypt, and died there, are told in the next story, the story of Joseph, his son.)

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MOSES

From the frieze of the Prophets, by Sargent, in the Boston Public Library.


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JOSEPH

The Story of the Shepherd Boy Who Was Sold into Bondage, and How He Became Ruler in a Great Nation.

A COWARDLY DEED.

Joseph Arouses the Enmity of His Older Brethren, and They Sell Him into Slavery.

(Joseph and Benjamin were the sons of Rachel, Jacob's best loved wife. Their mother died while Joseph was still a little boy and Benjamin was a baby. Their father loved the two motherless boys very much.)

Joseph, when he was seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought an evil report of them unto their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. And his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren; and they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, "Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: for, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and stood upright; and, {92} behold, your sheaves came round about, and bowed down to my sheaf."

And his brethren said to him, "Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?"

And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, "Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream; and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me."

And he told it to his father, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, "What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?"

And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying in mind. And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. And Israel said unto Joseph, "Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them."

And he said to him, "Here am I."

And he said to him, "Go now, see whether it is well with thy brethren, and well with the flock; and bring me word again."

So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, "What seekest thou?" And he said, "I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they are feeding the flock."

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A CARAVAN LOADING FOR A JOURNEY

From a photograph in the possession of Dr. W. J. Moulton and used by his kind permission.


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And the man said, "They are departed hence: for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'"

And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, "Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, 'An evil beast hath devoured him': and we shall see what will become of his dreams."

And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand; and said, "Let us not take his life."

And Reuben said unto them, "Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him": that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.

And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; and they took him and cast him into the pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, "What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh," And his brethren hearkened unto him.

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And they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned un to the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, "The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?"

And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood; and they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father; and said, "This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or not."

And he knew it, and said, "It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces."

And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, "For I will go down to the grave to my son mourning." And his father wept for him.


JOSEPH IN EGYPT.
Fortunate at First, He is Cast into Prison, but Even There He Finds Favor.

And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down thither. And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

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A VIEW OF THE PYRAMIDS AND THE SPHINX

From a photograph belonging to Miss Clara L. Bodman and used by her kind permission.

Egypt is a land of wonder and romance, the seat of one of the oldest civilizations on the face of the globe. Its ancient temples and statues, though in ruins, are among the most beautiful and wonderful in the world. Many of the tombs have been plundered, yet one has only just been opened which contained untouched the priceless memorial of that early time. This is the land over which the Hebrew shepherd lad Joseph ruled and out of which the Hebrew people finally marched to freedom.


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And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he ministered unto him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had, in the house and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not aught that was with him, save the bread which he did eat.

(But Joseph's mistress was a wicked woman, and, because Joseph would not do wrong, told what was not true about him to his master, so that Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.)

But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed kindness unto him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because the Lord was with him; and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.


JOSEPH INTERPRETS THE DREAMS OF PHARAOH'S OFFICERS.
The Fate of the Chief Butler and of the Baker of the King.

And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the {100} king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was wroth against his two officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers. And he put them into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he ministered unto them: and they continued a season in prison.

And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream, in one night, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison. And Joseph came in to them in the morning, and saw them, and, behold, they were sad. And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in prison, saying, "Wherefore look ye so sad to-day?"

And they said unto him, "We have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it."

And Joseph said unto them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it me, I pray you."

And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "In my dream, behold, a vine was before me; and in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and its blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes: and Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grape: and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand."

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A GROVE OF DATE PALMS IN EGYPT

From a photograph belonging to Miss Clara L. Bodman and used by her kind permission.


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And Joseph said unto him, "This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thine office: and thou shalt give Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler. But have me in thy remembrance when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, to me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: for indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon."

When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, "I also was in my dream, and, behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head: and in the uppermost basket there was all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds ate them out of the basket upon my head."

And Joseph answered and said, "This is the interpretation thereof: the three baskets are three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee."

And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and the head of the chief baker among his servants. And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand: but he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him.

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THE SEVEN FAT KINE AND THE SEVEN LEAN KINE
Which Joseph Told the King Meant Seven Fat Years of Plenty and Seven Lean Years of Want. The Hebrew Boy is Made Chief Ruler of Egypt. The Famine Comes.

And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, well favored and fatfleshed; and they fed in the reed-grass. And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favored and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river. And the ill favored and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favored and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.

And he slept and dreamed a second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, full and good. And, behold, seven ears, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven full and good ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

Then spoke the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, "I do remember my faults this day: Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in prison in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker: and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. And {105} there was with us there a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret. And it came to pass as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged."

Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in to Pharaoh.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that when thou hearest a dream thou canst interpret it."

And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace."

And Pharaoh spoke unto Joseph, "In my dream, behold, I stood upon the brink of the river: and, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favored; and they fed in the reed-grass: and, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favored and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness: and the lean and ill favored kine ate up the first seven fat kine: and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favored as at the beginning. So I awoke.

"And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up upon one stalk, full and good: and, behold, seven ears, {106} withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them: and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears: and I told it unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me."

And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is one: what God is about to do he hath declared unto Pharaoh. The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. And the seven lean and ill favored kine that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind; they shall be seven years of famine. That is the thing which I spoke unto Pharaoh: what God is about to do he hath showed unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: and there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine which followeth; for it shall be very grievous. And the reason that the dream was doubled to Pharaoh is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. And the food shall be for {107} a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine."

And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the spirit of God is?"

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou: thou shalt be over my house, and according to thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou." And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt."

And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, "Bow the knee": and he set him over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt."

And Pharaoh gave Joseph Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera the priest of On to be his wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of {108} Egypt. And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph laid up corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left measuring; for it was without measure. And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, which his wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On bore to him. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For," said he, "God hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house." And the name of the second called he Ephraim: "For God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."

And the seven years of plenty, that was in the land of Egypt, came to an end. And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said: and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; what he saith to you, do."

And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine was sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn; because the famine was sore in all the earth.

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A VIEW OF THE PYRAMIDS, WITH A VILLAGE IN THE FOREGROUND

From a photograph belonging to Miss Clara L. Bodman and used by her kind permission.

The pyramids, which are seen in the distance in this picture, were considered one of the "Seven Wonders of the World." There are seventy of them in Egypt and they were built as tombs of the Pharaohs. The "Great Pyramid" is four hundred and eighty feet and nine inches high; it is supposed to have taken one hundred thousand men fifty years to build it, and the date is given as from 3229 to 2123 B.C.


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THE SONS OF JACOB COME TO EGYPT TO BUY CORN.
They Do Not Recognize, in the Ruler of the Land, the Brother Whom They Sold. He Commands Them to Bring Their Youngest Brother to Egypt.

Now Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, "Why do ye look one upon another?"

And he said, "Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die."

And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn from Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, "Lest peradventure mischief befall him."

And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the earth. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange to them, and spoke roughly with them; and he said unto them, "Whence come ye?"

And they said, "From the land of Canaan to buy food." And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, "Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come."

And they said unto him, "Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies."

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And he said to them, "Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come."

And they said, "We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not."

And Joseph said unto them, "That is it that I spoke unto you, saying, 'Ye are spies': hereby ye shall be proved: 'by the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be bound, that your words may be proved, whether there be truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies." And he put them all together into prison three days.

And Joseph said unto them the third day, "This do, and live; for I fear God: if ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in your prison house; but go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses: and bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die."

And they did so. And they said one to another, "We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us."

And Reuben answered them, saying, "Spoke I not unto you, saying, 'Do not sin against the child'; and ye would not hear? therefore also, behold, his blood is required."

And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them.

And he turned himself about from them, and wept; {113} and he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. Then Joseph commanded to fill their vessels with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provisions for the way: and thus was it done unto them. And they loaded their asses with their corn, and departed thence. And as one of them opened his sack to feed his ass in the lodging place, he espied his money; and, behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. And he said unto his brethren, "My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack": and their heart failed them, and they turned trembling one to another, saying, "What is this that God hath done unto us?"

And they came to Jacob their father to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had befallen them; saying, "The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. And we said to him, 'We are true men; we are no spies: we are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.'

"And the man, the lord of the land, said unto us, 'Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren with me, and take corn for the famine of your houses, and go your way: and bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land.'"

And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and {114} when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob their father said unto them, "Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me."

And Reuben spoke unto his father, saying, "Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again." And he said, "My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left: if mischief befall him by the way in which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave."


JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS.
Jacob at First Refuses, but at Length Consents, to Let Benjamin Go. Joseph Places the Money in the Sacks. He Threatens the Brothers with Punishment. He tells His Brothers Who He Is, Forgives Them, and Takes Them Into His Favor.

And the famine was sore in the land. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, "Go again, buy us a little food."

And Judah spoke unto him, saying, "The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, 'Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.' If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: but if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, 'Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.'"

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And Israel said, "Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?"

And they said, "The man asked strictly concerning ourselves, and concerning our kindred, saying, 'Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother?' and we told him according to the nature of these words: could we in any wise know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"

And Judah said unto Israel his father, "Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever: for except we had lingered, surely we had now returned a second time."

And their father Israel said unto them, "If it be so now, do this; take of the choice fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spicery and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: and take double money in your hand; and the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks carry again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight: take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release unto you your other brother and Benjamin. And if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved."

And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. And when {116} Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and slay, and make ready; for the men shall dine with me at noon."

And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, "Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses."

And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke unto him at the door of the house, and said, "Oh my lord, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: and it came to pass, when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand. And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food: we know not who put our money in our sacks."

And he said, "Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money."

And he brought Simeon out to them. And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. And they made ready the present for Joseph's coming at noon: for they heard that they should eat there.

And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed {117} down themselves to him to the earth. And he asked them of their welfare, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?" and they said, "Thy servant our father is well, he is yet alive." And they bowed the head, and made obeisance.

And he lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom ye spoke unto me?" And he said, "God be gracious unto thee, my son."

And Joseph made haste; for his heart yearned over his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there. And he washed his face and came out; and he refrained himself, and said, "Set on food."

And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, who ate with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marveled one with another. And he took of the food and sent portions to them from before him: but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth. And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money."

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And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. As soon as the morning was light the men were sent away, they and their asses. And when they were gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say to them, 'Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? Is not this the cup from which my lord drinketh, and whereby he indeed divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.'"

And he overtook them, and he spoke unto them these words. And they said unto him, "Wherefore speaketh my lord such words as these? God forbid that thy servants should do such a thing. Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold? With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen."

And he said, "Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my bondman; and ye shall be blameless."

Then they hasted, and took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left off at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. Then they rent their clothes, and loaded every man his ass, and returned to the city. And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; and he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said {119} unto them, "What deed is this that ye have done? know ye not that such a man as I can indeed divine?"

And Judah said, "What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's bondmen, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found."

And he said, "God forbid that I should do so: the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my bondman; but as for you, get you up in peace unto your father."

Then Judah came near unto him, and said, "Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word to my lord, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have ye a father, or a brother?' And we said unto my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.' And thou saidst unto thy servants, 'Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.' And we said to my lord, 'The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.' And thou saidst unto thy servants, 'Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.' And it came to pass when we came up to thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. And our father said, 'Go again, buy us a little food.' And we said, 'We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will {120} we go down: for we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother be with us.' And thy servant my father said to us, 'Ye know that my wife bore me two sons: and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces"; and I have not seen him since: and if ye take this one also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to the grave.' Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life; it shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, 'If I bring him not unto thee, then shall I bear the blame to my father for ever.' Now therefore, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest I see the evil that shall come on my father."

Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, "Cause every man to go out from me."

And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brethren. And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, "I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?"

And his brethren could not answer him; for they were {121} troubled at his presence. And Joseph said to his brethren, "Come near to me, I pray you."

And they came near. And he said, "I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and there are yet five years, in the which there shall be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, 'Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: and there will I nourish thee; for there are yet five years of famine; lest thou come to poverty, thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast. And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.' And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither."

And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his {122} brethren, and wept with them: and after that his brethren talked with him.

And the report thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, "Joseph's brethren are come": and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "Say unto thy brethren, 'This do ye; load your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; and take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.' Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Also regard not your possessions; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours."

And the sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the way. To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses laden with corn and bread and victual for his father by the way.

So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said to them, "See that ye fall not out by the way."

And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan to Jacob their father. And they told him, saying, "Joseph is yet alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." And his heart fainted, for he {123} believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: and Israel said, "It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die."


JACOB IN EGYPT.
The Famine Wastes the Land. Death of Jacob. Death of Joseph.

And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, "Jacob, Jacob."

And he said, "Here am I."

And he said, "I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes."

And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his family with him: his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his family brought he with him into Egypt.

And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to show the way before him unto Goshen; and they came into the {124} land of Goshen. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, "Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, and know that thou art yet alive."

And Joseph said to his brethren, and to his father's house, "I will go up, and tell Pharaoh, and will say unto him, 'My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me; and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.' And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, 'What is your occupation?' that ye shall say, 'Thy servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers': that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians."

Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen."

And from among his brethren he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to his brethren, "What is your occupation?"

And they said to Pharaoh, "Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers."

And they said to Pharaoh, "To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants' {125} flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen."

And Pharaoh spoke unto Joseph, saying, "Thy father and thy brethren are come to thee: the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and thy brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any able men among them, then make them rulers over my cattle."

And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, "How many are the days of the years of thy life?"

And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage."

And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with food, according to their families.

And there was no food in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of {126} Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, "Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for our money faileth."

And Joseph said, "Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle if money fail."

And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with food in exchange for all their cattle for that year. And when that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord, how that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord's; there is nought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands: wherefore should we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land be not desolate."

So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was sore upon them: and the land became Pharaoh's. And as for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end thereof.

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A VIEW IN LUXOR
From a photograph belonging to Miss Clara L. Bodman and used by her kind permission.


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Only the land of the priests bought he not: for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them; wherefore they sold not their land. Then Joseph said unto the people, "Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass at the ingatherings, that ye shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones."

And they said, "Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants."

And Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priests alone became not Pharaoh's. And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got them possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were an hundred forty and seven years. And the time drew near that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, "If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace: there they {130} buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah: the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth."

And when Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he laid himself down upon his bed and died. And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of embalming: and the Egyptians wept for him threescore and ten days.

And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 'My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.'"

And Pharaoh said, "Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear." And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their flocks and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great {131} company. And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, "This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians": wherefore the name of it was called "The Mourning of Egypt," which is beyond Jordan. And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them: for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a buryingplace, of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully requite us all the evil which we did unto him." And they sent a message unto Joseph, saying, "Thy father did command before he died, saying, 'So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the transgression of thy brethren, and their sin, in that they did unto thee evil': and now, we pray thee, forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of thy father."

And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, "Behold, we are thy servants." And Joseph {132} said unto them, "Fear not: for am I in the place of God? And as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones." And he comforted them, and spoke kindly unto them.

And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. And Joseph said unto his brethren, "I die: but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land unto the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."

And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence."

So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

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The Great Captains

The word "captain" following the use in the Bible and all literature down to the present day, is not the particular term, designating the commander of a small company of soldiers, but a general term, standing for leadership in the largest sense. Moses, according to this meaning of the word, was one of the greatest of the worlds captains, for he took a cowardly, unorganized mob of slaves and led them through the most appalling difficulties and dangers, to freedom, and to a position where national existence was possible. While there was little actual fighting in the journey from Egypt to Palestine, yet there was necessity, every step of the way, for the highest qualities of leadership.

Joshua was a great captain in the more strictly military sense of the word. He found the force organized and disciplined by the leadership of Moses, and he used it as a skillful swordsman uses a keen and tempered blade. In his campaigns he displayed the abilities of the great military genius.


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THE FINDING OF MOSES

  Slow glides the Nile: amid the margin flags,
  Closed in a bulrush ark, the babe is left,--
  Left by a mother's hand. His sister waits
  Far off; and pale, 'tween hope and fear, beholds
  The royal maid, surrounded by her train,
  Approach the river bank,--approach the spot
  Where sleeps the innocent: she sees them stoop
  With meeting plumes; the rushy lid is oped,
  And wakes the infant, smiling in his tears,
  As when along a little mountain lake
  The summer south-wind breathes, with gentle sigh,
  And parts the reeds, unveiling, as they bend,
  A water-lily floating on the wave.

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VIEW FROM RAMAH, THE TRADITIONAL HOME OF SAMUEL

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

"We know not with certainty the situation of Ramah. Of Samuel as of Moses it may be said, 'No man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.' But the lofty peak above Gibeon, which has long borne his name, has this feature (in common, to a certain extent, with any high place which can have been the scene of his life and death), that it overlooks the whole of that broad table-land, on which the fortunes of the Jewish monarchy were afterwards unrolled. Its towering eminence, from which the pilgrims first obtained their view of Jerusalem, is no unfit likeness of the solitary grandeur of the prophet Samuel, who lived and died in the very midst of the future glory of his country"


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MOSES

The Story of the Man Who Led a Race of Slaves Out of Bondage, and Became the Emancipator of a Great Nation.

THE ISRAELITES ARE ENSLAVED IN EGYPT.
The Slave Who Was Brought Up in a King's Palace. Moses Kills One of the Egyptian Taskmasters and Flees from the Country.

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. And he said to his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: come, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land."

Therefore they set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor: and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor.

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And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, "Every son that is born to the Hebrews ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive."

And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took for his wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman had a son: and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with pitch; and she put the child therein, and laid it in the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river side; and she saw the ark among the flags, and sent her handmaid to fetch it. And she opened it and saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."

Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?"

And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go."

And the maid went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages."

And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, and said, "Because I drew him out of the water."

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THE SPHINX

From a photograph in the possession of Mr. S. E. Bridgman and used by his kind permission.

The Great Sphinx at Gizeh is a colossal figure carved out of the solid rock. It perhaps represents the reigning monarch as a conqueror. The age of the Great Sphinx is thought to be about the same as that of the pyramids


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And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown up, that he went out to his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he saw an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he smote the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. And he went out the second day, and, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, "Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?"

And he said, "Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? thinkest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?"

And Moses feared, and said, "Surely the thing is known."

Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, "How is it that ye are come so soon to-day?"

And they said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock." And he said to his daughters, "And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread."

And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. And she had a {142} son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a strange land."

And it came to pass in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered them.


THE VOICE OF GOD FROM THE BURNING BUSH.
The Lord Commissions Moses to Lead His People Out of Bondage.

Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, "I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."

And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses, Moses."

And he said, "Here am I."

And he said, "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." Moreover he said, "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

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And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good land and a large, to a land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come to me: moreover I have seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt."

And Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?"

And he said, "Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be the token unto thee, that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain."

And Moses said unto God, "Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, 'The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you'; and they shall say to me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say unto them?" And God said unto Moses, "I am that I am": and he said, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, 'I am hath sent me unto you.'"

[Footnote: These phrases are a reference to the name Jehovah, which was thought to mean "He is."]

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And God said moreover to Moses, "Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me to you': this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations. Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, hath appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to a land flowing with milk and honey.' And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and ye shall say to him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, hath met with us: and now let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.' And I know that the king of Egypt will not give you leave to go, no, not by a mighty hand. And I will put forth my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: but every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians."

And Moses answered and said, "But, behold, they will {145} not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, 'The Lord hath not appeared to thee.'"

And the Lord said unto him, "What is that in thine hand?"

And he said, "A rod."

And he said, "Cast it on the ground."

And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the Lord said unto Moses, "Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail." And he put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.

And the Lord said furthermore to him, "Put now thine hand into thy bosom."

And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. And he said, "Put thine hand into thy bosom again." And he put his hand into his bosom again; and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

The Lord said, "It shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither hearken to thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land."

And Moses said unto the Lord, "Oh Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken {146} unto thy servant: for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue."

And, the Lord said unto him, "Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak."

And he said, "Oh Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send."

And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, "Is there not Aaron thy brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak to him, and put the words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and it shall come to pass, that he shall be to thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him as God. And thou shalt take in thine hand this rod, wherewith thou shalt do the signs."

And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-inn law, and said unto him, "Let me go, I pray thee, and return to my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive."

And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace."

And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, "Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life."

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THE BANKS OF THE NILE NEAR CAIRO

From a photograph owned by Mr. S. E. Bridgman and used by his kind permission.

The Nile was the life and glory of Egypt. It afforded a magnificent waterway for commerce, and the annual overflow gave the greatest fertility to the soil.


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And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. And the Lord said to Moses, "When thou goest back into Egypt, see that thou do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go. And thou shalt say to Pharaoh, 'Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn: and I have said to thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me; and thou hast refused to let him go: behold I will slay thy son, thy firstborn.'"

And the Lord said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." And he went, and met him in the mountain of God, and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord wherewith he had sent him, and all the signs wherewith he had charged him. And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: and Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed.


"LET MY PEOPLE GO."
Moses and Aaron Demand the Release of the Israelites.
Pharaoh Refuses.

And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.'"

And Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should hearken to his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go."

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And they said, "The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword."

And the king of Egypt said to them, "Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you to your burdens." And Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are now many, and ye make them rest from their burdens."

And the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, "Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the number of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Let heavier work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein; and let them not regard lying words."

And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, "Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it: for naught of your work shall be diminished."

So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. And the taskmasters were urgent, saying, "Fulfill your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw."

And the officers of the children of Israel, which {151} Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, "Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task both yesterday and to-day, in making brick as heretofore?"

Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, "Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, 'Make brick': and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people."

But he said, "Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.' Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the number of bricks."

And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in deep trouble when it was said, "Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks, your daily tasks."

And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: and they said to them, "The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made us to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us."

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land."

And it came to pass on the day when the Lord spoke unto Moses in the land of Egypt, that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "I am the Lord: speak thou to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to thee."

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And Moses said before the Lord, "Behold, I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?"

And the Lord said unto Moses, "See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy spokesman. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, and I will lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them."

And Moses and Aaron did so; as the Lord commanded them, so did they.

And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, "When Pharaoh shall speak to you, saying, 'Show a wonder for you:' then thou shalt say unto Aaron, 'Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent.'"

And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so, as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the magicians: and they also did in like manner with their enchantments.

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THE RIVER NILE

From a photograph belonging to Miss Clara L. Bodman and used by her kind permission.

"And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood."

This picture shows the broad Nile with one of the boats now in use called a "dahabiyeh." There has been built recently on the upper Nile an immense dam which will be used to regulate the flow of water and bring great agricultural prosperity to Egypt


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For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken.


THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT.
1. The Plague Of Blood.

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is stubborn, he refuseth to let the people go. Get thee to Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand. And thou shalt say unto him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, hath sent me to thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou hast not hearkened. Thus saith the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink water from the river.'"

And the Lord said to Moses, "Say unto Aaron, 'Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'"

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And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that were in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.

And the magicians of Egypt did in like manner with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he lay even this to heart. And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river. And seven days were fulfilled, after the Lord had smitten the river.


2. The Plague Of Frogs.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, "Go in unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, 'Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: and the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs: and the frogs shall come up both upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.'"

And the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch {157} forth thine hand with thy rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.'"

And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did in like manner with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, "Intreat the Lord, that he take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice unto the Lord."

And Moses said to Pharaoh, "For what time shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs be destroyed from thee and thy houses, and remain in the river only?"

And he said, "For to-morrow."

And he said, "Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God. And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only."

And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the Lord concerning the frogs which he had brought upon Pharaoh. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields. And they gathered them together in heaps: and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he {158} hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken.


3. The Plague Of Lice.

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Say unto Aaron, 'Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.'"

And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and there were lice upon man, and upon beast; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: and there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God": and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not to them; as the Lord had spoken.


4. The Plague Of Flies.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say to him, 'Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. And I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the {159} Lord in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: by to-morrow shall this sign be.'"

And the Lord did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies. And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, "Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land."

And Moses said, "It is not right so to do; for we shall sacrifice the holy things of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the holy things of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us."

And Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me."

And Moses said, "Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to-morrow: only let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord."

And Moses went out from Pharaoh and intreated the Lord. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. And Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.

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5. The Plague Of Cattle Disease.

Then the Lord said unto Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, 'Thus saith the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go that they may serve me. For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the herds, and upon the flocks: there shall be a very grievous distemper. And the Lord shall distinguish between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that belongeth to the children of Israel.'"

And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, "To-morrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land."

And the Lord did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he did not let the people go.


6. The Plague Of Boils.

And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, "Take to you handfuls of ashes, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth upon man and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt."

And they took ashes, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth upon man and upon beast.

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And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not to them: as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, 'Thus saith the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. For I will this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. For now I had put forth my hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou hadst been cut off from the earth: but for this very cause have I made thee to stand, in order to show thee my power, that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. Exaltest thou thyself still against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? Behold, to-morrow about this time I will cause a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now. Now therefore send, hasten in thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field; for every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.'"

He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: and he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.

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THE SEVENTH PLAGUE OF EGYPT

I.
  'T was morn,--the rising splendor rolled
  On marble towers and roofs of gold;
  Hall, court, and gallery, below,
  Were crowded with a living flow;
  Egyptian, Arab, Nubian, there,--
  The bearers of the bow and spear,
  The hoary priest, the Chaldee sage,
  The slave, the gemmed and glittering page,--
  Helm, turban, and tiara, shone
  A dazzling ring round Pharaoh's throne.

II.
  There came a man:--the human tide
  Shrank backward from his stately stride:
  His cheek with storm and time was tanned;
  A shepherd's staff was in his hand;
  A shudder of instinctive fear
  Told the dark king what step was near;
  On through the host the stranger came,
  It parted round his form like flame.

III.
  He stooped not at the footstool stone,
  He clasped not sandal, kissed not throne;
  Erect he stood amid the ring,
  His only words, "Be just, a king!"
  On Pharaoh's cheek the blood flushed high,
  A fire was in his sullen eye;        {163}
  Yet on the chief of Israel
  No arrow of his thousands fell;
  All mute and moveless as the grave
  Stood chilled the satrap and the slave.

IV.
  "Thou'rt come," at length the monarch spoke;
  (Haughty and high the words outbroke;)
  "Is Israel weary of its lair,
  The forehead peeled, the shoulder bare?
  Take back the answer to your band:
  Go, reap the wind! go, plow the sand!
  Go, vilest of the living vile,
  To build the never-ending pile,
  Till, darkest of the nameless dead,
  The vulture on their flesh is fed!
  What better asks the howling slave
  Than the base life our bounty gave?"

V.
  Shouted in pride the turbaned peers,
  Upclashed to heaven the golden spears..
  "King! thou and thine are doomed!--Behold!'
  The prophet spoke,--the thunder rolled!
  Along the pathway of the sun
  Sailed vapory mountains, wild and dun.
  "Yet there is time," the prophet said:
  He raised his staff,--the storm was stayed:
  "King! be the word of freedom given:
  What art thou, man, to war with Heaven?"

VI.
  There came no word.--The thunder broke!--
  Like a huge city's final smoke,
  Thick, lurid, stifling, mixed with flame,
  Through court and hall the vapors came.
  Loose as the stubble in the field,       {164}
  Wide flew the men of spear and shield;
  Scattered like foam along the wave,
  Flew the proud pageant, prince and slave;
  Or in the chains of terror bound,
  Lay, corpse-like, on the smouldering ground.
  "Speak, king!--the wrath is but begun!--
  Still dumb?--then, Heaven, thy will be done!"

VII.
  Echoed from earth a hollow roar
  Like ocean on the midnight shore!
  A sheet of lightning o'er them wheeled,
  The solid ground beneath them reeled;
  In dust sank roof and battlement;
  Like webs the giant walls were rent;
  Red, broad, before his startled gaze
  The monarch saw his Egypt blaze.
  Still swelled the plague,--the flame grew pale,
  Burst from the clouds the charge of hail:
  With arrowy keenness, iron weight,
  Down poured the ministers of fate;
  Till man and cattle, crushed, congealed,
  Covered with death the boundless field.

VIII.
  Still swelled the plague,--uprose the blast,
  The avenger, fit to be the last:
  On ocean, river, forest, vale,
  Thundered at once the mighty gale.
  Before the whirlwind flew the tree,
  Beneath the whirlwind roared the sea;
  A thousand ships were on the wave--
  Where are they?--ask that foaming grave!
  Down go the hope, the pride of years,
  Down go the myriad mariners;
  The riches of earth's richest zone,
  Gone! like a flash of lightning, gone!   {165}

IX.
  And, lo! that first fierce triumph o'er,
  Swells ocean on the shrinking shore;
  Still onward, onward, dark and wide,
  Engulfs the land the furious tide..
  Then bowed thy spirit, stubborn king,
  Thou serpent, reft of fang and sting;
  Humbled before the prophet's knee,
  He groaned, "Be injured Israel free!"

X.
  To heaven the sage upraised his hand;
  Back rolled the deluge from the land;
  Back to its caverns sank the gale;
  Fled from the moon the vapors pale;
  Broad burned again the joyous sun:
  The hour of wrath and death was done.
--Croly.

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7. The Plague Of Hail.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt."

And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning; and the Lord sent hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and lightning mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. Intreat the Lord; for there hath been enough of these mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer."

And Moses said unto him, "As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands to the Lord; the thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know that the earth is the Lord's. But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the Lord God."

And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and {167} spread abroad his hands unto the Lord: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth. And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the children of Israel go; as the Lord had spoken by Moses.

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs in the midst of them: and that thou mayest tell to thy son, and to thy son's son, what things I have wrought upon Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know that I am the Lord."

And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and said to him, "Thus saith the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, 'How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to-morrow will I bring locusts into thy border: and they shall cover the face of the earth, that one shall not be able to see the earth: and they shall eat what remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field: and thy houses shall be filled, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; as neither thy fathers nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth to this day.'" And he turned, and went out from Pharaoh.

And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, "How long {168} shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?"

And Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh: and he said unto them, "Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go?" And Moses said, "We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord."

And he said unto them, "No, I will not let you go with your little ones. Not so. But go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that is what ye desire."

And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.


8. The Plague Of Locusts.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left."

And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt; very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

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CLIFFS NEAR LUXOR. TEMPLE OF DAR EL BAHARI

From a photograph belonging to Miss Clara L. Bodman and used by her kind permission.


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Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, "I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this death only."

And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord. And the Lord turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea; there remained not one locust in all the border of Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.


9. The Plague Of Darkness.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt."

And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days; they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

And Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, "Go ye, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you."

And Moses said, "Thou must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God. Our cattle also shall go with us; there {172} shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we come thither."

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go.

And Pharaoh said to him, "Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in the day thou seest my face thou shalt die."

And Moses said, "Thou hast spoken well; I will see thy face again no more."

And the Lord said to Moses, "Yet one plague more will I bring upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. Speak now to the people, and let them ask every man of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold."

And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people.

And Moses said, "Thus saith the Lord, 'About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even to the firstborn of the maidservant who grinds at the mill; and all the firstborn of cattle. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there hath been none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against {173} any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.' And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, 'Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out.'" And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Pharaoh will not hearken unto you: that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt."

And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

(After the ninth plague, the plague of darkness, came a tenth plague, the very worst of all, the description of which is given in another place.)


THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER.
The Israelites Make Ready for the March.

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for an household: and if the household be too little for a lamb, then shall he and his neighbor next unto his house take one according to the number of the souls. {174} Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats: and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at even. And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side posts and on the lintel, upon the houses wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor boiled with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the inwards thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

"'And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand: and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover. For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.'"

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THE VALLEY OF THE TOMBS OF THE KINGS, AT THEBES

Here the steep ramparts were divided by a tortuous cleft, which wound back with many cross fissures deep into the desert. The ravine was simply a chasm with perpendicular sides of naked rock. This was the valley of the Tombs of the Kings.

--"The Yoke"


{177}

Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, "Draw out, and take you lambs according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, 'What mean ye by this service?' that ye shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.'"

And the people bowed the head and worshiped. And the children of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.


10. The Plague Of The Death Of The Firstborn.

And it came to pass at midnight, that the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was {178} not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, "Rise up, get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said. Take both your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also."

And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, to send them out of the land in haste; for they said, "We be all dead men."

And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. And they took the spoil of the Egyptians.


OUT OF BONDAGE.
On the Road to Freedom.

And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, beside children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any food. Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, which they sojourned {179} in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt.

And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, "Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt."

But God led the people about, by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea: and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had strictly charged the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you."

And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they might go by day and by night: the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night.

{180}

"THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER HATH HE THROWN INTO THE SEA."
Pursuit of the Egyptians. The Host of Pharaoh Is Drowned in the Red Sea.

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp by the sea. And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, 'They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.' And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he shall follow after them; and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord." And they did so.

And it was told the king of Egypt that the people were fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?"

And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: for the children of Israel went out with an high hand.

And the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.


{181}{182}

THE VALLEY OF THE TOMBS OF THE KINGS AT THEBES
(A view nearer the entrance)
From a photograph in the possession of the Springfield Public Library and used by permission.

"There is nothing in the whole valley of the Nile which is more grandly characteristic of old Egypt than the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes. The entire course of the ravine presents a spectacle of desolate grandeur which is to the highest degree impressive"


{183}

And they said unto Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to bring us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we spoke unto thee in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."

And Moses said unto the people, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace."

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward. And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen."

And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud removed from before them, and stood behind them: and it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the {184} darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one came not near the other all the night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.

And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass in the morning watch, that the Lord looked forth upon the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians. And he took off their chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians."

And the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen."

And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, even all the host of Pharaoh that went in after them into the sea; there remained not so much as one of them.

But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.

{185}{186}

LOOKING ACROSS THE RED SEA FROM SINAI TOWARD EGYPT

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

"The Israelites were encamped on the western shore of the Red Sea, when suddenly a cry of alarm ran through the vast multitude. Over the ridges of the desert hills were seen the well-known horses, the terrible chariots of the Egyptian host: Pharaoh pursued after the children of Israel, and they were sore afraid

"They were sore afraid; and in that terror and perplexity the sun went down behind the huge mountain range which rose on their rear, and cut off their return to Egypt; and the dark night fell over the waters of the sea which rolled before them, and cut off their advance into the desert. So closed in upon them that evening; where were they when the morning broke over the hills of Arabia? Where were they, and where were their enemies?

"They stood in safety on the further shore; and the chariots, and the horsemen, and the host of Pharaoh had vanished in the waters"


{187}

Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord: and they believed in the Lord, and in his servant Moses.

For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea. And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

And Miriam sang:--

THE SONG OF VICTORY.

  Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously;
  The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
  Thy right hand, O Lord, dasheth in pieces the enemy.
  And in the greatness of thine excellency thou
      overthrowest them that rise up against thee:
  Thou sendest forth thy wrath, it consumeth them as stubble.
  And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were piled up,
  The floods stood upright as an heap;
  The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.
  The enemy said,
  "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil:  {188}
  My desire shall be satisfied upon them;
  I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them."
  Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them:
  They sank as lead in the mighty waters.
  Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?
  Who is like thee, glorious in holiness,
  Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
  Thou stretchedst out thy right hand,
  The earth swallowed them.
  Thou in thy mercy hast led the people which thou hast redeemed:
  Thou hast guided them in thy strength to thy holy habitation.
  The peoples have heard, they tremble:
  Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.
  Then were the dukes of Edom amazed;
  The mighty men of Moab, trembling taketh hold upon them:
  All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.
  Terror and dread falleth upon them;
  By the greatness of thine arm they are as still as a stone;
  Till thy people pass over, O Lord,
  Till the people pass over which thou hast purchased.
  Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the
      mountain of thine inheritance,
  The place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in,
  The sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
  The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.

{189}{190}

SHEPHERD WITH HIS FLOCK NEAR TEKOA
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

Two of the great prophets of Israel lived in this region, Amos at Tekoa and Jeremiah at Anathoth. It is a wild and desolate region

"The wilderness of Judea played a great part in her history as the refuge of political fugitives and religious solitaries--a part which it still continues. The story of Saul's hunt after David and of David's narrow escapes becomes very vivid among those tossed and broken hills, where the valleys are all alike and large bodies of men may camp near each other without knowing it. Ambushes are everywhere possible and alarms pass rapidly across the bare and silent hills. You may travel for hours and feel as solitary as at sea without a sail in sight; but if you are in search of anyone, your guide's signal will make men leap from slopes that did not seem to shelter a rabbit, and if you are suspected, your passage may be stopped by a dozen men as though they had sprung from the earth."


{191}

THE WANDERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS

THE RED SEA IS LEFT BEHIND AND THE MARCH TO CANAAN IS BEGUN.
The Bitter Water of Marah.

And Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called "Marah," that is, bitter.

And the people murmured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"

And he cried to the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them; and he said, "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his eyes, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee."

And they came to Elim, where were twelve springs of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.

And they took their journey from Elim, and all the {192} congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness: and the children of Israel said unto them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole multitude with hunger."


The Quails and the Manna.

Then said the Lord unto Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or not. And it shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily."

And Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, "At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: and in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?"

And Moses said unto Aaron, "Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, 'Come near before the Lord: for he hath heard your murmurings.'"

{193}{194}

RESTING PLACE UNDER THE PALMS AT THE "SPRING OF MOSES" IN THE WILDERNESS OF SINAI
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

This brackish pool of water with palms growing about it is supposed to be the place of the "bitter waters of Marah" which Moses sweetened for the weary Israelites in their flight, the first stopping place after escaping from Egypt. This place is not far from Suez.


{195}

And it came to pass, as Aaron spoke unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, 'At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.'"

And it came to pass at even, that the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the camp. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness a small round thing, small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, "What is it?" for they knew not what it was.

And Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, 'Gather ye of it every man according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, shall ye take it, every man for them which are in his tent.'"

And the children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less. And Moses said unto them, "Let no man leave of it till the morning."

Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. And they gathered it morning by morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun grew hot, it melted. And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they {196} gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said to them, "This is that which the Lord hath spoken, 'To-morrow is a solemn rest, a holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake, and boil that which ye will boil; and all that remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.'"

And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, "Eat that to-day; for to-day is a sabbath unto the Lord: to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day is the sabbath, in it there shall be none."

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that there went out some of the people to gather, and they found none.

And the Lord said unto Moses, "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, because the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day."

So the people rested on the seventh day. And the house of Israel called the name thereof "Manna": and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

And Moses said, "This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, 'Let an omerful of it be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I fed you {197} in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.'"

And Moses said unto Aaron, "Take a pot, and put an omerful of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations."

As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron did. And the children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they ate the manna, until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan.


The Battle with Amalek at Rephidim.

Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand."

So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah my Banner: and he said, "The Lord hath sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."

{198}
THE SONG OF THE MANNA GATHERERS

  Comrades, haste! the tent's tall shading
    Lies along the level sand,
  Far and faint: the stars are fading
    Over the gleaming western strand,
      Airs of morning
    Freshen the bleak burning land.

  Haste, or e'er the third hour glowing
    With its eager thirst prevail
  O'er the moist pearls, now bestrowing
    Thymy slope and rushy vale.

  . . . . . . .

  Comrades--what our sires have told us,
    Watch and wait, for it will come.

  . . . . . . .

  Not by manna show'rs at morning
    Shall our board be then supplied,
  But a strange pale gold, adorning
    Many a tufted mountain's side,
      Yearly feed us,
    Year by year our murmurings chide.

  There, no prophet's touch awaiting,
    From each cool deep cavern start
  Rills, that since their first creating
    Ne'er have ceased to sing their part;
      Oft we hear them
    In our dreams, with thirsty heart.
--John Keble.

{199}{200}

IN THE WILDERNESS OF SINAI

From a photograph belonging to the Forbes Library, Northampton, Mass., and used by special permission.


{201}

MOSES CLIMBS MOUNT SINAI TO TALK WITH GOD.
The Giving of the Commandments.

In the third month after the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. And when they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the wilderness of Sinai, they camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 'Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure to me from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.' These are words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel."

And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do."

And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the foot of the mount. And all Mount Sinai smoked, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. And the {202} Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

And God spoke all these words, saying,--


THE COMMANDMENTS.

"I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

I.

"Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

II.

"Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor the likeness of any form that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands, of them that love me and keep my commandments.

III.

"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

IV.

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and {203} earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

V.

"Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

VI.

"Thou shalt not kill.

VII.

"Thou shalt not commit adultery.

VIII.

"Thou shalt not steal.

IX.

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

X.

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, not his manservant, not his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.


And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off. And they said to Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die."

And Moses said to the people, "Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before you, that ye sin not."

{204}

And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.


THE GOLDEN CALF.
Israel Sins Grievously and Is Severely Punished.

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together about Aaron, and said to him, "Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him."

And Aaron said to them, "Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me."

And all the people broke off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf: and they said, "These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."

And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, "To-morrow shall be a feast to the Lord."

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

{205}{206}

HILL OF THE GOLDEN CALF (JEBEL AARON) AND ITS MOSLEM TOWER BELOW THE RIDGE OF SINAI
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

A traveler writes: "We started to descend by the gorge on the northeast side of the mountain (Jethro's Path), by which possibly Moses may have descended when he heard the sounds of the camp before he could see what was taking place there. We were completely shut in by the sides of the gorge until just as we emerged near the bottom. There was no sound below for us to hear, but we could readily accept Mr. Palmeston's statement that he had distinctly heard the sounds of his own camp at the foot of the mountain which was entirely hidden from view. If the worship of the golden calf be supposed to have taken place anywhere in the neighborhood of the hill of Aaron this circumstance would be in striking conformity with the several other facts which singularly adapt this place to be the scene of the lawgiving."


{207}

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, "Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed unto it, and said, 'These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'"

And the Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may grow hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation."

And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, "Lord, why doth thy wrath grow hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying, 'For evil did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, 'I will multiply your family as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your family, and they shall inherit it for ever.'"

And the Lord repented of the evil which he said he would do unto his people.

And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand; tables that were written on both sides; on the one side and on {208} the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp."

And he said, "It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear."

And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger grew hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount.

And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them?"

And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord grow hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, 'Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.' And I said to them, 'Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off'; so they gave it me: and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf."

And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose; for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies: then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoso is on the Lord's side, let him come unto me."

{209}{210}

FAMOUS MONASTERY OF SAINT CATHERINE IN THE SHADOW OF MOUNT SINAI
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

It was in this monastery that Prof. C. Tischendorf discovered one of the oldest and most valuable manuscripts of the Bible in existence. Tischendorf made three visits to the monastery, in 1844, 1853, and 1859. On the first visit he found forty-three leaves of the manuscript in a wastebasket. Later he found the entire manuscript with the exception of a few pages. It was published by Czar Alexander II in celebration of the first millennium of the Russian Empire. A traveler says, "When on a visit to Mount Sinai in March, 1877, I saw a copy of the magnificent four volume edition in the convent library and mentioned the name of Tischendorf, the sub-prior kindled up in indignation and called him a thief, who had stolen their greatest treasure on the pretext of a temporary loan; and when I reminded him of the large reward of the Emperor of Russia, who had furnished a new silver shrine for the coffin of Saint Catherine, he admitted it reluctantly, but remarked that they did not want the silver, but the manuscript--the manuscript which their monks could not read and were about to throw into the fire."


{211}

And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'"

And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. And Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord, yea, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day."

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, "Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin."

And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written."

And the Lord said to Moses, "Whosover hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. And now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sins."

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And the Lord smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.


THE NEW TABLES OF STONE.
How the Tables Which Had Been Broken Were Replaced.

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon the tables the words that were on the first tables, which thou brokest.

"And be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me on the top of the